caption website write birth_place influences subcat ink nationality publish awards pencil birth_date image article_title
mcfarlane at the 2011 new york comic con . http://www.spawn.com y calgary , alberta , canada john george pérez , alan moore walt simonson byrne , jack kirby , frank miller , canadian y canadian y inkpot football league artist of the year 2005 award 1992 national cartoonists society award 1992 national y 16 march 1961 10.15.11toddmcfarlanebyluiginovi1.jpg todd mcfarlane

todd mcfarlane

todd mcfarlane -lrb- ; born march 16 , 1961 -rrb- is a canadian cartoonist , artist , writer , toy designer and entrepreneur , best known for his work in comic books , such as the 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 , on which he was the artist to draw the first full appearances of the supervillain venom .
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 a popular hero in the 1990s and encouraged a trend in creator-owned comic book properties .
since leaving inking duties on `` spawn '' with issue no. 70 -lrb- february 1998 -rrb- , 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 would be the art director of the newly formed 38 studios , formerly green monster games , founded by major league baseball pitcher curt schilling .
mcfarlane used to be a co-owner of the national hockey league 's edmonton oilers but sold his shares to daryl katz .
he is also a high-profile collector of history-making baseballs .
