The following article contains spoilers from Batman/Spawn#1, on sale now from DC Comics.
Batman/Spawn sees the titular protagonists linked together despite their disparate universes by the deaths of the most important women in their lives -- Bruce Wayne's mother, Martha, and Al Simmon's wife, Wanda.
In an exclusive interview , writer and Spawn creator Todd McFarlane explained how Bruce and Al are forever linked together in tragedy. "I was saying that they (Martha and Wanda) both died not only on the same date but, in my mind, they died at the same moment. This is what created these two characters (Batman and Spawn). On one side, you've got the Spawn Universe. On the other side, you've got the DC Universe. Then, you've got these two characters, Batman [and] Spawn, and then you have their loved ones."
Martha And Wanda's Multiversal Connection
In the world of Batman/Spawn, which appears to be separate from both heroes' regular continuities, Martha and Wanda both died on June 26th. Their deaths appear to have been partially orchestrated by the Court of the Owls, whose influence spans universes. The finale reveals that Martha Wayne is still living in Spawn's universe, while Wanda Blake is alive in Batman's universe.
"In between that is all the gap that I didn't really get to show, which [involves] the Court, other dimensions, how time works, how these two ladies could have died at the same moment, given that it seems like it's decades apart, but it wasn't," McFarlane said. "...These characters (Martha and Wanda) are there, and each one of them (Batman and Spawn) is oblivious to it. It's just another kind of torture [for] both of them. They don't even know they could be close to the person they care about the most, but they're just on the other side of this dimensional fence now. Neither one of them even know. Even if they could get over the fence, they don't even know it. It may seem like kind of a happy ending, but to me, it's more of another torture for both these gentlemen who have been tortured plenty."
McFarlane and artist Greg Capullo have teased possible sequels to Batman/Spawn, which was originally pitched as a multibook series. Aside from the obvious plot hooks of Martha and Wanda, Batman/Spawn also features a cameo from the Joker, who doesn't serve as the major villain of the story but appears to have fostered an alliance with Violator, promising a deadly challenge for both Al Simmons and Bruce Wayne in the near future.
Batman/Spawn is written and features inks by McFarlane, pencils by Capullo, colors by Dave McCaig and letters by Tom Napolitano. Cover art comes from Capullo, McFarlane and McCaig and variant cover art from Gabriele Dell'Otto, Sean Murphy, Dave Stewart, Francesco Mattina, J. Scott Campbell, Sabine Rich, Capullo, McFarlane, Brian Haberlin, Brett Booth, Sandra Hope, Ivan Nunes, Jim Lee, Scott Williams, Alex Sinclair, Jorge Jimenez, Jason Fabok, Brad Anderson and FCO Plascencia. The issue is on sale now from DC.