Todd McFarlane visits

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Todd McFarlane is visiting Littleton Colorado next Saturday at my Local Trade Smart. I'm a little psyched. They say don't visit your Heros you are bound to be disappointed. But as much as I admire what the guy has been able to accomplish he isn't one of my heros, yet I am very excited to visit with him and listen to him speak. I get two items signed, I purchased his book, and need one more Item, I am thinking of having him just sign a comic backing board. Either that or pick a Spawn number one up on Ebay, they are affordable. Any one else herd anything about Todd? What should I expect? THis is my first Artist/ Author meet.

[Figuremod73]

Ask him to tell you the story about when he and John Byrne were on a panel together in Atlanta in the early '90s

[ctc]

Hmmmm....

Ask him about Peter David, then duck.

Seriously though, don't ask him about Peter David.

I've heard he's pretty egomaniacal, but quite the showman. (This generation's Stan Lee?)

Don C.

[Blue Meanie]

If you get something signed you should get him to sign Infinity Inc 14. Still my personal favorite art of McFarlane's is his run on Infinity Inc. By the time he got to Spidey it became a little too cartoony. Spawn is great...but his best work was definitely Infinity Inc. in my opinion.

[kingdom warrior]

If you pay more than a dollar for Spawn #1 you are over paying......lol don't sit to close to him his ego will push you away.......

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Okay, I was impressed. Todd talked for about 45 minutes, then he fielded questions from the audience of about 500 people for another 20 minutes. Then the guy sat down and signed autographs and took pictures with rabid fans for over 8 hours.....the guy never took a break. They brought in pizza for his security and assistants and hisself. THe guy just kept pounding them out, never seen him complain once. No charge for his autogtraph, and he signed two items each. He promised more Bronco figures out of his toy company (he knows how to pander to a crowd). He even told everyone he will sign more, they just need to hop back in line. I like what he had to say about not giving up or taking no for an answer. He collected over 300 rejections trying to get into the industry. It was a great experience. One of my friends was hired to work his security detail and they were scheduled to work 10 hours. Todds assistant made sure the security detail was fed and taken care of which is unheard of in my business. He even told the security detail to grab some items off the shelf and they would pay for them, and have Todd sign them for their family. Then he stayed late and signed for the employees of the Trade Smart. Class act. Best signing experience I ever had......also my only one.

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This is the man and me.

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This is the man and me. I'm the good looking one.

[Figuremod73]

Glad it went well. Thats something you wouldnt get with alot of professionals.

I have to ask though, did anyone ask him any tough questions? He has done more than a few questionable things in his career.

[Fuzzysnail]

No hardball questions...he made fun of himself for buying the baseballs, but he has convinced himself that it was something he needed to do to get the NFL, NHL, NBA, MLB rights to make the figures, in which case he made back those millions. These were all fans and comic geeks...nobody that is going to throw the hard ball. He makes no appologys for what he has done to get where he is. I guess that makes him a modern day businesss man...more american than Canadian.

[palitoy]

It's nice to hear a positive like this. Not really a big fan but I admire a gentleman.

[Earth 2 Chris]

I can't say I've ever heard McFarlane was bad to his fans, but some pros certainly have problems with him. Glad to hear you had a good experience with him. I hate to hear of people getting burned by those they admire.

Chris

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When I saw "Spiderman" #1 by McFarlane hanging there in the comic book store when I was a kid. Spidey was covered in Gold webs, with big eyes......I was hooked. That was when I started collecting spidey. Then Todd thumbed his nose at DC and Marvel and started Image with Rob and the rest....not to mention his sport figures are ten times better than Starting line up were putting out. That sold me on him.

[Figuremod73]

I liked Mcfarlane on Spidey and Hulk but as the years progressed I started to understand the artistic shortcuts he was taking. I always felt Spawn was dragging along to. I'm probably a much bigger fan of Erik Larsen over any of the Image guys. Marc Silvestri was pretty good to. (Heard he wasnt a nice guy though)

[Earth 2 Chris]

I was a big fan of McFarlane in the late 80s. There is no doubt he re-energized Amazing Spider-Man.

I can't say I'm much of a fan nowadays, but I still have fond memories of his Spidey output. And Batman Year Two wasn't too shabby either.

Chris