Legit McFarlane? Help Needed! 0

[newshane]

3 hours ago, seanfingh said:

I can see how you would think so, based upon his current sig.  But he has signed a lot of different ways over the years.

This is true. The biggest difference has been the "T" vs. the "Todd" in his signature.

 

3 hours ago, RockMyAmadeus said:

Other people have given their opinions and analyses as to why they think it's legit. What's your analysis for why you think it's fake?

Pardon the lack of depth.

I'm not a handwriting expert. I don't authenticate signatures on a professional or even an amateur basis. I'm simply chiming in as someone who has followed McFarlane since I first got into comics around 25 years ago. The both of you are already familiar with my Spawn collection. I don't claim that those things make me an expert.

But since we are all sharing opinions on the subject, I will be happy to provide my armchair analysis:

1. Todd usually has a better sense of signature placement.

2. I find the gap between his initial and last name to be quite suspect. Way too much space.

3. Todd usually signs very deliberately. From what I can gather, the signature on the book in question seems a bit smeared and blunted. The "a" is comparatively sloppy compared to most of what I've seen.

4. The spacing between the letters in his last name looks off to me - particularly the M and the F.

It looks to me like someone very deliberately tried to copy his style...almost there, but not quite. It's not really the hardest signature to pull off.

Would Voldy give it a thumbs up? Probably. I would too, if you paid me enough.

Stuff like this is why the verified witness signature program exists.

I wouldn't be shocked to learn that it's authentic, but I just feel something fishy. Personally, I'd wage that it's a fake.

That's my unqualified opinion. Little science here, but handwriting analysis is more of an art than a science, as far as I've gathered in my limited research of the matter. Perhaps there is a software algorithm that could apply some sort of science to things, but if it exists, I am wholly unaware of its existence.

 

[eee91]

Just my uneducated armchair opinion (I'm not expert, etc)-

The placement bothers me. Todd McFarlane is usually so deliberate and neat with where he signs - he has the artist's eye for finding a clean spot or some negative space to make the sig look good. 

More importantly, the same dealer selling this one on eBay has a bunch of Stan Lee and Todd McFarlane signed books - all unwitnessed, all on cheap low-value books - and they ALL look off. 

I vote fake.