Al Simmons is the alter-ego and namesake of SPAWN. SPAWN is the #1 bestselling independent comic book, selling over 100 million issues. SPAWN has been made into a major studio motion picture, and into an HBO animated series, winning multiple industry awards.
In this book Al Simmons reveals the journey that took him from the baseball field to super stardom with his close friend Todd McFarlane, and how being selected as the namesake of a superhero has greatly transformed his life.
Al Simmons grew up in Tacoma, Washington attending Eastern Washington University on a baseball scholarship. Todd McFarlane grew up thousands of miles away in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and also attended Eastern Washington University on a baseball scholarship.
In 1992, Todd McFarlane named Al, his former college roommate and baseball teammate, as the alter ego of the Spawn character in his comic book. The first new mainstream superhero in over a decade, Spawn issue #1 broke all sales records for an independent comic book selling 1.7 million copies.
Al began working in the comic book industry both representing, promoting, and becoming Spawn. In 1994, Al moved his family to Phoenix, Arizona to begin working closely with Todd in a promotional capacity. Spawn soon expanded into a line of action figures, a successful movie by New Line Cinema and an Emmy and Grammy award-winning HBO animated mini-series.
In 1998, Todd McFarlane paid a record setting $3 million for Mark McGwire’s 70th home run baseball. That investment launched McFarlane Toys into producing the most detailed sports action figures on the market, grossing millions of dollars per year.
Since meeting in the summer of 1980, in Kamloops, Canada, Al and Todd have lived nearly parallel lives. Remaining good friends after college, both have been married to their college sweethearts for over 25 years, and raised their children mostly in Phoenix, Arizona. They enjoy coaching Little League together, working together, and talking sports.
