Spawn in French

Spawn is one of the few comics whose French edition has changed hands three times without ever disappearing: newsstand issues with Semic, hardcover albums at Bethy, then Delcourt for everything else. Reading the series in French means choosing an era as much as a volume.

As always in this guide, only verified information (creators, issue numbers, dates) is stated as fact; the analysis is our own, with no reproduction of protected artwork or dialogue.

The original US run in brief

Spawn is born at Image Comics with a first issue dated May 1992. Todd McFarlane, who had just left Marvel, is its creator, writer and artist. The hero, Al Simmons, a former special forces agent executed by his superiors, comes back from the dead as a Hellspawn after a pact made in hell to be reunited with his wife Wanda. Our articles on the first issue and on the history of the series detail the American side.

The American series now runs past issue 300, and other titles surround it: Spawn: The Dark Ages, King Spawn, Gunslinger Spawn, The Scorched. This branching explains the complexity of the French edition: each French publisher had to choose what to translate, in what order and under what title.

The French editions, in order of publication

Semic: the newsstand issue (1995 to 2004)

The first French edition of Spawn appears at Semic in May 1995. According to the online encyclopedia, the magazine runs from May 1995 to November 2004 and has 79 issues; a collectors' database cross-checks both ends, with an issue 2 in July 1995, an issue 3 in September 1995 and an issue 79 dated November 2, 2004. The first issue contains the story "Questions", in its first two parts out of four, which correspond to the first two American issues.

The first three issues come out two months apart (May, July, September 1995). We do not give the page count, because listings do not report it the same way. To understand this period when a French magazine grouped American episodes according to its own logic, see our article on the disappearance of French-language comics magazines.

Bethy: four hardcover albums (late 1990s)

In the meantime, the series also moved to albums. The online encyclopedia mentions a "Comics culture" collection from the publisher Bethy, in four hardcover albums with dust jackets, published in 1998 and 1999. One listing details volume 3, titled Révélation: 112 pages, translation by Thomas Bauduret, rights notice shared between Semic and Bethy. A community list dates the first volume to 1997 and gives it the title Questions: the sources differ on the year, and we do not settle it.

According to the encyclopedia, the Semic and Bethy titles reuse the previous publisher's translation for some albums. The two houses were therefore linked, which explains why identical translations circulate under two covers.

Semic: the albums of the 2000s to 2004

Semic then published albums under the Privilège, Semic Books and Semic Album brands: seven titles according to the online encyclopedia, between 2000 and 2004, including spin-off series such as HellSpawn, Spawn Undead and the album Simonie. A collection listing dates Simonie to 2003 and a special issue titled De ténèbres et de sang to 2000. These are interesting objects for the collector of what was not reprinted afterward.

Delcourt: Les Chroniques de Spawn, magazine (2005 to 2011)

Delcourt takes over the license in 2005. Les Chroniques de Spawn begin on July 1, 2005 and last, according to the online encyclopedia, until June 2011, with 36 issues and one special issue. The format noted on a collector's listing is 17 x 26 centimeters. Several reader comments mention a two-month interval between issues, but no official source states the frequency. Delcourt's magazine and Semic's are therefore two distinct series, each with its own numbering: do not mix them up in a ranking.

Delcourt: the album series in the Contrebande collection (since 2006)

Volume 1, Résurrection, comes out at Delcourt in May 2006 (May 1 at one bookseller, the 17th at another; the dates differ). It has about 250 pages, is presented as a first remastered omnibus of the character's adventures, with an afterword by Frank Miller and a translation by Alex Nikolavitch. A bibliographic record states that it gathers US issues 1 to 8 and 11 to 13. This absence of issues 9 and 10 echoes statements by Delcourt's editorial director in 2012 and 2013, reported by the online encyclopedia: issue 10 came out later with the Violator miniseries, and the reissue of issue 9 with the Angela miniseries was not possible at that time.

The numbered series continues with volume 5, Rédemption, in 2008 (about 320 pages), and has 22 numbered volumes through 2023, according to the online encyclopedia, as well as special editions and reissues. A hardcover reissue of volume 1 appeared on October 23, 2024, at 328 pages. Its exact contents are not detailed in the listings we consulted.

Delcourt: Hors-série, Saga infernale, Dark Ages (2012 onward)

Delcourt multiplied side collections: a Hors-série (special) line (14 entries between 2005 and 2019), La Saga infernale (eight albums, from 2012 to 2015), then Spawn: The Dark Ages, whose first volume appears in September 2017 and gathers issues 1 to 14 of that American series. The editorial director notes that the hors-série albums do not fit precisely into the continuity and can only be tied to an approximate period.

Delcourt: Spawn Renaissance (2016 to 2025)

Spawn Renaissance, fifteen albums from 2016 to 2025 according to the online encyclopedia, picks up the American series at a specific point. Volume 2, published on October 26, 2016, gathers issues 256 to 262, in 176 hardcover pages of 27 x 18 centimeters. Volume 11, from September 7, 2022, gathers issues 314 to 320, in 192 pages. Volume 15 is dated January 15, 2025. We could not cross-check the contents of volume 1.

Since 2022, spin-off titles have been added: King Spawn, Gunslinger Spawn and Spawn: Scorched, l'escouade infernale. King Spawn is still ongoing at Delcourt, with a volume announced for 2026.

US / French correspondence

Only cross-checked correspondences appear in this grid.

The gaps in this grid are deliberate: an assumed content is worth less than a content left blank.

Which edition to choose for your profile

You are discovering the series

Take volume 1 from Delcourt in its most recent version, then the following volumes in order. Keep in mind that US issues 9 and 10 are not in it, according to the listing we consulted: if the story seems to skip an episode, that is an editorial choice, not a reading mistake. Our reading guide helps place the arcs.

You want to follow the current series

Spawn Renaissance and then the spin-off titles are the direct path, as they continue the ongoing American series. Volume 2 starts at US issue 256; since the contents of volume 1 are not confirmed by our sources, check them on the listing before buying.

You collect the first French editions

The Semic magazine, with its 79 issues, and the four Bethy albums are the collector's natural ground. Expect copies worn by reading, because these single issues circulated at newsstands. Check the issue number, the date and the publisher's mention on the back before any purchase.

Pitfalls and points to watch

The first pitfall is shared names. A volume titled "Questions" exists in the Bethy community list, while another "Questions" appears in a fourteen-title saga listed by a reading platform, without the publisher being specified. Two covers carry the same word, for two possibly distinct contents: always check the publisher before concluding.

The second pitfall is the two Delcourt numbering systems: Les Chroniques de Spawn is a magazine, the Contrebande series is albums, and Renaissance is a third sequence. A listing that says "Spawn volume 8" with no mention of publisher or collection can point to three different objects. The Semic magazine issue numbers add a fourth scale.

Third point: the publication date varies from one site to another for the same edition, as seen for Delcourt's volume 1. Keep the year, not the day, for cataloging.

Finally, the first translations are not interchangeable with later ones. Alex Nikolavitch signs the one for Delcourt's volume 1; Thomas Bauduret the one for a Bethy album. Place names or character names can therefore change from one volume to the next. This instability is typical of long-running French editions, as explained in our page on numbering collisions between Lug and Semic.

What these editions are worth in a collection

A Contrebande series album is judged on condition and availability, which vary from one volume to another. A Semic single issue is judged differently: it circulated at newsstands, and a crease-free copy stands clearly apart from a handled one. For the four Bethy albums, the challenge is to assemble the complete series and to spot the dust jacket.

The method remains the same as for any comic: identify the exact edition, compare completed sales rather than listings, adjust for condition. A complete lot of the Semic magazine is rarely consistent, because 79 issues are hard to assemble; expect gaps. To estimate a specific copy, our page on estimating French-language comics gives the steps.

Frequently asked questions