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Staff post about: Todd McFarlane Become an Author

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The Canadian Comic Creator: Todd McFarlane Is Born

He was always the best artist in his class. When a teacher needed something drawn on the blackboard, they would call on little Todd McFarlane to help. McFarlane, however, never wanted to become what he is today: one of the most revered comic book and action figure creators in the world. Instead, McFarlane wanted to be a professional baseball player. But, when an injury crushed that dream, McFarlane used his natural talent in drawing to create a comic book empire. Today, McFarlane’s “Spawn” still stands as the most successful independent comic book ever, and his two companies, McFarlane Toys and Todd McFarlane Entertainment, continue to set new standards in the toy and film industries.

Spawning an Empire: McFarlane Draws His Biggest Success

“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.”

Lesson #1: Do Not Put All Your Eggs Into One Basket

When McFarlane was once asked by a journalist what he considered to be his greatest career mistake, he did not hesitate for a second to answer. “Not thinking about being diverse in the business and artistic areas I was involved in,” he said. “My early mistake was not putting myself in a position where one or more mistakes wouldn’t determine the outcome of the rest of my future.”

Lesson #2: Being Stubborn Is Fair Play On The Road To Success

“You know, I’m lucky enough that I’m just sort of stubborn and sort of immature,” says McFarlane. “That thought of, ‘Todd, how come you’re successful?’ never occurred to me. I don’t listen to anybody. I’m like a five year old kid. I’ll hold my breath if I don’t get my way, and it served me.”

Lesson #3: Do Not Sell Out Your Vision or Values

“I’m not really that concerned overall to let any sort of licensing tail wag any dog,” says McFarlane. “My mindset is that…if I’m going to do any sort of animation…I do the best animation. I don’t really care if it makes sense if I can’t sell a t-shirt, or if I can’t sell a movie.”

Lesson #4: Tailor Your Product For The Time

“I think Batman has been out now four times, but I think they’ve lost sight of the fact that the first movie came up over ten years ago,” says McFarlane. “And the one thing that they’ve lost sight of is that we are all ten years older. So the audience that brought you in $300 million in that first movie, even if we were 12, we’re now 22. We’re now out of high school, we now have jobs, we now go to college, we’ve now been through three different relationships, we pay taxes, we know what the words ‘cancer’ and ‘death’ mean, so the world is a different place.”

A Doodle And A Dream: How McFarlane Turned Spawn Into A Success

“In all honesty, I wouldn’t say that the business end of it came with any kind of ease,” says McFarlane. “It was more Darwinian. You have to learn business if you’re going to be self-employed and survive. If you’re a bad businessperson and you’re an entrepreneur, you’re going to be out of business.” Drawing had always been his passion, but not once did McFarlane consider it a career choice. That is, until an injury forced him to reexamine his life. How did this young man with nothing but a dream in mind and a doodle in hand become the success he is today?

Todd McFarlane Quotes

Todd McFarlane Quotes

Lesson #5: Make It A Business Less Ordinary

“To me it’s not about, ‘Todd, how did you do it?’ It’s why weren’t they doing it?” says McFarlane. “I always scratch my head; that boggles my mind more than anything else.” McFarlane might be modest in his admissions, but his route to success involved more than just doing something that others were not already doing. Rather, McFarlane took something ordinary and gave it a little something extra by taking away all the unnecessary extras.

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