Spawn

According to its creator Todd McFarlane (via his Twitter account), an animated version of his comic book anti-hero Spawn will be returning to the airwaves in 2010. Spawn last had an animated version on HBO in 1997 (and it had adult content such as nudity, profanity and violence to boot).

Honestly, other than a few cult followers of the comic book, has anybody even heard of Spawn anymore? The character pretty much jumped out of the mainstream once the experiment that was Image Comics failed. Yes, I know Image is still around and the creators are still involved with it, but it was intended as an experiment to see if comic book creators could run a business as a collective. Most of the founders spun off into their own companies and it failed.

Spawn is too adult of a character to ever reach the mainstream anyway. It can't really be marketed to children. If the animated series does return (or get a reboot), it would be best served on Adult Swim (or one of the pay channels that would let it go uncensored).

Here's some cool animation news from the past week or so:

First, if you dig the heavy metal sounds of Dethklok, the brutal (but rather stupid) band from the Adult Swim series Metalocalypse, you'll be happy to know the band is doing a tour of some college campuses, according to Toon Zone and Adult Swim HQ. I'll keep you posted as more information becomes available. Other yet-to-be-announced bands will also be touring to promote Adult Swim.

Okay, maybe not with kung-fu grip. "Faces in perpetual states of shock, horror, and/or 'WTF'-ness" are more likely. Anyway, McFarlane Toys are coming out with a new line of Lost action figures of season one's "fan-favorites", Jack, Kate, Locke, Hurley, Charlie, and Shannon. They've just released a picture of the Charlie figure. He's sitting down, writing on his fingers. Hmm... Doesn't look very action-y. McFarlane Toys is also releasing boxsets, little dioramas that recreate key moments of the show. So, if you don't like the season finale, you can always film your own.

Maybe it's just me, but the choice of Shannon to be a part of the first set of "fan-favorite" toys comes as a bit of a surprise. If I had to go for one of the deadsies for this first set, I would have picked a Boone figure over a Shannon one. The fact that I found Boone attractive has nothing little to do with it. The toys are expected Fall of this year.

Simpsons merchandise has been around since the show began, so when new toys based on the show and its characters come out, anyone who isn't a collector probably doesn't get too excited. Nevertheless, I think the latest Simpsons figures from McFarlane Toys are really cool. The new "Family Couch Gag" set contains all the family members (including Santa's Little Helper and Snowball II) and their famous red couch. Each character has magnets inside them so you can recreate your own "couch gag" like the ones that kick off the beginning of each episode. The new toy will be released in May.

[via PidgeonBlog]