It was billed as comics’ Fight of the Century, although it never appeared between the covers of a comic book and featured neither Superman nor Spider-Man, nor even Brother Power the Geek. Nevertheless, it was a clash of ideologies, as basic in its own way as that of the Scopes Trial. And it offered a sobering glimpse of Things To Come.
Todd McFarlane was the Rock Star Comics Creator of the early ‘90s. He started out penciling INFINITY INC. at DC, but made a name for himself at Marvel Comics drawing THE INCREDIBLE HUNK with his quirky, mannerist style. He became so popular that Marvel gave him his own SPIDER-MAN title to write as well as draw — a rarity at the time. After a while he left Marvel with some of his fellow artists to start their own comics company, IMAGE, under a banner of creative freedom and creator’s rights.
Peter David was a veteran writer with a long run writing THE INCREDIBLE HULK and X-FACTOR; he also worked on AQUAMAN and DC Comics’s STAR TREK. He stood out in the “Grim ‘n’ Gritty” period for adding dashes of humor and witty characterization to his books. He also wrote a weekly column for the industry magazine THE COMIC BUYER’S GUIDE.
The two men had worked together on HULK, and by most accounts had gotten along together fairly well; but Todd let his ego get the better of him. To a certain extent, I think that Todd was emulating Stan Lee in trying to adopt a brash, big-talking persona to promote his company as The Greatest Thing In Comics. Unlike Stan, Todd often came off like a jerk.
Peter David didn’t particularly like Todd’s trash-talk of Marvel, but the thing I think that annoyed him most was the credo of Todd and some of his other IMAGE creators that writers were not really necessary and that only the artist of a comic book was important.
Peter David would occasionally needle McFarlane in his “But I Digress...” column in the COMIC BUYER’S GUIDE, and Todd responded by accusing Peter of unfairly attacking him. The feud came to a head when McFarlane challenged David to a public debate to settle the matter, mano a mano.
Although friends advised him to ignore the challenge, Peter decided to accept; partially, he later said, because he didn’t want to be cornered by SPAWN fans demanding to know why he was chicken at every convention he attended for the next few years; and partially because he recognized that Todd was trying to bully him and he didn’t want to back down.
The debate was scheduled to be held at a comic book convention called Comicfest. From the beginning, Todd wanted to promote it like a boxing match with tag lines such as “David vs. Goliath” and “The Holler vs. The Scholar”. Peter wanted to do it more like a normal debate, with formal debate structure and a resolution to be debated. The topic they ultimately agreed on was: “Resolved: Image/Todd McFarlane —Have they received fair treatment from the media?”
A panel of three impartial judges was selected. The original choice for a moderator had to back out, and Todd suggested artist George Pérez, known for his work on THE NEW TEEN TITANS and WONDER WOMAN during the 1980s. George was also a friend of Peter’s, but Todd said he was okay with that and so that’s who they went with.
Peter did extensive research and prep work for the debate. He gathered a small group of friends he called his “Brain Trust” to help him practice and prepare. On the day of the debate, he walked onto the stage armed with a fist-full of index cards with facts, notes and talking points.
Todd came out on stage dancing, wearing boxing gloves and trunks, and accompanied by a friend with a box of comedy props.
From most of the accounts I've read of the debate, Peter crushed him. Reading the transcript it seemed that way to me, but then I was more of a Peter David Fan than a Todd fan, so I guess I'm biased.
But a few years ago I came across a reference to the debate from someone who claimed that Todd was the clear winner. "How could that be?" I wondered. Then I thought a bit more and realized why.
In the debate, Peter was trying to marshal a coherent argument utilizing facts, logic and rhetoric.
Todd was putting on a show for his fans. And he delivered.
I think last night, Joe Biden found himself, like Peter David, in the position of being a man who brought index cards to a rubber-chicken-fight.