It was thirty years ago that the trendiest writers and artists in the comic book business became disgruntled with the Big Two method of doing business and struck out on their own, founding Image Comics. It was a big risk, but it paid off, with the brand remaining an established presence in the comics market to this day. But now that Image is 30, they’re taking a moment to gaze back at their roots.
In general, when a book starring a Marvel character comes out, you expect Marvel themselves to have made it — not one of their “rival” companies. But these are interesting times, and IDW has been granted permission by Big M to produce an artbook of scanned original pages from Todd McFarlane’s run on Spider-Man.
Holy Plasticine, Batman! McFarlane Toys has partnered up with department store chain Target to produce a line of Bat-figures themed around the classic 1960s Adam West series. You get Batman, Robin, the Joker, the Batmobile and the Batcave — each of the figures are six inches tall with classic articulation and two action word bubbles as accessories (POW! SOCK!) Let’s take a look at ’em…
Will 2021 be the Year of Spawn? It’d be weird if things turned out that way, but his creator, Todd McFarlane, believes he can make it happen. He has his eyes on a Cinematic Universe of his own making and he’s announced plans to lay the foundation with an expanded Spawn-centric lineup at Image this year.
Todd McFarlane has made quite a name for himself not just as a comic book artist, but as a toy designer. The McFarlane Toys brand always attracts an audience of collectors, which is why they’ll be surprised to learn to get Todd’s latest line of creatures, they’ll have to beat a path to….Wal-Mart.
Not only do they still produce Todd McFarlane’s Spawn, it just rolled over 300 issues…and, with the printing of its 301st, will become the “Longest-Running Creator-Owned Superhero Comic Book Series” according to the Guinness Book Of Records. This calls for a celebration, which you can attend if you’re going to be near Arizona in the next few days.
Out of all the superhero movies out there, few would mention the 1997 “Spawn” flick as one of their favorites. Creator Todd McFarlane is getting a second chance, though, with a new Spawn feature in development through Blumhouse.
Spawn is one of the most legendary anti-heroes in all of comics, and was the figurehead for Image Comics for many years. The character has had a cartoon series and a live-action movie made about him, and soon, he’s going to get another movie. But this time, it’ll be headed up by creator Todd McFarlane himself. In an interview with AZCentral, he revealed the progress of the film, and the stereotypes he’s going to avoid:
Spawn at one time was a very popular character outside of the comics. It had a cult-classic film, and then had an animated series on HBO (starring Keith David) which actually won an Emmy and lasted a couple years. Now that Todd McFarlane (creator of Spawn) is helming the return of the character on the big screen, could he return to the TV screen?
Superhero films are a part of the yearly box office, but most of them focus on DC and Marvel characters. However, there are some others that are going to try and make a splash soon. One of them is Spawn, which will be directed by its creator, Todd McFarlane.
One of things that people sometimes forget is that just because you are talented in one area, does not mean you’re talented in the other. For example, one can be an excellent artist, yet not have the abilities to formulate their own story. Then, there’s the idea that writers shouldn’t direct adaptations of their own product. Such a thing is about to happen to Spawn, as the characters creator Todd McFarlane is set to direct the next live-action film for him.
Spawn is one of the greatest anti-heroes in all of comics. In fact, he was the showpiece of Image Comics when it was being born as a major publisher, and the character has lived ever since. The character has had a lot go for him in the years since he was born. He’s had a TV show, a movie, appearances in video games, and more. But now, his creator, Todd McFarlane is coming back to make his character a big screen movie one more time.