So who came first?
Spawn or Deadpool?
Who intro'd their premiere Anti-hero first? Image Comics or Marvel?
Both these characters have become widely known as their respective Comic giant's ultimate Anti-Hero fantastico. Let's take a look at some similarities first:
I can't help but wonder if these traits are exactly what makes them so popular with readers, I can agree that they are what make them super awesome to me :-)
Mind orgasmic powers aside, their personalities and willpower are what stand out as they use these to overcome some of their most challenging moments.
After doing the above table, I gawked at it, shocked at how many similarities there are.
Granted Spawn is more physically brutal, darker & serious in nature. He's also regarded as an Occult Anti-Hero. While Deadpool is mostly cray-cray in the hay-hay, often breaking the 4th wall. Which is frickin' Epic!
Deadpool!!! Tadarattada!!
Deadpool's first appearance was February 1991.
Spawn's first appearance was May 1992.
Crazy how close their debuts are hey? Deadpool comes out in February, then a little over a year later, Spawn debuts.
Furthermore, 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. Which ties in with a similar post I did regarding Superman Vs. Spiderman: Let's Compare.
According to Todd, he created the character Spawn when he was 16, and spent "countless hours" perfecting the appearance of each component of the character's visual design. Whereas if you look at Deadpool's creation by artist/writer Rob Liefeld and writer Fabian Nicieza, a lot of the influence came from DC's character, Deathstroke. Other influences include, what Danny DeVito's character was to Arnold Schwarzenegger's character in Twins, Deadpool was intended to be to Wolverine. They also used mannerism from Spiderman, in the way that he makes jokes during battle.
Now that we know what their similarities are, who came first & their creation stories. Can we still say that one influenced the other?
I'm a major fan of the Spawn artwork & graphic detail yet I'm also a major fan of Deadpool's signature traits & mannerisms. His dialogue is mad hilarious at times. Plus the dude dates Death & breaks the 4th wall! I love it. Both have gotten their own Feature-Length films which only further popularized their characters & comics. So in all fairness, it's a win-win.
On a side note, a guy began a comment debate on Facebook about whether or not Deadpool can be labelled as a Superhero since he's classified as an Anti-Hero?
There were some solid points made for each side of the debate.
I define it as Deadpool is a Superhero under the sub-category of Anti-Hero.
Interested to hear others thoughts on this, so comment below.
~Be Kind to One Another~ Ellen Degeneres
