"Spawn Vol. 1" Trade Question

[Spider-Man]

In October Image is going to release a softcover and hardcover trade collection for Spawn and it will start from issue one. I'm pretty excited for this. I haven't read these early comics but always wanted to. Plus the $20/$30 price for ten issues is really good. But when I was going through the listing todayt it say the trade would have issues #1 - 8, 11, 12. Why are they skipping #9 and 10?

http://spawn.com/comics/comic.aspx?bookid=29-1-13-0

[Bird Boy]

Ones over legal reasons, the other is because it's an off-continuity story. I wish they were all included, but back-issues can't be too hard to find. Guess I'll have to fill in the hole when it's released.

-BB

[Stu]

I dug the short lived and much missed Spawn cartoon from a few years back and tried to get into the comics, but there simply wasn't too many ways to get into them without having a huge gap in knowledge.

If they're releasing the trades in order, I'd be very interested in picking them up.

E

[Ed Liu]

Howdy,

Issues #8-12 were a publicity stunt where Todd McFarlane got 4 of the hottest writers in comics to do single-issues of Spawn to counter the arguments that the book was all flash and no substance.

Issue #8 was written by Alan Moore, and introduced the Violator, along with a lot of the mythical concepts behind Spawn.

Issue #9 was written by Neil Gaiman, and introduced the character of Angela.

Issue #10 was written by Dave Sim, and had a brief crossover between Spawn and Sim's Cerebus. The story was a thinly veiled screed against the work-for-hire practices of DC and Marvel at the time, and the trend of "revamping" heroes by doing things like killing them, maiming them, or otherwise really screwing up their lives. Thank goodness American superhero comics outgrew that phase, huh? :p

Issue #11 was written by Frank Miller. To my knowledge, it didn't significantly add anything to the Spawn universe.

Neil Gaiman and Todd McFarlane had a significant falling out much later over the character of Angela and others created for issue #9 (http://briefs.toddverbeek.com/archives/Gaiman_Wins_Characters_from_McFarlane.html). The courts came down pretty definitively on Gaiman's side. As a result, Angela and all the characters Gaiman created were written out of Spawn one way or another, and no more toys or other merchandise have been made with them. This is also why the Angela trade paperback went out of print and why issue #9 is being excluded from the Spawn TPB.

My nearest guess for why issue #10 was excluded is either 1) Bird Boy is right in that it's an out-of-continuity story and would just confuse new readers, or 2) Dave Sim still owns Cerebus and reprint rights for everything Cerebus has been in, and he just said no. Given that Todd has behaved as badly or worse than the DC and Marvel corporations that he left to found Image Comics, it wouldn't surprise me if Sim said no on general principle, but I haven't seen a statement from him (or anybody) one way or another. If I get to see Dave Sim at the Big Apple Con in November, I'll try to remember to ask him.

-- Ed/Ace

[Spider-Man]

Issue #9 was written by Neil Gaiman, and introduced the character of Angela. Neil Gaiman and Todd McFarlane had a significant falling out much later over the character of Angela and others created for issue #9 (http://briefs.toddverbeek.com/archives/Gaiman_Wins_Characters_from_McFarlane.html). The courts came down pretty definitively on Gaiman's side. As a result, Angela and all the characters Gaiman created were written out of Spawn one way or another, and no more toys or other merchandise have been made with them. This is also why the Angela trade paperback went out of print and why issue #9 is being excluded from the Spawn TPB.But if she appears alot in the series then does that mean every comic that features her will be omitted? This will really mess up any plans on having a "complete" collection of Spawn comics.

[Ed Liu]

Howdy,


But if she appears alot in the series then does that mean every comic that features her will be omitted? This will really mess up any plans on having a "complete" collection of Spawn comics.
Well, it means that Neil Gaiman will be owed royalties for any reprint of a comic that Angela appears in. I am guessing that the omission of #9 in the first TPB is probably because McFarlane does not want to do this as a matter of principle. As a result, I'd say that either every comic she appears in will be omitted, or Todd or his replacement of the moment will need to pull a George Lucas and write new fill-in issues to cover up her involvement.

Personally, if I was Todd, I'd pull a trick from the Microsoft playbook and make all those Angela comics available for free (or for a quarter) as an Internet download and broadcast some lie about it being "out of concern for the fans." Fans get their stories and Neil gets little or no royalties. Then again, business acumen does not seem to be one of Todd's strong suits.

And yes, this will completely foul up any attempt at a complete set of Spawn reprints. Then again, seeing as it took McFarlane 3 years to finish his contribution to the Image 10th anniversary hardcover and more than 10 years to begin reprinting Spawn in TPB, I'd say that problems with Angela are the least of the hurdles facing a complete set of Spawn reprints.

-- Ed/Ace

[Spider-Man]

Well, it means that Neil Gaiman will be owed royalties for any reprint of a comic that Angela appears in. I am guessing that the omission of #9 in the first TPB is probably because McFarlane does not want to do this as a matter of principle. As a result, I'd say that either every comic she appears in will be omitted, or Todd or his replacement of the moment will need to pull a George Lucas and write new fill-in issues to cover up her involvement.

And yes, this will completely foul up any attempt at a complete set of Spawn reprints. Then again, seeing as it took McFarlane 3 years to finish his contribution to the Image 10th anniversary hardcover and more than 10 years to begin reprinting Spawn in TPB, I'd say that problems with Angela are the least of the hurdles facing a complete set of Spawn reprints. How often did her character appear? I know she had that mini-series a few years ago and then was killed off in Spawn #100 but aside from that I don't have a complete idea in how many appearances she had. I'm not looking to collect the entrie series but I hear the first 30 - 50 issues were the best the series had to offer before it hit a rut that it could get out of. I just want the early years of the series.

I guess this means I'll have to search for some back issues to fill the gaps if possible.

I hope these collections are't too plagued with problems. It does seem like they're releasing these collections now with the new cartoon DTV coming out and apparent "renewed" interest in the Spawn property. I'm sure once the interest dies out we won't be seeing a new collection for awhile. Has Image been good about their trade paperback releases?

[Spider-Man]

Does anyone know what happened to this trade? I went to the comic store expecting to pick it up but my comic book guy said Image hasn't released it yet. Is there a new release date?

[Ed Liu]

Howdy,

This is lifted from my post on the NY Comic Con in Nov, so you can skip the first paragraph if you've already read that one.

I met Dave Sim at the Con and asked him why Spawn #10 wasn't included in the new trade collection, and the short version was, "Ask Todd." He said that he has no idea why Spawn #10 isn't going to be included in the upcoming Spawn TPB collection, but it's certainly not because of him. He did say that he was working with Image to reprint all the color Cerebus material, which would include Spawn #10, so there is hope to get it in bound form. He didn't think it was a big deal, since the issue has nothing to do with the continuity around it and it's not that hard to find the issue itself. If you want to know the reason why his issue of Spawn isn't in the TPB, though, you'll have to ask Todd.

Given Sim's attitude towards ownership of work ("if you worked on it, you own part of it and have the right to do whatever you want with it"), his answer didn't really surprise me much. Since McFarlane drew the entire issue from his script, he couldn't very well say "no" without showing himself as a colossal hypocrite as far as creator rights go.

-- Ed/Ace

[Spider-Man]

Thanks for the post Ace. I'm surprised to hear there's such complications with some of those early Spawn issues. I hope that issue does get collected soon because I'd like to get as many of these issues as possible and I'm hoping these trades will help.

I'm still lost on the release date though. I've seen October 2005, December 2005, and October 2006 as release dates. Is there an official release date at all?

[James Harvey]

According to this forum post (http://board.spawn.com/forums/showthread.php?t=246695) on the official Spawn website, according to McFarlane staffer Jon Goff, the printers had some issues with the book and they had to go back and make sure they had everything correct and in place, leading to the delay. New release dates for both the hardcover and softcover collection for Spawn Volume One is going to be announced very soon, apparently.

[Spider-Man]

I found this today at http://www.diamondcomics.com/shipping/expected_121405.txt :


Shipping Next Week: December 14, 2005

AUG051640 SPAWN COLLECTION VOL 1 TP $19.95 So does that mean it's confirmed for next week? If so then I'll have some great reading material for my Christmas break!

[Clayface]

I found this today at http://www.diamondcomics.com/shipping/expected_121405.txt :

So does that mean it's confirmed for next week? If so then I'll have some great reading material for my Christmas break!

Diamond does update their list as the week progresses, but usually only to add titles, not remove them. Since it's on there now, it's a pretty sure bet that it is indeed coming out next week.

[Spider-Man]

I also just found these links when surfing through Amazon:

Spawn Collection Volume 1 HC (Hardcover)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1582405646/qid=1134413016/sr=2-2/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_2/102-5884582-0185767?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

Spawn Collection Volume 1 (Paperback)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1582405638/ref=pd_rhf_p_4/102-5884582-0185767?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=283155

They both say December 25th is the date so that means they have to be shipping out soon.

[randomguy]

Diamond's list (http://www.diamondcomics.com/shipping/expected_121405.txt) has the first volume of Spawn (in paperback, anyway) shipping this week, so you should be able to pick it up at your Friendly Neighborhood Comic Shop Wednesday.

It's a pity that the TPB will be omitting #9 and #10, but I'm really happy to see Image doing a chronological reprint of this book at last. Even if it's generally viewed as a so-so book, Spawn has a certain level of importance in this industry and its history.

I imagine I'll even pick up this first volume eventually, just because it serves as an interesing crash-course on mainstream comics trends in the early and mid 90's.

[James Harvey]

I have some bad news for you, Spider-Man. According to the official shipping list for this week, found here (http://www.diamondcomics.com/shipping/shipping_121405.txt), Spawn Collection Volume 1 will not be shipping this week. I expect it will ship sometime within the next few weeks, though. I would like to get my hands on this collection as well, basically for the same reasons randomguy posted about.

[Spider-Man]

I'm sorry to keep bumping this thread up but since the Amazon links still say these comics will ship or be avilable on the 25th does that mean they will come out this week? I was hoping to have something to read over the holidays but this collection probably won't come out until January. This is some quinessential 90's reading!

[Clayface]

I'm sorry to keep bumping this thread up but since the Amazon links still say these comics will ship or be avilable on the 25th does that mean they will come out this week?

Well, so far it's not on this week's shipping list (http://www.diamondcomics.com/shipping/expected_122105.txt), which isn't a good sign. The list should be updated one more time though, probably tomorrow. So it's still possible.

[Ed Liu]

Howdy,


Well, so far it's not on this week's shipping list (http://www.diamondcomics.com/shipping/expected_122105.txt), which isn't a good sign. The list should be updated one more time though, probably tomorrow. So it's still possible.
If one needs hope, the fact that it made it to last week's shipping list before getting pulled again probably means they're really really close.

Unfortunately, it could also mean that they found a mistake big enough to pulp the entire run and need to correct it and bring it back to press. Not that this has stopped them from issuing big, expensive collected editions to the stands before (he said, still grumbling over the misprints in his Mage: Hero Discovered one-volume HC...)

-- Ed/Ace

[Clayface]

According to comments by Jon Goff in this thread (http://board.spawn.com/forums/showthread.php?t=246695) on the Spawn.com forums, Spawn Manga Vol.1 hits stores this week (confirmed by Diamond's shipping list (http://www.diamondcomics.com/shipping/expected_122105.txt)), and "it's possible the SPAWN Collection won't be far behind".

[James Harvey]

Spider-Man,

It looks least a part of hell has frozen over. Both Spawn Collection Volume 1 and Spawn Manga Volume 1 will hit shelves this week, according to the Diamond Comics shipping list (http://www.diamondcomics.com/shipping/shipping_122105.txt).

[Spider-Man]

Woe! I can't believe both are shipping. I am definitely going to get the series collection but I might not bother with the Manga one. I just want to see these early Spawn issues. It just seems like required 1990s reading even if they probably aren't that well done. I remember reading a few issues when I was younger so I'm interested to see just what they are really like now.

[Leaping Larry Jojo]

Spawn 9 and 10 were the best of the Todd Mac-drawn issues. It's a shame they won't have them here. I'd always like the CONCEPT of Spawn, but Toddy Mac is a better businessman than he is a writer. Those Image comics back in the day were so skimpy on reading. You could go through one issue in 3 minutes.

[James Harvey]

Not that this has stopped them from issuing big, expensive collected editions to the stands before (he said, still grumbling over the misprints in his Mage: Hero Discovered one-volume HC...) Not to get off-topic, but this reminds me of Marvel’s frequent mistakes with their trade reprint programs. I think last year they arguably had the highest amount of trade mistakes on their part, usually misplaced word balloons with lettering from one page duplicated on another, replacing it or appearing on top of it. The X-Men: Dream’s End collection was their worst offender, with at least two known mistakes. Of course, this trade just happens to contain one of my favorite trade errors of all time.


http://marvel.toonzone.net/Stu/wolverine.jpg

More info on this can be found at Lying in the Gutters (http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/index.cgi?column=litg&article=2049).

Hopefully readers here will let us know if there’s any problems with Spawn Collection - Volume One or Spawn Manga - Volume One.

[Spider-Man]

http://marvel.toonzone.net/Stu/wolverine.jpg How does stuff like this get past the editors putting together the collections? Also I got the first Spawn trade today and so far it looks really excellent. I'm gonna have a blast revisiting my youth with this. I remember reading the comic years ago and thinking about how high the cover price was - $1.95!