Man, I remember when
everyone and their Mommas were climbing all over each other for copies of the first few issues of
SPAWN.
Todd McFarlane joined other creators in venturing out of the playgrounds of "the big dawgs" in the comics biz back in the 90's, and created their own little playground: the IMAGE Universe. "
Spawn" was Todd's little corner of this creator-owned universe.
It's one of those shining moments in comic history. Not necessarily for the story or the hype surrounding the issue, but it was when Todd was
REALLY putting life into his work. I'm reminded of the unique storytelling of Will Eisner, and his blending of panels and objects to help shape a story. McFarlane also had a nice knack for that, too. His visuals were outstanding, and his artwork fit true to form in the pages of 4-color heaven. Combine this with Malibu's brilliant coloring process, and yeah, SPAWN #1 was a halfway decent book, and remains to be fun to read, or at least flip through.
Of course, the Spawn franchise became big. The comic market imploded. Art chores went to Greg Capullo later on in the series, and Todd's role over time shifted gradually until he was too busy buying home run baseballs and dodging lawsuits by various creators or sports-stars to devote artistic time to the Spawn series.
Regardless, man, remember those days? When comic artists were rock stars?
Todd continues to be the
Elvis of the comic industry.
"
Thank you very much".