Larsen and McFarlane to Collaborate on Spawn. Also, Do You Read Spawn?
David_D
Posts: 3,884
News out of NYCC of Larsen and McFarlane teaming up on the continuing Spawn series.:
But I also realize... I don't think I know anyone that reads Spawn. Or, at least, if I do, I don't hear them bring it up. Nor do I hear much about people jumping on and catching up on this long-running story through collections the way you hear about people doing with, say, Walking Dead or Fables. And that could entirely be my blind spot, that maybe there is an age difference or difference in reading preferences between me and the Spawn readers. Or maybe, given that it is such a self-contained title, that people read Spawn, enjoy it, but don't end up talking about it or connecting with other people over it the way they do with some other kinds of books. Or maybe it has been around for so long now, that the ubiquitous nature of it keeps people from recommending it, the way that we tend to champion the hot new things of the last five years, you know what I mean?
So, I'm curious. Do you read Spawn? What is it like these days? Have you from the beginning? Or did you jump on later?
"Savage Dragon" creator and McFarlane's fellow Image founder Erik Larsen will join the series as of "Spawn" #258, in what McFarlane describes as a "true partnership." Effectively, the two will co-write the series with Larsen penciling and McFarlane inking -- though it's a bit more freeform than that.Looking at this news, which is big news to old-school Image fans (and, perhaps, to Larsen fans? Though I would wonder if they love Savage Dragon, is this might feel like a step back from Larsen continuing his own work and character). But it also struck me that, wow, Spawn is past issue #250. That is a remarkable publishing achievement. A hell of a thing. That Spawn is still going, especially in the various comic markets the title has existed through.
"It's going to be sort of a tag team," McFarlane told CBR News. "We're going to co-plot, we're going to co-write. He's going to do the early, rough laydowns on it, I'm going to do a little bit of inking, he's going to do a little bit of inking, I'm going to do some penciling on top of his inking, and we're just going to do this hodgepodge that, at the end, you're going to go, 'Who wrote that?' 'I don't know, do you remember, Erik?'"
Larsen is slated to contribute to at least five issues of "Spawn," starting with #258 -- what McFarlane calls a "essentially a silent issue" and the prelude to the previously announced four-part "Satan Saga Wars," which starts with #259. Beyond that, it's open-ended as to how long Larsen will contribute to McFarlane's creation."
But I also realize... I don't think I know anyone that reads Spawn. Or, at least, if I do, I don't hear them bring it up. Nor do I hear much about people jumping on and catching up on this long-running story through collections the way you hear about people doing with, say, Walking Dead or Fables. And that could entirely be my blind spot, that maybe there is an age difference or difference in reading preferences between me and the Spawn readers. Or maybe, given that it is such a self-contained title, that people read Spawn, enjoy it, but don't end up talking about it or connecting with other people over it the way they do with some other kinds of books. Or maybe it has been around for so long now, that the ubiquitous nature of it keeps people from recommending it, the way that we tend to champion the hot new things of the last five years, you know what I mean?
So, I'm curious. Do you read Spawn? What is it like these days? Have you from the beginning? Or did you jump on later?
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Still, though, still in the game.
Earlier this year, Image released all 250 issues digitally, so pretty much the whole run. Of course, we never get THOSE sales figures. I'd be curious at how many downloads they sold there.
In this upcoming arc, @David_D referenced, The Satan Saga Wars, Satan somehow manages to escape from his prison of what was once Earth, and seeks to restore his former glory and it’s up to Al Simmons to save the day again. Spawn takes on the Evil entity that gave him his powers way back in issue #1. Despite being in conflict, the two have never actually fought or even met throughout the entire series. And this marks a return of creator Todd MacFarlane to write and draw the series ('with friends', say the solicits). Erik Larsen's involvement my not be as extensive as the announcement at NYCC implies.
Still, this could be something cool, but if you aren't following Spawn already (fewer than 20k readers seem to be) then I don't know how many new readers this will bring in. Spawn is definitely a creation of the 90's.
But to be honest, I haven't read it in years. I lost interest because the books tended to be a number of splash pages of Spawn brooding atop a steeple. You could count on it at least once (sometimes twice) a book.
I'm happy to see it's still going, and still has an audience.
Speaking of chugging along... The Erik Larsen component is the more interesting aspect of this news for me. I wonder how it will effect his work on Savage Dragon. I really enjoy Larsen's artwork, but I dropped Savage Dragon a couple of months back. I just couldn't handle the direction the book was heading. I wanted to support his title (and Erik's longevity), especially since I had the whole run up to that point, but the stories just weren't doing it for me anymore. The market is too competitive, and comics are too pricey to continue to buy out of habit anymore.
While I'm not currently reading the title, I did for much of the run over the years and I probably will fill a few holes and catch up digitally at some point- it's on my list to do. Overall I think it's a really great book, and very "meta" in spots.. Larsen never has been afraid to try something new or change things up with Dragon. Spawn's 258 issues is impressive, but Savage Dragon is over 200 and that's all with Larsen writing and drawing. That's a heck of a run on a creator-owned book.
So (as you well know since you've read a lot of it), if you don't like the direction Savage Dragon has taken, wait a bit, it'll change soon.
What other creator owned comic has a consecutive 35 issue run written and drawn by other people? (well, the answer is probably Golgo 13, but you get my drift :))
And how they wouldn't, and couldn't, go back to how Coligostro tricked Spawn and became king of that section of Hell.
I was put off the same way by Kirkman's Thief of Thieves. A "Creator-Owned" title that, from the very first issue, he neither wrote nor drew. But was credited as "creating". I mean, at least in TV, *usually* the person credited as being the creator at least writes the pilot episode, you know what I mean?