Superman #131 (1959)

Superman #151 (August, 1959)
"The Menace of Mr. Mxyzptlk!"
"Superman's Future Wife!"
"The Unknown Super-Deeds!"
Writers - Jerry Coleman, Robert Bernstein & Otto Binder
Artists - Al Plastino & Kurt Schaffenberger
Cover Price: $0.10

Happy Easter, folks!

We're going way back today... so far back that I had to consult with our friends at the Grand Comics Database for creator credits!  I also learned that this issue features the first "modern" spelling of Mr. Mxyzptlk!  How 'bout dat?

When I first picked this issue up, I thought the little square over Lois' Superman's Future Wife's face was the remnants of a half-century old price sticker.  Thankfully, that wasn't the case!  There is that awful "618" scribbled at the bottom though...

I'm excited to find out who's under that square... and I'm betting you are too!  Let's crack this bugger open...

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Our first story opens as Superman is preparing to give a super-powered exhibition to the kids at the Metropolis Orphanage.  He plans to crash head-first with a giant steel block... because, well... that's definitely what orphans wanna see.  Anyhoo, before he can... the steel block is transformed into a stack of alphabet blocks... which Superman slams into, causing them to form a very telling message!

Who could have caused such a thing to happen?  Well, if the title didn't tip you off already, it's our old friend Mxy.  He tells Superman that he has a foolproof plan to hinder Superman's ability to make him say his name backwards (and send him away for 90 days).  He thumbs his nose at the Man of Steel and flies off.  Superman gives chase, and flashes back to earlier encounters with the imp.  And boy howdy... they be silly.  The first one concerns Superman hurling an asteroid at the Earth... posing as an astronomer... naming the phony comet "Kltpyxm", and having Mxy read it to Lois Lane.  Oy.

Our next flashback has to do with a restaurant that gives one week's worth of meals for free if you, get this... find your name in a bowl of alphabet soup.  And so, Clark Kent uses his microscopic vision to grab the noodles he needs.  He sits next to Mxy, who is also enjoying a bowl of soup... and, before taking his first slurp, asks if he can read what's on his spoon.  You'll never guess what it said...

Back in the present, Superman thinks he has concocted the perfect way to get Mxy to say his name backwards... and so, he uses his super-speed to make it seem as though Mxy is seeing double.  It gets rather elaborate... he even makes a statue out of molten iron to use as a prop.  Anyhoo, Mxy decides to visit the eye doctor to see what's up... and the doctor in question is, well... Superman reusing his astronomer disguise.  He asks Mxy to read the "eye chart"... which cause him to start saying his name backwards.  Once he hits the "P", an alarm goes off.  Ya see, he's got an anti-say-my-name-backwards alarm under his little hat!  Uh-oh.

And so, Mxy runs a muck while Superman continues to brainstorm.  His next plan concerns Lois Lane donning a blonde wig and a phony accent.  He takes her out for a date at the Kit-Kat Club so that Mxy can see them.  Later on, Mxy begs Superman to introduce him to the "bewitching enchantress"... and so, he does.  Only problem for Mxy is that the Kit-Kat Club requires gentlemen remove their hats!  It's all for naught, however... as standing in the inclement weather caused the imp to lose his voice!

The story wraps up with Mxy being lured into a movie house by a sign advertising the newsreel of Mr. Mxyzptlk Running for Mayor of Metropolis.  He enters and watches the film... during which, Superman has reversed the audio track to make it so celluloid-Mxy says his name backwards.  Somehow this causes the real-deal to be sent back.  Whatta cop out!

Our second story opens with Lois Lane arriving in the town of Wicksville, where 300 years earlier witches were rumored to have lived.  Her supernatural guide book leads her to the Enchanted Cottage, inside which is the Witch's magical rocking chair... which, if legend is to be believed, allows whoever sits in it to see the future.  The last time anyone sat there was exactly 100 years ago today (today, if you're wondering... is April 27, 1959).  Lois sits down and sees... the wedding of Superman!  Though, as the cover indicates, the bride's face is obscured.

The scene advances to show some domestic bliss between Mr. and Mrs. Superman... again, we cannot see the face of Supes' better half.  Next up we see Superman's children... and they're pretty rotten.

So rotten, Superman has to try (in vain) to discipline them.

We get a few more near-misses, each sillier than the last... before going into further into the future, where a costumed Superman and his wife are about to go to a masquerade party.  Mrs. Superman wears a cape which reads "L.L."... Lois is sure it's her... until future Superman refers to her as "Lady Luck".  Wonk wonk.  In the present, Superman arrives to fly Lois back to Metropolis... and gets a mighty slap for his troubles.

Our final tale is a story of Superman... when he was a boy!  It's a boring Smallville day, and young Clark Kent has nothing to do.  His telescopic vision shows a fire in Paris... and we know it's Paris because the Eiffel Tower is in the background.  Before CK can even unbutton his shirt, firefighters arrive on the scene.  Hours later, Clark uses his super-vision to witness a young red-haired boy falling down an abandoned well.

He hops into action, saving the tiny tot and filling the well with the quickness.  After this heroic act, he plays it off like it was just a trivial occurrence of no import... but, was it?

Next stop on our telescopic tour features Clark seeing a man accidentally drop his monogrammed briefcase (it reads P.W.) into the drink.  It sinks and looks to be swallowed by a whale!

Superboy uses the mast from a sunken ship to... tickle the great beast, causing it to... giggle... and the briefcase to float out.  The Boy of Steel then uses a... volcano to dry the papers inside it.  Ay yai yai.  Clark is bummed out to see that the man that dropped the case was "just" a reporter.  Such a trivial occurrence... or, was it?

Next (and last) stop, a group of kids playing a "guessing game".  They sit around wearing masks and have to figure out who is who.  Looks like we've got three dudes and one young lady... which kinda seems unfair, right?

Anyhoo, the young lady winds up not being able to remove her mask... and so, it's Superboy to the rescue.  He grabs a piece of scrap metal, and with the power of super-speed, fashions it into a pitch-pipe.  He gives it a toot, which causes the mask to split.  The faceless brunette underneath seems pleased... but, boy... what a trivial occurrence... or, was it?

Okay... ready to have your minds blown?  Get this... the little red-haired boy who fell down the well was... Jimmy Olsen (and him falling down a well really explains so much, don't it?).  The reporter with the initials P.W. was... Perry White, and the brunette who got her head stuck was... Lois Lane!

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Wow... what a trip!  My Silver-Age Superman game is pretty weak... especially this early in the Silver-Age, but... dang, this was a ton of fun.  Silly as all hell, but, fun!

These feel like the kind of stories that a kid would tell... and there is a certain charm in that.  It feels as though the "world" of Superman is a small one at this point.  Everything that happens in the world... happens to him, his city, and/or his friends.

The three tales we get this issue were... middling.  That is not to say I didn't have an absolute blast with these silly stories... because I did... but, I could certainly see how they could wear on a regular reader if you read a short-stack of 'em.  It's ridiculous to judge these stories almost sixty years later, because... I'd figure back in 1959, kids were supposed to, ya know... grow out of these things.  It ain't like nowadays.  I doubt very highly anyone ever thought a numbskull in his mid-thirties would be analyzing them more than a half-century later.

Let's start with the Mxy story... which I probably enjoyed the most, until the cop-out ending, that is.  I liked seeing all of the ways in which Superman tricked Mxy into saying his name backwards.  How insane is it to see the imp bellied up to the bar with a bowl of soup?  That's just too much fun.  But, the way Superman sent him "home" this time... ehh, kinda feels like cheating, no?  I know, I know, I'm thinking way too hard about this.

The Mrs. Superman story was silly... and a bit less fun than the opener.  I was a bit confused reading it, as I assumed that if you were to sit in the enchanted rocking chair, the future you'd see would be your own... right?  So, even if we don't see the face of Superman's brunette spouse... it's gotta be Lois, if Lois is seeing it... right?  I dunno...

The Superboy story was neat in that it did more of that awesome comic book thing where everything and everyone is somehow tied together.  Sure, it's a bit contrived and convenient, but I am a total sucker for it.  Also, seeing Jimmy Olsen fall down a well is always worth it.

Not story-related, but... we get some great old timey ads in this one (you can see them below).  It's always interesting to see things like guns being advertised... here we get a gun in an ad for Disneyland!  That's pretty nuts!  Also, an ad for Religious (and Patriotic) sayings... certainly not something we'd see today.

If you're interested in checking this issue out for yourself... it actually has been collected in the first volume of SHOWCASE Presents Superman... and if you're able to locate a first-printing of that, it's only ten bucks... for like 500 pages of Silver-Age Supes.  I've got that volume kicking around here somewhere... and I'm thinking it's high time I spend some time with it.

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Action Comics #454 (1975)

Action Comics #454 (December, 1975)
"Superman's Energy-Crisis!"
"The Campus That Swallowed Itself!"
Story - Cary Bates & Martin Pasko
Art - Curt Swan, Jose Delbo & Tex Blaisdell
Editor - Julius Schwartz
Cover Price: $0.25

Today we're going to discuss another from the "wouldja lookit that cover!" file... because, well... wouldja lookit that cover!

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We open with the Toyman... that is the 1975-Toyman, running out of the Metropolis City Bank... loot in hand.  It's not long before Superman arrives to save the day, and it's looks as though he's about to make short-work of the costumed creep, when he is hit with a tiny hooked line attaches to Superman's belt... after which, the Toyman swings him around and sends him flying!

We're going to assume that scene that follows happens a bit later on, as it is Clark Kent delivering the evening news report... on Superman's battle with the Toyman!  He sends the show to commercial break... and takes a nap while the cameras quit rolling.  Unfortunately for him (and Morgan Edge) when the cameras click on again, all of Metropolis sees their ace anchorman snoozing away.

After the show, Lois picks Clark up to take him to a Solar Energy Research fund-raiser dinner, at which he proceeds to devour just about every bit of food in the place... even, to Lois' embarrassment, picking food off of other peoples' plates!  It's the only way he can replace all of the calories he's burning.

After stuffing his face, he passes out.  When he wakes up, he's back at his apartment.  He doesn't quite understand why his stamina is so shoddy... as he's just as strong as ever.  And so, in his sleepy state, he decides to go for a flight.  He happens past a Mactavish's restaurant... which is just an ersatz McDonald's, but judging from the cover... you didn't need me to tell you that.  A bolt of lightning strikes a tree outside the restaurant... and Superman expels his last remaining energy pulverizing it to bits before it hurt anybody.  He stumbles into the joint, and orders a whoooole bunch'a burgers.  Like, a billion... if the sign outside the place can be believed.  After this, he blows most of his salary on food... and proceeds to chow down in front of the television set.

On the TV is news that the Toyman is at it again!  And so, Superman gets himself in gear and heads out.  He chases the baddie as he escapes from the Federal Reserve.  I'm not sure if this speaks highly for the Toyman, or poorly for bank security... this dude's a joke, and he's stolen several million dollars in the past two days!  Before Superman can catch up, the Toyman hurls anti-gravity bubbles at the Man of Steel... which sends him into orbit!

Moments later, a fully-powered Superman returns to take the Toyman down... but how can that be?  Well, after arresting the creep, Superman heads to S.T.A.R. Labs... and we learn that there's something fishy going on with solar energy.  Superman can't hold on to his power... and that fund-raiser from earlier was due to problems the solar plants were experiencing.  When the anti-grav bubbles brought Superman into space... he was suddenly at full-power.  Which means that the problem has something to do with the Earth!  You follow?  Cuz I think I'm lost!

And so, Superman dons his special Super-Solar-Cell outfit... to become the Human Solar Battery Superman!  After which, he burrows deep into the Earth...

... where he finds the culprit!  It's a freak-metal hybrid that absorbs the Sun's energy at incredible rates.  Superman approaches it, and decides his best course of action would be to wrap his Super-Solar-Cell duds around it... and whattaya know, it works!  We wrap up with Clark and Jimmy walking past an unbelievably crowded MacTavish's restaurant.  It's covered with "Superman Ate Here" posters, and the sign that previously read "Over 9 Billion Served" now reads "Over 10 Billion Served"... Super-appetite, indeed!

Our back-up story stars the Atom this time around, and opens with him approaching his fiancee, Jean Loring's apartment.  Before he can enter, he hears Jean engaging in some lovey-dovey talk... he bursts in to find... that she's talking to her plants!  Wonk wonk.  We get caught up on something that happened last issue... involving a machine called "the actualizer".

We advance to later that evening, where Ray and Jean are holed up in an Ivy University office.  Outside the... ivy is creeping up the building, and destroying various quads.  Ray advises Jean to hang back and... talk to the ivy, as he Atom's up (or Atom's down, maybe) to go search for... the actualizer!

We get a flashback to how this all started... turns out a disgruntled groundskeeper thought to himself that he wished the buildings would be torn down... thoughts which were picked up by "the actualizer" and made real!  Back in the present, the Atom aims "the actualizer" at Jean while she sweet talks the ivy.

At this point, Ray remembers that there is a night class going on... and so, he heads over to aid in the evacuation.  All's well that ends well... and we wrap up with Atom smashing "the actualizer" with a hammer.

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Bronze-Age Superman kinda runs hot and cold with me... though, I will admit that I haven't read all that much of it.  Sometimes the stories are silly and enjoyable... sometimes they're just silly.  This one started silly-strong, but kinda ended with a silly whimper.

Don't get me wrong, anytime Superman hops into a strange set of duds, I think it's great... even if it's a frogman suit covered in tiny solar panels.  It's just that from there... the story just kind of ended.  He immediately found the cause of the problem... and solved it by wrapping his clothes around it.  Eh.

The stronger parts all had to do with Superman/Clark konking out and pigging out.  The implication that Supes' lunch consisted of a BILLION hamburgers is too much of a hoot for me to dislike.  I'm not really sure how I feel about Superman referring to Clark Kent as though he were a different person.  The scene where he's chomping down in front of the television he says that he spent "most of Clark Kent's salary".  I'm probably reading too much into it... but, that "disconnected" feeling between his two personas kind of left a bad taste in my mouth.

The Toyman was probably the best choice for villain for this story.  He's just so laughable and silly... and for the first two-thirds of the issue, we really thought he (somehow) had Superman's number.  Nice misdirection.

The backup was... well, it was an Atom backup.  We've already discussed a couple of them here... and they're all forgettable.  If I'm being honest, this one was sort of a chore to get through... it was that "weak" silly.  Given how abruptly the Superman lead-off story ended... I'd definitely have preferred that they used the Atom pages to give a more fleshed out wrap up.

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Spawn-Batman (1994)

Spawn-Batman (1994)
"Red Scarce"
Writer - Frank Miller
Artist - Todd McFarlane
Letterer - Tom Orzechowski
Colorist - Steve Oliff
Computer Colors - Olyoptics
Cover Price: $3.95

I'm not sure I'd call this piece a "request", but I am covering this issue because a pal-o-mine reminded me that it existed!  (Iowa's) Joe Crawford asked if I'd ever covered this... and I suddenly realized that I haven't done a single "prestige format" book on the humble blog.  I ran upstairs to make sure I had this... I was sure I did, however... wouldn't have the slightest idea what happened in it.  And so, I figured this may be a fun one to cover.  I was also reminded of just how many inter-company crossovers occurred in the mid-to-late 1990's!  Maybe more of them will pop up here from time to time.

Before moving on, Joe regularly collects his thoughts over at For the Discerning Reader.  Definitely give it a look.  He's also got a permanent home on the ol' blogroll over thattaway >>>>

I probably ought to mention that the title "Red Scarce" appears to have been given to the book post-publication.  There is no actual story-title in the book itself.

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Our story opens in a Gotham City warehouse.  After disposing of a gaggle of thugs, Batman walks wounded until he happens upon the crate he was looking for.  Inside, is a pair of battle gloves... which "hum" with power.  Before he can properly admire them, he is attacked by a large robot!

And a fight is on!  Batman puts the gloves on and starts pounding away.  He manages to break open the robot's "mask" which reveals that it has a rather human head!  The head begins to speak... it's as though he's just been awoken from a long sleep.  He doesn't know where he is, and what's more... doesn't understand why he can't feel his arms or legs.  Well, I'm afraid we've got some bad news, boyo... you're just a head!  A self-destruct sequence begins, and so... Batman reaches in and yanks the disembodied head out of it's bot-base with very little regard.  I suppose I ought to mention that this is the Dark Knight Returns Batman... a little rougher around the edges than the one we're accustomed to.

We shift to a brief newscast which introduces Dr. Margaret Love.  This issue will serve as her first... and last appearance.  Anyhoo, she is the Founder and President of "Heal the World" and has just been awarded the Laimbeer Award for Humanitarian Achievement.  She's probably going to become important later.  Not sure if the Laimbeer prize is named after former Detroit Piston (and part-time Sleestak) Bill Laimbeer... but, Todd does have a bit of a penchant for namedropping famous athletes every now and again...

At the Batcave, Batman is studying the severed head.  Alfred attempts to soften the mood by offering his master a spot of tea.  Bruce ignores Alfred the entire time... he's really quite a jerk to him.  Anyhoo... he checks the dental records to deduce that the head belongs to a "New York Bum" but wonders how it ever got mixed up with a "Soviet Cyborg"... and so, it's off to the Big Apple.

It doesn't take long for word to spread that Batman is in New York.  It's even reported on the news.  Batman has taken to hanging around with the homeless in hopes that he might get to the bottom of the cyborg deal... and keeps hearing legends about a man called "Al".

Speaking of whom... at that very moment, Spawn is skulkin' round the slums.  He sees a pair of ne'er do wells pouring gasoline on a bum with designs on setting him ablaze.  Stands to reason, right?  Anyways, this doesn't quite go according to plan... and the two geeks run straight away into Spawn.  One empties his gun into Spawn's chest... and that goes about as well as you might imagine.  Spawn uses some Hellborn magic, and burns them to a crisp... an act that was witnessed... by the Batman!

And we get our customary "heroes fight due to a misunderstanding" thing underway.  Spawn being... well, Spawn... and Batman being a human being, you can imagine it's not a very even fight.  Spawn actually takes it easy on the Bat... who drops a gas pellet and escapes before he can rethink it.  Spawn throws up from the gas.  Oh!  I gotta mention that Spawn goes from masked to unmasked and masked again with every panel change during this fight.  It's been a long time since I've read this era of Spawn, but I don't remember that being a thing... I could be wrong though.

And Betty when you call me... 

Batman is able to flee about ten blocks before his body gives out.  His injuries are quite severe... but the humiliation is far worse.  He knows that "the punk" was pulling his punches.  While Bruce heals, Al hunts... we see him enter a building bearing signage that reads "Heal New York".

Inside the building, Spawn is attacked by... a giant robot!  He manages to yank it's gun-arm off and fire it back.  This blows the bot to bits... and reveals, another human head!  This head (Spawn's pal, Chuck), like the one before, is befuddled and cannot feel his arms.  There is a video monitor, on which a prerecorded message from Margaret Love discusses "rehabilitation".  Turns out she's been kidnapping the homeless and transforming them into these robotic killing machines in the name of fixing the planet.  Spawn blows up the base.

Back with Batman... he broods like a gargoyle until... the Bat-Signal goes off?  In New York?  Batman is briefly puzzled but figures he'd better check it out.  Well, if he's not gonna worry about the logistics of the thing... far be it from me.

At the spotlight stands... Margaret Love!  She informs him that a man in a red cape and chains destroyed her base of operations... and, now fearing for her life interests... must entrust the Batman to keep her upcoming fund raiser from getting "Spawned".

Speaking of whom... we meet back up with him, as he's vomiting in an alley.  Not bad, two throw-up scenes in one book... and we're not even done yet!  Looks like it's time for Round-Two, as Batman leaps into battle.  This time he's wearing a battle glove... which Alfred had shipped to him via two-hour transit... or something.  That's awfully quick... hmm, maybe Gotham really is in New Jersey?  Anyhoo... a fight is on.

Spawn still beats the hell out of Batman... but the fight is a bit more even this time around.  They roll around until they find themselves surrounded by more giant robots... one of which... kills Batman... or would have, if not for the next bit.

Spawn unleashes his Hellpowers... and just atomizes the cyborgs, all the while Batman mutters about Spawn's "lack of discipline".  I mean, he really goes on about it... it's like he's a dad in the 1950's.  At this point, Batman's heart has already stopped... and there's almost no blood left in his body.  Okay.  Spawn believes it would take a miracle to save him... and decides that perhaps he should be that miracle.

He reaches into Batman... and the two sorta-kinda mind meld, and experience one another's origin story.  I can't be for sure... but, I think they're actually trying to tie Margaret Love in which the murder of Thomas and Martha Wayne.  Again, it's not exactly clear... but it's the impression I'm getting.  Which, if true, would be... ya know... layyyyyyyyyyyyme.

After their bonding, the fellas decide to team up.

Their destination is a cruise ship which is playing host to Margaret Love's fund raiser.  She is hob-nobbing with various VIPs... including the VP of the USofA.  He's a mustachioed gentleman, who I can't place.  During time of publication, this would have been Al Gore... though, it's Miller... and Dark Knight Returns Miller at that... so, this might just be the strangest looking George H.W. Bush ever put to paper.  She shares with him her epiphany... the problem with the planet is... the people!  She plans to purge them all!  To which, the Vice-President "nods vigorously", because, ya see... this criminal mastermind, Dr. Love... spiked the punch.  Seriously.

She plans to heal the world... and reveals her cache of nuclear warheads.  Everyone's cool with it, even the recently arrived President of the United States... because, again... she spiked their punch.

Spawn and Batman arrive shortly, and make short work of the guards... and just a single page later... Spawn kills Dr. Love.  Wait, what?  Okay.  Maybe we were running out of pages to fill by this point.  Anyhoo... before she dies, she triggers a nuke to fire into the heart of New York City.

Spawn teleports he and Batman to the missile... and Batman is able to shut it down.  It plops into the drink... New York City is saved.

We wrap up with Batman and Spawn having yet another contentious chat... which ends with Spawn asking if they could just "bury the hatchet".  Batman, being a total jerk-ass says "bury this"... and hurls a batarang right into Spawn's hamburger head.  Wonk wonk.

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As cool as it was to see Batman and Spawn going the route of beating the hell out of one another before teaming up against a common enemy, I gotta say... this was a bit of a mess.  Todd brings his A-Game here... this is a very pretty book... the story, however, is kinda rough.

The entire issue feels kinda empty.  There's very little build up past the initial confrontation between Batman and Spawn... and even that goes about as predictably as possible.  We knew Dr. Love was going to be the big-bad... but, I really didn't remember her being dealt with in one page!  That was kind of a dud, no?

Also... like I mentioned above, it almost feels as though Miller was trying to shoe-horn Love into Batman's origin.  Granted, this is Dark Knight Returns Batman (which before Flashpoint was designated to have taken place on Earth-31) so I guess all bets are off.  Just a weird addition, especially if she were to fall so anticlimactically.  Then again, I might just be reading too deep into this one... definitely sounds like something I might do!

Let's stick with Dr. Love for a bit... her methods leave a bit to be desired, no?  I mean, kidnapping the homeless to transform them into cyborgs... yeah, this is comics... she can get away with that, at least for a little while... but, winning over all the global movers and shakers with spiked punch?  C'mon... there's a certain level of silly I can accept... this is a bit too much.

Overall... this is an art book.  You buy this to look at the awesome McFarlane work... and the story isn't so bad that I'd recommend passing on it.  You can probably get this for a song these days... personally, I come across it fairly regularly in the cheap-o bins.  It's worth grabbing for the novelty, the amazing art... and, ya know... if you're in the mood for a batshtuff crazy book, you could do worse.

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Anatomy of a Shoelace-Face:

Now, howabout that ending, eh?  Looks like Spawn brought a souvenir scar back with him to his own book, don't it?  Well... yes and no... but mostly no... okay, completely no... but let's not ruin the fun.

For folks familiar with the (many) publishing woes of Image Comics early on, it really shouldn't be much of a surprise that... well, a few issues of Spawn shipped out of order.  If you were collecting the title off the rack, you may have noticed the issue that followed #18 (February, 1994) would be... #21 (May, 1994).  But, what happened to #19-20?  Well... they come later.

Just a funny pic for Joe!
From Spawn #22 (June, 1994)
words - Todd / art - McFarlane

In the months between issues #19 and 21... this one-shot with Batman hit the shelves... so when in issue #21, Spawn shows up with his face sewn up with a shoelace, it led many of us to assume that the crossover might just be in (at least Spawn's) continuity.  Adding fuel to the fire, when Spawn was questioned about his "new look", he responded with:

From Spawn #21 (May, 1994)
words - Todd / art - McFarlane

There was a helpful footnote saying that this occurred during the "lost issues" that weren't out yet.  It was ultimately revealed that Spawn got shot in the face by Houdini when issues #19-20 shipped (Toddless!  Instead with Tom Orzechowski and Andrew Grossberg writing, and Greg Capullo on art) in October and November of 1994.

From Spawn #20 (November, 1994)
words - Andrew Grossberg & Tom Orzechowski / art - Greg Capullo

So, there ya have it.  Sorry for the black and white pics... I didn't feel like digging through my longboxes and just went with the (highly recommended!) Spawn Compendium edition.  Hopefully Image/Todd will finally get around to publishing a Volume Two one'a these days!  Hopefully I'll get around to actually reading it through first...

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Et-Cetera:

I wonder if this is the first Greg Capullo Batman picture!
It's almost gotta be, right?