The Art of Todd Mcfarlane: The Devil's in the Details

by Todd McFarlane

This collection showcases Todd McFarlane's unique art style, which burst onto the comic book scene in the late 1980s and forever changed the landscape of comic book art. Features art from original comic art boards, rare, never-before-seen sketches, as well as art from McFarlane's work on Batman, Spider-Man, and the Hulk (amongst many others), and his own top-selling creation, Spawn, complete with selected commentary by the artist himself. Large format hardcover book presents Todd McFarlane's detailed art style at a previously unpublished size! Limited edition of 5,000 initial run!

Genres: Art, Graphic Novels Comics

400 pages, Hardcover

First published July 12, 2011

About the author

Todd McFarlane is a Canadian comic book artist, writer, toy manufacturer/designer, and media entrepreneur who is best known as the creator of the epic occult fantasy series Spawn.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, McFarlane became a comic book superstar due to his work on Marvel Comics' Spider-Man franchise. In 1992, he helped form Image Comics, pulling the occult anti-hero character Spawn from his high school portfolio and updating him for the 1990s. Spawn was one of America's most popular heroes in the 1990's and encouraged a trend in creator-owned comic book properties.

In recent years, McFarlane has illustrated comic books less often, focusing on entrepreneurial efforts, such as McFarlane Toys and Todd McFarlane Entertainment, a film and animation studio.

In September, 2006, it was announced that McFarlane will be the Art Director of the newly formed 38 Studios, formerly Green Monster Games, founded by Curt Schilling.

McFarlane used to be co-owner of National Hockey League's Edmonton Oilers but sold his shares to Daryl Katz. He's also a high-profile collector of history-making baseballs.

Reviews

[Chris Dietzel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was just going to be filled with McFarlane's art, which would have been great, but it's also page after page of insights from him, and that's what takes the book from being great to exceptional. He discusses his hundreds of rejections before he "made it", his creative process, his approach for various aspects of design, etc. Even if you aren't a fan of comic book art, this is a great read for any creative looking to gain insight into what it takes to make it, how to learn and progress as you go, and how to make sure your creative energy is utilized the way you want.

[Chip'sBookBinge · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Art of Todd McFarlane is basically a placeholder for the real Todd McFarlane to talk to you one on one to encourage you to pursue your artistic dreams. Simply put, this book comes in 3 parts. It's one part autobiography, one part art book and one part instructional when Todd gets into explaining the thought process about some of the pieces he has done over the years. In a way, this book is very similar in style and structure of another coffee table book: Icons: The DC Comics & Wildstorm Art of Jim Lee. But what Jim leaves out of the book, Todd includes everything from his formative years. This is where the motivation and idea of The Art Of Todd McFarlane comes to the forefront.

There is something exhilarating to have a superstar of Todd's stature to collect and print in a book all of the drawings leading up to his big break in the Comic Book industry. He is driving home the idea that even the biggest stars have to start somewhere and he is no exception. The drawings, by his choice of words....are crude. We all can relate because we all drew just as bad as he did. But it was his desire to just keep pushing forward and not taking 'no' for an answer. He got plenty of rejections trying to get his foot in the door. He even makes it a point to show the rejections letters that he got, once again pointing out he wasn't immune to having people slam his art at the time.

But the main thing most people are going to want to check out this book is for the art, namely his Spider-Man run and then later his Spawn stuff. It's pretty damn cool to basically see a timeline of Todd's stuff all in one book from his first submissions all the way to and beyond his more revered art pieces. It's just mind boggling to see his transformation from such humble beginnings. I love the book for sure. But I did feel like that I was missing something. Yes, the book is a whopping 400 pages long, but I wanted even more art. Call me greedy, but it is what it is. Also, the last few pages deal with Todd's foray into directing music videos and his toy company. It's an 'autobiography', so I get why it needs to be included. But from the art side, those pages would have been better spent on more art.

Anyway, if you're a fan of Todd McFarlane, Spider-Man, Spawn or Art Coffee Table books, this is the one to get. I highly recommend this as a Buy.

4 1/2 Stars out of 5.

You can find more of my Book, DVD, TV and Movie reviews at my Forum (Penny Can) at...

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Feel free to stop by and contribute your 2 cents.

[Jiří Kůs · Rating 5 out of 5]

One part art book, one part biography. I wish more art books were like this! If you want to learn more about Todd McFarlane and see how he got where he is now and some works he drew along the way, I think you wont be dissappointed.

[Camilo Guerra · Rating 4 out of 5]

En este momento, para mi Mc Farlane no esta en mi top 0 de dibujantes, pero en el 95-96, el era un dios...y el libro muestra porque, nos enseña su carrera, desde sus múltiples cartas de rechazo, de sus primeros dibujos que intentaban emular a George Perez hasta que su arte empezó a evolucionar por si mismo, mostrandonos un Spiderman que realmente aprecia una araña, un Hulk mounstruoso hasta la génesis de Spawn...el libro se marca un repertorio gráfico increíble y es un deleite visual si te gustan los comics o simplemente ver imágenes impactantes.

[Matt Hawkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read fun to see his progression. He has all the rejection letters and samples he broke in with and his whole journey is there. Part biography, part art of book...but all awesome!

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Todd McFarlane is a phenomenal artist and one of my favorites. This is a very good look into his beginnings all they way into his empire of today. Excelllant!

[Nealon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This a great book for any upcoming comic artists and it's really inspirational to see where Todd came from and how far he went.

[German Chaparro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Man if only I had some Spawn books...