Spawn Is Having a Moment. Is It Just the Beginning?
Image Comics co-founder Todd McFarlane declared 2021 the “Year of Spawn”—a major revival effort to get his most beloved creation back into the spotlight, ahead of the company’s 30th anniversary this year. Turns out it worked: A group of new comic series in the Spawn Universe have broken sales records. This week, The Scorched #1, Spawn's first team comic, became the highest-selling team book of this century. King Spawn sold almost 500,000 copies, the highest ordered superhero book of this century, and Gunslinger Spawn is the 2000s' highest-selling debut of a monthly title thus far.
So, welcome to the … Renaisspawnce? (I don’t know, man. It sounds better than it reads.) All I know is that I’ll pick up any comic with a cover by Björn Barends, at this point:
If you weren’t around nerd culture at the time, it’s difficult to explain just how ever-present the character was in the 1990s. Image Comics was fueled by Hulk-sized chips on the shoulders of its founders, who broke off from major assignments from the Big Two (Marvel and DC) to create their own worlds—and profit in a larger and more direct way from their work. McFarlane, for his part, had injected new life into the Spider-titles at Marvel in the late ’80s and early ’90s. (Ever heard of Venom? Dude co-created the guy.) McFarlane took advantage of Image’s momentum and a broader comic industry boom to get his new character everywhere. And, I mean everywhere:
EBay is a mine of Spawn merchandise, by the way, and I very nearly purchased the above myself just now.
I’m truly shocked by how much holds up of Spawn’s all-out assault on pop culture in the ’90s. That is, with the exception of the 1997 film. But even so, the soundtrack was a solid collection of bangers with the fun idea to pair rock and metal acts with electronica luminaries (a la Judgement Night, with its rock and hip-hop collabs). Take this gem, from The Crystal Method and Filter, which has me eBaying JNCOs now:
I’ll also give the film a pass because it was the Dark Ages of comic book movies. But most things Spawn appeared in were executed with excellence. The most obvious example is McFarlane Toys, which added a level of detail and quality that was novel to action figures of the time. It would evolve, grow, and become its own major entity in the toy industry, being the go-to for toys based on horror films, sports figures, musicians, video games, and much, much more. McFarlane even took control of The Simpsons' toy rights in 2005 from rival Playmates Toys, and later, the Star Trek franchise would also become part of the stable.
Later in the ‘90s came the Emmy-winning, mature HBO cartoon Todd McFarlane's Spawn. In the days before Adult Swim, it was difficult to find adult-oriented animated series outside of anime or the original Heavy Metal flick. Unhampered by all of the confines of live-action filmmaking, the cartoon ran for three seasons and went far deeper into the Spawn mythos. It currently has a new life on HBO Max, and the market is certainly more ripe for a potential return for Spawn in animation in 2022. Just look at what Marvel’s done to reclaim the space.
Also, there’s the arena of video games: Super Nintendo's Todd McFarlane's Spawn: The Video Game was a solid beat 'em up, which is just what superhero games were in the mid-'90s (like the Spider-Man games where Venom was the real star). The SNES game’s major innovation, though, was in its artistry—which, you might be able to argue, has always been the major hook of Spawn:
The character had games also created for the Dreamcast, Playstations 1 and 2, and even Game Boy Color. But in recent years, his major appearances have been as a playable character in the top of the field in fighting games.
McFarlane, in his most recent GameRadar interview, showed that he’s a bit more guarded about revealing his major upcoming plans for the character. Part of that has to be the film follow-up’s several-year turnaround. What history tells us, though, is that McFarlane’s creation could very well enter the zeitgeist again. Now that superheroes are fully embraced in popular culture, don’t be surprised if Spawn takes advantage of the new pipelines and becomes as omnipresent as Venom himself.
Also: McFarlane also launched a television department for the existing McFarlane Films last fall, so what I’m really saying is brace yourself for the … Spawnslaught? Nah, no good, either. I’ll work on the term later.