“I guess we’re all just wired different,” says McFarlane. “I just got to the point where I got tired of people telling me what I can and can’t do in my life.”
McFarlane had found a steady job at Marvel Comics and had quickly risen in the ranks to become one of the company’s top artists. He had also gained a loyal following of thousands of comic fans for his illustrations of the “Incredible Hulk” and “The Amazing Spider-Man.” But while he enjoyed the drawing aspect of the job, what McFarlane did not enjoy was having people putting constraints on his artistic abilities.
It was on a day in 1992 when McFarlane drew a comic that tested the boundaries of Marvel Comics, and as he quickly found out, it had tested it too far. McFarlane had drawn a villain that was being killed by a sword being thrust through its eyeball. He was, after all, always one with a somewhat gruesome imagination, but he thought others would appreciate his style. After Marvel executives told him to tone it down, McFarlane knew he had had enough. It was time for him to leave.
Initially, McFarlane attempted to start a union at Marvel Comics, but found little support. “I’m sort of that guy, like the Silkwood that they hate,” he says. “But I couldn’t rally the troops. It’s amazing how much fear there is in the community.” And so, McFarlane decided there was no other choice but to leave completely.
“I convinced some buddies of mines that we needed to leave as a tandem,” he says. Along with six of his colleagues, McFarlane left Marvel and formed his own independent company, Image Comics. “So the seven of us left, but we were some of the top guys,” he says. “We started our own comic book company, Image, and within the confines of that, we each had to come up with a character.” The character that McFarlane was about to create would be the one that would put him on the industry map.
“I came out of the woodwork with Spawn, which is something I had created in high school that I had never shared with anybody,” he says. A murdered secret agent that was reincarnated by the devil as the dark superhero Spawn, the first issue of McFarlane’s new comic sold more than 1.7 million copies. Not only had McFarlane become rich almost overnight, but he had also set a record for an independent comic publisher.
In 1996, McFarlane launched Todd McFarlane Entertainment, a film and animation studio, and set out to work on turning Spawn into a movie. It was a success; the 1997 film grossed over $85 million at the box office. That movie also inspired McFarlane’s next business venture, McFarlane Toys. With this company, McFarlane wanted to create a company that specialized in action figures for adults and collectors. It began in his garage, but today, McFarlane Toys is a $50 million-a-year business, and has had a revolutionary impact on the action figure industry. More recently, McFarlane also launched a video game company with Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling.
McFarlane’s success, however, can be measured by more than just dollar signs. His popularity has also led him to appear in a Levi’s Jeans commercial and a Korn music video, and to be parodied in other comics.
Despite his success, McFarlane still looks back in his career with a sense of humour. “So the years go by, and I’ve got all these companies that I actually own,” he says. “They [don’t exist] because as a kid I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be great to be an entrepreneur?’ No, I want to play centerfield.”
Spawning an Empire: McFarlane Draws His Biggest Success
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Spawning an Empire: McFarlane Draws His Biggest Success
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“I guess we’re all just wired different,” says McFarlane. “I just got to the point where I got tired of people telling me what I can and can’t do in my life.”
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