A Short Interview With...Me!
I Talk Todd
On Wednesday of last week, I received some questions about Todd McFarlane via email after the first two entries in my Spawn in Hollywood series (now running here). Problem is, the email wasn't signed and I don't recognize the return email address. I replied and got some follow-up questions back. I have no idea where this stuff will appear, so I thought, to hell with it, I'll throw it onto my own page. Whoever you are, send down more questions if you want. Interviews are a novelty to me. I’m used to being the interviewer, but not the interviewee, but, there you go.
Away we go!
Q: So, why Todd McFarlane?
DB: Because he fascinates me. The guy, for all his flaws, is incredibly interesting.
Q: How so?
DB: For example, here’s a guy who was easily the highest paid writer-artist at Marvel Comics in 1990, easily the most popular Spider-Man artist in years, and he walks away from it all to…make hockey trading cards? That’s nuts! And when he can’t sell the concept of McFarlane hockey cards, goes to DC and offers to do a Batman story, only to change his mind. He was on top of the world and walks away. Sure, he could afford to, and he always had a return in his back pocket, a safety net, but, jeez, that took balls. Or did it?
He spent millions on baseballs that are pretty much worthless now. He helped found a comic book company that became the equal of Marvel and DC, even though people believed it’d fail. He promised to be different from Marvel and DC and not screw over other creators and then the whole Neil Gaiman Angela thing happened. He got a movie made featuring his character, and changed how Hollywood saw comic book creators. He founded an empire and became insanely rich. The whole foul-mouthed, crass McFarlane is just a front. Behind that is a foul-mouthed, amazingly canny, businessman. He values loyalty. If he likes you, he loves you, but if you wrong him, or worse, try and stake a claim on Spawn, then you’re dead to him. Simple as that. It takes a lot to get into his inner circle but very little to be thrown out of it, as a few people will testify to.
Q: You’ve probably written more about McFarlane than anyone else out there by now, what with the book The World vs Todd McFarlane, the Spawn in Hollywood series and other assorted articles.
DB: Not even close. Always remember, Todd McFarlane has written more about himself than anyone else. His favourite topics are, in no order, Spawn, hockey, baseball, Image Comics and Todd McFarlane. He’ll happily talk about any of them until your ears fall off.
Q: Have you ever met or spoken to McFarlane?
DB: Nope. I’m not on his radar, and, frankly, why should I be? I expect that, as long as I don’t tread on his intellectual properties or lie about him, he doesn’t overly care. His skin is thick, I doubt he cares what anyone says about him, unless it’s an outrageous lie.
Q: You didn’t send him a copy of The World vs Todd McFarlane?
DB: Nope. I’d not be so egotistical to do so. Someone else might have, but, if they did, I doubt he’d bother to read it. He lived it, so he knows how the stories go and how it all ends.
Q: What’s your favourite McFarlane story?
DB: Far too many of them. But this one always stands out. In 1989-1990, just before McFarlane began work on the Spider-Man title that he’d write and draw, Marvel editor Jim Salicrup pitched a Batman/Spider-Man crossover to DC Comics. It was to be written by Frank Miller and Steve Gerber and drawn by McFarlane. Everyone was on board. Salicrup called an editor at DC Comics who told him to just greenlight it, as anything that had Miller, Gerber and McFarlane attached to it would be published, especially if it had Batman, Spider-Man, the Joker and the Kingpin in it. But both Marvel and DC dragged the process out and, as time passed, Miller went off to work in film, McFarlane ‘retired’ from comic books and Gerber lost interest. Just imagine what might have been! The only thing that comes close would be the Avengers/JLA crossover by George Perez.
Q: Any other McFarlane works from to come?
DB: Yep. I’m finishing up a history of Image Comics from before it was founded to the end of the 1990s. It’s tentatively titled, The Rise of Image Comics, but I expect I might change that one. It’s sitting at 130,000+ words and has an end in sight. It’ll cover the history of those connected with Image, the birth of the company and those whacky 1990s, as well as looking at some of the people who were caught up in the whirlpool, like Scott Rosenberg and Malibu and Neal Adams.
Q: When will that appear?
DB: When it’s done. I had someone previously connected to Image Comics interested in publishing it, but they’ve stopped communicating with me, so it’ll more than likely be coming out via my own Blaq Books imprint. What better way to publish a book about the most famous of all the independent comic book publishers than to do it independently.
Q: Who have you spoken to from Image about that one?
DB: The Image founders? Outside of one question about Jack Kirby and Jerry Siegel to Jim Valentino, none of them. I interviewed Erik Larsen about twenty years ago and that’s it. The only ones who are accessible are Rob Liefeld, Erik Larsen and Jim Valentino. I have no idea how to get in touch with McFarlane, let alone Jim Lee, Whilce Portacio or Marc Silvestri. I’m more interested in what was said at the time than people’s memories now. Memory is a tenuous thing at best, and people tend to gloss over certain things. Plus, if I can’t get all of them to speak about those early years, then what’s the point? Having said that, I’d love to do a deep dive interview with any of them at any time.
Q: You’ve not ever spoken to Rob Liefeld about the early Image days?
DB: No. I like Rob and he’s a good guy in my books. He’s been a great supporter of The World vs Todd McFarlane via his Robservations. In fact, I’m certain that Rob is the primary reason why I’m making royalties on that book. I’ve made more on that book than anything else I’ver had published, and that includes books published by mainstream publishers, so I’ll not hear a bad word about him. I’m sure he knows what I’m working on, he’s shared some things that have been highly useful, but that’s as far as it goes. He’s got his own book he’s doing, and I can’t wait to read it. His Robservations are a hoot, and he does the best Todd impersonation you’ll ever hear.
Q: Thank you for your time.
DB: It’s my pleasure.