Spartan: Warrior Spirit #3
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeSpartan: Warrior Spirit #3 is the pivotal chapter of Spartan's first-ever solo limited series — the issue in which the WildC.A.T.s' android field commander finally learns the full truth of his own creation. Dr. Able's extended origin flashback reveals that Spartan was built on a prototype modeled after Able's deceased son-in-law, Zachary Krieger, and that Jacob Marlowe co-opted the project to forge the WildC.A.T.s' most steadfast soldier — the first time this foundational backstory was told in full. The issue also marks the first appearance of Zachary Krieger (in flashback), making it the single issue where the human template underlying one of WildStorm's defining android characters is given a name, a face, and a tragedy. As part of a mid-1990s wave of WildC.A.T.s solo spin-offs, the series represents an early effort by WildStorm Productions to deepen its universe's characterization beyond action spectacle — and having the pre-Astro City Kurt Busiek scripting it gave the project an unusual degree of craft for the era.
In "Warrior Spirit [Part 3]," Kurt Busiek and Mike McKone deliver a gripping chapter as the mechanical warrior Spartan confronts his past while defending Dr. Able and Allison from relentless Gamorran attacks. With the WildC.A.T.S arriving to aid in the battle, Spartan faces a new challenge—taking down his own allies—while the mystery of his origin deepens. The issue’s dynamic art by McKone, with inks by McKenna and Gray, and bold lettering by Starkings and Comicraft, brings the conflict to life, all under a striking cover by McKone and McKenna.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
The four-issue limited series was produced by WildStorm Productions and published under the Image Comics imprint, running from July to November 1995, with Jonathan Peterson serving as executive editor. Kurt Busiek — who was simultaneously developing Astro City for WildStorm's newly founded Homage Comics imprint that same year — wrote all four issues, while artist Mike McKone and inkers Mark McKenna and Mick Gray handled the visuals throughout the run. The series was conceived as a character study for Spartan (Yohn Kohl), a WildC.A.T.s founding member created by Jim Lee and Brandon Choi, who had been a team fixture since WildC.A.T.s #1 in 1992 but had never received a dedicated solo spotlight. Issue #3, cover-dated October 1995, sits at the narrative and thematic heart of the mini-series, delivering the origin payoff that the preceding two issues had carefully withheld.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published October 1995 by Image Comics / WildStorm Productions as part three of a four-issue limited series (July–November 1995).
- Written by Kurt Busiek with art and cover by Mike McKone, inked by Mark McKenna and Mick Gray — the same creative team across the entire run.
- First appearance of Zachary Krieger (in flashback) — the deceased human whose likeness Dr. Able used as the template for the prototype android that eventually became Spartan.
- Dr. Able's origin monologue reveals that Jacob Marlowe (Emp of the WildC.A.T.s) purchased and repurposed Able's android prototype, retroactively tying Spartan's creation directly to WildC.A.T.s corporate history.
- Able also discloses that Kaizen Gamorra originally funded his experiment to awaken and contain the supernatural entity called the Soul Devourer, then turned on him — connecting the Gamorran military antagonists to the series' larger mythological plot.
- The issue includes a two-page Spartan pin-up by artists Spade and Jerome Moore, consistent with the bonus pin-up feature carried in every issue of the limited series.
- This is Spartan's first solo limited series; the character was co-created by Jim Lee and Brandon Choi and first appeared in WildC.A.T.s #1 (1992).
- The series fits into the broader 1995 WildStorm era of WildC.A.T.s solo spin-offs, alongside titles spotlighting Zealot, Grifter, and others, as WildStorm actively expanded its shared universe through character-focused minis.
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