Todd McFarlane's iconic Spider-Man work collected in new Artist's Edition

By Michael Doran
published

Todd McFarlane's stints on Spider-Man remain a fan favorite over 30 years later

Todd McFarlane’s Spider-Man Artist’s Edition
Todd McFarlane’s Spider-Man Artist’s Edition (Image credit: IDW Publishing / Marvel Comics)

Todd McFarlane may have co-founded Image Comics and created Spawn 30 years ago - and not looked back since. But there's still a generation of fans who fondly recall his years as a Marvel Comics-Spider-Man superstar. Now IDW Publishing will help fan those flames with Todd McFarlane's Spider-Man Artist's Edition, a 192-page black and white volume continuing the publisher's Artist's Edition line.

Todd McFarlane's Spider-Man Artist's Edition cover (Image credit: IDW Publishing / Marvel Comics)

McFarlane's iconic stints on Spider-Man - first with writer David Michelinie in Amazing Spider-Man and then his own Spider-Man series which he wrote and penciled - helped usher in a comic book sales boom the industry hadn't seen in years and hasn't seen since.

"The impact that McFarlane had on the comics industry was like a thunderbolt striking the art form, and his work continues to resonate to this day with fans the world over," says Scott Dunbier, IDW's director of special projects and originator of the Artist's Edition format.

Todd McFarlane's Spider-Man Artist's Edition includes nearly 100 pages of interior art selected from 24 issues of McFarlane's Amazing Spider-Man run and almost 60 pages from his solo Spider-Man series and features Spider-Man versus McFarlane's take on classic foes like the Green Goblin, Hobgoblin, Sandman, the Vulture, Morbius, and the Lizard, along with appearances by the Hulk, Wolverine, and Mary Jane Watson-Parker.

...and oh yeah, Venom, the McFarlane co-creation that went on to become one of most iconic Marvel characters created after the '60s and early '70s, appears as well, including his first appearance from Amazing Spider-Man #299.

Check out a few preview pages: 

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Todd McFarlane’s Spider-Man Artist’s Edition
(Image credit: IDW Publishing / Marvel Comics)

The volume also includes 25 covers from those titles including Marvel Age, Marvel Tales, and more.

As with all of IDW's Artist's Editions, the artwork is reproduced from "meticulous" scans of the original art, "with all the distinctive creative nuances that make original art unique" and the publisher calls a "perfect representation of the work in its original form."

Todd McFarlane's Spider-Man Artist's Edition will have a US cover price of $150, goes on sale September 21, 2022, and is currently available for pre-order. 

Almost all of the villains named are among the best Spider-Man villains of all time, 

Michael Doran

I'm not just the Newsarama founder and editor-in-chief, I'm also a reader. And that reference is just a little bit older than the beginning of my Newsarama journey. I founded what would become the comic book news site in 1996, and except for a brief sojourn at Marvel Comics as its marketing and communications manager in 2003, I've been writing about new comic book titles, creative changes, and occasionally offering my perspective on important industry events and developments for the 25 years since. Despite many changes to Newsarama, my passion for the medium of comic books and the characters makes the last quarter-century (it's crazy to see that in writing) time spent doing what I love most.