I liked it when it was suppose to be a limited series. Once issue 50 was to come out the ticker was suppose to end and that would be it. McFarlane got greedy and so went the idea. Can't sell toys if you don't have new stories to put him in stupid costumes in.

I picked up the first issue and thought that the meter was the only really interesting concept in the book. Had McFarlane had any talent as a writer, he would have gone ahead and done this (something I've never heard of) and killed off the guy who was the original Spawn in 50, and started over with a new guy as Spawn. So basically every 4 years or so you have a new, different spawn.

As a matter of fact I was in middle school when X-Force came out. I never had a problem with Liefeld's art: I basically took it as hyper masculinized art: manga doesn't get criticized for bad proportions (or DBZ, good lord), so if they get a free pass, so does Liefeld. I never liked his stuff outside of X-Force. What was interesting is that Greg Capullo's art was so crappy when he took over but when he moved on (was it to Spawn) it got so much better.

Back then the artists I really liked were Jim Lee, Mike Mignola (based solely on X-Force #7 or #8), and Sam Keith. McFarlane was always a bit too goofy for me, which fit well with Spider-Man but worked badly in Spawn.

I am currently reading the first two TPB volumes of Spawn which covers issues 1-33. So far, not bad. Should I stop there? I know that Spawn starts going downhill at some point. When did Todd McFarlane stop drawing Spawn altogether? In fact does Todd McFarlane draw anything at the moment? (wow look at all my questions). He was my favorite artist dating back to the Spider-man Venom issues 20 years ago. I’ve been out of the loop for a decade and now dipping in again.

I liked Spawn up until they started putting out bi-monthly issues (with Tony Daniel art, IIRC). I stopped reading around issue #35 or so.

I also dropped it somewhere in the 30's. I don't regret it either. ;) Spawn to me seems more of a brand than a comic book anymore.

I know I'm a couple of month's late, but what's wrong with Toriyama's work on Dragon Ball? I know the TV series gets (rightfully) panned for having bad animation and long drawn out fighting, but I've always been a fan of Toriyama.

I'm alittle late on this board, but didnt Rob do the same thing in a later issue of X-Force when Spider-man crossed over (issue #4?)... I even as a teenager reading and drawing comics knew Liefeld's art sucked pretty hard - but my kid brother ate his shit up.

I was at Comic-Con where there was an Image United signing. Big, long table with Portacio, Larsen, Liefeld, Silvestri sitting (Lee and McFarland were no-shows). They had a nice poster for them all to sign. Unfortunately, there were only about 25 people in line. Ten years ago, it would have been wrapped around the convention center. How the mighty have fallen.

Spawn was a product of the 90's. A lot of flashy art and no substance what so ever. That is the single best way to sum him up. Not to mention I'm sure that the horrible movie didn't help matters.

People should really read the Armageddon Storyline in Spawn. It's also the story that got alot of fans interested in Spawn again. Issue #185 is also the return of McFarlane with a new creative team for the Endgame Storyline.

Lee was there, just at his own booth.

No one's explained the whole "what happened to the power countdown" thing from early Spawn issues. Hell, I can't even find it in the Wiki entry.

I've recently tried to get onboard with my old comic collecting ways and started hunting down a lot of Image stuff to see what I didn't get when I was in my teens. Savage Dragon is brilliant and always fun. WildC.A.T.S. and the whole Wildstorm imprint is something I missed when growing up. The Maxx is just brilliant as a whole. But Spawn? I'm reading it but the one thing that always stuck with me is how McFarlane seemed to think he was just SO DARK when it came to his stories. You can tell how big he was into that aspect when he was playing Rod Serling to the HBO animated series.

In hindsight, Spawn is a very pretty comic that could do well with a better writer. Yeah, it was big and now it's a shameful part of many comic collectors' pasts, but it's worth a read in many respects. Just keep in mind it may be found out as a gem in twenty years. But right now with people just figuring out that their comics are worthless, it's just a road of shame that starts with Image and ends with Spawn.

I admit I'm a sucker, and preordered the upcoming issue that marks Todd's return to penciling. The previews didn't look all that great, but we'll see.

Re: What happened to Spawn?
 

So i am thinking about picking up a TPB again. Should i even bother? How are issues from 35ish-60 or so?

Re: What happened to Spawn?
 

IIRC, in issue 50 Spawn went back to hell, had a face to face with Malebolgia, and was deposited back on Earth. His ticker was wiped out (I believe it showed --:--:-- ) and that was the point where I stopped reading, because fuck McFarlane for doing that.

Re: What happened to Spawn?
 

I think i will keep reading to at least #50. I'll see how i feel from there. Something tells me that i'll be seeing the breaking point for me soon enough though.

Re: What happened to Spawn?
 

Yea I even have all issues in cbr format up to like 235 and I loved Spawn back then. He got to busy with sports toys and every other thing to bother with Spawn and it suffered from it. New movie promises and ideas came and went and basically it's died a slow death. I will read them to get closure on original Spawn story but even then I've still blown it off for other things. Animated series was great fun but man that movie sucked on so many levels.

Re: What happened to Spawn?
 

I have the first 20-25 issues then stopped giving a fuck.

I did like the Mid-evil Spawn and Dark Ages stuff, though. I forgot how those ended since I was just buying them for the artwork.

The HBO animated series was stellar but by that point McFarlane got to be an obnoxious jagoff that I wrote anything and everything having to do with Spawn off, with exception to the toylines. The Movie Horror Maniacs stuff was always stellar.

Re: What happened to Spawn?
 

I have much of the initial run. I enjoyed it on an issue by issue basis. The ongoing storyline never grabbed me. I think it got rejuvinated once Cappulo came onboard but I eventually gave up simply because nothing was happening.

Re: What happened to Spawn?
 

SYFY is airing a documentary on Todd McFarlane this Saturday at 11PM

Re: What happened to Spawn?
 

I loved Todd McFarlane's art in the early to mid 90's. I was a regular reader of his Spider-Man comic, and then Spawn when he and the others started Image.

As time passed, and I took about 20 years off from buying/reading comics regularly, I found that I disliked McFarlane's art, and didn't particularly like his writing all that much.

I cannot for the life of me remember around what issue I stopped buying Spawn. I really have no idea. It's been so long (around '96, maybe??), I can't be sure.

I recently sold all my Spawn comics, made an OK profit (nothing like a lot of us expected in the mid 90's), and don't care to revisit the title. I liked the concept, but the execution wasn't great.

And I really hate all the imitators that McFarlane was responsible for. Ugh.

Re: What happened to Spawn?
 

Some Spawn books have been selling pretty good over the past several years. Issues between 100 and 260 are getting harder to find since they have low print runs. Also, the first issues of Spawn go for decent money if you have the newsstand version.

Re: What happened to Spawn?
 

Hm.

I have the newsstand issue of Spawn #1. I bought it at a bookstore before I got my package of comic books from the mail order company I was using at the time.