So people have been e-mailing me (yes, my e-mail is functioning properly once more) asking me if I’m “happy” about the news that Todd McFarlane has filed for bankruptcy.
The answer is, no, of course not, for two reasons. First, I take no pleasure in the misfortune of others, even if they’ve done me dirt. And second, I don’t think of this as anything other than a canny accounting dodge so that Todd can get out of the debts he owes to people that he’s done dirt to. Tony Twist, to whom he lost two court battles for naming a murderous thug after him; Neil Gaiman, to whom he made countless promises that he then broke; various artists including my past collaborator, Angel Medina, to whom he owes thousands. Depending upon how it plays out, all these people he’s screwed over may wind up getting pennies on the dollar, while Todd winds up “reorganizing” and eventually going back to business as usual without having to properly compensate these guys. Guys who (with the exception of Twist) made only one mistake: Trusting Todd McFarlane.
Granted, I’m not an accountant or a lawyer. So if someone with an accounting or law degree would care to explain that I’m wrong, I would love to hear it. I would very much like to be wrong on this and think that guys like Neil and Angel will be able to get what’s due them.
PAD
• 
Heinlein once remarked that it is always the little guy who is hurt in a bankruptcy. Somehow, the rich ones are never shy a dime afterwards.
Consider the case of an Ottawa millionaire who had purchased controlling interests in the city’s NHL hockey team, and the world-class arena they played in.
Unfortunately for him, he’d neglected to listen to all the studies which had showed that Ottawa is too small a market for such an expensive proposition.
So, tired of losing money on the team, he declared bankruptcy and put it and the arena up for sale.
Then turned around and bought them back at a small fraction of their declared value – over the howls of investors and other creditors.
He was then able to continue operating, without all the interest payments on the outstanding debts. He had what he wanted, and the creditors were screwed.
Unfortunately for him a wheel came off anyway and he wound up being forced to sell again.
But this left a lot of people – myself included – wondering how the hëll someone who is supposedly bankrupt can come up with millions of dollars to re-buy such a proberty, even if at a bargain price. Bankruptcy laws clearly need to be changed.
All I can say is, what goes around, comes around. Todd won’t have to sell any of his baseballs, and only the people whom he owes will feel the pain.
Still, overall, I think it is bursting a bubble in his ego, which is the best news of all.
From an article regarding the bankruptcy:
Last year, he said his McFarlane Cos., then an umbrella of seven businesses, had annual sales exceeding $50 million.
Makes you wonder what he’s doing with that $50 million if he’s not paying out jury awards (or buying baseballs).
This really is a shame.
Considering how Bankruptcy works in the this country (only for the rich), why doesa it even exist?
Oops, answered my own question there…
No way. Todd declaring bankruptcy? Christ.
Todd MacFarlane is best known by the general public as someone who owns three used baseballs and slandered a hockey player.
Comics fans remember that he drew a comic that, because seven million copied were published, according to the law of supply and demand should be one of the least valuable comics in existance.
Trivia buffs will recall that he did some interesting decorative panel borders on his first assignment, Infinity, Inc. he also drew an issue or two of G.I.Joe (or am I thinking of Michael Golden?)
PAD fans remember that Mr. Mac drew some gray Hulk stories.
Animation and free speech fans can respect that he did maintain the integrity of Spawn (the animated series) by having it air unaltered on HBO. On the other hand, the movie was shite.
People working in the comics field recall that Mac was an Image Comics founder and the company began by mouthing the noblest of intentions, but then failed to live up to them and turned into another work for hire sweat shop that the founders allegedly were trying to escape from at Marvel.
And now the Toddlemeister will be known as someone that no one in their right mind will want to work for or with.
But, you know, the toys are really nice.
Just to clarify a bit, Todd has not filed for bankruptcy. Todd McFarlane Productions, Inc., one of his seven companies, filed.
I don’t want to sound uneducated, but I don’t know about the bad blood between PAD and McFarlane. Can someone give me a recap?
Thanks,
F-
With all that gold and chocolate and cookoo clocks, who’d have guessed that Switzerland could go bankrupt?
I must say, I was very pleased to hear the news, if only because Todd is kind of an ášš. I believe I used the word “karma” on my own site, but Peter is probably correct in stating that this is merely a way to dodge paying out any money he owes (although, in Neil Gaiman’s case, I believe it wasn’t money, but characters that were exchanged – Neil gets Miracleman and Todd got Angela, et al, and that was that, but I could be mistaken).
And, really, in the case of Tony Twist, c’mon…that’s a First Amendment thing right there. As much as I dislike Todd and his business practices, he named a character after a hockey player…parody, satire, whatever you want to call it, it should have been protected under the Freedom of Speech, and $15 million is way too much money to have been awarded to Twist.
I knew about the Gaiman screwing and the Twist case as well as the obvious, though-not-directly-stated shadiness with Bendis. I was not aware of negative stuff with Angel Medina. I met Angel at the Big Apple Con back in September and he was one of the most cordial, gracious and friendly pros I’ve ever met. He had nothing but good things to say about any name that came up. This may well have been the reason that he didn’t bring Toddy up.
Fred
Last year, he said his McFarlane Cos., then an umbrella of seven businesses, had annual sales exceeding $50 million.
Makes you wonder what he’s doing with that $50 million if he’s not paying out jury awards (or buying baseballs).
Gross sales is income before expenses. Production costs (raw materials, rent, salaries, advertising, etc) have to be subtracted from the sales before there is profit.
Chuck Rozanski did an excellent column on this in CBG. http://www.milehighcomics.com/tales/cbg84.html
Posted by Fred at December 19, 2004 01:52 PM
I don’t want to sound uneducated, but I don’t know about the bad blood between PAD and McFarlane. Can someone give me a recap?
Thanks,
F-
Good luck obtaining an answer. I’ve even written PAD personally about it and like 3 other emails of mine it all went unanswered.
I’m sorry to say you may not receive an answer here as well because often times things said here are very unkind and uncivil.
Of course that’s an internet thing I suppose rather than people being passionate about comic books.
Fred,
In a nutshell, Todd made some very public, very ignorant statements. PAD called him on it. Todd denied it. Todd proposed a debate between the two at a convention. PAD couldn’t even really wipe the floor with him, but Todd turned it into a circus event and never actually answered any of the questions. He played it off as a big joke. In the end, Todd was the one who looked like a joke.
Fred
Archives exist for a reason: http://peterdavid.malibulist.com/archives/000731.html
-Kelly
oops *dámņ no-edit feature* “PAD couldn’t even really wipe the floor with him, but Todd turned it into a circus event and never actually answered any of the questions.” Should read “PAD couldn’t even really wipe the floor with him, because Todd turned it into a circus event and never actually answered any of the questions.”
“People working in the comics field recall that Mac was an Image Comics founder and the company began by mouthing the noblest of intentions, but then failed to live up to them and turned into another work for hire sweat shop that the founders allegedly were trying to escape from at Marvel.”
Yeah, I hate all those comics like Age of Bronze, Powers, Walking Dead, Noble Causes, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Empire, etc. I’m sure glad all Image turned out to be was a work-for-hire sweatshop like Marvel and DC.
League of Extraodinary Gentlemen was published by DC under their ABC imprint.
Call me nuts (Okay, you’re nuts) but I REALLY don’t think much is going to come of this. Either ol’ Todd will just shrug this off like he does a lot of other things, or he and his company won’t. And I don’t think, (okay, you’re nuts)that he drew any GI Joe books, but as big a Joe fan as I am, I never memorized the artists.
Rat,
I have never been a G.I. Joe reader, but I do remember him doing an homage cover to His Siper-Man #1 (featuring Snake Eyes) I believe.
For the probable (possible?) start of “the feud” check out Peter David’s BUT I DIGRESS… collection of essays. In a nutshell, when Todd & Co. were announcing Image Comics as the greatest thing to happen to comics ever, PAD “knocked the wheels off the wagon. And he’s never forgiven me for it.” PAD argued that mixing business and friendship (as they claimed to be doing) was a volatile mix, and that they left companies making superhero comics not to do experimental, daring controversial work, but to do more superhero comics.
And the rest, as they say, is history…
(If PAD, or anyone who has BUT I DIGRESS… on hand, wants to clarify or correct my comments, feel free.)
I watched the whole PAD/Todd debacle start in Petey’s ‘But I Digress’ columns back in the day. One of the main reasons I went to the Philly Con that year (I lived in Michigan at the time) was to see the debate. It was brutal.
I still have the mocking program that Todd made for the event. I must say I wasn’t sad to see him get verbally eviscerated.
Later that convention, my wife and I sat right next to him and watched a film he wrote the screenplay for; he pointed out where he appeared only to quickly get killed. Good times.
Anyway, that’s a nutshell version of what happened, along with info about me that you could care less about. Tada!
Here’s the George Perez drawing from after the debate that appeared in But I Digress:
http://vu.morrissey-solo.com/moz/perez/art/hulk-s.jpg
Ralf Haring notes that a number of comic books, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, belie the statement that Image is just another work-for-hire sweatshop.
Den comments that DC is the publisher of the ABC imprint books, including League.
Regarding the ABC books: The America’s Best Comics imprint was something that Alan Moore and Jim Lee worked out as being published through Wildstorm, before Wildstorm became a part of DC. In fact, when that happened, many people expected Moore to pull out because of past problems between DC and himself; the speculation at the time was that the ABC deal only continued because Jim and Wildstorm could act as a buffer between Alan and DC.
Also, unless I am greatly mistaken, Wildstorm does not own the ABC characters/universe; Alan and his collaborators do.
Thus, it is not unreasonable to lump League of Extraordinary Gentlemen into a group of well-regarded, creator-owned books, that were brought to us via Image (mostly through Image Central, but some through the various studios owned by the original Image 6-7).
WRT the sweat-shop/work-for-hire comments:
It is certainly true that the various Image founders have all, at some point, employed other creators to produce works depicting characters created by and owned by the founders. I am not privy to the specific contracts employed, but let’s say they are work-for-hire contracts. I can no longer recall the specific statements made by the Image founders regarding their desire to leave Marvel. At the time, to the best of my recollection, Marvel’s only venue for creator-owned work was the Epic line; and the tenor of that line was still primarily heroic adventure stories of some sort, but was not primarily (I would argue not at all) straight-forward super-heroics of the sort the founders would go on to produce. If the Image founders wanted to be able to create and own their own super-hero characters, Marvel didn’t really have a place for them (and evidently was uninterested in creating one). Note that even before Image Central came into existence, Image did allow non-founders the option to create their own characters and situations, and to continue to own same (Sam Kieth’s MAXX, Dale Keown’s PITT). Yes, these were far outweighed by the likes of UNION, SUPREME, STORMWATCH, and BRIGADE (or even CY-GOR and FREAK FORCE), but the opportunities existed.
The worst you can really say about how they followed through on their intentions in this regard is that they weren’t as radical as they sounded.
R David Francis
Jacob, Fred C, and Kelly Saxman- thanks for the info.
F-
Gross sales is income before expenses. Production costs (raw materials, rent, salaries, advertising, etc) have to be subtracted from the sales before there is profit.
*sigh* Yes, I have taken Business 101, thank you very much.
Maybe somebody should be auditing McFarlane’s businesses books to find out where this kind of money went (seeing as how the joke went over atleast one person’s head), because it has never sounded like his businesses were hurting in the past.
Thus, it is not unreasonable to lump League of Extraordinary Gentlemen into a group of well-regarded, creator-owned books, that were brought to us via Image (mostly through Image Central, but some through the various studios owned by the original Image 6-7).
I’m sure how a book that was never published by Image in line that did not even begin publishing until after Jim Lee sold his Wildstorm imprint to DC can be considered an Image.
*sigh* Yes, I have taken Business 101, thank you very much… (seeing as how the joke went over at least one person’s head)
I thought you might be joking, but as a former hobby retailer of 15 years I’ve dealy with a LOT of people who think that total sales = total profits. I just wanted to be sure.
Those who do think the above equation is true need to read the previously referenced column.
PAD’s mostly correct on TM’s goal here: hide behind bankruptcy law in order to weasel out of his mounting financial obligations.
While bankruptcy law isn’t intended to provide additional relief for coroporations and the rich, the way the system is set up ends up having that effect. Non-rich individuals have a hard time recovering because their income potential really doesn’t change after the bankruptcy is completed. They have less or no debt, so more relative income compared to before, but they still have the same skill-set and earnings potential as before.
Corporations, on the other hand, have less debt, and a good deal of the assets they had prior to the bankruptcy. Companies can also find willing investors post BR, who will pump in additional capital (the phrase “there’s a sucker born every minute” comes to mind).
The reasons behind bankruptcy law are many: slavery/indentured service are outlawed; the law favors investment and risk, and offers some protection to those willing to take that risk, and large companies that employ tens of thousands of employees going out of business could be devastating to the national economy.
Now, it’s possible that, by declaring BR, TM’s company could be buying itself more trouble than help. It’s hard for me to understand how a company with an annual gross of $50 million can’t afford a $15 million debt. If they can’t pay it in one lump sum, the court would be willing to agree to a settlement, like $5 mil. a year for three years, plus interest of course.
TM’s CO. is now going to have to open its books for its creditors to see, and to submit a plan to the court for approval. If his books show he’s got the money to pay his debts, the court’s going to make him do just that. And if he has to sell the copyrights to some of his characters in order to meet those obligations, the court could order that. The downside to bankruptcy is that, while you’re in the process, you lose some measure of control over your assets. He’ll be allowed to keep enough to continue as a going venture during and after, but he may not have all his toys left.
And plus there’s this: If those records show that his companies have joint or shared onwership of some of his properties, his other companies could be brought into the proceeding. Todd may have just screwed himself. It would have been a whole lot simpler to just have paid Twist off in the beginning.
This isn’t really a First Amendment issue. The government’s not saying anything about what TM can and can’t put in his books. It’s a private civil issue, so it mostly falls outside the realm of the First Amendment.
It *can* be seen as a free speech issue, but as we all should know by now, there’s no right of free speech when it comes to clashes between individuals. Satire and parody are one thing, but taking a national hockey player and attaching his name to a murderous thug in a serious, dramatic story isn’t satire or parody. It has the effect of making people think that your character is based on the real person, and could affect his name. If anything, it’s libel.
Imagine if McFarlane had created an OJ Juice character that murdered young blonde women? How fast would OJ Simpson have been in court getting that stopped?
Napolean Park wrote:
Trivia buffs will recall that he did some interesting decorative panel borders on his first assignment, Infinity, Inc. he also drew an issue or two of G.I.Joe (or am I thinking of Michael Golden?)
McFarlane’s first professional assignment was actually for Marvel’s Epic line, on Coyote. He also illustrated an issue of Marvel’s New Universe title, Spitfire and the Troubleshooters (or Codename: Spitfire, as it was renamed at one point).
DC’s Infinity Inc. was his first *regular* assignment.
Apologies is someone posted this already, but here’s a page of Neil Gaiman’s blog on his case with McFarlane
http://www.neilgaiman.com/journal/2004/02/in-which-endless-legal-case-is-put-to.asp
Thanks for the Todd-through-the-wall comic – that had me laughing.
Todd’s a jerk, as most people know. He won’t be a pauper after all the lawsuits are settled, but it sounds like he won’t get away with all of his past sins either. Most importantly, few will work with him now.
cheers,
Andrew
League of Extraodinary Gentlemen was published by DC under their ABC imprint.
LoEG was originally started at Image under WildStorm’s ABC imprint, as explained by David. I considered it similar to Empire, which was started at Image and finished at DC.
Also, unless I am greatly mistaken, Wildstorm does not own the ABC characters/universe; Alan and his collaborators do.
Moore and O’Neill own LoEG. The rest are owned by DC. The various artists involved requested that, probably having something to do with a more regular pay schedule.
Midnight Nation is another one I thought of. I’ve also been discovering Maxx lately due to DC’s new reprints after having written it off in the early 90s.
Andrew:
>Todd’s a jerk, as most people know. He won’t be a pauper after all the lawsuits are settled, but it sounds like he won’t get away with all of his past sins either. Most importantly, few will work with him now.
I think that you underestimate what some are willing to do to be published or get their work out there. Will Big Leaguers work with him without reservation? Most porbably won’t. Will the little guy and many others in the industry still jump at the chance to have themselves associated with him? No doubt in my mind.
Fred
Imagine if McFarlane had created an OJ Juice character that murdered young blonde women? How fast would OJ Simpson have been in court getting that stopped?
I’m not so sure of that. Although I’m sure he’ll go to his grave denying that he’s guilty as sin, he’d be a fool to go into court again about anything related to that whole business. I’ve heard that the defining question of the Pearlmans’ civil suit against hims is, “Was there ever a worse witness than O. J. Simpson?” The answer to that defining question appears to be “No.”
As I said he’d have to be a fool to want to end up in court in any matter relating to the murders…but I’m not sure that that would stop him now that I think about it.
LoEG was originally started at Image under WildStorm’s ABC imprint, as explained by David. I considered it similar to Empire, which was started at Image and finished at DC.
The difference between LoEG and Empire is that at least one issue of Empire was actually published by Image. No issues of LoEG were published until after Wildstorm (and with it, ABC) moved to DC.
So, again, LoEG was published by DC, not Image.
Napoleon Park: Trivia buffs will recall that he did some interesting decorative panel borders on his first assignment, Infinity, Inc. he also drew an issue or two of G.I.Joe (or am I thinking of Michael Golden?)
Luigi Novi: Todd did do an issue of that book, but the editor chose not to use it at the time, and another artist drew the version that was published. After Todd left Marvel, Marvel chose to publish that
Luigi Novi: I think you mean the Goldmans
Hmmm. I think you’re right. I thank God that the details of that travesty are finally fading. I never truly understood the term “media circus” until O.J.’s trial.
The fact that any part of Empire was published under Image shows that today, at least, Image is a diverse publisher willing to publish well-made works by talented creators, and indeed, the majority of their output is by such creators, as the only two founding members actively involved creatively in any ongoing books are Todd and Erik Larsen, and the only one of those two doing writing or drawing on them is Erik.
Actually, in the near future, Silvestri will be back to drawing a book for Top Cow to be written by Mark Waid. Valentino is also writing and drawing books again since he was fired.
I also don’t think that the majority of Image’s current output is material of any particular quality, but a big chunk of it is fully creator-owned. There are other big chunks of it that are work-for-hire and are just mini-versions of Marvel or DC, but I think saying Image is nothing but that shows a snapshot that is stuck fifteen years in the past.
David Hunt, just curious, but why do you think OJ would be reluctant to go to court (again) to protect what little value his name has left? If anything, he’d probably jump at the chance to get some money out of someone that usurps his image and likeness without his permission, especially if there was money to be had.
At this point, I doubt very much that OJ cares whether the rest of the world thinks him innocent or guilty. What’s a few more minutes of infamy to someone already villified?
The real Twist was a hockey bruiser. McFarlane’s Twist was a mob bruiser. The fiction mirrored the reality. If Todd had just included Twist, the real life Hockey player, in his book, and shown him beating people up on the ice, there’d be no lawsuit. Maybe a cease and desist order, but no money fees.
While I’m usually the first one to speak about the slippery slope effect of things, I don’t think this is the great threat to free speech and creators some are making it out to be. This wasn’t an accidental coincidence, it was a deliberate usurpation of another’s likeness.
OJ could sue to collect on damages to his good name. The question is, what is his good name worth today? I don’t think you can sue for less than a dollar.
Sure you can. Until the Treasury eliminates the penny, which I think actually costs more to mint than it’s worth these days.
And I dunno, maybe there’ll be a line of DVDs on Sports Stars Gone Wild that OJ could host?
Or he could host infommercials for Ginsu Knives.
Ginsu knives…there are so many inappropriate comments to make about that line of infomercials and OJ….must…not give in…..
re: how is it rich people declare bankruptcy and don’t actually end up broke.. Although I don’t know the specifics of this case or the Canadian Hockey owner my guess is that they didn’t declare bankruptcy. Their company did, and depending on how the company is incorporated that makes all the difference. If for example, they are Limited Liability Corporations, then the owner is not personally liable for any losses the company may suffer or debts owed. On the otherhand, it is much harder to get the initial investments because investors can’t come after you if the business goes south. I am not sure it is “rich” people benefiting as much as business owners in general, rich or not. It’s just no one would care if my LLC went under. Of course, that doesn’t mean Todd isn’t abusing the system.
The reason that OJ would be wise to stay out of the courts on matters relating to the murder of Nicole and Ron Goldman is that the rules of evidence and the burden of proof are very different in a civil court as opposed to a criminal court. The rules of evidence are much looser, and the burden of proof is shared between the two sides (preponderance of the evidence) rather than residing solely on the side of prosecution (beyond a reasonable doubt). This is why he could win his criminal case and still lose the subsequent civil case brought by the Goldmans.
In addition, I think that it would be close to impossible for OJ to prevail in any civil matter. I think that all future juries would be tainted by the original trial.
If OJ was a plaintiff in such a case, I would love to be the defense attorney. I would bring up the original trial as much as possible.
One little call from Todd to Tony in the very beginning asking if he could use his name could have prevented all of this.
But PAD’s comments about Todd reorganizing are completely correct. We were building a house and were a week away from closing when the builder went backrupt and we lost the house. He formed a new company a month later and went on with his life (a week before declaring bankruptcy, he sold his house and put the money in his wife’s name so no one could touch it) while we got the shaft. Todd will probably do the same thing.
Thanks to you too, Luigi Novi, for filling in some blanks. I too would love a copy of the debate transcript, if one exits.
F-