Comic Book Resources

They still publish Spawn?

Did anyone EVER care about Spawn?

My thoughts exactly. I faintly remember it being cancelled.

I vaguely remember caring about Spawn when I was ten.

Did people ever really care about Spawn? Or were people just holding on to hope that Todd would draw again. And now that the industry and the comic audience has grown to like artists like Cassaday, Hitch, Reis, etc., do people even care if any of those old Image guys started drawing again.

Spawn has never been anything other than a generic character with a generic costume. The only thing it ever had going for it was the Todd McFarlane name. And now that the desire to see McFarlane draw has died off somewhat, Spawn doesn't even have THAT going for it.

Spawn is a cheesy relic of the early 90s.

Portacio was always my least favorite of the Image founder artists, and that's saying something. And McFarlane has never been known for his writing ability. So I'm not surprised there's no buzz about this. Actually, it makes me happy that the comic reading world doesn't care about this. Now if we can just get them to stop caring about ridiculous summer crossovers.

Ah yes! Spawn! Wasn't that a comic book that came out when young people had 5 minute attention spans, right around the time when every other issue of a comic book had 5 alternate covers in your choice of olympic medal type finishes? When, just as soon as a comic started to grow on you your loyalty was paid by the book being later and later each month until it eventually got cancelled....a time when you didn't even bother buying a 12 month subscription because you knew the book wouldn't even last that long?

While Spawn was hot in the beginning...and I applaud it's relatively long run compared with other 'independent' comics it is just what it is....

Yaaaaaaawwwwwnnnn, eh? You punks woke me up from a sound sleep gabbing about SPAWN?!?

Talk about Walking Dead, Invincibles, or even the Astounding Wolf-Man.

McFarlane's, I'm afraid to say, old news.

Now, if he and Gaiman were to make a deal over Miracleman, then, my interest might be piqued.

Don't care about Spawn, don't care about Portacio, might care if McFarlane were doing something other than co-plotting (like, say... actually drawing?).

"Ah yes! Spawn! Wasn’t that a comic book that came out when young people had 5 minute attention spans..."

So your point is kids back in the 90s had longer attention spans? Spawn was known for its graphic violence and great coloring. However both those things have become standard in mainstream comics making Spawn pretty easy to forget.

To be fair, in the early 90s, I liked Portacio better than Leifeld or McFarlane, and just about as much as Jim Lee. The style hasn't aged well.

The only time I ever cared about Spawn, though, was during his crossover with Cerebus. Then I stopped caring about Cerebus, too.

Wasn’t that a comic book that came out when young people had 5 minute attention spans, right around the time when every other issue of a comic book had 5 alternate covers in your choice of olympic medal type finishes? When, just as soon as a comic started to grow on you your loyalty was paid by the book being later and later each month until it eventually got cancelled….a time when you didn’t even bother buying a 12 month subscription because you knew the book wouldn’t even last that long?

Spawn actually dodged most of those traps back in the day...

But honestly, when has Portacio ever been someone to get excited about?
Has he ever been able to do ten consecutive issues without a delay?
He seems to be a guy they bring on to launch a book, and then by issue five is no longer on it.
That gets old fast.

Dude, if McFarlane & Portacio got together on a book, I could easily double my price on all the first release copies I bought. Oh, the point of CSBG is longer range? Crap... I'm going to regret this sooner or later. _Image_ becomes more appropriate all the time. Let me know when Spawn does something more significant than "I'm a black character" or "I'm a new character".

The answer to your question in a word, Brian, is "no". They don't make a sound outside the blogosphere.

No one ever cared about Spawn.

Not me, at least. At the time I was busy reading Shade, the Changing Man and Enigma

McFarlane isn't a good writer. Portacio is not my kinda artist (very 90s) and has anything noteworthy happened to Spawn since the first 10 issues (I honestly don't know, I do know it was treading water for a looooooooong time since people complained about it and I've flipped through some issues years ago at a friend's who stuck with it for quite a while)? All in all, I can't get remotely excited about and understand why other people aren't either. It's more amazing that this 90s relic is still around.

Spawn's ship sailed 15 years ago. McFarlane as a writer is no draw at all. I actually like Portracio but definitely not enough to get me to take a look at a series I have no interest in otherwise.

Every once in a while I look at the shipping list and realized, "Huh. Spawn is still being published." But that's about all the notice I take.

I imagine a comic books world without Spawn. It would be a better comic books world...

First issue comes out - fan buzz is good.

Second issue comes out - one year after first.

no-one cares.

I bought the first 6 issues of Spawn. A year or so later (while they were still "hot") I traded them for 3 or 4 issues of Lee/Kirby FFs (circa issue 80). Not a bad bit of business!

Actually as I recall in terms of professionalism Spawn was pretty much the closest Image came to being reasonable. McFarlane kept the closest to a schedule by far. He actually managed to develop something resembling a story. When people complained about his writing he went out and got four of the biggest names out there to help him refine his concepts and he learned from them.

Not that it was really any good but of all of the inmates running the asylum at Image McFarlane was probably the best. To be honest I'm surprised that he needs to return to it; isn't it kind of hypocritical to leave a company because of "creator's rights" and then put someone else into a work-for-hire situation on your creation?

Even if Mcfarlane was the artist, would people still care?

Very harsh response so vfar.

Portacio's one of the best modern artists when it comes to layouts, page composition, perspective and use of shadows. Many of the current "hot" artists could learn fro Whilce.

McFarlane as a writer is no big deal.

However, were he to pencil a Spidey one-shot, it'd be the biggest selling comic of the past 10 years without a doubt.

That said, I'll pick it up. Too many people think the Whilce of Wetworks #1 is indicative of his work ethic. Personal issues affected the release of that issue - give the guy a break!

Often his characters' faces are quite hideous - he should stick to layouts, with Charest doing the finished pencils. That would be a dream team.

Spawn and the rest of the early Image crap drove me away from comics for years. So, do I feel nostalgic for it? Hell, no! Do people feel nostalgic about particularly painful root canals?

True, Image Comics has mutated, and has published many interesting comics that aren't in the dreaded "Image" style. And today we're all able to look back at Spawn and see how crappy it was, so my anger has diluted and changed into extreme indifference tinged by faint disgust.

I collected Spawn from issue 1 to issue 100. That was about 90 issues too long.

Wow, I thought there would be a least one "Screw you guys, Spawn rules!" post. But it's not gonna be me.

Portacio used to be my favorite Image artist; his style was filled with all the things a young teenage boy would like in his comics. His style sure hasn't aged well, but my inner-13 year-old cares about this news just a little, tiny bit.

Just not enough to actually buy it. Or read it in the store. Or seek it out online.

If you look at the May estimated comic sales(on the home page) Spawn still sells 20,000 issues a month. Although that is compared to the million it sold for the first issue. Somebody still cares just not me.

I just doubled check 22,000 and change #116 on the Estimated sales .It actually beats out 100 Bullets, Hellblazer, Abe Sapien, and BPRD, just to name a few. This makes me sad

20,000, huh?

Well, I suppose Spawn was too big to ever disappear completely.

See, I had the same kind of snarky comment all primed and ready when I saw this, but now that I've read 29 of them in a row, it would feel like kicking a puppy.

Aw, hell, I'll do it anyway. Last time I checked, Cronin, it's not 1992 anymore! Zing! Take that, Image guys!

Wasn’t that a comic book that came out when young people had 5 minute attention spans, right around the time when every other issue of a comic book had 5 alternate covers in your choice of olympic medal type finishes? When, just as soon as a comic started to grow on you your loyalty was paid by the book being later and later each month until it eventually got cancelled….a time when you didn’t even bother buying a 12 month subscription because you knew the book wouldn’t even last that long?

Things have certainly changed since then, haven't they?

Spawn, McFarlane, and Portacio?

Nope. No one cares.

No one notices because Spawn hasn't been a Top 100 book since when..?

Todd gave up on the character long ago, the fans did as well. This is just a desperate grasp for Image's 90s heyday.

Bomb Queen has She-Spawn.

So no, no one cares about Spawn anymore.

Can't personally say I'll pick up the book just cause of McFarlane and Portacio being the team. I'm not picking up that book and many other books due to the price! Comics or gas money? Comics or eat? Comics or survive in a monetarliy capitalist world? I'm a college student living off financial aid for chrissake!! But I will say this about Spawn, regardless of all the negative stuff, McFarlane tried to keep it at 1.95 for the longest time. Gotta look give the guy credit for that. What Spawn really needs to get my attention is a critically acclaimed writer, someone who can bring some awe back to the book. Take your pick Toddy, there's a boatload of them out there right now.... you just kinda gotta make sure they aren't under exclusive contract with one of the big two.

The only Image comic I ever really liked was the Maxx... and even that petered out *real* quick.

McFarlane would have to come back on art for Spawn to be news. We've all heard so many "no, really" relaunches of this title by now they've used up every ounce of their credibility.

Or does anyone think this team will consistently put out twelve monthly issues in a row on time with no fill-ins? Yeah, exactly.

I cared about Spawn once...

His headquarters from the action figure line (Spawn Alley, I believe) was on sale, and I thought it looked cool and would be awesome to go with my Marvel action figures. So really...that's about it.

Oh yeah and the rubber Violator could be put in strange places to frighten female family members...good times.

I imagine a comic books world without Spawn. It would be a better comic books world…

Why?

For what reason?

There's a lot more shit out there than Spawn - and even when it sold gangbusters, it did so for a reason... hate to break it to you, but at the time, it really was a lot better than a LOT of the the shit on the stands.
It may not hold up now, granted, but back then, it did stand out besides the hype it had.
Not saying it was art, or great or anything, but it was a good product for the time.

And as for these days... why would comics be better without it?
Most people seem shocked to find out it's still going.
What harm is it doing anyone in that case?

The early Image books may have been fairly spotty, but a world without Spawn probably wouldn't be a better place. A world where creators walked away from guaranteed fame and fortune at Marvel to take a chance doing their own thing... and they all failed? That would suck.

If Spawn is the price we pay for Image currently being one of the most interesting publishers around, it's well worth it.

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Used to like Sam and Twitch, by Bendis.

Yeah, I hate Spawn and all the early Image stuff, but I'm forced to admit that Image Comics has had a positive impact on comics, in the long-term.

Never bought, read or looked at an issue of Spawn.
Won't bother to now.

If McFarlane were the artist, I might be interested, but shouldn't Spawn have long ago run out of demon power or whatever?

Did Spawn ever get out of that alley and stop whining?