McFARLANE Todd
Born March 16, 1961 in Calgary Alberta.
He started drawing and collecting comics at about the same age, 18 years. He sent out nearly 700 packages to publishers before he got his first job from Steve Englehart on Marvel/Epic’s Coyote, 11. He then worked on Invasion and D.C.’s Infinity Inc. which he left in 1987 to begin the Incredible Hulk. A highlight was Incredible Hulk 340 featuring “Wolverine”. His work on this series began his rise in popularity which continued to escalate when he took over Amazing Spiderman, the most popular issues being those that featured “Venom”. In 1990, McFarlane began an all-new Spiderman series which at the time was the best selling comic book issue of all time. It has since been surpassed.
His influences have been Rob Liefeld, Frank Miller, Wayne Gretzky and John Byrne.
He can rough out a page of artwork in about 20 minutes using non-reproduction blue pencil. However, he does little penciling, preferring to draw in ink with a Hunt’s mapping point 102 tip and black India ink. It takes him about four hours to complete a drawing.
He went on to create the popular superhero character “Spawn” which first appeared in a periodical of the same name published by Image Comics in May 1992. It expanded into books, live action film, animation and toys.
WORK:
CARTOONIST:
PERIODICAL GRAPHIC:
Content serial:
Amazing Spider-man, 298-299; 313-323, 325, 328 (Marvel Comics)
| Amazing Spider-man …. “….” Writ., David Micheline. Let., Rick Parker. Col. Bob Sharen. Marvel Comics | |
| 1-300, May 1988: “Venom”:
1-306, Early Oct. 1988: “Humbugged!” : 1-307, Late Oct. 1988: “The Thief Who Stole Himself!” |
1-309, Late Nov. 1988: “Styx & Stone!”.
1-312, Feb. 1989: “The Goblin War!” |
| Amazing Spider-man …. “….” Writ., David Micheline. Let., Rick Parker. Col. Gregory Wright. Marvel Comics | |
| 1-301, June 1988: “The Sable Gauntlet!” | 1-302, July 1988. “(Mid) American Gothic!” |
Amazing Spider-man, 1-305, Late Sept. 1988: “Westward Woe!” Writ., David Micheline. In.,
Magnificent 7.Let., Rick Parker. Col. Gregory Wright. Marvel Comics
Amazing Spider-man, 1-313, Mar. 1989: “Slithereens” Writ., David Micheline. Let., Rick Parker. Col. Bob Sharen & John Wilcox.. Marvel Comics
Coyote, 11-13 (Epic)
Detective Comics, 576-578 (D.C.),
Incredible Hulk, 330-346
Invasion, 1-2 (D.C.)
Spiderman, 1-14, 16 (Marvel).
ILLUSTRATOR:
PERIODICAL GRAPHIC
Cover front:
| Amazing Spider-man ….: Marvel Comics | ||
| 1-300, May 1988.
1-301, June 1988. 1-302, July 1988. |
1-305, Late Sept. 1988.
1-306, Early Oct. 1988. 1-307, Late Oct. 1988 |
1-309, Late Nov. 1988.
1-312, Feb. 1989. 1-313, Mar. 1989. |
Amazing Spider-man, 324.
Amazing Spider-man: Skating On Thin Ice, 1-1, 1990. Occurring in Winnipeg.
Amazing Spider-man: Double Trouble, 1-2, 1990: Occurring in Fredericton.
Amazing Spider-man: Hit and Run, 1-3, 1991: Occurring in Toronto.
Amazing Spider-man: Chaos In Calgary, 1-4, 1992: Occurring in Calgary.
Amazing Spider-man: Dead Ball in Montreal, 1-5, 1993: Occurring in Montréal.
This is a 5 issue Canadian series done in conjunction with the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police and other participants. In addition to the American writers and artists, Canadians Todd McFarlane, Jim Craig and the Day Brothers contributed to the covers, while Craig pencilled issues 1-3 to 1-5, and the Day Brothers inked issues 1-4 & 1-5. The series was also issued in French. Marvel Comics then reprinted the first four issues of the series under reprint editor Glen Herdling who was also the editor of the last 2 issues of the original series. All of the issues of this series were all published Feb. 1993. None of the Canadian Associations were acknowledged in these reprints.
Batman 423, Sept. 1988. DC Comics Inc.
MERCHANDISE:
VHS LIVE ACTION:
Spawn: Wide Screen Collector’s Edition. VHS 65935 12542. Recorded from the film of the same name Produced by Clint Goldman. Directed by Mark A. Z. Dippé. Released 1 August 1997. Includes an interview with Todd McFarlane.
SOURCE:
Article periodical:
Amazing Heroes, 131, Dec. 15 1987: “McFarlane: Caught in a Spider’s Web.” Interviewer, Frank Garcia: 31-39.
Canadian Cartoonist, v. 1, April 1989: “Todd McFarlane”: 17-20.
Comic Buyer’s Guide Price Guide, April 1993:
“Behind The Scenes With Todd McFarlane”: 48.
“Todd McFarlane ; More Than Just A Man.” Writ., Brett Brooks: 37.
“Todd McFarlane’s Comic Book Spawn Steadily Increasing zprice.” Writ., Cliff Biggers:16, 18.
Comic Journal, 152, August 1992: “That’s The Spice Of Life, Bud.” Interviewer, Gary Groth: 45-70.
Image Plus, 1, May 1993: “Todd McFarlane.”
Hero Illustrated,1-10, Apr. 1994: “Gotham: To Hell & Back With McFarlane, Miller& Dixon.” Writ., Steve Darnell: 70-73.
Wizard, 1-11, July 1992: “Spawning A New Image.” Writ., Gareb Shamus:10-17, 23.
Article newspaper:
Toronto Star, 27 Feb.1987: “Here’s your guide to superheroes of Canadian comics”: D6.
Toronto Star, 2 Aug. 1997: “Spawning an empire.” Writ., Rob Salem: H3.
GALLERY:
Amazing Spider-man: Skating On Thin Ice. 1-1, 1990: Front cover. Strangely enough, this youngster in Winnipeg (Home of the Winnipeg Jets at that time) is wearing an Edmonton Oilers logo.
Cover of the VHS version of Spawn, from the live action film of the same name.