A risk-taker with an unerring instinct for success, Todd McFarlane has made a multi-million dollar empire using those skills and along the way he and his companies have received nearly a hundred national and international awards, including two Emmys, a Grammy, and MTV Music Awards for his producer/director roles. McFarlane became a true comic book superstar for his record setting work on Marvel Comics’ Spider-Man franchise, where he co-created the anti-hero Venom. The Sony Pictures’ Venom film starring Tom Hardy set an all-time record for largest film opening in October and was #1 at the box office its first two weeks of release. This year, McFarlane has announced an ensemble of award-winning talent for his upcoming Spawn movie: Casting Academy Award and Golden Globe winner Jamie Foxx (Ray, Django Unchained) to play Spawn and Academy Award nominee Jeremy Renner (Hurt Locker, The Town, Wind River) to play police detective "Twitch" Williams. This new Spawn film will be a gritty, R-rated re-imagining of the character and marks McFarlane’s feature film directorial debut. Academy Award nominee Jason Blum and his BlumhouseProductions, the force behind recent hits Get Out, Split and Halloween, are attached to produce. McFarlane also co-founded in 1992—and serves as current President of—Image Comics. Image has been the third largest comic publisher in North America the past 26 years (behind Marvel and DC Comics). In 1994, McFarlane founded the international award-winning McFarlane Toys—now one of North America’s top action figure manufacturers, boasting over 150 licenses (including the recently announced Fortnite license) during that time. Artistically, McFarlane’s impact visually on the look of Spider-Man (while working at Marvel in the 1990s) can still be seen today. And a single page of McFarlane’s original art from an issue of Amazing Spider-Man sold for a record-smashing $657,250. Then his first issue for Image Comics, called Spawn, sold an unprecedented 1.7 million copies for an independent comic. Since its debut, Spawn has continued to be a fan favorite title around the world. Spawn is published in 12 languages and sold in 37 countries. The comic became an Emmy Award-Winning animated series on HBO and a New Line Cinema feature film. McFarlane founded the international award-winning McFarlane Toys—now one of North America’s top action figure manufacturers. A whirlwind of expansion in McFarlane’s companies followed: more comics, action figures, and award-winning entertainment projects which boast over 150 licenses. McFarlane Toys is known for making the best toys of the world’s pop-culture obsessions including the newly launched Fortnite and roleplay line. Brian Holguin is a comic book writer. He is best known for his work for independent publishers such as Image Comics and Top Cow Productions. He has written issues of Aria, Cyberforce, KISS: Psycho Circus, Mr. Majestic and Spawn. He wrote eighteen issues of the original Cyberforce series, and became a regular writer on Spawn beginning with issue #71. Greg Capullo is a renowned comic book artist, known for his dynamic style and attention to detail. Born in Schenectady, New York, Capullo’s passion for drawing and creating comics began at a young age. He started his career working for smaller publishers before landing a job at Marvel Comics, where he worked on titles such as X-Force and Quasar. He later moved to rival company DC Comics, where he achieved his greatest success as the primary artist for the critically acclaimed Batman series in collaboration with writer Scott Snyder. Capullo’s distinctive style features bold lines and intricate detail. He has the ability to capture the essence of characters and bring them to life through his illustrations. His work on Batman, in particular, has received widespread critical acclaim, earning him numerous Eisner Awards and cementing his position as one of the top comic book artists in the industry. In addition to his work on Batman, Capullo has also collaborated with writer Todd McFarlane on the creation of the iconic comic book series, Spawn. Capullo’s artwork on Spawn has garnered high praise and earned him multiple awards, including a Harvey Award. His collaborative work with McFarlane is considered one of the best partnerships in the comic book industry and has continued for many years. With a career spanning over three decades, Greg Capullo has made an indelible mark on the comic book industry and continues to inspire new generations of artists and fans. For over 32 years Danny Miki has built a solid reputation as an inker in the comic book industry. He began as an assistant on Uncanny X-men and X-Men. He then moved onto Image comics where he joined Extreme Studios and worked on Image comics flagship Youngblood and numerous of other titles. From there Miki would join forces with Todd McFarlane helping with the inking chores on Spawn, which lead to Curse of the Spawn and The Creech with Greg Capullo. His Marvel career began with various covers over Joe Quesada and inking Ghost Rider full time. From there he’s inked almost every main character in the Marvel universe. While at Marvel, his most prominent titles were with David Finch on Moon Knight, Avengers and New Avengers. With multiple award nominees he had the great opportunity to work with Neil Gaiman and John Romita Jr. on Jack Kirby’s the Eternals in which he received the Harvey Awards Best Inker for that title run. Years later, once again working with Greg Capullo and Scott Snyder on DC’s Batman New 52 , he recieved his second Harvey award for that book’s inks. At DC he has found himself inking Ivan Reis on such titles as Batman, Superman, Titans and Detective Comics. He is currently inking Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis’s Hyde Street with Ghost Machine.
