December 20, 2004
Spawn creator Todd McFarlane Forced Into Bankruptcy
I never liked Spawn... at all. I thought it was an ok comic book at best, but the movie and tv show just sucked huge eggs.
However, I've always liked Todd McFarlane. Every interview I've ever seen him in he's impressed me. He genuinely seems like a decent guy and I like his approach to his art. The fact that he's a hockey fan has always appealed to me too. But these are dark days for Mr. McFarlane. According to Hollywood North, McFarlane is now being forced into bankruptcy:
A jury in St. Louis awarded former NHL player Tony Twist $15 million after concluding that McFarlane and his company profited by using Twist's name without permission and that Twist's publicity rights were infringed. McFarlane gave the name 'Antonio "Tony Twist" Twistelli' to a New York-based crime character in his Spawn comic books in the early 1990s. The U.S. Supreme Court in January rejected without comment an appeal by McFarlane arguing that his work was free speech. Last year, he said his McFarlane Cos., then an umbrella of seven businesses, had annual sales exceeding $50 million.Ouch! $15 million for some guy using your name in a comic book? Isn't that a little harsh? A girl I know gets hit by a drunk driver (Anyone who drink and drives should be castrated as far as I'm concerned... first offence) and she gets like $80,000. But use a person's name in a comic book and you get $15 million?!?!! What a screwed up world we live in.
Posted by John Campea at December 20, 2004 06:55 AM
Comments
Posted by: Ben at December 20, 2004 09:17 AM
that's extremely fucked up. i'm not a huge fan of spawn but i do own a decent collection of mcfarlane figures. i hate sports and i hate athletes even more. what a stupid thing to do. ever since i was in high school i have hated the mentality of dumb jocks and this story just goes to prove that athletes keep the "stupid gene" long after high school. wtf?
Posted by: TheKingInYellow at December 20, 2004 11:12 AM
The joys of living in a capitalistic, lawyer-driven society.
Disgusting.
Vic
Posted by: Screen Rant at December 20, 2004 12:33 PM
I've been following this lawsuit since it began and I think that this should be an excellent example of not only why the US is WAY to lawsuit-happy, but an indicator of how the general american public has NO grasp as to the rights of creative people. This is a BUNCH OF CRAP and i'm so mad right now i'm gonna stop here.
Posted by: trysop at December 20, 2004 01:11 PM
well i though i'd post this link for a detailed, perspective-placing overview: http://www.newsarama.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid;=23737
Posted by: trysop at December 20, 2004 01:13 PM
Anyone who thinks that McFarlane is a nice guy needs to do more research. This is not nearly the first person he's tried to rip off, or the first lawsuit he's lost. Do a google search for "McFarlane Gaiman lawsuit" for example.
Posted by: rob at December 21, 2004 09:59 AM
I hate all of you who think that his Spawn show was crap. I thought it was a great show. I couldn't get enough of it. To the King in Yellow, stop crying already! I know that if someone is making money and my name is being used directly, or indirectly, to help that person make money, then I am gonna want a piece of the profits too. People sue for these kinds of things all the time, and they aren't all jocks. But in this case, the pussy Tony Twist should have let it go since it was JUST a comic book, and he took SO much money. He should've settled for like a million. Now he has Tod McFarlane fans pissed off at him and that's a bigger problem than his name being used in a freakin comic book.
Posted by: Anthony at December 21, 2004 06:42 PM
It's only bankruptcy protection to keep the creditors at bay while he juggles assets and debt ... MacFarlane's not going anywhere ... it's really not that big a deal. The guy had more than a mil in pocket money to pay for a home run ball, he'll pay this down and continue on as he always has ...
Posted by: Todd at December 21, 2004 11:41 PM
My question is, who is Tony Twist anyway? Being a huge hockey fan, I have never heard of this guy. Yet he gets so much money because a character in a comic book has the same name? I somehow doubt the use of his name had much to do with the success of the comic book. Never liked Spawn or Todd's art in Spider-man back in the 90s myself.
Posted by: davie at December 24, 2004 03:09 PM
Libel is libel, no matter the medium. McFarlane should have seen this coming.I'm sure he can deal with such an obvious problem with Relative ease. We've all outgrown the Spawn comic anyway,no real loss compared to the cash cow that Miracleman could be for him now. McFarlane will grow and change like all of us.
let's all move on.
Posted by: The Informer at May 2, 2005 09:37 PM
McFarlane has got what he had coming to him. He's not a decent guy. If you'd seen the bit they did on him on CBC's "Life and Times" show you'd know he's a snake. Even his wife said that the kind of stuff he used to complain about the guys at Marvel doing - all their dishonest business practices, their treatment of their talent - in his own business he's doing all those same things. He has nothing but contempt for his customers. Nice guy.
Long before Spawn, though, I hated his art. I hated his run on Spider-Man. The man cannot draw and I find it amazing that he ever made any money at it.
Posted by: Biff Loman at July 31, 2005 04:41 PM
IF YOU NEVER READ SPAWN YOU ARE A RETARED!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU DONT KNOW ART OR GOOD DESIGN IN A COMIC BOOK ALL YOU KIDS KNOW IS WHAT YOU ARE SPOON FEED BY THE MEDIA!JACKASS HOCKEY PLAYER!
Posted by: dont like spawn dont like art at August 1, 2005 02:07 AM
What is a retared? Did you mean "retard" you retard? Ha ha ha! You are so stupid! Ho ho ho! What a jackass! Ha ha ha! Just a jackass, not a jackass hockey player! Calling comic book illustration art - what an ass! Man, without even trying you display a superhuman, yea even godlike stupidity.
Posted by: Biff Loman at August 10, 2005 11:39 AM
There are caps on lawsuit damages in Canada. there aren't in the US.