1990 McFarlane Spider-Man #1 Originals, Swipes, Parodies, etc.... 0

[RockMyAmadeus]

By the way...if you haven't seen this, it's important for every fan of art to watch:

 

 

Because if everything is art...then nothing is.

 

Enjoyable little presentation....

 

My belief is that before you can really do 'impressionistic' type of art, you really should be grounded in the fundamentals, if not absolutely a master of them.

Moebius (Jean Giraud) spent many years on 'Blackberry', completely MASTERING a look from a genre not even a part of his native land...

 

 

 

 

Before venturing into a more abstract form. It gave it substance, and thus artistic merit.

 

 

 

McFarlane began his career by learning the basics.... anatomy, layout, perspective, etc....

 

 

 

 

But since comics are somewhat a perversion of those techniques in the first place (and Todd never really mastered them anyway), his growth to the 'next level' or whatever you want to call it, is spectacular in it's flashiness, no question, and somewhat pleasing to some to look at... but in reality... artistic reality... it's overly unnecessarily busy and...kinda flat.

 

 

 

 

Of course, much like professional wrestling, it caught the eye of many young boys right at the onset of puberty and it SOLD incredibly well and.... well...

 

If you want to see the progression of a master, check out Picasso's "First Communion":

 

 

Picasso was FIFTEEN YEARS OLD when he painted that.

 

Look at the composition. Look at the realism. Look at the use of light and dark.

 

It's breathtaking, and far beyond anything most of us could ever produce.

 

The argument that you can "break the rules before you know them" doesn't hold water.

 

 

(PS. I thought it was "Blueberry"? Or is there a "Blackberry", too?)

[Prince Namor]

Yes, it is Blueberry!

 

I heard a joke about somebody still using a Blackberry that ran one of the world's largest tech companies and I guess I had that on my mind....

 

 

[romanheart]

I personally think the homage covers are getting a little tiresome.

 

I think the industry needs to stop recycling the old ideas and work on the new ones.

 

I do like the covers but I think continually looking back prevents looking forward. Nice work by the OP on his research though.

[shvd98z24]

I personally think the homage covers are getting a little tiresome.

 

I think the industry needs to stop recycling the old ideas and work on the new ones.

 

I do like the covers but I think continually looking back prevents looking forward. Nice work by the OP on his research though.

 

I actually agree! It may seem counterproductive to what it appears I collect, but when I started really trying to nail the swipes/homages down, I knew of about 6 and was expecting maybe 3-4 more I didn't know about. Boy was I wrong but I over invested my effort and am now kinda stuck in it....I am in too deep....haha. Now that the heavy lifting is over though, as stated above, I am glad I did it. I love the cover, always will, and it will always have a big tie to my childhood. I consider it like a bad tattoo that I love but isn't the best.....still glad I did it, but not always in a hurry to show it off.

[shvd98z24]

Just added foreign prints to the list! Special thanks to Liam Sturgess (Liaton-9000) for putting them together for me and all others interested!!!

[TheLiamSturgess]

Just added foreign prints to the list! Special thanks to Liam Sturgess (Liaton-9000) for putting them together for me and all others interested!!!

 

My pleasure! I hope others will find those particular printings of interest as well.

[stoddaro]

I still have a BlackBerry Curve (and use it every day).

 

I also own:

 

1990 Spider-Man #1 (McFarlane) Originals - (Aug 1990)

- #1c - Green w/ Spidey Head (silver web/yellow background)

- #1f - Silver ($1.75 price)

 

[valiantman]

Spawn #1 always felt like an obvious homage, changed just enough that it wouldn't be a clear violation of Marvel copyright.

(The position of the left hand even looks like it might have originally been sketched as a knee.)

 

Spawn #8 seems like McFarlane was pretty sure Spawn (and Image) was in the clear, so it was obvious.

[Jugger Grimrod]

shvd98z24, I don't know if this would qualify to be added to your Spider-Man #1 list, but there was an exclusive Spider-Man #1 that came autographed by Todd McFarlane which came with a letter of authenticity and featured a small red spider's web stamp on the back of the issue. These were sold exclusively by the comic book store Todd and his brother-in-law owned called "The Spider's Web Card's & Comics" in Puyallup Washington back in the day. I am unsure how many copies were signed but this was all before the internet, so I have to assume not many were done. The letter of authenticity was pretty cheesy even featuring a spelling error that was crossed out, basically typed up on a typewriter or computer, hard to say. I have some still in my collection. But they were legit because I used to deliver the comics to his store as I worked for the distributor at the time and their store was on my route. Both guys were quite cool,

 

Todd lived in Canada at the time but come down every once in awhile to do in-store signings. I spent hours with just him and me once talking about what later would become Image as well as got to look at all his preliminary sketches of what became Spawn and heard all about his ideas. We also talked about his Amazing Spider-Man run and I remember him showing me what he didn't like about some of his work on them, etc. A few years ago I ran into him here in Seattle and he came up and gave me a big hug and we talked about how his family was doing, etc. Fond memories indeed, overall a really great guy.

 

 

Edited March 16, 2016 by Jugger Grimrod

[Lethal_Collector]

By the way...if you haven't seen this, it's important for every fan of art to watch:

 

 

Because if everything is art...then nothing is.

 

Good little video, wish it was longer.

 

Here's my Spidey #1 stuff in my office at work:

 

 

 

Jerome

[shvd98z24]

shvd98z24, I don't know if this would qualify to be added to your Spider-Man #1 list, but there was an exclusive Spider-Man #1 that came autographed by Todd McFarlane which came with a letter of authenticity and featured a small red spider's web stamp on the back of the issue.

 

I do know of, and own, a few of these. I don't show them on the list, mainly because there are a ton of fakes of those floating around. Same reason I have the disclaimer about the gold covers bagged. I don't want to send people out dropping somewhat substantial money on things that are tough to validate. On top of that, there are a 10s of 1000s of the originals signed by him (with and w/out the stamp). It maybe something that I put a note up about in the future but you are the first to ask about it (this list started on another site over a year ago). Thanks for bringing it up....it's good to have it mentioned in the thread!

 

[shvd98z24]

Lethal Collector: Love the framed print! I have 2 of the original 1990 posters still rolled in factory plastic. I want to get one of them framed similar to what you've done. Hoping stars align in the future so I can have it signed first.

[Jugger Grimrod]

I do know of, and own, a few of these. I don't show them on the list, mainly because there are a ton of fakes of those floating around. Same reason I have the disclaimer about the gold covers bagged. I don't want to send people out dropping somewhat substantial money on things that are tough to validate. On top of that, there are a 10s of 1000s of the originals signed by him (with and w/out the stamp). It maybe something that I put a note up about in the future but you are the first to ask about it (this list started on another site over a year ago). Thanks for bringing it up....it's good to have it mentioned in the thread!

 

No problem and yes while I know there is probably a lot of signed ones by him I am curious how many legit ones that had the small stamp were done, it wasn't something I thought to ask at the time. I guess fakes would be an easy thing to do since the stamp wasn't anything super special and probably could be replicated, as could the letter of authenticity. Glad the info could help despite that you already knew of them. ;-)

[chrisco37]

I do know of, and own, a few of these. I don't show them on the list, mainly because there are a ton of fakes of those floating around. Same reason I have the disclaimer about the gold covers bagged. I don't want to send people out dropping somewhat substantial money on things that are tough to validate. On top of that, there are a 10s of 1000s of the originals signed by him (with and w/out the stamp). It maybe something that I put a note up about in the future but you are the first to ask about it (this list started on another site over a year ago). Thanks for bringing it up....it's good to have it mentioned in the thread!

 

No problem and yes while I know there is probably a lot of signed ones by him I am curious how many legit ones that had the small stamp were done, it wasn't something I thought to ask at the time. I guess fakes would be an easy thing to do since the stamp wasn't anything super special and probably could be replicated, as could the letter of authenticity. Glad the info could help despite that you already knew of them. ;-)

 

I have these as well. But I don't recall how many were supposed to have been done (not sure if they ever said or not).

[shvd98z24]

I have these as well. But I don't recall how many were supposed to have been done (not sure if they ever said or not).

 

I have never seen any kind of release #s on them. From the amount of stamped copies I have seen, it has to be a LARGE number. I bought some signed issues not even advertised as being stamped and when they came in, they had the stamp on the back.

 

As Jugger said above, the stamp would be relatively easy to duplicate and unless McFarlane mixed his blood in the ink, like Kiss did for their comic, you would never know what you have. I view all signed copies the same, stamped or not. I care more about the auto being legit than having the stamp.

[Jugger Grimrod]

 

I have never seen any kind of release #s on them. From the amount of stamped copies I have seen, it has to be a LARGE number. I bought some signed issues not even advertised as being stamped and when they came in, they had the stamp on the back.

 

As Jugger said above, the stamp would be relatively easy to duplicate and unless McFarlane mixed his blood in the ink, like Kiss did for their comic, you would never know what you have. I view all signed copies the same, stamped or not. I care more about the auto being legit than having the stamp.

 

I had picked up my copies at his store since I was delivering there twice a week back when Diamond actually delivered comics to retailers that were not close to a distribution hub. I also think, and I could be wrong about this, was they included the letter of authenticity as one per order, not one per book, but again, it was long ago. But since it was before the days of the internet and really the only place to advertise was the weekly Comics Buyer's Guide newspaper I doubt there were more than 1000 copies signed. I know that each month the store would get multiple boxes of the issue, I wish I had asked more questions back then but I was a young guy not knowing better. I really wish I had gotten some sketches, or bought some original art, I remember he had some of his Detective Comics pages as low as a $100 at a small convention here once. Ugh.

[clarkkentdds]

Can anyone provide a comprehensive list of the books with his art? (variants not needed)

 

What did he draw prior to Hulk? I'd like to track his books down. I know of Hulk, ASM, Tecs, Bat 423, Spidey, and spawn...

[chrisco37]

Here's a start....just a quick note, the list below does not include the covers he did for Marvel Tales (and I think he did quite a few of those). Also, doesn't include any of the New Mutants books he inked (pretty sure that was covers only).

 

 

DC

All-Star Squadron No. 47 (along with Mike Clark) (1985)

Detective Comics #576–578 ("Batman: Year Two") (1987)

Infinity, Inc #14–37 (full art); Annual #1–2 (among other artists) (1985–87)

Invasion!, miniseries, #1–2 (1989)

 

Image

Cyberforce #8 (1994)

Image Comics Summer Special #1 (2004)

Image Comics Hardcover (Spawn story) (2005)

Spawn #1–15, 21–24 (full art); #26–33 (along with Greg Capullo) (1992–95); No. 190, 200 (among other artists) (2010)

Spawn/Batman No. 1 (1994)

 

Marvel

Amazing Spider-Man #298–323, 325, 328 (1988–90)

Coyote #11–14 (1985)

Daredevil No. 241 (1987)

G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero No. 60 (1987)

G.I. Joe Special No. 1 (1995)

Incredible Hulk #330–334, 336–346 (1987–88)

Marvel Holiday Special (Spider-Man) 2004

Spectacular Spider-Man Annual No. 10 (1990)

Spider-Man #1–14, 16 (1990–91)

Spitfire and the Troubleshooters No. 4 (1987)

 

[clarkkentdds]

IH #340 was his first cover?

[01TheDude]

By the way...if you haven't seen this, it's important for every fan of art to watch:

 

 

Because if everything is art...then nothing is.

 

Enjoyable little presentation....

 

My belief is that before you can really do 'impressionistic' type of art, you really should be grounded in the fundamentals, if not absolutely a master of them.

Moebius (Jean Giraud) spent many years on 'Blackberry', completely MASTERING a look from a genre not even a part of his native land...

 

 

 

 

Before venturing into a more abstract form. It gave it substance, and thus artistic merit.

 

 

 

McFarlane began his career by learning the basics.... anatomy, layout, perspective, etc....

 

 

 

 

But since comics are somewhat a perversion of those techniques in the first place (and Todd never really mastered them anyway), his growth to the 'next level' or whatever you want to call it, is spectacular in it's flashiness, no question, and somewhat pleasing to some to look at... but in reality... artistic reality... it's overly unnecessarily busy and...kinda flat.

 

 

 

 

Of course, much like professional wrestling, it caught the eye of many young boys right at the onset of puberty and it SOLD incredibly well and.... well...

 

If you want to see the progression of a master, check out Picasso's "First Communion":

 

 

Picasso was FIFTEEN YEARS OLD when he painted that.

 

Look at the composition. Look at the realism. Look at the use of light and dark.

 

It's breathtaking, and far beyond anything most of us could ever produce.

 

The argument that you can "break the rules before you know them" doesn't hold water.

 

 

(PS. I thought it was "Blueberry"? Or is there a "Blackberry", too?)

 

Something that was not touched upon in the video was the advances in technology and the emergence of photography. While I appreciate the efforts of the masters - especially works that are not from observation, is it possible that the ability to capture the images of the world so exactly through photography released artists to move away from the strict discipline that was handed down for centuries? Or more to the point- allow the practice to be used in ways they enjoyed?

 

Now I am not saying that everything is art--- the squatting pee cop and the huge rock are just amusing if anything to me -- I agree with what he is saying there. But the world is so vastly different from the one where these masters worked. Is it really surprising that even legitimate art (however that is determined) has morphed into so many new levels of thinking?

 

As we always say here-- collect/buy what you like and be open to let others do likewise..