Todd McFarlane Details Collaborating With Frank Miller Again After 25 Years (Exclusive)

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In a simple and conversational style, the sentence could be rephrased as follows: Many duos are so legendary that they stand out beyond the context they belong to. For instance, even if someone isn’t into basketball or doesn’t know much about it, they’ve likely heard of Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen’s incredible partnership on the Chicago Bulls in the late ’90s. Similarly iconic is the pairing of Batman and Robin from DC Comics, who often work together but can also team up with other characters occasionally. An interesting example is when Batman joined forces with Spawn, Image Comics’ most famous anti-hero, over two decades ago to combat crime together.

In the early ’90s, Todd McFarlane, the inventor of Spawn, caught the attention of Frank Miller, a renowned writer and artist. Impressed by his work, Miller agreed to write an issue for the Spawn series. This collaboration paved the way for the standalone Spawn/Batman comic, where the two legendary characters clashed in New York City. Now, after 25 years, McFarlane and Miller are reuniting, this time collaborating on a cover for The Curse of Sherlee Johnson #3.

In an interview with ComicBook, McFarlane discussed his collaborations with other renowned creators from a few decades past and highlighted the significant transformations the industry has undergone since then.

In the ’80s and ’90s, there was less formality in creating comic books compared to today. People would often work together informally, like “Hey, I’ll draw a cover for you, and you’ll do one for me.” There were fewer exclusive contracts, so artists could work with multiple companies without much hassle from the editors. But when exclusivity started becoming common, it became more difficult.

Todd McFarlane’s Latest Collab With Frank Miller Is Long Overdue

McFarlane is equally astonished by the length of time it’s taken for him and Miller to reconnect, given their successful collaboration on Spawn/Batman and various other projects.

Looking back, Frank and I had a few projects together, one notably being ‘Spawn/Batman.’ It was always about having some shared fun, right? We’d concoct wild ideas and bring them to life. Here we are again, 25 years later, and it brings back memories of us thinking, ‘We really should have done this more often.’ As you pointed out, it’s been a quarter of a century since then. I can’t help but wonder, why did it take so long for us or any other collaborators to revisit these ideas repeatedly?

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2025-08-16 20:21