Posted in: Comics, Image, Swipe File | Tagged: Carlo Barbieri, geof darrow, Gianerico Bonacorsi, gunslinger spawn, hard boiled, spawn, todd mcfarlane

Todd McFarlane Radically Changed Gunslinger Spawn #52 Cover This Week

Todd McFarlane radically changed the cover to yesterday's Gunslinger Spawn #52 from Image Comics... but why?

Todd McFarlane's comic book Gunslinger Spawn #52 was listed in Image Comics' February 2026 solicits and solicitations on Bleeding Cool, like this. With a rather arresting cover by Gianerico Bonacorsi. With the Gunslinger Spawn, the Spawn from the Wild West dragged through the decades, shooting through the head of an individual with some rather far-right tattoos and insignia etched on his head. You know the ones. And Gunslinger Spawn seen through that hole. And it comes with a virgin variant cover, which means without a logo or title.

This is how the whole listing looked in the catalogue back in November 2025. But on release this week, that cover has changed somewhat. To a rather generic image of the Gunslinger Spawn by series artist Carlo Barberi, with a black and white version as its variant edition.

The change has been made on Lunar Distribution's listings, but not on the downloadable PDF of the catalogue. The League Of Comic Geeks entry has changed, but not that of retailers like Golden Apple. The Image Comics website has made the change to the main cover but has forgotten to update the virgin variant. For now, until someone reads this article and presses a button. And it is not on the McFarlane webstore at all. As for the reason for the change? We can speculate. Some territories have made showing Nazi regalia, such as the swastika, on the covers of publications illegal. And some stores don't want it. It may even be considered too violent for some retailers. Or possibly even too political, but I wouldn't like to make that argument. Or maybe Todd just wanted to have the artist on the inside of the comic draw the cover on the outside as well. Or maybe it was too close to another cover?

Separated At Birth: Guest Appearance

The original layout of the cover to Gunslinger Spawn #52 could be seen as influenced by Geof Darrow's cover for 1992's Hard Boiled #3…. 

… which some believe also influenced another story about gun-slingers, 1995's Sam Raimi film The Quick and the Dead.

But as it stands, Gunslinger Spawn #52 by Todd McFarlane and Carlo Barberi, with the new covers, was published by Image Comics yesterday.

GUNSLINGER SPAWN #52
STORY TODD MCFARLANE • ART CARLO BARBERI
The Gunslinger and Waya go on a vision quest in an attempt to find a way back to the past for Javi. What they discover will shock them to their very core. 2026-03-25 • 24 PAGES • FC • T+ • $3.99 US

Call it Separated At Birth or call it Swipe File, we present two or more images that resemble each other to some degree. They may be homages, parodies, ironic appropriations, coincidences, or works of the lightbox. We trust you, the reader, to make that judgment yourself. If you are unable to do so, please return your eyes to their maker before any further damage is done. Separated At Birth doesn't judge; it is more interested in the process of creation, how work influences other work, how new work comes from old, and sometimes how the same ideas emerge simultaneously, as if their time has just come. The Swipe File was named after the advertising industry habit of writers and artists collecting images and lines they admire to inspire their work. It was swiped from The Comics Journal, which originally ran a similar column, as well as the now-defunct Swipe Of The Week website, but Separated At Birth was considered a less antagonistic title.

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