Spawn/Batman: Inner Demons (partially lost production materials from cancelled "Batman" and "Spawn" crossover comic; 2006)

Promotional cover art for Spawn/Batman: Inner Demons.

Status: Partially Lost

Batman is one of the most iconic characters in not only comic books but all of American fiction. As such Batman has crossed over with many other characters including the indie comic icon, Spawn. While Batman has officially crossed over with Spawn in two comics before, a third crossover was planned and announced but was never finished or released.

Background

After Spawn and his publisher, Image Comics, creation in 1992, the series experience a massive amount of growth in just a short amount of time. So much so in fact that in 1994, Image Comics partnered up with DC Comics to publish two Batman and Spawn crossovers, Batman/Spawn: War Devil published by DC and Spawn/Batman published by Image. Presumably due to the success of these comics a third crossover titled Spawn/Batman: Inner Demons was announced in 2006 but was never released.

Comic and Cancellation

The story would have been written and inked by Spawn series creator Todd McFarlane and penciled by McFarlane's long time collaborator and future Batman artist Greg Capullo. According to McFarlane in a 2015 Facebook post "for a variety of reasons (mostly on my shoulders) the book never got off the ground, but a few pages and promo pieces were done for it." While he never goes into plot details in that post the official solicitation from when the comic was announced reads

"It’s been over a decade since their first meeting. The Dark Knight and the even darker one. But this time is perhaps the most dangerous meeting of all. A battle for our heroes’ very souls and sanity. Sure Batman knows how to fight The Joker, Spawn and The Clown, but what if Spawn had to deal with Batman’s legendary nemesis? And for that matter, is Batman really capable of fighting a true demon from hell? Two great heroes must face each other’s greatest villains!"

Availability

Currently Todd McFarlane has released three pieces of art intended for the comic and despite the previous comics being collected into the Batman/Spawn: The Classic Collection on November 15, 2022 there seems to be no interest from Image or DC in releasing the remaining production materials.

Gallery

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  Textless version of the cover art.

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  Possible interior art depicting Batman and Spawn.

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  Possible interior art depicting Batman, The Joker, Spawn, and The Clown.

See also

• Batman Fights Dracula (lost unofficial Filipino comedy parody film; 1967)
• Batman Dracula (partially found Andy Warhol film; 1964)
• Gotham High (lost cancelled Batman animated series; 2009)
• Batman Forever (partially lost "Schumacher cut" of DC superhero film sequel; 1995)
• The Dark Knight (lost build of cancelled multi-platform action game based on Batman film; 2008)
• Batman And The New Robin (partially found unproduced animated TV series; 1988)
• Batman: The Animated Series (partially found Tim Curry performance from animated series; 1992)
• Mike Henry's Batman publicity stills (lost photographs advertising CBS "Batman" TV series; 1964)
• Batman: Clean and Dirty (found "Sesame Street" animated segment; 1970)
• Batman Meets Godzilla (lost Japanese film treatment of unproduced crossover film; 1960s)
• The Dark Knight Trilogy (partially found deleted scenes of DC superhero film trilogy; 2005-2012)
• Batman: A Death in the Family (partially lost unfinished "Jason Todd lives" version of comic; 1988)