Todd McFarlane files for bankruptcy

[Youth N Asia 0]

http://www.eonline.com/News/firstlook.html?tnews

 

BANKRUPTCY FROM HELL: Spawn creator Todd McFarlane ?s comic-book business filed for bankruptcy on Friday. His company had been hit with a $15 million jury award for wrongfully naming a villain from the comic series after a former hockey player.

[Lil' Bitch 0]

That's fucked up. Damn that hockey player.

[TheBigSwigg 0]

Wow. Sucky news.

 

EDIT: I just saw this in the link:

 

FAST BREAK: Jim Carrey forced to flee London's Claridge's Hotel after a fire broke out Thursday. The funny man was in town to promote his new flick, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events.

 

Man, is a Fire Marshall Bill joke in order or what?

[The Amazing Rando 0]

Hey Kids, LEMME SHOW YA SOMETHING!!! *sets his table on fire* WE'RE COOKING NOW! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA!

 

 

(hey, you asked for it)

[Guest netslob]

is McFarlane still in that legal battle with Neil Gaiman over the rights to Miracle Man?

[Steviekick 0]

is McFarlane still in that legal battle with Neil Gaiman over the rights to Miracle Man?

I think he's trying to appeal it, but for the most part, the court sided with Gaiman.

[Sass 0]

McFucker should have gotten a better legal team to duke it out against Twist. Losing 8 figures to a hockey goon who felt his reputation would get soiled because of a character with the same nickname as him was asinine. Payback is a bitch for Todd it would appear.

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

[Sass 0]

I wouldn't be surprised to see Todd go back to Marvel for work at this point. That's when you know Todd is in trouble. I'm sure JQ would love to have Spawn under his company's banner though.

[Steviekick 0]

I wouldn't be surprised to see Todd go back to Marvel for work at this point. That's when you know Todd is in trouble. I'm sure JQ would love to have Spawn under his company's banner though.

Definitely. Especially with the new imprint that Marvel has Kabuki and Powers under.

[Guest netslob]

is McFarlane still in that legal battle with Neil Gaiman over the rights to Miracle Man?

I think he's trying to appeal it, but for the most part, the court sided with Gaiman.

good. maybe i can finally find out what all the fuss is about with Miracle Man.

[EdwardKnoxII 0]

http://newsarama.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=23660

 

TODD McFARLANE PRODUCTIONS FILES CH. 11

According to the AP, Todd McFarlane has filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from creditors on Friday, December 17th.

 

The AP writes: The Tempe, Arizona, company lists a 15 (m) million-dollar claim by former National Hockey League player Tony Twist as its largest creditor.

 

Last July, a St. Louis jury awarded Twist that money after concluding that McFarlane and his company profited by using Twist's name without permission.

 

McFarlane gave a New York mob boss character the name Antonio ``Tony Twist'' Twistelli in his Spawn comic books in the early 1990s.

 

Given McFarlane's major foray into sports, appropriately, ESPN.com has a report up as well, saying that in 2003, the seven businesses that make up McFarlane's business had annual sales exceeding $50 million.

 

As regular Newsarama readers unfortunatley know by now, Chapter 11 means that the company can continue to operate while it reorganizes its business plan, and is protected from creditors. As with Tampa-based CrossGen earlier this year, McFarlane now must file a plan with the US bankruptcy court which outlines how the company will reorganize, and address creditors' claims.

 

From ESPN.com: The filing also lists McFarlane's toy company, a related business, as the second-largest creditor, being owed $683,902. Nine contract artists are owed about $60,000 and a collection agency is owed about $7,700."

 

According to court papers acquired by Newsarama, McFarlane is claiming the total assets of TMP to be between $1 and $10 million, and total debt between $10 and $50 million.

 

Among the largest unsecured creditors listed by TMP in the filing:

 

Angel Medina, artist, $3,960.00

Brian Haberlin, artist, $13,600.00

Brian Holgiun, artist, $8,800.00

Comicraft, letterers, $2,200.00

Danny Miki, artist, $4,070.00

Greg Capullo, artist, $18,250.00

Greg Scott, artist, $1,750.00

Jay Fotos, artist, $5,600.00

McFarlane Toys (intercompany debt), $683,901.55

Neil Gaiman, litigation claim, unknown

Tom Orzechowski, artist, $2,200.00

Tony Twist, litigation claim, disputed, $15,000,000.00

 

The first meeting of creditors is scheduled for January 25th, 2005. Among the filings made by McFarlane's lawyers is a motion to allow McFarlane to continue his appeal process against the $15 million judgement won by Twist.

 

McFarlane has also filed a motion for a December 20th hearing on several motions - mostly stays from claims that will allow TMP to continue normal operations while reorganization is in process.

 

Developing...

[tbondrage99 0]

Maybe Todd shouldnt of bought that stupid baseball.

[TheBigSwigg 0]

Is having a villain in a comic book with the same name as yours really worth $15,000,000? I mean seriously, come on. Would Tony Twist lose $15,000,000 because a third rate comic villain?

[starvenger 0]

McFucker should have gotten a better legal team to duke it out against Twist. Losing 8 figures to a hockey goon who felt his reputation would get soiled because of a character with the same nickname as him was asinine. Payback is a bitch for Todd it would appear.

All in the wording, I suppose. That Twist is one smart goon...

[reign 0]

I'm just curious because I've been out of the loop with comics for a while but why all the Todd hate? And whats's the deal with Miracle Man...I don't even know what the hell that is....

[converge241 0]

in addition to buying the baseballs maybe he shouldnt have run spawn into the ground?

 

i still remember when he swore it was a finite series and would end after he lost his power and would tell one story and not go on and on like a regular franchise and after its run , with the idea being it would be a 4-5 year run, he would start another series(this was all said in interviews when image was starting)

[tbondrage99 0]

in addition to buying the baseballs maybe he shouldnt have run spawn into the ground?

 

i still remember when he swore it was a finite series and would end after he lost his power and would tell one story and not go on and on like a regular franchise and after its run , with the idea being it would be a 4-5 year run, he would start another series(this was all said in interviews when image was starting)

But why end the cash cow now when its still in the top 100 selling comics! Its a Gold mind I say! In all seriousness though Issue 100 should of been the last and even that is streching it quite a bit in my opinion.

[Guest netslob]

a buddy of mine told me he had the first 100 issues of Spawn and wanted to get McFarlane to sign them...i told him "good luck".

 

as for the Miracle Man thing, all i really know about it is that Alan Moore, the guy who wrote and created the character, sold the rights to Gaimen, but i have no clue how McFarlane got involved. anyone care to shed some light here?

[tbondrage99 0]

Heres a question. Why is this guy just now suing McFarlene?

[converge241 0]

"But why end the cash cow now when its still in the top 100 selling comics! Its a Gold mind I say! In all seriousness though Issue 100 should of been the last and even that is streching it quite a bit in my opinion. "

 

yeah exactly on the 100 i jumped off way before that and when i was runnign a comic store sales were seriously starting to slide before that..and yes all sales went down but in comparison to other books it was sliding way worse

 

he should have announced he was ending it with one last story, sales go up for that ending..then he creates something new

 

but apparently that's just too much when hes busy milking it

 

i laugh at previews on a monthly basis when i get to the image section cause the spawn colicitation and art always looks exactly the same to me month to month

 

he may need to do what Jim Lee did as some suggested and do a special project or run at marvel but he also needs to have someone else write it as Lee did..i dont want him with full control on a book

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

I'd say Spawn's decline started somewhere between issue 60 and 75. That was the time period where it became pretty clear that McFarlane was going to no sell the power meter and not end the series.

[EdwardKnoxII 0]

http://www.newsarama.com/forums/showthread...&threadid=23737

 

LOOKING DEEPER INTO TMP'S CHAPTER 11 FILING

With the frenzy that began with the news of Todd McFarlane Productions filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, reactions from the comics community have been coming thick and fast. We thought it best to look closer at the larger picture, and address some persistent points that may not be entirely accurate.

 

First, despite other, misleading reports, Todd McFarlane has not personally filed for Chapter 11, but rather Todd McFarlane Productions Inc., the company responsible for publishing the Spawn comic book issue #140 recently shipped, making it the longest running title published by Image Comics), as well as other comics and magazines that come out from the McFarlane empire. According to company information, its assets include the rights to more than 250 intellectual properties and characters. The distinction is an important one, as McFarlane is the head of a large entertainment empire, of which, TMP is only one facet. McFarlane himself is not bankrupt, and his other companies (though some are rumored to be struggling) are in no way affected by the filing.

 

As such, the filing of Chapter 11 in no way affects either McFarlane Toys or Todd McFarlane Entertainment. While McFarlane’s toy company is well known among comic and toy fans, Todd McFarlane Entertainment is the California-based company under which McFarlane produces animation for films and music videos (such as for Korn and Pearl Jam), as well as feature films, and videogame projects. There are four other companies that make up the full picture of McFarlane’s empire.

 

Again, as regular Newsarama readers know when it comes to Chapter 11 filing, the process is initiated to allow a company to reorganize in order to once again become profitable, and/or address claims by its creditors. When it comes to comic book publishers in 2004, TMP unfortunately isn’t unique in filing Chapter 11. Tampa-based CrossGen Entertainment filed the same on June 17th, citing debts larger than their income allowed them to pay.

 

In the case of TMP, the debt cited for the filing is the $15 million awarded by a jury to Tony Twist, a former St. Louis Blues hockey player whose name McFarlane appropriated for the name of a particularly violent mobster who appeared in both the Spawn comic book and HBO animated series. Twist – the hockey player, was known to be an “enforcer,” that is, someone sent in to beat on another player, to deliver a message, to “enforce.” The character in the comic, was a mobster known for his sadistic ways.

 

While the character was introduced in 1993, Twist didn’t file suit until 1997, claiming that having the character named after him damaged his ability to obtain lucrative endorsement deals, that is, he suffered financial damages from what he saw as McFarlane’s unauthorized use of this name. Image Comics, which publishes Spawn, as well as Wizard Magazine, which published a Spawn Special were among other defendants named in the case, but they were all dropped, with the end result of Twist suing TMP alone.

 

The matter went to court, and, despite McFarlane’s claim that he was protected under the First Amendment, a St. Louis jury sided with Twist, awarding the (now ex) hockey player $24.5 million. That verdict was overturned in 2002 by the Appellate Court; and then that verdict was overturned in 2003 by the Missouri Supreme Court, which sent it back down the lower courts for a decision. In 2004, a jury again sided with Twist, this time awarding the former hockey player $15 million in damages, despite numerous authors and literary groups siding with McFarlane, and expressing grave concerns over what a victory for Twist would mean for creators, who could now, apparently, be held liable for “damages” suffered by individuals who share the same name as characters in works.

 

Interestingly, the award made by the jury - $15 million for reported “damages” consisting mostly of lost endorsement deals for Twist, which would have occurred in the timeframe between 1993 and roughly the late ‘90s, after which the character named Twist no longer appeared in the comic, would have placed him, a mid-to-lower tier NHL player in the higher echelons of sports figures receiving endorsement deals at the time. This, despite the fact that NHL players lag far behind NBA, NFL and MLB players in terms of endorsement contracts - outside of Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux, barely a handful have had contracts since the early '90s.

 

In short, that’s the $15 million that is owed by TMP to Twist. The case is still being appealed, but until that time when an appeal comes down in favor of McFarlane, TMP has a $15 million Sword of Damocles over its head. While the company has apparently been able to continue publishing since the Twist decision earlier this year, it’s easy to see that TMP’s ability to gain credit, as well as attract new properties could be adversely affected by what potential investors would see as...well, a $15 million debt.

 

Additionally, TMP isn’t the first company to file for Chapter 11 protection after having a judgment made against it. With the case in the appeals process, filing Chapter 11 could also be seen as TMP buying some waiting time, pulling it off the table, in terms of being forced to liquidate to pay the $15 million. Under Chapter 11, companies are required to create and produce a reorganization plan, which then must be approved by all creditors. While there is much legal maneuvering that can be done in the time between filing and producing a plan for approval by creditors (for example, it was during this time period that CrossGen sold its assets to Disney), a monkey wrench thrown into the TMP filing is that Twist himself is the largest unsecured creditor of TMP (to date, see below), and therefore, would almost certainly be one of the voices that has to approve any proposed reorganization by TMP.

 

As Newsarama reported on Saturday, court documents show that TMP has filed a motion to allow it to continue with the appeals process during the Chapter 11 proceedings, which, admittedly, can stretch on and on.

 

As for the other unsecured debts, unfortunately in today’s industry, $60,000 owed to creators barely raises an eyebrow. Something that does cause an eyebrow to twitch though, is the $683,901.55 owed to McFarlane Toys by TMP, an intercompany loan. While such back-and-forths of money are relatively routine under a collection of businesses under one umbrella, such as the McFarlane companies, under their structure, TMP licensed McFarlane Toys rights to produce Spawn and all related characters that are owned by TMP. As a licensor, TMP would then collect royalties from McFarlane Toys. To see money flowing in the other direction is…at least, interesting.

 

The paperwork filed with the court also shows that on November 19th, 2004, TMP received a loan from Stephen A. McConnell of $500,000 (at 2% interest per month), which would mature on November 18th, 2005. According to the financing statement of the loan, TMP is using all rights to its accounts receivable as collateral, that is, all money coming into TMP, and in a business world moebius loop, the guarantors of the loan are McFarlane and his wife (TMP head) Wanda Kolomyjec.

 

According to the filings, TMP has proposed that the cash will be placed into a segregated account, and be used by TMP to continue operations, while TMP will pay only the interest due on the loan in the interim.

 

Other filings with the court point to a wild card in the debts owed by McFarlane – that is, the judgment against TMP by a court in favor of Neil Gaiman. Though Gaiman is listed as one of the largest unsecured creditors, the amount is not specified. In a later filing, TMP stated that, while a jury has found in favor of Gaiman, a final judgment amount will not be specified until a court-appointed accountant’s validation of “certain intellectual property and profits.” Those properties of course, being, Angela, Medieval Spawn, and Cogliostro, characters created by Gaiman, and used by McFarlane, who did not fairly pay Gaiman. While a dollar amount that will be decided upon is anybody’s guess, it could easily range into the millions, as Medieval Spawn and Angela have been used repeatedly in the Spawn comic book series, Cogliostro appeared in the Spawn feature film, and all three have been translated into toys at least once.

 

Viewed in that light, that is, TMP has a $15 million judgment against it, and another, possible multi-million dollar judgement waiting in the wings, the "protection" aspect of a Chapter 11 filing becomes much clearer.

 

As previously reported, TMP has filed for an expedited hearing to be held, if the court agrees, today, December 20th, 2004. If the Court agrees with TMP’s motions, stays will be granted, the cash loan will be able to be used, and the appeal against the Twist verdict will continue – in other words, business will continue as usual for TMP.

 

Since the news broke, comic fans have wondered and speculated just what TMP’s filing for Chapter 11 would mean for Image Comics, of which McFarlane is President and a founding partner. Posting on the Newsarama messageboards, Image Publisher Erik Larsen has said that the filing by McFarlane will have no financial impact for Image as a whole, and Spawn will continue to be published, adding “This is nowhere near the big deal people here are making it out to be. Todd is NOT broke--Image is NOT filing for bankruptcy and Spawn is NOT ending.”

 

Supporting that statement, Larsen later added: “When I took over as publisher one of the beefs retailers had about Todd was that Spawn was late (about a YEAR late--Todd slipped off the schedule, a week here and there over ten or more years and it added up). Recently, I helped convince Todd to cancel the orders for those books and have it resolicited. THAT is why the books are being resolicited now. It's in better shape now than it has been in years. It's coming out on a regular basis and is no longer shipping returnable.”

 

Given Image’s corporate structure, Larsen’s comment about TMP’s filing not damaging Image is true – TMP’s income does not support any large part of Image, as Image’s income as a company is generated on a per book basis, that is, creators/studios pay Image a fee per issue (and other associated costs), which is not related to the book’s performance in the marketplace.

 

As reported, TMP has asked the court for an expedited hearing today which will allow the company to operate as normal.

[Sass 0]

I'm just curious because I've been out of the loop with comics for a while but why all the Todd hate? And whats's the deal with Miracle Man...I don't even know what the hell that is....

Todd's a greedy prick after saying for years how he was the "everyman's writer" after ditching big time Marvel to form the little company Image. That didn't turn out to be the case. Neil Gaiman's basis for his lawsuit against Toad helped confirm what many other people knew: the man is giant asshole with no respect for the work of others that help him. Peter David ranted on for years about how Toad was a weasel but people thought he was just dog piling on McFucker like others did. Many of Image's founders felt that Rob Liefeld and McFucker were more alike than others had let on, with Toad being mentioned as being just as big a back stabbing bastard as Liesefld was when he worked at Image.

 

He's a genuine fuckwad for pulling power plays on folks along with being an all around prick to deal with, feeling that the world revolves around his artwork and no one elses. Think of Toad as the HBK of comics. That's one of the best comparisons I can give. You either respect the man or else you dislike him. There's not much middle ground after the garbage he's dumped on people over the years.

 

His holding back Miracleman from being shown in comics or reprinting some of the old 80's series is also a strike against Toad. He said his entire basis for going after the rights of the character was so he could give back to the fans one more time. This was in 1996, after speaking with Wizard in one of their issues, and his mission statement was stalled. Miracleman never came out and was being milked by Toad in an attempt to jumpstart Spawn in case the book hit rock bottom. MM was going to be dropped into Spawn. This notion was outlandish but 5 years past and nothing happened with an MM line of books. Curse of Spawn #12 hit stores and Mike Monogan showed up in the book. Miracleman's alter ego was back. Except this time, he didn't say KIMOTA and didn't morph into MM. His debut was looking it would never come.

 

Too bad it wasn't Toad's decision to say when MM would come back.

 

In fact, he didn't even own the amount of rights to the character like it had been reported.

 

Alan Moore, Gary Davis, and the original creator, whose name escapes me, had sold their rights. But Neil Gaiman hadn't. The details to the "Rights of Miracleman" gets hazy at this point for me since it kinda gets confusing really. I'll try to find a website or something that explains this story better than I can. Needless to say, Toad couldn't do a thing with the character until he gained the *full* rights, which he didn't have.

 

Miracleman is considered one of the greatest super-hero stories ever written about a man in spandex. I posted a link in the Recommended Comics thread that has most of the American run of the book printed online. Scroll down and you should see my posted link.

 

Here.

 

If you've got any further questions about MM, go ahead and ask. Perhaps this gives you some sort of idea about the character value in comics. It's a really, really solid book. It's not part of comics' Holy Grial of great stories for nothing.

 

I hope this helped.

[Slayer 0]

The matter went to court, and, despite McFarlane’s claim that he was protected under the First Amendment, a St. Louis jury sided with Twist, awarding the (now ex) hockey player $24.5 million. That verdict was overturned in 2002 by the Appellate Court; and then that verdict was overturned in 2003 by the Missouri Supreme Court, which sent it back down the lower courts for a decision. In 2004, a jury again sided with Twist, this time awarding the former hockey player $15 million in damages, despite numerous authors and literary groups siding with McFarlane, and expressing grave concerns over what a victory for Twist would mean for creators, who could now, apparently, be held liable for “damages” suffered by individuals who share the same name as characters in works.

Slippery slope?

 

The suit itself is bullshit, IMO. That's all I have to say.

[converge241 0]

"McFarlane was going to no sell the power meter and not end the series"

 

LOL @ no sell

[Sass 0]

I apologize for the hold up.

 

Here is a good link that outlines the rights to Miracleman clusterfuck history.

 

Mick Anglo. That's the name of the original writer. He's still alive today.

[reign 0]

I apologize for the hold up.

 

Here is a good link that outlines the rights to Miracleman clusterfuck history.

 

Mick Anglo. That's the name of the original writer. He's still alive today.

Wow...interesting story and I'm suprised that these people would go to such lengths to own a character that most people have never heard of...it's too bad that Miracle Man will probably be lost for a long time in this legal mess and any story that does come out about him will never live up to expectations...

[starvenger 0]

The matter went to court, and, despite McFarlane’s claim that he was protected under the First Amendment, a St. Louis jury sided with Twist, awarding the (now ex) hockey player $24.5 million. That verdict was overturned in 2002 by the Appellate Court; and then that verdict was overturned in 2003 by the Missouri Supreme Court, which sent it back down the lower courts for a decision. In 2004, a jury again sided with Twist, this time awarding the former hockey player $15 million in damages, despite numerous authors and literary groups siding with McFarlane, and expressing grave concerns over what a victory for Twist would mean for creators, who could now, apparently, be held liable for “damages” suffered by individuals who share the same name as characters in works.

Slippery slope?

 

The suit itself is bullshit, IMO. That's all I have to say.

Of course the suit is BS. The only reason most people know Tony Twist is because he's a guy who's willing to drop his gloves on the ice. Personally, I'd have thought that all McFarlane would've needed would be Don Cherry as a witness and a pile of his Rock 'Em Sock 'Em videos to show what Twist could gain "endorsements" for...

[JasonX 0]

Wow...interesting story and I'm suprised that these people would go to such lengths to own a character that most people have never heard of...it's too bad that Miracle Man will probably be lost for a long time in this legal mess and any story that does come out about him will never live up to expectations...

The reason why Miracleman is considered to be such a "holy grail" is that it's one of Alan Moore's earliest works and one that in the last decade has gain a reputation as being the prototype for the "widescreen violence" movement that swept comics via Authority.

 

That and Miracleman #15, which is hands down considered to be one of the most violent and disturbing fight stories ever published.