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Spawn is a fictional character, an anti-hero that appears in a monthly comic book of the same name published by Image Comics as well as annual compilations, mini-series specials written by guest authors and artists and numerous cross-over story-lines in other comic books. Created by writer/artist Todd McFarlane, the character first appeared in ''Spawn'' #1 (May 1992). Spawn was ranked 60th on ''Wizard'' magazine's list of the Top 200 Comic Book Characters of All Time, 50th on ''Empire'' magazine's list of The 50 Greatest Comic Book Characters and 36th on IGN's 2011 Top 100 Comic Book Heroes.〔("IGN's Top 100 Comic Book Heroes: (40-21)" ). IGN. May 5, 2011〕 The series has spun off several other comics, including ''Angela'', ''Curse of the Spawn'', ''Sam & Twitch'', and the Japanese manga ''Shadows of Spawn.'' Spawn was adapted into a 1997 feature film and portrayed by Michael Jai White, an HBO animated series lasting from 1997 until 1999, and a series of action figures whose high level of detail made McFarlane Toys known in the toy industry. ==Publication history== ''Spawn'' enjoyed considerable popularity upon its initial release in the 1990s. Comic book collecting was enjoying a marked upswing at the time, fueled by the speculator boom looking for the next hot book that would jump in value after its release.〔Miller, John Jackson. ("X-Men #1, One Piece, and world records" ), The Comics Chronicles, November 16, 2010.〕 McFarlane had enjoyed superstar status among comic fans with his work on ''Spider-Man'', which had featured McFarlane's name prominently as both writer and artist. McFarlane's subsequent break with Marvel and the formation of Image Comics was seen by many as a sea-change event, changing the very way in which comics were produced. ''Wizard'', on May 2008, rated "The Launch of Image Comics" as No.1 in the list of events that rocked the Comic Industry from 1991 to 2008. The first issue of ''Spawn'' was very popular with sales of 1.7 million copies.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 Todd McFarlane - Complete Biography )〕 During ''Spawns second year of publication, ''Wizard'' noted that "The top dog at Image is undoubtedly Todd McFarlane's ''Spawn'', which, without the added marketing push of fancy covers, polybagged issues, or card inserts has become the best-selling comic on a consistent basis that is currently being published." Sales slumped around the time of ''Spawn'' #25, but by ''Spawn'' #45 it was again a consistently strong seller. The popularity of the franchise peaked with the 1997 ''Spawn'' feature film, the pre-release publicity for which helped make ''Spawn'' the top selling comic book for May 1997;〔 in addition, the spin-off ''Curse of the Spawn'' #9 came in at fifth best-selling for the same month. However, the film was only a mild commercial success and failed to start a film franchise based on the character. A 2008 issue, ''Spawn'' #174, ranked 99th best-selling comic of the month with retail orders of 22,667.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 Top 300 Comics Actual—January 2008 )〕 In October 2008, issue #185, which marked both a new creative direction and Todd McFarlane's return to the book, sold out at the distribution level and received a second printing.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 McFarlane-Portacio Spawn Sells Out )〕 By issue #191 in May 2009, with estimated sales of 19,803 copies, ''Spawn'' had dropped below Top 100 titles sold monthly to comic shops as reported by Diamond Comic Distributors.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 Comic Book Sales Figures for April 2009 )〕 As of August 2010 Spawn no longer was ranked in the top 300 sales figures chart reported by Diamond Comic Distributors. On the day of its release in 2011, issue #200 sold out. This issue featured work by Greg Capullo, David Finch, Michael Golden, Jim Lee, Rob Liefeld, Marc Silvestri, Danny Miki, and Ashley Wood. A second printing was released the next month.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 Spawn #200 Sells Out in One Day - Comic Book Resources )〕 Despite its remarkable sales, it received a negative review from IGN.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 Spawn #200 - Review )〕 As of 2014, ''Spawn'' is one of only two titles still being published since the label's 1992 debut, the other being ''Savage Dragon'' . 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Spawn (comics)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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