PHOENIX — Todd McFarlane has been a comic book icon for nearly three decades. His character, Spawn, has gone from an independent comic to a fan favorite and pop culture mainstay.
McFarlane then turned Spawn into an entertainment juggernaut, with a feature film, TV series and even a popular toy company.
But as the COVID-19 pandemic hit, McFarlane -- like many others -- had to adapt to this new marketplace.
And not only did his company survive the initial financial impact of the coronavirus, it thrived.
McFarlane knew success was possible from the beginning
When the initial wave of the COVID-19 pandemic hit, McFarlane said he knew early on that the comic book and toy industries were not going to be as disrupted as others.
“We’re in the geek business,” McFarlane proclaimed. “Geeks will always find their fix.”
And they definitely found their fix with McFarlane Toys.
In 2020, the Original SPAWN Action Figure & Comic Remastered broke the record for the most-funded and the most-backed action figure campaign in the history of Kickstarter, according to McFarlane. The record-breaking campaign ended up soaring past its goal, with 23,761 backers totaling $3,447,390 million.
Along with toys, McFarlane also is finding success with his comics and said he’s happy to fill the entertainment void while Hollywood and other industry heavyweights make their way back to a sense of normalcy in the pandemic.
How his company adjusted to the newfound work-from-home reality
McFarlane said he sent all his employees home to work remotely last March and they are still working from home as we head into March 2021. He said doing stuff away from each other was a slight adjustment, but it wasn’t as dramatic a change as he initially thought.
“There hasn’t really been any real disruption on the comic book side,” McFarlane said. “Minus some distribution issues, it was relatively smooth.”
He added the biggest adjustment to working during the pandemic has been letting his customers know that all of his products were still shipping on time and where to get them. Many of his customers shopped at brick-and-mortar stores, so now McFarlane said getting them to change their shopping habits to online was an important part of his company’s process.
“For the most part, geeks are sort of a younger generation,” McFarlane quipped. “And they’re not afraid of the internet like moms and grandmas.”
Fandom driving success for the business
When asked about what he thinks is driving his company’s success during the pandemic, McFarlane used one word: Fandom.
He said fans aren’t necessarily buying his toys to play with, but instead as way to display their love for his products and pop culture.
“I liken them to sports logos,” McFarlane said. “It’s just a way of showing people and telling them about your personality. It’s no different than wearing a shirt that says ‘Yankees’ or a hat that says ‘Diamondbacks.’”
McFarlane said some of his most popular products over the past year have been the DC Multiverse action figures and sales in his Spawn comic have jumped 400% from the previous year. He attributed this success to the void left by Hollywood.
“Comic books are an easy place to fill a piece of that void,” said McFarlane.
Continuing success post-pandemic will be wait-and-see approach
Coronavirus cases in Arizona are on a downward trend, hopefully signaling a possible end to the pandemic.
But as we aim to find an end for COVID-19, McFarlane hopes to bottle up some of the success he found during the pandemic and take it into the post-pandemic world.
“We’ll see when we get back to normal because then giant blockbusters make their return,” McFarlane said. “They can pull away that attention and it’s not being pulled away right now.”
He added that he doesn’t see much of a change to his process once we return to a sense of normalcy, but conventions could be the biggest part of the industry to have a longer time to come back.
These shows and conventions are a big part of how the company markets, so McFarlane said they will just have to continue to be creative in their absence.