Spawn

Spawn #10, 1994
Art by Todd McFarlane, written by Dave Sim

DAVE SIM:

(from the PRO/CON Speech, April 1993, reprinted in The Cerebus Guide To Self-Publishing)

Image is the first sensible reaction to the basic truth of the direct market. Will Spawn always be the No. 1 comic book? No. Of course not. How long will it be at or near the top? There's no way of knowing. The critical difference with Spawn is that Todd McFarlane recognised that he was hot now, while he was working on Spider-Man. He recognised that he was making an enormous amount of money for Marvel Comics and that the percentage of that money that he was being paid was minuscule. He recognised that there was a window of opportunity now to make his future financially secure and to take control of his career. He recognised that, at Marvel, his career was out of his control. A change of editor, of editorial policy, of company ownership, any number of things could throw him out in the street at a moment's notice. If Marvel could throw Chris Claremont away after 15 years, refusing even to let him write a farewell note on the letters pages of the book [X-Men] he had made into the industry standard, what security is there? Todd McFarlane recognised that there is no security. There never has been, and there never will be.