In
December 2001, I received an email from DC editor, Matt
Idelson. Matt wrote that he was a fan of my work and
asked me if I'd consider doing a project for DC. 
After
some reflection, I decided that I could do something
really cool with Batman. There are many iconic qualities
about his universe; the Bat-symbol, Gotham City, the
Batcave and Batman himself. When I thought about all
the possibilities, it put a big grin on my face. I wrote
back and told him I'd like to do a full color 32 page
story (which ended up expanding to 40 pages) with the
Dark Knight. I asked him to let me write, pencil, ink,
color and letter the whole thing, warning him that this
would be a most different and outrageous version of the
character. In a vote of confidence, Matt agreed.
The
story that ensued was serialized in Detective Comics
#776, #777, #778, #779 and #780, and created quite a
controversy with the Batman fans. Pretty much everyone
agreed on one thing though: this was probably the most
insane Batman story ever published!
Here
is what comic reviewers had to say about it:
"...it's
a gorgeous story. It's completely over the top and
unlike anything you've probably ever seen in a Bat
book."
- Augie De Blieck Jr (ComicBookResources.com)
"...whoever
greenlit it deserves to be sentenced to do some community
service for publishing this."
- Zach Couture (HeroRealm.com)
"...kudos
to Idelson [editor] for taking a chance on what I still
think is a very strange tale."
- Tim O'Shea (ORCAFresh.net)
"...a
whole lot of fun, and I guarantee it's completely unlike
any Superman/Batman confrontation you've seen before."
- Randy Lander (TheFourthRail.com)
"My
opinion of this serial, in which Batman gets infected
by an alien virus that transforms his body, changes
from moment to moment, but it's certainly one of the
most unusual Batman stories of recent memory."
- Tony Isabella (Perpetual Comics.com)
"...very
cool and very creepy."
- Rebecca Salek (SequentialTart.com)
"...strangely
interesting in its degree of weirdness."
- James Schee (Quality Comics Reads - QCR
Reviews)
"...an
odd experiment, blending Gagné's cartoon style
and love for weird creatures, with Batman, and unsurprisingly
it works very well. "
- d. emerson eddy (www.d-generation.ca)
"...it
brought a radically different style to the forefront
of mainstream comics."
- Don MacPherson (TheFourthRail.com)
"...astonishing."
- Frank Plowright (The Slings and Arrows Comic
Guide: A Critical Assessment)
"...[Spore]
makes no attempt to either explain itself or seek your
forgiveness."
- David Kozlowski (SilverBulletComicBooks.com)
