Spawn creator and Image Comics president Todd McFarlane enlisted artist Brett Booth to bring a revolver-toting variant of his Hellspawn to life in the pages of Gunslinger Spawn, set to hit comic shops in October.
"Brett Booth draws a way cooler Gunslinger than I do," McFarlane said in an interview with CBR. "That's just a fact -- just like Greg Capullo drew a better Spawn than I did."
McFarlane added that he was always on the lookout for artists who could enhance his characters. He said Booth fit this bill, and was also a "bit of a maniac" whose drawings were so detailed that he'd "hate to be Adelso," referring to Gunslinger Spawn's inker, Adelso Corona.
"[Booth] has a tremendous flair for action because I've seen the first three issues, they're completed," McFarlane said. "When I say something like, 'Somebody gets shot,' that can get interpreted a lot of different ways and in some of the panels that I've seen, some of the action sequences are pretty dynamic. We'll leave it to people whether that's to their liking or not but I think comic books, especially superhero comics, should have a lot of melodrama in them. He's putting that on paper right now as well as just a ton of detail."
Well-known for his early work in the '90s at Marvel, Image and Wildstorm Studios, Booth is the co-creator of the character Backlash and spent more recent years drawing DC characters, including Teen Titans and The Flash during the New 52 era. He will be the main penciler on Gunslinger Spawn moving forward, with Philip Tan, Kevin Keane and Thomas Nachlik providing additional art. McFarlane will write the main story while Aleš Kot scripts the book's backup tales.
First debuting in Spawn #119 in a two-page spread showing Hellspawn from various eras, Gunslinger Spawn, also known as Jeremy Winston, received a detailed origin story in Spawn #174-175. Framed for murder, Winston forged a deal with the demon Mammon, made short work of his enemies and crossed paths with Francis Parker, the ancestor of current Spawn Al Simmons.
Winston is mysteriously pulled into the 21st century at the onset of his new series, which revolves around his search for a means to return home. Despite the fact that the book has yet to release, the first printing for Gunslinger Spawn #1 already sold 385,000 copies, making it the biggest launch for a new ongoing superhero comic in 25 years.
Gunslinger Spawn #1 goes on sale Oct. 20 from Image Comics.
Source: CBR