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Larsen and McFarlane to Collaborate on Spawn. Also, Do You Read Spawn?

News out of NYCC of Larsen and McFarlane teaming up on the continuing Spawn series.:
"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.

"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."
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.

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?

Comments

  • bamfbamfbamfbamf Posts: 718
    edited October 2015
  • mwhitt80mwhitt80 Posts: 4,637
    This is a really good question. It's amazing Spawn (or any comic truthfully) can run for 250 issues.
  • David_DDavid_D Posts: 3,884
    bamfbamf said:

    zzzzzzzzzz

    ;-P

    TLDR: U RD SPWN?

    ;)
  • bamfbamfbamfbamf Posts: 718
    edited October 2015
    15k copies

    http://www.comichron.com/monthlycomicssales/2015/2015-08.html

    133 Master of Kung Fu 4 $3.99 Marvel 16,111
    134 Phonogram The Immaterial Girl 1 $3.99 Image 15,856
    135 Low 9 $3.50 Image 15,717
    136 Spawn 255 $2.99 Image 15,717
    137 Injustice Gods Among Us Year Four 7 $2.99 DC 15,559
    138 Lady Mechanika Tablet of Destinies 4 $3.99 Benitez 15,367
    139 Injustice Gods Among Us Year Four 8 $2.99 DC 15,269
  • David_DDavid_D Posts: 3,884
    bamfbamf said:

    15k copies

    http://www.comichron.com/monthlycomicssales/2015/2015-08.html

    133 Master of Kung Fu 4 $3.99 Marvel 16,111
    134 Phonogram The Immaterial Girl 1 $3.99 Image 15,856
    135 Low 9 $3.50 Image 15,717
    136 Spawn 255 $2.99 Image 15,717
    137 Injustice Gods Among Us Year Four 7 $2.99 DC 15,559
    138 Lady Mechanika Tablet of Destinies 4 $3.99 Benitez 15,367
    139 Injustice Gods Among Us Year Four 8 $2.99 DC 15,269

    Wow. Well, slightly down from the numbers the title opened at.

    Still, though, still in the game.
  • bralinatorbralinator Posts: 5,967
    Spawn issue #250 sold over 60k and the Spawn Resurrection one-shot sold around 30k. If this new arc does get any traction, it could be a boost in sales, which couldn't hurt the title. And at 15K, it's still selling more copies than Injustice Gods Among Us, Velvet, Batman '66, and Astro City - which all have their dedicated fans. Just not the same as Spider-Man.

    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.


    image
  • TorchsongTorchsong Posts: 2,794
    I can't deny the legacy Spawn - and McFarlane - created. So many things came out of this book. First time I'd ever heard the name Greg Capullo. Todd pretty much upped the bar for action figures across the board. Angela (albeit a Gaiman creation) got her start in the pages of Spawn.

    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.
  • HexHex Posts: 944
    Torchsong said:

    But to be honest, I haven't read it in years.

    I think this is the majority. I dropped the title around issue 25. Can't believe it is still going.
    Torchsong said:

    I'm happy to see it's still going, and still has an audience.

    Me too. Not that I have any interest, but it IS good to see a creator owned book still chugging along.

    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.


  • kiwijasekiwijase Posts: 451
    edited October 2015
    I read perhaps the first 10 issues. I remember liking it well enough but losing interest in the story, but then I've never been a hard core collector of anything except CEREBUS. My feeling about SPAWN is the same feeling I have about any long running comic book series; That while I don't personally have any interest in reading the book, it's kinda nice to know it's still chugging along.
  • hornheadhornhead Posts: 137
    Hex said:


    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.

    Never really got into Spawn, BUT I do like Savage Dragon quite a bit.

    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.
  • In all the years that it's been published, I've only read three issues -- the ones written by Frank Miller, Dave Sim and Neil Gaiman, way back at the beginning of the run. Was never interested in the character otherwise, and I've never liked McFarlane's work at all.
  • DoctorDoomDoctorDoom Posts: 2,586
    Quite a few years back, I read from issue 1 to like 130 or something. SPawn had people living in his cape, including a grandfather and granddaughter duo. It was weird.

  • dubbat138dubbat138 Posts: 3,200
    I read Spawn from the 1st issue until some issue was skipped ,i think it was 20 or 21,read maybe 2 more after that and gave up. Since then haven't even really thought about the book.
  • BrackBrack Posts: 868
    edited October 2015
    dubbat138 said:

    I read Spawn from the 1st issue until some issue was skipped ,i think it was 20 or 21,read maybe 2 more after that and gave up. Since then haven't even really thought about the book.

    This would also be around the time McFarlane stopped being the regular artist. Which has been a frequent problem with the comic, the perception of a creator-owned comic where the creator periodically seems to be losing interest in it.

    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 :))
  • DoctorDoomDoctorDoom Posts: 2,586
    edited October 2015
    I remember getting annoyed at how many times Spawn let Jason Whatshisface live.

    And how they wouldn't, and couldn't, go back to how Coligostro tricked Spawn and became king of that section of Hell.
  • David_DDavid_D Posts: 3,884
    Brack said:

    dubbat138 said:

    I read Spawn from the 1st issue until some issue was skipped ,i think it was 20 or 21,read maybe 2 more after that and gave up. Since then haven't even really thought about the book.

    This would also be around the time McFarlane stopped being the regular artist. Which has been a frequent problem with the comic, the perception of a creator-owned comic where the creator periodically seems to be losing interest in it.

    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 :))
    I agree that has been my perception of Spawn for a long time, too. That it was only a few years in before it seemed less like a story McFarlane was passionate about telling, or more like an IP he owned and managed.

    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?
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