Gaiman is one of the nicest famous guys I've ever met. Humble and polite.

Not a primadonna at all, though given his rock star status in the world of comics, could probably get away with it.

io9 is the espn of the geek tab.

Did they ever resolve that Miracleman lawsuit?

Well, subby, while that is a valid reason to rule against McFarlane, it's actually because McFarlane stole a bunch of characters from Gaiman and claimed them as work-for-hire...and when Gaiman offered him a compromise, he spat in his face. This is how I picture the scene.

Gaiman: Hey, you got the rights to MiracleMan! Awesome! Tell you what, you give me Miracleman, you can keep the characters I created for Spawn that you used repeatedly in pretty much every Spawn comic, made toys out of, and put in both the TV show and shiatty movie. I mean since you and the other guys started Image Comics as a stand against Marvel and DC for creator ownership of characters rather than corporate ownership. Deal?

McFarlane: SCREW YOU MAN, DON'T YOU KNOW WHO I AM?! I'm Todd Mc-Farking-Farlane! If I didn't have to be at the gym in 26 minutes, I'd kick your ass right here for just insinuating I owe you anything!

shivashakti: Gaiman is one of the nicest famous guys I've ever met. Humble and polite.

Not a primadonna at all, though given his rock star status in the world of comics, could probably get away with it.

And he's donating every cent of this suit to various comic-related charities and defense funds. He really only did this to set a precedent for other comic book writers.

Bonanza Jellybean: Did they ever resolve that Miracleman lawsuit?

Marvel seems comfortable enough to have started running a Miracleman mini. I assume they will pick up where the 80's comic ended. At least I kind of hope so because I have the whole set and would like to see a tiny bubble of value.

TheSilverOne: And he's donating every cent of this suit to various comic-related charities and defense funds. He really only did this to set a precedent for other comic book writers.

Actually, he did it to get Miracleman back. McFarlane counter-sued to stop paying royalties on Angela, Cogliostro, and Medieval Spawn saying it was work-for-hire. McFarlane won the Miracleman portion, but the other side backfired massively in his face. I'm assuming this lawsuit is about the back royalties Gaiman's owed.

Seeing as the guy's now a NYT best-selling novelist and recognized as one of the greatest comic writers of all time with his series Sandman still selling amazingly well in trade format, something tells me he doesn't need the money. For fark's sake, the dude's writing Doctor Who episodes now! Or at least one...

"I don't know what it's like to be God...until that very first moment when you get to sit down and type the words in your script: INTERIOR. TARDIS."

Seem to recall reading a few months ago that the guy who created the series had never lost his rights to the character in the first place. Marvel bought the rights from him and off we go from there. Also, McFarlane and his buddies at Image are almost as responsible for the comic crash as the speculators were. Perhaps more considering all the cover variations they used to sell.

i always did like spawn

Okay, I'll admit that I'm out of the loop.

Why dose everyone hate McFarlane?

Anything he specifically did or said to receive this kind hate?

Marshal805: Okay, I'll admit that I'm out of the loop.

Why dose everyone hate McFarlane?

Anything he specifically did or said to receive this kind hate?

1. Family Guy
2. American Dad
3. The Cleveland Show

Should I keep going?

Good. I hope McFarlane has to deliver it personally and Neil gets to kick him.

How are Jim Lee and Robert Kirkman at the same company as this douchebag and Liefeld? It hurts my brain.

Braindeath: Good. I hope McFarlane has to deliver it personally and Neil gets to kick him.

How are Jim Lee and Robert Kirkman at the same company as this douchebag and Liefeld? It hurts my brain.

Somebody has to keep an eye on him. Looks like they drew the short straws.

Marshal805: Okay, I'll admit that I'm out of the loop.

Why dose everyone hate McFarlane?

Anything he specifically did or said to receive this kind hate?

Generally, it's that he's a jackass. A loudmouthed, hypocritical jackass.

the_vegetarian_cannibal: Marshal805: Okay, I'll admit that I'm out of the loop.

Why dose everyone hate McFarlane?

Anything he specifically did or said to receive this kind hate?

1. Family Guy
2. American Dad
3. The Cleveland Show

Should I keep going?

notsureifserious.jpg

iseewhatyoudidthere.jpg

Personally, I don't hold McFarlane responsible for the downfall of comics.

I think it's the culture that has nested around the form. The LCS (Local Comic Shop) culture is at best just very unwelcoming, if not openly hostile.

You know Comic Shop Guy from the Simpsons, imagine stores full of that guy every Wednesday, imagine they all feel the need to comment on your purchases.

And this is coming from someone who physically (I sound fat!) and socially fits the stereotype, but I really never understood the way the other comic nerds felt it was their right to roll their eyes at my purchases. Let alone the clerks, just ring me up, dumbfark. I stopped going to my LCS years ago, simply because it was a tiresome chore to go get my books.

There were always people like me who went and got their stuff and dealt with the open hostility from all sides. It's factional, you have your DC fanboys and your Marvel Zombies and anyone who like me doesn't feel any allegiance to either and just likes comics in general is treated as a weirdo, and somehow worse than that is the Indy Comics Nerd who feels superior to everyone buying a book that looks good or has a plot.

Comic Shops killed comics. Not McFarlane. I now buy all my comics in TPB form from Amazon.

the_vegetarian_cannibal: Marshal805: Okay, I'll admit that I'm out of the loop.

Why dose everyone hate McFarlane?

Anything he specifically did or said to receive this kind hate?

1. Family Guy
2. American Dad
3. The Cleveland Show

Should I keep going?

I suspect you're just having a larf here, but I guess I'll be the dummy to say that those are two different McFarlanes. Both utterly worthless.

Awesome news. F Todd Mcfarlane.

DrunkJack: Personally, I don't hold McFarlane responsible for the downfall of comics.

I think it's the culture that has nested around the form. The LCS (Local Comic Shop) culture is at best just very unwelcoming, if not openly hostile.

You know Comic Shop Guy from the Simpsons, imagine stores full of that guy every Wednesday, imagine they all feel the need to comment on your purchases.

And this is coming from someone who physically (I sound fat!) and socially fits the stereotype, but I really never understood the way the other comic nerds felt it was their right to roll their eyes at my purchases. Let alone the clerks, just ring me up, dumbfark. I stopped going to my LCS years ago, simply because it was a tiresome chore to go get my books.

There were always people like me who went and got their stuff and dealt with the open hostility from all sides. It's factional, you have your DC fanboys and your Marvel Zombies and anyone who like me doesn't feel any allegiance to either and just likes comics in general is treated as a weirdo, and somehow worse than that is the Indy Comics Nerd who feels superior to everyone buying a book that looks good or has a plot.

Comic Shops killed comics. Not McFarlane. I now buy all my comics in TPB form from Amazon.

Shame this aint your shop (new window). Nonjudgemental and always with good recommendations based on what else you're picking up.

The 90s killed comics. :( And that was my prime teen imprinting years for 'em.

Abstruse: Well, subby, while that is a valid reason to rule against McFarlane, it's actually because McFarlane stole a bunch of characters from Gaiman and claimed them as work-for-hire...and when Gaiman offered him a compromise, he spat in his face. This is how I picture the scene.

Gaiman: Hey, you got the rights to MiracleMan! Awesome! Tell you what, you give me Miracleman, you can keep the characters I created for Spawn that you used repeatedly in pretty much every Spawn comic, made toys out of, and put in both the TV show and shiatty movie. I mean since you and the other guys started Image Comics as a stand against Marvel and DC for creator ownership of characters rather than corporate ownership. Deal?

McFarlane: SCREW YOU MAN, DON'T YOU KNOW WHO I AM?! I'm Todd Mc-Farking-Farlane! If I didn't have to be at the gym in 26 minutes, I'd kick your ass right here for just insinuating I owe you anything!

I understand Marvel and DC going with the "tough shiat, it was work for hire." Sucks, but that's the way they play it, always have.

Todd McFarlane definitely earns my ire for founding a company "for the artists" and pulling every trick to do the same thing. Screw that noise.

That and all the crimes FirstNationalBastard rightly accused him of.

McFarlane didn't do Spider-Man any favors. I can say that. His run (and influence) on Amazing Spider-Man pretty much ruined the book for a decade. I know some of the younger fans are all nostalgic about the McFarlane (and shortly post-McFarlane) era, but believe me: He farked it all up.

Personally, I hate everything he did in comics. Every. Single. Thing.

And don't get me started on what crap Image Comics turned out to be.

But mostly, McFarlane IS kind of a dick. Ever met him? He's really not very pleasant; He's full of himself. He thinks he's a comic book superstar, and that we lowly fans should worship him for all he "did for us".

Between McFarlane and Liefeld, comic books took a real beating.

Oh, and I also hate that he has an "action figure" company that sells "action" figures with NO POINTS OF ARTICULATION!!!

I'm fine with selling them and calling it a "cool little statue", but calling what Todd Toys does "action figures" is kind of like calling Joe Quesada "A man of ideas".

And have you seen how much a McFarlane "action" figure is? They ain't cheap. He's raking it in on his non-articulated statuettes of popular characters, and they're worth about 1/4 what he charges for them.

ZeroCorpse: And don't get me started on what crap Image Comics turned out to be

Right at the moment, Image is pretty good. Mostly what Kirkman's up to, but their other superhero books are solid, if not spectacular. Invincible is the only title on their imprint I have any real loyalty to, though.

In any case: McFarlane's idea of "cool" is as mature and well developed as that teenager that totally has a real katana (that he bought at the knick-knack shop in the mall) and totally could kick your ass with judo (he just doesn't want to right now). When I think of Spawn, that's what I think about. McFarlane is just the version of Liefeld that knows how to draw.

t3knomanser: ZeroCorpse: And don't get me started on what crap Image Comics turned out to be

Right at the moment, Image is pretty good. Mostly what Kirkman's up to, but their other superhero books are solid, if not spectacular. Invincible is the only title on their imprint I have any real loyalty to, though.

In any case: McFarlane's idea of "cool" is as mature and well developed as that teenager that totally has a real katana (that he bought at the knick-knack shop in the mall) and totally could kick your ass with judo (he just doesn't want to right now). When I think of Spawn, that's what I think about. McFarlane is just the version of Liefeld that knows how to draw.

Here's what I'd picture McFarlane looked like as a teen:

DrunkJack: Comic Shops killed comics. Not McFarlane. I now buy all my comics in TPB form from Amazon.

I'm not sure, but I may have gotten lucky. All the comic and game stores in the cities I've lived in have been very welcoming. At most, you get the good nature ribbing over your guilty pleasure comic or game choice.

/buffy season 8

The judge's decision (new window, PDF) was pretty damn well reasoned, actually:

The two characters are similar enough to suggest that either Dark Ages (McFarlane) Spawn
is derivative of Medieval (Gaiman) Spawn or it is the same character to which plaintiff owns
the copyright.

Much as defendant tries to distinguish the two knight Hellspawn, he never explains
why, of all the universe of possible Hellspawn incarnations, he introduced two knights from
the same century. Not only does this break the Hellspawn "rule" that Malebolgia never
returns a Hellspawns to Earth more than once every 400 years (or possibly every 100 years,
as suggested in Spawn, No. 9, exh. #1, at 4), it suggests that what defendant really wanted to
do was exploit the possibilities of the knight introduced in issue no. 9. (This possibility is
supported by the odd timing of defendant's letter to plaintiff on February 14, 1999, just
before publication of the first issue of Spawn The Dark Ages, to the effect that defendant was
rescinding their previous agreements and retaining all rights to Medieval (Gaiman) Spawn.)

If defendant really wanted to differentiate the new Hellspawn, why not make him a
Portuguese explorer in the 16th century; an officer of the Royal Navy in the 18th century, an
idealistic recruit of Simon Bolivar in the 19th century, a companion of Odysseus on his
voyages, a Roman gladiator, a younger brother of Emperor Nakamikado in the early 18th
century, a Spanish conquistador, an aristocrat in the Qing dynasty, an American Indian
warrior or a member of the court of Queen Elizabeth I? It seems far more than coincidence
that Dark Ages (McFarlane) Spawn is a knight from the same century as Medieval (Gaiman)
Spawn.

JosephFinn: The judge's decision (new window, PDF) was pretty damn well reasoned, actually:

A judge wrote that? What's her Fark handle amirite?

Rubber Biscuit: the_vegetarian_cannibal: Marshal805: Okay, I'll admit that I'm out of the loop.

Why dose everyone hate McFarlane?

Anything he specifically did or said to receive this kind hate?

1. Family Guy
2. American Dad
3. The Cleveland Show

Should I keep going?

I suspect you're just having a larf here, but I guess I'll be the dummy to say that those are two different McFarlanes. Both utterly worthless.

You're thinking of Seth McFarlane, the guy who's playing Green Lantern.

FirstNationalBastard: Braindeath: Good. I hope McFarlane has to deliver it personally and Neil gets to kick him.

How are Jim Lee and Robert Kirkman at the same company as this douchebag and Liefeld? It hurts my brain.

DC owns Jim Lee, so he's not allowed anywhere near Image.

Rob Liefeld doesn't really have anything to do with Image anymore, either.

Kirkman is at Image because... well, Image is probably the biggest of the independent companies, and his comics stand the greatest chance of being seen at Image.

He was one of the founders wasn't he? I'm happy DC tied him up actually. I'm obviously behind here.

Didn't he embezzle money? I could have sworn I read that several years ago and then it seemed to never come up again.

Yeah, I know, it just irritates me because I hate giving them money. On the other hand, most of the people involved in comics are assholes, so I'm supporting cock weasels no matter what I do.

Why did comics need to go be sold in shops anyway? (continuing the thread-jack posts above)

When I was a kid, comics were in little rotating magazine stands right by the door of the drug store. This made it very convenient to either (a)read the entire thing while the clerk was ringing up some teenager who was buying condoms "for his brother" or (b)grab the comic and dash out the door.

Eventually, I got an allowance that covered more than a pack of gum and lunch money, but by then some idiot had decided that comics should cost 1/2 of the GDP of small nation and consist of four pages of smudgy drawings and three dozen pages of advertisements, for other comics, which would have three dozen pages of advertisements, for other comics, which would... etc ad nauseum. And then some other idiot decided to call them "graphic novels," and that pretty much put the kibosh on it for me.

All grown up now, and I could afford to buy a subscription (assuming there's such a thing these days) to any comic I want, but I lost interest when they started sucking. Comic stores didn't kill comics for me. Comics killed comics for me.

Fano: Todd McFarlane definitely earns my ire for founding a company "for the artists" and pulling every trick to do the same thing. Screw that noise.

To be fair, Image did have a few good artists who broke the stereotype of Pompous Douchebag and made some good stuff. Erik Larsen is pretty awesome and still experimenting with Savage Dragon and the like. Jim Lee managed to make some good stuff that still holds up well today. The only really big douchebags were McFarlane and Liefeld, and both of them haven't really done anything after leaving Marvel.

Seriously. Liefeld somehow makes a career out of being unable to draw feet and now styles a few things because he can't draw a comic on time or for over two issues. McFarlane can't write for shiat and somehow thinks he's deep if he throws child molestation or cannibalism into a story. Plus, McFarlane really doesn't have a good grip of himself: every intro to Spawn the Animated Series comes off as some loser with terminal hockey hair thinking he's Rod Serling with 'an edge' and just looking like he's pissing about waiting for his Members Only jacket to get out of the dryer.

DrunkJack: There were always people like me who went and got their stuff and dealt with the open hostility from all sides. It's factional, you have your DC fanboys and your Marvel Zombies and anyone who like me doesn't feel any allegiance to either and just likes comics in general is treated as a weirdo, and somehow worse than that is the Indy Comics Nerd who feels superior to everyone buying a book that looks good or has a plot.

I had that happen at a comic book store just opening and mocking me for wanting Booster Gold. Yes, good job, dudes, for pissing off a potential customer at your brand new store. He did kind of apologize when I told him off.

The one I go to now is pretty decent, but they're bad about getting orders for me. That could be Diamond though, I know that company defines incompetence. I miss the one I went to in DFW - that guy could tell you the name/issue number of any comic in the store with a brief description. The other geeks in the store sort of floated around him like he was their god.

And the place in Pittsburgh that had a ton of excellent comics for dirt cheap in a tiny cramped room. I don't know what the hell was up with that place. The original one I went to in unnamed town was always rude to me, but that was a toss-up between he hated me for being a girl or he hated my Lex Luthor obsession.

serpent_sky: /I was looking at some Gen13 art the other day; WTF is wrong with Balent? It's like he went to art school and only took the "large breasts" course. Not sure why he is considered good, either.

He must be the same guy who did Danger Girl. The artwork looks identical.

Guntram Shatterhand: Plus, McFarlane really doesn't have a good grip of himself: every intro to Spawn the Animated Series comes off as some loser with terminal hockey hair thinking he's Rod Serling with 'an edge' and just looking like he's pissing about waiting for his Members Only jacket to get out of the dryer.

*HNONK!*
Holy ship, that last line snuck up on me while I was eating a spoonful of ice cream (B&J's peanut butter cup) and ^THAT was the noise when I laughed/breathed out my nose/tried not to splatter the keyboard.

Met him.
Subby is right.

ZeroCorpse: Here's what I'd picture McFarlane looked like as a teen

As I was writing that, I realized the same thing.