"When I first created Spawn as a kid, it was more of a sci-fi story. To me... sci-fi means space. Space is cold. Cold is blue. Many years later, when I pulled out my portfolio, I decided to make Spawn from the pit of Hell! Hell is hot so I played around with the colors [sic - he's Canadian, he said "colours," not "colors" --ed.] and ended up with the Spawn you see today."
Okay, that's neat and all, but if today "Spawn" is short for "hellspawn," was his name not Spawn in the original idea? And if it was, what was he a spawn of? Yes, sci-fi is "space" and "blue," but you know what sci-fi is not? Sci-fi is not "religion."
Religion is a fantasy feature, you don't find hell in sci-fi. [*laughs in Dead Space* --ed.] [*laughs in Event Horizon* --ed.] [*laughs in Warhammer 40,000* --ed.] [*laughs in Doom* --ed.]
Spawn was created in 1977, thereby making him older than all of us. The design is very similar to the Spawn we know and love, though it's a bit more definitively "superhero-y" - like, Image Comics Spawn never wore briefs over tights like this, and certainly didn't wear Captain America pirate boots with cartoon skulls on the front of them. His cape is more rounded than angular, with disc clasps instead of skulls, and there's nary a single spike or chain to be found anywhere. Honestly, being so familiar with the character's debut '90s look, this definitely feels a lot like when they did the de-makes of Sentry to show he'd been around for years. This is definitely 1970s Spawn.
However, this is very much not a 1970s Spawn toy. An older figure
would be smooth - even the early Spawn toys that this line is honoring (the "30th Anniversary" stickers on this set and a few others are about the start of McFarlane Toys, not the Spawn comic) were smooth, like spandex. But that's not the style today, so this toy gets a lot of fine texture on the surface, with only select areas remaining unblemished. The grille over his mouth helps him for once not look like Venom, because he instead looks like Bane.
First Appearance Spawn has four hands:
a left fist, a right hand that's almost a Spider-Man thwip, and two hands shaped to hold accessories. What accessories would those be? The same occluded translucent green energy effects that came with Mortal Kombat Commando Spawn. That's not particularly exciting, but even back in the '70s Spawn had some sort of glowy energy powers, so even if it wouldn't have been green necroplasm, this is still a fair inclusion (though balls that fit over the hands would have been better).
For years, we've had to make do with Todd the Artist whenever we wanted to put Todd McFarlane in a Figuretoon or whatever, but at last there's one that's a lot more modern. That figure was fun for its time, but it only had four points of articulation because it was simply a blown-up version of a 4" figure, which was itself just a pack-in with a deluxe playset. So, not something ever intended to be amazing, just to be "good enough." And it was. But that was decades ago, and things are better now.
This is a very casual, laid-back Todd. When you're a millionaire who owns your own company, you can dress however you like. Also, there's no one around you to tell you that it's weird to tuck your T-shirt into your jeans. That's, like, a total suburban dad move. Tuck your T-shirt into your jeans, lace up your white New Balances, and go mow the lawn at 7am on a Saturday. His shirt has the big Spawn disc icon on the chest, and his baseball cap has the Spawn logo, which is kind of like a band wearing its own merch on-stage. Is Todd McFarlane the least cool guy ever? Could be!
There's something about the hat that makes the likeness feel less
than accurate. Like, you could tell someone this was a toy of Mark Cuban, and they might believe you. I guess I just don't think of Todd as a "hat" guy. Sure, give us this look if you want, but then also give us an alternate head where we can see your hair, man. Especially if this is supposed to be some kind of "flashback" fig. The body is long and lanky, like many McFarlane Toys releases are, but that's true to real life in this case. He does end up kind of bowlegged, though, and as far as I know Todd's never had rickets.
Todd gets way more accessories than Spawn did.
He's wearing a convention badge on a lanyard around his neck. Is this toy based on some specific appearance? Is that why one of the accessories is a microphone? Because if not, that doesn't make any sense. There are six hands included (with his wedding ring sculpted and painted on all the lefts): a relaxed pair, a right hand to hold the mic, a left fist, a right hand giving a peace sign like he tends to do in photos, and a left hand holding a writing implement - maybe a pen for signing comics, maybe a mechanical pencil for drawing. That goes along with the sketchbook featuring a drawing of the original Spawn. And then finally, the weirdest accessory of 2024, a pair of bare feet, apparently because (according to the man himself) Todd used to like taking his shoes off in the office. Yeah, who doesn't? No one likes wearing shoes when they don't have to, but that doesn't mean you need to turn it into a strange inside joke on a mass market toy. Why stop there? Do you really enjoy wearing any clothes at all?
I was really excited by the novelty of this two-pack, and have wanted it since it was announced. But it wasn't $50 worth of interest, so I just kept passing it in the stores. Maybe if it had been packaged in a normal box, so I could open it and see if I really liked the toys, but not when it's in one of those hated clamshells. Then, randomly, my local Target (which had never had a single sample of this set before) suddenly had three of them on the Clearance endcap, marked all the way down to $14.99. Oh heck yes, sold, immediately! The "first appearance" Spawn is a cool oddity for your toy shelf. But if Todd wanted to get some more use out of those new molds, a version painted blue would be even more of a cool throwback.
-- 09/25/24
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