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#639: Todd McFarlane, Legendary Comic Book Artist — How to Make Iconic Art, Reinvent Spider-Man, Live Life on Your Own Terms, and Meet Every Deadline

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Dec 1, 2022

Guest

Todd McFarlane

Todd McFarlane, an Emmy- and Grammy-winning director, is known for creating the iconic comic book Spawn and co-creating Venom in The Amazing Spider-Man. He shares his journey from sports to comics, detailing over 700 submissions that honed his craft. McFarlane discusses the founding of Image Comics, advocating for creative freedom against major publishers. He reflects on reinventing Spider-Man, balancing artistic vision with corporate demands, and emphasizes the importance of personal investment in storytelling.

01:52:47

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ANECDOTE

Early Competitive Drive

Todd McFarlane was driven by competition from an early age, fueled by his brothers and later, baseball.
He got a Pac-10 baseball scholarship and was one of two out of 25 teammates to graduate in four years.

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ANECDOTE

Rejection Letters and Persistence

Todd McFarlane received over 300 rejection letters while pursuing comic book jobs.
He sent 700 samples over four years, wearing companies down until Marvel hired him.

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ADVICE

Keys to Comic Book Success

Two keys to comic book success are drawing skills and storytelling.
Meeting deadlines is crucial, even over flashy art, as the industry demands monthly releases.

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Exploring the Legacy of a Comic Book Visionary

03:52 • 3min

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From Sports to Comics: An Artist's Journey

06:32 • 28min

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Exploring Creative Learning and Pivotal Career Moments

34:23 • 2min

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Breaking Free: The Birth of Image Comics

36:40 • 24min

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Leveraging Personal Traits for Competitive Advantage

01:00:35 • 6min

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From Pencils to Inks: A Comic Artist's Journey

01:06:24 • 19min

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Reinventing Spider-Man: A Creative Journey

01:25:09 • 21min

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Cliffhangers and Comforts

01:45:54 • 7min

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Todd McFarlane (@Todd_McFarlane) is an Emmy- and Grammy-winning director/producer and creator of one of the world’s best-selling comic books, Spawn. He is best known to many comic book fans for his work as the artist on The Amazing Spider-Man, for which he co-created Marvel’s top villain, Venom.

Todd is the CEO of Todd McFarlane Productions, McFarlane Toys (one of the US’s top action-figure manufacturers), and McFarlane Films. He is also a co-founder of Image Comics, which debuted Spawn in 1992, selling 1.7 million copies of the first issue. In 1997, Spawn was made into an Emmy Award-winning animated series on HBO and a live-action feature film that grossed over $100 million. In 2019, Todd made history with Spawn #301, earning the Guinness World Record for longest-running creator-owned superhero comic book series.

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[06:40] Baseball.

[12:04] Rejection letters.

[15:57] Compelling storytelling and meeting deadlines.

[19:04] Deadlines pre-Internet vs. deadlines today.

[23:25] How industry status quo led to the founding of Image Comic Books.

[35:51] The Comics Code and the last straw.

[42:14] The Marvel Dream Team exodus.

[1:00:35] How is Todd’s camel bladder a competitive advantage?

[1:06:23] Career bouncing and double-shifting as a penciler and inker.

[1:24:36] The happy accident of Venom.

[1:35:28] De-Rockwelling the company icon and inventing “spaghetti webbing.”

[1:38:53] Bucking the status quo to become the status quo.