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Image Comics’ president Todd McFarlane says relaunches and new #1s are a “short-term hit” but not worth it in the long run, and he’d never do it to Spawn
The core Spawn comic has been growing by one number every month since its debut in 1992. “Why would I disrupt it?” asks creator McFarlane
NewsbyGrant DeArmitt, Staff Writer
Published on Wed Aug 05 2026
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It doesn’t take more than a casual glance at recent comic book history to recognize one of the industry’s biggest modern trends. That is, renumbering a popular title starting with number one. The Big Two are the main perpetrators of said trend, with both Batman and Captain America #1s dropping some 80+ years after the first actual comic came out. But there’s one name in superhero comics that won’t be headed down that path – the hellishly powered Spawn– and we have it on pretty authority that that’s going to stay the case.
Because when Todd McFarlane says he’s sticking to something, he tends to do so.
I spoke to McFarlane recently ahead of his latest miniseries set in the Spawn universe – the groovy demon-drama known as Spawn ‘77. It’s the latest addition to the Spawn universe after an Image Comics expansion of the line in 2021, which introduced hits like King Spawn, GunSlinger Spawn, and The Scorched. And while McFarlane is fully supportive of revitalizations like that (“I do revamps,” he told me), that will never amount to winding the numbers in the corners back.
“I’m not going to renumber Spawn.” McFarlane said, “Can I renumber Spawn to number one? Yes. But why? I always ask the why of it, I mean, and other than you can get a short-term hit.”
McFarlane explained that, even though those “short term hits” are appealing, the constant renumbering does not lead to publishers “selling more of that book than you were five, six, seven years ago.”
“So why would I copy that?” he asked. “Why would I disrupt it? I’ve said before to people, I don’t know how to collect Fantastic Four from 1961 all the way up to today, chronologically, because there’s so many new #1s. It’s like, well, when did it stop? They went back to legacy numbering and it’s like, whatever. I don’t know. […] With Spawn, I’m just going to add one more number to the total every month.”
But what if the comic industry gets to the point when people aren’t buying comics without a #1 on the cover? McFarlane still won’t renumber, but he’s got a method of malicious compliance.
“If the only reason you’re not buying it is because it’s not number one,” McFarlane joked, “I’ll put a #1 in another corner. Next month it’ll be ‘#377’ in one corner, and ‘#1’ in the other corner. The next month it’d be #378, and #1 in the other corner. If you want #1, I’ll give you a fucking #1 every month.”
Todd McFarlane’s Spawn is available now wherever you get your comics. Spawn ’77 arrives on shelves September 9.
Interested? Here’s where to find your closest local comic store, courtesy of Sweet, and here’s a guide to how (and where) to read comics online. If you’re looking for the best comics in recent memory, check out the Eisner Awards winners and the Harvey Awards nominees. And if you like free comics, here’s everything we know about Free Comic Book Day 2027.
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Grant DeArmitt: Grant DeArmitt (he/him) likes horror, comics, and the unholy union of the two. In the past, and despite their better judgment, he has written for Nightmare on Film Street and Newsarama. He lives in Brooklyn with his partner, Kingsley, and corgi, Legs.
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