Batman/Spawn: War Devil

Spawn / Batman #1

by Chuck Dixon, Doug Moench

52 Page Special edition One Shot Batman Comic Book. Matchup with Spawn.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Batman, Superheroes, Comic Book, Dc Comics, Graphic Novels Comics

First published November 1, 1994

About the author

Charles "Chuck" Dixon is an American comic book writer, perhaps best-known for long runs on Batman titles in the 1990s.

His earliest comics work was writing Evangeline first for Comico Comics in 1984 (then later for First Comics, who published the on-going series), on which he worked with his then-wife, the artist Judith Hunt. His big break came one year later, when editor Larry Hama hired him to write back-up stories for Marvel Comics' The Savage Sword of Conan.

In 1986, he began working for Eclipse Comics, writing Airboy with artist Tim Truman. Continuing to write for both Marvel and (mainly) Eclipse on these titles, as well as launching Strike! with artist Tom Lyle in August 1987 and Valkyrie with artist Paul Gulacy in October 1987, he began work on Carl Potts' Alien Legion series for Marvel's Epic Comics imprint, under editor Archie Goodwin. He also produced a three-issue adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit for Eclipse with artist David Wenzel between 1989 and 1990, and began writing Marc Spector: Moon Knight in June 1989.

His Punisher OGN Kingdom Gone (August, 1990) led to him working on the monthly The Punisher War Journal (and later, more monthly and occasional Punisher titles), and also brought him to the attention of DC Comics editor Denny O'Neil, who asked him to produce a Robin mini-series. The mini proved popular enough to spawn two sequels - The Joker's Wild (1991) and Cry of the Huntress (1992) - which led to both an ongoing monthly series (which Dixon wrote for 100 issues before leaving to work with CrossGen Comics), and to Dixon working on Detective Comics from #644-738 through the major Batman stories KnightFall & KnightsEnd (for which he helped create the key character of Bane), DC One Million , Contagion , Legacy , Cataclysm and No Man's Land . Much of his run was illustrated by Graham Nolan.

He was DC's most prolific Batman-writer in the mid-1990s (rivalled perhaps in history by Bill Finger and Dennis O'Neil) - in addition to writing Detective Comics he pioneered the individual series for Robin , Nightwing (which he wrote for 70 issues, and returned to briefly with 2005's #101) and Batgirl , as well as creating the team and book Birds of Prey .

While writing multiple Punisher and Batman comics (and October 1994's Punisher/Batman crossover), he also found time to launch Team 7 for Jim Lee's WildStorm/Image and Prophet for Rob Liefeld's Extreme Studios. He also wrote many issues of Catwoman and Green Arrow , regularly having about seven titles out each and every month between the years 1993 and 1998.

In March, 2002, Dixon turned his attention to CrossGen's output, salthough he co-wrote with Scott Beatty the origin of Barbara Gordon's Batgirl in 2003's Batgirl: Year One. For CrossGen he took over some of the comics of the out-going Mark Waid, taking over Sigil from #21, and Crux with #13. He launched Way of the Rat in June 2002, Brath (March '03), The Silken Ghost (June '03) and the pirate comic El Cazador (Oct '03), as well as editing Robert Rodi's non-Sigilverse The Crossovers. He also wrote the Ruse spin-off Archard's Agents one-shots in January and November '03 and April '04, the last released shortly before CrossGen's complete collapse forced the cancellation of all of its comics, before which Dixon wrote a single issue of Sojourn (May '04). Dixon's Way of the Rat #24, Brath #14 and El Cazador #6 were among the last comics released from the then-bankrupt publisher.

On June 10, 2008, Dixon announced on his forum that he was no longer "employed by DC Comics in any capacity."

Reviews

[Jesse Baggs · Rating 1 out of 5]

For a minute in the 90s when characters from two different companies crossed over, two separate books were made: one by one company and another by the other company. So, when Batman crossed over with Punisher, there was a “Batman / Punisher” book put out by DC and a “Punisher / Batman” book put out by Marvel. The same thing happened when Batman crossed over with Spawn from Image Comics, and this is the book put out by DC, “Batman / Spawn.”

It’s hard to overstate how much of a dud this was. Don’t get me wrong, the Image book, “Spawn / Batman,” also sucked, but that at least was an exciting dud, written and drawn by Frank Miller and Todd McFarlane (respectively) at the height of their popularity (or near to). The anticipation for that book was HUGE, and the accompanying let down was memorable. I think it might have been the first time that I, a dedicated fanboy, asked myself, “Do Miller and McFarlane actually suck? Do superheroes suck?”

This book, on the other hand, written and drawn by journeymen of the craft nearly anonymous to all but the most serious of fans, was nothing but an afterthought, and did nothing to make anyone think otherwise. Hard to know why they bothered.

[Eddie B. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too many writers (good ones, supposedly) to write one silly short story. But it's always a pleasure to enjoy the art of Klaus Janson.

[McKenzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this more than the other batman/spawn crossover by Frank Miller at least.

[Jedi Master Nate Lightray · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t know what else to expect from a book like this. Rushed, silly, and a history lesson in the middle of it all. Still, it’s enjoyable, and I’m not sure it being longer would make it better.

[Julian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like most Batman mashups this volume is not particularly good. The only interesting part of this comic is the connection to the 90s satanic panic which is glaringly obvious from multiple scenes (I burst out laughing upon seeing one particular panel where the villain makes the "\m/" metal-hand and uses the two protruding fingers to stab his victim in the eyes). Beyond that this book is far too short, confusing and just dumb to be interesting on any level. The dialogue here is worse than the main Spawn series - which says something. Although, it is pretty funny when Spawn starts talking about killing the large demon-creature at the end with his joy (seriously, murdering demons with joy). On second thought this might be interesting to read in the same way as those terrible old sci fi movies...

[Dave Lester · Rating 2 out of 5]

Batman and Spawn was an early 1990s crossover between Image Comics and the DC Universe. A Spawn/ Batman book (written by Frank Miller) was published by Image. This book, "War Devil" was published by DC. Not a great read.

This book has three credited writers: Doug Moench, Alan Grant and Chuck Dixon. The action starts in Roanoke, VA prior to the founding of America. Of course, there will be a connection between events in the early settlement and modern day Gotham. Spawn, from his New York Alleyway, senses evil which takes him to Gotham and gives us the required Batman vs Spawn fight which makes little sense. Then Batman and Spawn join forces to try and find Virgil Dare who is into raising the dead like George Romero's "Night of the Living Dead." The art is adequate but the story really cannot elevate the material. Disappointing.

[Ανδρέας Μιχαηλίδης · Rating 1 out of 5]

It is frankly stunning how a comic featuring both Batman and Spawn, signed by Moench, Dixon and Grant, and drawn by Klaus Janson, could be such a haphazard, shoddy pile of crap. It takes one of the most intriguing mysteries in American folklore and reduces it to demon fisticuffs with motives as flimsy as cling wrap.

Damn...

One intriguing bit, however: this is a 1994 comic and when the villains discuss detonating some bombs (pg. 10), Virgil Dare says: "Those creeps across the water are paying us big to make the World Trade Center look like a firecracker". I assume it must refer to something else, but it is kind of eerie to see something like that written 7 years before the 9/11 attacks.

Addendum: indeed, it refers to a 1993 WTC bombing, which of course would have been obvious to an American reader.

[Phil Fillinger · Rating 2 out of 5]

Correction - the subtitle should be “Cash Grab”. Other than having two awesome characters I really see no reason for this piece to exist. Bland all around - but an interesting team-up... even if it was just for sales.

[J.M. Giovine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m seeing plenty of people trashing this crossover, and it has a considerable lesser rate than the first one between these two characters. Honestly, I feel this was a similar experience; there were aspects of it that I enjoyed, and in the previous one didn’t, and vice versa.
This time, the story has three writing credits, not one, which comes a little off, if we remember that only one writer worked on the first crossover, and it is only 48 pages long. Doug Moench- who worked on Batman in the ‘Knightfall’ event, and is also the co-creator of ‘Moon Knight’-, as well as Alan Grant- ‘Shadow of the Bat’-, and Chuck Dixon- ‘Robin: Year One’, and ‘KnightsEnd’-, are the responsible names of providing the main story. In the art department, McFarlane leaves the project in the hands of Klaus Janson- ‘Daredevil’- to do pencils, and the combination, ultimately, works… kind of fine. As I said, many are criticizing this crossover, compared to the first one, but I’m struggling to see the difference, aside of the aesthetic aspect of the premise. McFarlane isn’t involved in either, story nor art, and one can tell, but I believe Moech, Grant, and Dixon offered a little more background when it came to the world of both characters.
The story places us in Gotham City, just as the previous title, but this time, the entire action will take place in here, New York isn’t even mentioned. It turns out, some four hundred years ago, Virginia Dare was born, being the first British woman to born in America, in the Island that’ll later become Gotham, now, her descendant, Virgil Dare will be the key to the unleashing of Hell itself, thanks to a resurrected former target from Al Simmons, back when he was alive. The name of this guy is Simon Vesper, the owner of a building placed in the exact same spot when, four hundred years ago, the word Croatoan appear painted in blood on a tree, after the disappearance of the villagers from the Roanoke town. It seems that Vesper is the key to understand what happened back then and, also, what is about to go down in Gotham, in present day, that is, of course, until Batman and Spawn interfere.
For starters, I feel there was a little more depth put into this. What caught my attention first was how much of a retcon this is, compared to the Miller/McFarlane one-shot; this is another “first time” Batman and Spawn encounter, but unlike the first one, they don’t fight for what it seemed to be most of the issue. They immediately agree on teaming up to find out what is going on, especially since Vesper relates directly to Al Simmons’ past. Again, just as before, we don’t relay on the “multiversal” mumbo jumbo to connect these two, we only need to get them from city to city.
Compared to the first time the characters clash, the context is better handled, and the characters are better represented, narratively speaking. For example, Batman is not only a punching machine with a reckless and gruesome attitude, here, he appears as Bruce Wayne first, and even the treatment towards his dialogues is far better improved, compared to how clumsy and childish Miller wrote him in the previous crossover. Spawn is a little more of a downgrade, since he feels more like a “guest” in this issue, so his dialogues and actions aren’t as captivating as in his main series, so you could argue McFarlane is a big absence because, at least, Miller kind of nailed the way Spawn behaves and talks. Not that these writers didn’t do a fine-decent job but is just nothing spectacular in order to deliver a convincing character to team-up with Batman. The villain, on the other hand, was an element that I did enjoy, compared to the laughably mediocre one from the first crossover. Vesper’s context goes way back to the early days of Gotham, and there’s a direct connection to Al’s origins, so the link felt way more natural here. Also, I enjoyed seeing Jim Gordon at least in a couple of panels. I always liked the presence of more secondary characters when it comes to crossovers, and while this improves the experience this time around, we could’ve had more. It came to my attention that, for example, Alfred is completely absent from this story, and once again, we got nothing from the side of Spawn, not even his enemies, not even references to other characters such as Wanda, or Sam & Twitch who, I still wonder, why in hell aren’t they used in these crossovers? They are the better element of the Spawn series, if not, at least the most interesting aspect of the human part of that comic book, since the supernatural stuff grows a little tiresome and dense, those two manages to make things a little more down-to-earth. Anyway, as for the big negatives, I believe many would agree with me by saying Klaus Janson’s pencils were… mediocre. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying the guy can’t draw, or that he is bad, we only must look at his work in Miller’s Daredevil run to see what the man is capable of, but this was just too much for him, I feel. It is strange, because at the beginning of the issue I felt he was doing a pretty good job with the backgrounds and the overall shapes of both, Batman, and Spawn, but once the story reaches its limit, so does his panels. The design of ‘Croatoan’ once it is revealed, is so lazy and poorly crafted, I cannot help but to ask how Moench, Dixon, and Grant approved it?
My other issue, and this was-I believe- what end up killing the art, the coloring. Apparently, Janson also provided the colors, but then Steve Buccellato used digitals to finish it and, the result doesn’t help Janson’s pencils, especially during the finale. It looks so bright and out of visual context, if we are referring to characters who depend so much on shadows and dark tonalities to enforce the reds and the little “yellows” in the light, something that each character’s own series dominated on most of their runs.
I cannot say this was a 100% an improvement over what Miller and McFarlane did, but it definitely did some things better, although, just a few. This digs on each character’s narrative backgrounds in a more “on-point way”, when Miller and McFarlane almost gave us the impression, they didn’t understand the characters they were writing/drawing. It doesn’t exploit the concepts or themes in a “visionary” or “ambitious” way, as one could expect out of such emblematic pop-culture figures with such great stories behind them, but at least it treats them both with respect, and better dedication.
This could be a passable reading, and a more engaging one, again, compared to the first one-shot, but there isn’t anything spectacular or memorable about it. It falls again in the “for collectors only” category, but even as such I would argue people won’t be that pleased with the art department. It is a perfectly passable, disposable reading that, again, delivers what its title suggests, and nothing else.

[Sandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

Batman und Spawn treffen hier erneut in einem Crossover der frühen 1990er Jahre zwischen Image Comics und dem DC-Universum aufeinander. Eines gleich vorweg: Von allen drei bisher erschienenen Crossovers ist dieser hier der schlechteste...

Zuviele Köche verderben bekanntermaßen den Brei, die da sind: Doug Moench, Alan Grant und Chuck Dixon.
Die Handlung beginnt in Roanoke, Virginia, vor der Gründung Amerikas. Natürlich gibt es eine Verbindung zwischen den Ereignissen in der ersten amerikanischen Siedlung und dem heutigen Gotham. Spawn wittert von seiner New Yorker Seite aus irgendwas Übles, was ihn nach Gotham führt und uns den obligatorischen Kampf Batman gegen Spawn beschert, der wie auch in den beiden anderen Bänden äußerst wenig Sinn ergibt. Erst mal fertig gekämpft und ausgeschnauft, tun sich Batman und Spawn zusammen, um Virgil Dare, die Ursache allen Übels, zu finden, der wie in George Romeros "Nacht der lebenden Toten" Tote auferstehen lassen will.

Das Artwork von Klaus Janson ist angemessen für die 90er Jahre, aber die Geschichte kann den Zeichenstil nicht wirklich aufwerten. Enttäuschend. Wenn ich es mir recht überlege ist das Buch genauso interessant wie diese schrecklichen alten Science-Fiction-Filme...

[Guilherme Smee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Já havia lido o primeiro crossover dessa leva, Spawn/Batman, feito a duas mãos por Todd McFalane e Frank Miller e, nossa, uma das piores coisas que já li. Então, se aquele primeiro crossover ganhava só uma estrelinha, esse segunda ganha duas. E olha que foi preciso três roteirista para conseguir esse feito! Que coisa! Ao mesmo tempo, nunca vi a arte de Klaus Janson tão bonita, usando e abusando do traço sujo, dos pingos de nanquim pela página, podemos ver que o artista estava no seu elemento. A parte mais interessante da história é dizer que Gotham City foi fundada sobre a colônia puritana de Roanoke, que desapareceu sem deixar rastro, a não ser pela inscrição "Croatan" em uma árvore. Se fosse bem utilizada essa lenda poderia render uma bela história climática de terror, mas desponta para a briguinha de heróis e a ascensão de um exército de mortos-vivos. Zzzzz! Soninho. Mas crossovers são assim. Devem ter tantas mãos editoriais mexendo neles que os roteiristas não tem muita para onde fugir e, por isso, a tal necessidade de se usar três carinhas pra escrever essa historinha bem esquecível. Boa noite!

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

You'd think this would be better than the Image Batman / Spawn crossovers but you'd be wrong. Having 3 Batman writers and Klaus Janson on art made it worst. Spawn and Batman have to team up when some rich dude returns from the dead to bring a demon to Gotham. None of it is very good to be honest.

[Andrew F · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fairly decent stand alone story, I think the art is better than everyone else does, but it definitely pales next to Macfarlane’s work on the other crossover. Unlike that book, this one presumably occurs within then-current DC continuity.
Totally lightweight but fun anyway.

[Drew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like these old crossovers. This one has stronger art and writing than average. Would have been better with more development, perhaps a two or three issue run, but still
neat to see Bats and Spawn interact.

[Andrew Alvis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm still getting used to Alan Grant's artwork but the writing was something more than I expected. It got pretty deep, the whole supernatural element taking into a very dark realm that I think Gotham and Batman both were unprepared for.

[Jonathan Harbour · Rating 3 out of 5]

A valiant attempt but it’s not Todd McFarlane’s artwork so it falls short. But still enjoyable enough as a complement to the Batman Spawn done by Miller and MacFarlane.

[Nicholas Fossum · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun

[Cyril · Rating 1 out of 5]

terrible art, terrible story

[Kamil Henri · Rating 2 out of 5]

5/10

[Frederick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quite forgettable with a story that doesn't really make any sense but it gets an extra star because Batman's in it.

[Bob Solanovicz · Rating 3 out of 5]

*** i pol

[RoChe Montoya · Rating 4 out of 5]

It looks as though when DC and Image got together for the team up, each wanted to do an issue under there own banner. And both had good points and bad, well not that bad. This story was better than the Image comic but the art was no where near Todd McFarlane, but the story made up for it. This time the bad guy is a demonic force unlike the other that has an bad lady doing bad things. This starts off like 400 years ago when 100 settlers went missing, then the evil force is now doing its dead in Gotham. I would tell all Batman and Spawn fans to check this out, well it's a comic and it has Spawn and Batman in it that's why.

[John Ekleberry · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is an interesting counterpart to the Miller/McFarlane volume. It features a trio of then current Batman writers (Moench/Grant/Dixon) with Klaus Janson on art duty (a very appropriate choice with Miller on the other book).

It has a darker, more occult slant than the Image book, and is more focused on redemption than hard-ass characterizations.

Like the Image book, it completely falls apart at the end, and was even less enjoyable overall. But I'm still glad I read it... it has its moments.

[Mike MacDee · Rating 3 out of 5]

It really doesn’t take four people to make a better Batman-Spawn crossover than Frank Miller, but these guys did it anyway, and it’s far superior. Miller's massive boner for the Bat is nowhere to be found, the narration doesn't feel like it was written by a crazy person, and the plot actually makes sense. Also features some genuinely creepy art at times, and not just because the villain looks like Jack Nicholson.

If you have to read a Batman/Spawn crossover, make it this one. Avoid the other one as if it were Frank Miller's masturbation sock (which is pretty much what it is).

[Cris Díaz Pastor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Segundo crossover del engendro y el murciélago. También muy del mundillo de Spawn, o si me apuras propio de la liga de la justicia oscura. Tratan de dar explicación al porqué de la desaparición de la colonia de Roanoke y del Croatoan en el árbol. Con está premisa como punto de partida y la visita de Spawn a Gotham porque ha tenido recuerdos de alguien que una vez asesinó allí, Bruce y Al acaban cruzándose de nuevo. Ameno y muy ágil de leer, la verdad.

[Brannigan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I reread this a second time and dropped my rating down to two stars. This was a simple cash cow. Trying to milk Batman and Spawn’s popularity. The story is weak. I’m a big fan of Chuck Dixon and I expect better from him. The art is also weak and messy.

Batman and Spawn deserve a better story and for some reason everybody on this project phoned it in.

[Adrian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not very good to be honest, bad pacing, confusing, and un-flowing story, maybe if the story was given a higher page count it might have been better, seemed it had to be cut to fit in a single prestige comic, the art wasn't too bad, seen better, but most readers will rush through the book just to get it done with, they'll not stop to notice

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought this on the strenght of the McFarlane/Miller product. And anyone can make a mistake, it could have been interesting. But while the story is weakish the art cannot lift it up.

Nice for a read...........once.

[John Yelverton · Rating 1 out of 5]

Maybe the original was worth your time and effort, but this one certainly wasn't.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worth reading.