In 1977, in a Calgary basement, a teenaged Todd McFarlane drew his comic book character Spawn for the first time. It’d be another 15 years before the eventual industry icon would revisit the idea and release the first issue of Spawn into the world. And what we got in 1992 was... pretty different. But the original vision of a 16- or 17-year-old artist-to-be will soon start its own life in four colours between two covers. Spawn ’77 launches next month. To mark it, McFarlane created a special variant cover paying tribute to one of his most famed artworks and his hometown. “It’s an homage cover to one I did years ago when I was working at Marvel,” he told CTV News, speaking of the cover to The Amazing Spider-Man 300. “That cover for whatever reason has sort of gotten into the zeitgeist of comic books.” McFarlane figures that image has been recreated a couple hundred times, by many an artist, including himself, more than once. “Doing that cover, historically, there’s always a backdrop. It’s always New York City,” he said. “Why don’t we put the city (Spawn) was created in?” Finding the right reference photo, McFarlane said, was a struggle. “Today, with all the buildings, you can barely see the tower,” he said. “I went to vintage photos.” McFarlane revealed the cover recently on social media. Fandom loves its shoutouts. Bill Bateman from Alpha Comics in Calgary told CTV News seeing this city represented is “certainly a source of pride.” “It’s about being part of something much bigger,” he said. “I think the farthest back I can remember myself is seeing X-Men 120 or 121 that showed a battle at the Calgary Airport and the Stampede.” Those issues of X-Men hit spinner racks around the same time McFarlane was doodling what would become his legacy. Bateman said our locales pop up in popular culture all the time, but it’s “even more special when a homegrown talent like Todd gives a shout-out.” “Calgary comic folks absolutely show up for Todd,” he said. “In recent years, he was a guest at Video Game Traders in the small mall in Bonavista. The mall was filled with fans.” McFarlane, who has lived south of the border for decades, said he loves Calgary right back. All of Canada, in fact. “As soon as you cross the border, you’re home. You’re just home,” he said. “Although I know the math is, ‘Todd, you’ve spent way more time in the U.S. than Canada,’ there’s never a day where I don’t consider myself to be a Canadian.” Despite the one cover tease, Spawn ’77 will take place in New York City. It does take place in 1977 though. Mark Spears is teaming with McFarlane for three double-sized issues. He got the job after reminding McFarlane about those old drawings, some of which have been floating around the internet for years. “It’s a character that’s sort of inspired by the myth, the legend of Spawn, kind of like Bigfoot,” McFarlane said. “If you read the story, you find out that he gets in way deeper than he ever imagined.” McFarlane said the series is far removed from the tale that took up his early sketchbook pages. He still has that original 40-page story he came up with almost 50 years ago. The first issue of Spawn ’77 is set for release in comic book stores Sept. 9. Alpha Comics is located at 7005 18 St. S.E. Alpha Comics is also at YYCFanFair, Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Thorncliffe-Greenview Community Association (5600 Centre St. N.).
