McFarlane Spider-Run! 2 2

[StreetPreacher]

6 minutes ago, jjonahjameson11 said:

are you saying that you actively pursued this set for 30 years?  

No, I'm not insane lol.  I was just being a bit dramatic, while still keeping the truth more or less intact...

The collection 'officially' started when I bought a bunch of these issues when they were initially published back in 1991, but for whatever reason I didn't buy ALL of them.

Then, I recently decided to start collecting again, and decided to fill in the missing issues over the past 6 months.

So 30 years yes, actively, no.

Edited September 22, 2020 by StreetPreacher

[jjonahjameson11]

I agree the art in asm 327 is hideous... but it’s Larsen art, not McFarlane 😉

[jjonahjameson11]

2 minutes ago, StreetPreacher said:

No, I'm not insane lol.  I was just being a bit dramatic, while still keeping the truth more or less intact...

The collection 'officially' started when I bought a bunch of these issues when they were initially published back in 1991, but for whatever reason I didn't buy ALL of them.

Then, I recently decided to start collecting again, and decided to fill in the missing issues over the past 6 months.

So 30 years yes, actively, no.

Thanks for clarifying that.  I wasn’t trying to be judgmental so much as understanding what took you so long.

[StreetPreacher]

13 minutes ago, jjonahjameson11 said:

Thanks for clarifying that.  I wasn’t trying to be judgmental so much as understanding what took you so long.

Haha, no offense taken! 

Yeah, it's not that I was having any trouble finding the set, it's just that I hadn't bothered looking for any comics in a while  

Then when I realized my 'old' books were still essentially worthless, I decided that instead of selling them for next to nothing, that I should go the other way and just keep them and start collecting again!

However when I started collecting I decided I needed some sort of goal, so I decided to focus on anything that McFarlane worked on!  I'm mostly interested in books for which Todd either did the Cover, or interior Pencils, or hopefully both.

I haven't seen any current books that I'm interested in, so I mostly just dig through the back issue bins looking for stuff from my era (late 80s - Early 90s, copper age?). 

Although I've also read some 'new' books that I found out about after they became TV shows, so maybe I'm just not looking in the right place to find interesting current comics.  The new mainstream books just don't seem to attract me, but if I see any classic McFarlane ASM or Spawn covers they still somehow excite me?

Edited September 22, 2020 by StreetPreacher

[jjonahjameson11]

4 minutes ago, StreetPreacher said:

Haha, no offense taken! 

Yeah, it's not that I was having any trouble finding the set, it's just that I hadn't bothered looking for any comics in a while  

Then when I realized my 'old' books were still essentially worthless, I decided that instead of selling them for next to nothing, that I should go the other way and just keep them and start collecting again!

However when I started collecting I decided I needed some sort of goal, so I decided to focus on anything that McFarlane worked on!  I'm mostly interested in books for which Todd either did the Cover, or interior Pencils, or hopefully both.

Good luck, and happy collecting 👍🏻

[nepatkm]

What did you all think of Todd McFarlanes take on Conan..  (#241, just the cover) ?🤷🏼‍♂️

Edited September 22, 2020 by nepatkm

[StreetPreacher]

22 minutes ago, nepatkm said:

What did you all think of Todd McFarlanes take on Conan..  (#241, just the cover) ?🤷🏼‍♂️

 

That's DEFINITELY on my list, but the last few copies I've seen on ebay were in pretty rough shape, and the sellers were still asking nearly $30, and then with stupid Canadian shipping, it's suddenly a practically $100 book!   And since Conan is one of his 'cover only' books, I might just do the same thing I did with Batman #423, and just find a high quality image of the cover to print out and frame

But my LCS always seems  to have most of the issues before / after #241, and I think this cover definitely stands out as superior to the majority of others from the period...  Of course it could just be my McFarlane bias.  I even kind of like his Superman, although I'm sure it's not for everyone. 

 

I'm not quite so sure about his take on Sandman, but at least you can definitely tell that Todd drew it!

 

 

And of course these are both just pinups, I don't think either was a cover.  Sandman is included in #50 (Distant Mirrors/Ramadan) along with a group of interpretations by different artists.  And I'm not sure where the Superman image first appeared?  But damn, would you just look at that cape!?!?!  I'm surprised Todd never got to do Dr. Strange, but I guess he sort of cribbed the 'sentient' cape idea for Spawn

Edited September 23, 2020 by StreetPreacher

[GeeksAreMyPeeps]

On 9/20/2020 at 8:28 AM, StreetPreacher said:

Haha!  Yeah, especially issue #4, in which Todd was ALSO the colourist!  The Kayfabe guys actually went through the issue pointing out all of McFarlane's 'less traditional' colouring decisions  

 

 

Yes, like I said I'm trying to collect his ASM run as well, but that's a bit more pricey   And also want to track down some of the cool Spidey covers he did on a few of the Marvel Tales books!

And then it's on to the Hulk where he did interior pencils from 330-346? along with a few nice covers.  Only have 3 books from his Hulk run so far, but at least one is #340

Don't forget Skating on Thin Ice.

[StreetPreacher]

8 hours ago, GeeksAreMyPeeps said:

Don't forget Skating on Thin Ice.

Grabbed that a while ago, Hey I said I'm Canadian, and used to be a HUGE Oilers fan, before Gretzky defected!

Although, was it wrong to read that comic while drinking a beer and smoking a joint? 

That purchase was actually my first attempt to grade books 'on the fly' while flipping through back issue boxes, because the LCS had about a dozen copies all for the same price, so I 'had' to inspect every copy to make sure I picked the nicest one...  And then I realized it was only a $5 book, and the condition wasn't all the important anyway

And I always thought the inclusion of a TEST TUBE on the cover was funny.  I've done a lot of drugs, but I've never had anything that came in a test tube lol.  I guess they didn't want kids trying to make their own drugs either!

Edited September 23, 2020 by StreetPreacher

[StreetPreacher]

But yeah, one of the great things about McFarlane is that no matter what he does, somehow his style manages to come through!  I think this was also just a cover, but probably one of the most striking Walking Dead covers, and there have been a few cool ones!

I guess this has turned into more of a McFarlane appreciation thread, so if there are any cool things I might not be aware of then let me know!  I found an image someone stitched together with thumbnails of supposedly every cover McFarlane did, but I don't think it includes books where Todd only did the interior art, like a bunch on the Hulk run, where McFarlane was still only doing interiors on the earlier issues of his run... 

And I always found it odd that he did the cover & interiors of his first Hulk book #330, but then they used someone elses covers for the next 9 issues, before McFarlane came back with the classic #340 cover, and I think he did the rest of the covers before moving to ASM for  #298 after leaving Hulk after #346.

Does anyone know if there is a particular reason that McFarlane did the cover of Hulk #330, but then didn't do another cover until #340?  Was Marvel not happy with the #330 cover?  I mean, I agree that Hulk #330 isn't his best cover, but is it possible Marvel sidelined him until good old Toddy came back STRONG with that classic with Hulk reflected in Wolverine's Claw?

And I hate deciding how much I'm willing to pay for Todd's 'cover only' material...  Like right now I could buy the Walking Dead variant for $20...  Or I could print and frame a high resolution image of the cover for $2, and get the only part of the book I'm really interested in

Edited September 23, 2020 by StreetPreacher

[Lorne Malvo]

Another great McFarlane cover

[Kevin76]

On 9/22/2020 at 6:43 PM, comicginger1789 said:

ASM 316 is Todd’s best. Best Venom cover for me of all time.

ASM 300 is obviously iconic. Simply and beautiful.

ASM 327 is everything I dislike about his drawing. It’s too much.

ASM 306 is a great Action 1 homage

An underrated fav of mine is 311. Great Mysterio cover.

A couple though like 307, 308 and 312 I find the faces on Chameleon, Taskmaster and Green Goblin laughable.

Mcfarlane didn't draw 327 He did 298-325 and 328 

[comicginger1789]

9 hours ago, Kevin76 said:

Mcfarlane didn't draw 327 He did 298-325 and 328 

You are right, my typo. I meant issue #328 with the Hulk on the cover. Hate that issue. 

[MGsimba77]

On 9/22/2020 at 6:43 PM, comicginger1789 said:

ASM 316 is Todd’s best. Best Venom cover for me of all time.

ASM 300 is obviously iconic. Simply and beautiful.

ASM 327 is everything I dislike about his drawing. It’s too much.

ASM 306 is a great Action 1 homage

An underrated fav of mine is 311. Great Mysterio cover.

A couple though like 307, 308 and 312 I find the faces on Chameleon, Taskmaster and Green Goblin laughable.

Yeah definitely agree with all this except for Goblins face. Taskmaster and Chameleon was kind of shaky but I think his Goblin face was pitch perfect. His style worked brilliantly with Goblin, Mysterio, Cap, X-men,  Conan (except the face) most others. I think maybe when it came to Hulk it became too exaggerated too over the top. His Morbius was not so great either. Anyway Trimpe had perfected Hulk in the mid and late 70's establishing a house style -- so then Mcfarlane's rendition was like a shock to the senses lol.

And for the record you did correct 327 was Larsen even though Larsen did his best to blur the line. 326 was another non Mcfarlane thrown in there.

[followtheleader]

On 9/22/2020 at 5:57 PM, nepatkm said:

What did you all think of Todd McFarlanes take on Conan..  (#241, just the cover) ?🤷🏼‍♂️

Most of the cover is solid.  Especially the Spawn skulls.  But the face is terrible. 

This cover always felt McFarlane-esque to me.  Pretty sweet cover. 

Patrick 

[StreetPreacher]

On 11/24/2020 at 8:55 AM, comicginger1789 said:

You are right, my typo. I meant issue #328 with the Hulk on the cover. Hate that issue. 

But do you like that cover?  I always loved that Spidey punching Hulk up through the title cover!

[comicginger1789]

4 hours ago, StreetPreacher said:

But do you like that cover?  I always loved that Spidey punching Hulk up through the title cover!

Nope I dislike it a lot because the Hulk looks  ridiculous. The concept of the cover is cool and I would love seeing a classic artist draw that scene but for me, Todd's overexaggeration of the Hulk's figure ruins it. Add in that I did not love this particular story arc where Spidey gained cosmic powers and it just was the decline for Todd for me. I find his first issues on ASM drastically different than his later stuff. He just got wilder and wilder until I personally did not like it. I found the same with Spawn too, the further Todd went the more I disliked his art although it seemed to work better in Spawn than it did at ASM. I also appreciate his limited Batman work because it was something different however I am very glad that he did not get an extended run on that character because I fear he would have turned Batman into a hulking muscular monster with a cape that took up 75% of the panels on a page. 

Edited December 1, 2020 by comicginger1789

[comicginger1789]

13 hours ago, followtheleader said:

Most of the cover is solid.  Especially the Spawn skulls.  But the face is terrible. 

This cover always felt McFarlane-esque to me.  Pretty sweet cover. 

Patrick 

I don't think I have ever heard of Kane/Romita being compared to Todd...can you elaborate, I am curious

[mr_highgrade]

On 12/1/2020 at 11:02 AM, comicginger1789 said:

Nope I dislike it a lot because the Hulk looks  ridiculous. The concept of the cover is cool and I would love seeing a classic artist draw that scene but for me, Todd's overexaggeration of the Hulk's figure ruins it. Add in that I did not love this particular story arc where Spidey gained cosmic powers and it just was the decline for Todd for me. I find his first issues on ASM drastically different than his later stuff. He just got wilder and wilder until I personally did not like it. I found the same with Spawn too, the further Todd went the more I disliked his art although it seemed to work better in Spawn than it did at ASM. I also appreciate his limited Batman work because it was something different however I am very glad that he did not get an extended run on that character because I fear he would have turned Batman into a hulking muscular monster with a cape that took up 75% of the panels on a page. 

 

[StreetPreacher]

On 12/1/2020 at 11:02 AM, comicginger1789 said:

 I also appreciate his limited Batman work because it was something different however I am very glad that he did not get an extended run on that character because I fear he would have turned Batman into a hulking muscular monster with a cape that took up 75% of the panels on a page. 

Funny you say that, because Batman definitely seemed to be starting to bulk up on the Year 2 Trade Paperback collection of this series:

Howeer personally I always liked he exaggerated bulk that McFarlane added to his 'superhero' characters.