IMAGE EXPO: McFarlane Promises Eisner-Winning "Spawn" Writer

[CBR News]

Ahead of tomorrow's Image Expo, co-founder Todd McFarlane is promising an Eisner winner will take over writing his signature character.


Full article here.

[MrStatham]

Possibly Morrison, then? Although if Todd is after more generic 'superhero' stuff done well, he might be barking up the wrong tree there. Has Brian K Vaughan won an Eisner, at all? I could see him taking this job given he's only doing Saga at the moment, and that has periods of downtime to let Staples catch up/work on Archie. Maybe Rucka?

[MikeInfinitum]

If we assume (and we should never assume!) that it's someone who has won Best Writer Eisner then that narrows it down somewhat.

Alan Moore - You'd think unlikely but he has written Spawn before and his work on Crossed shows he's happy to work on non-creator owned stuff. However I think he'd get a different description than 'just' and Eisner award winner!

Neil Gaiman - Hardly ever writes comics anymore, why would do Spawn? He has written it before though

Garth Ennis - A great choice, fits the description, still does work-for-hire now and again

Kurt Busiek - Has just launched his own creator owned title and just doesn't seem a fit for the title

Bendis - Was fired from a Spawn book before and is wedded to Marvel, probably the least likely option!

Vaughan - Riding high with Saga, wouldn't fit the title, surely has little interest in doing work-for-hire now

Brubaker - Fits the bill, might work if they take it in a more noir direction, seems busy with his own stuff though

Willingham - Has only done one book for Marvel I think so doesn't seem to fit the bill (might have an interesting take on the character though)

Hill - Would be a good fit but don't think he's done any DC or Marvel stuff has he?

Waid - Big name, fits the description, no reason why it couldn't be him but doesn't feel right

So think we can rule out Gaiman, Bendis, Vaughan, Hill
Possible but unlikely are Moore, Busiek, Willingham

That leaves one of Ennis, Brubaker or Waid

I'm gonna go with Garth Ennis.

[Lexor7]

Has Warren Ellis won an Eisner? That guy'll write anything...for 4 issues.

[Nick Miller]

Ennis

or

Willingham

If its Ennis i will jump on.

[Dark-Flux]

Dont know why but i cant see it being Ennis. But oh man i would FREAK.

[Deniz Camp]

Bleeding Cool was reporting it was Morrison before, saying that MacFarlane was saying as much. Then it was announced to be Wood, and now we have him saying that it's a writer he had previously planned to have working on the property but couldn't due to scheduling reasons.

Sounds like Morrison.

[MikeyWood]

I'm always surprised when I see news on SPAWN. It's so off of my radar...nobody I know reads it, I never even see it on the shelf in stores...that I forget it's even still going.

[El Sombrero]

If they really get Morrison for this, I hope they get a better artist than Jonboy Meyers. Meyers' art that I've seen isn't doing it for me at all.

[CoronaSmith]

There are a lot of other writers you can add to that list. It could've been a writer on say a new series like Inhumans by Paul Jenkins & Jae Lee. Jenkins has worked for the Big Two as well. So Technically he could be a potential candidate. Sounds like maybe Morrison as stated in a previous post.

[RobinFan4880]

I would freak out if the writer was Morrison. I would buy everything. Literally, all of it.

[Drz]

Does it really matter who's writing if Todd Macfarlane is just gonna dominate and rewrite the story for his own desires? That's what got Brian Wood fired from the title, Macfarlane kept rewirting the story.

[MrStatham]

Well, no, it sounds more like Wood wasn't in line with what McFarlane wanted, hence the rewrite and removal. If Todd thinks he's found the right writer, that will probably ease off. Wood is, also, someone who has a very particular voice in superhero comics, so perhaps it just wasn't what Todd was looking for. That said, he needs to back off in general. The best period of Spawn was when he seemed to have as minimal an amount of involvement as possible, in the Hine days. The story actually went somewhere and we actually saw Armageddon.

[Wally West]

wait I thought Brian Wood was the new writer??

[Dark-Flux]

If we assume (and we should never assume!) that it's someone who has won Best Writer Eisner then that narrows it down somewhat.

Alan Moore - You'd think unlikely but he has written Spawn before and his work on Crossed shows he's happy to work on non-creator owned stuff. However I think he'd get a different description than 'just' and Eisner award winner!

Neil Gaiman - Hardly ever writes comics anymore, why would do Spawn? He has written it before though

Garth Ennis - A great choice, fits the description, still does work-for-hire now and again

Kurt Busiek - Has just launched his own creator owned title and just doesn't seem a fit for the title

Bendis - Was fired from a Spawn book before and is wedded to Marvel, probably the least likely option!

Vaughan - Riding high with Saga, wouldn't fit the title, surely has little interest in doing work-for-hire now

Brubaker - Fits the bill, might work if they take it in a more noir direction, seems busy with his own stuff though

Willingham - Has only done one book for Marvel I think so doesn't seem to fit the bill (might have an interesting take on the character though)

Hill - Would be a good fit but don't think he's done any DC or Marvel stuff has he?

Waid - Big name, fits the description, no reason why it couldn't be him but doesn't feel right

So think we can rule out Gaiman, Bendis, Vaughan, Hill
Possible but unlikely are Moore, Busiek, Willingham

That leaves one of Ennis, Brubaker or Waid

I'm gonna go with Garth Ennis.

I wouldnt count on Moore or Gaiman. Moores had a pretty big falling out with Image after working with Lee and Liefeld. And with Gaiman youve got the whole Medieval Spawn/Angela lawsuit. Pretty sure he and Todd are done with each other.