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One of the biggest success stories in recent comic book publishing has been DC's Absolute line, a series of books that reimagine popular characters into all-new worlds and stories. Marvel's been playing the game a bit too, in their just-completed Ultimate Comics universe. So this brings up the question - are there any other comic book best-sellers that are ready for that same kind of semi-relaunch?

Todd McFarlane has an answer.

The topic came up when I sat down with the Image Comics co-founder, who is currently working on an all-new Spawn title, Spawn '77. It's the latest entry into the Spawn comic book kingdom, which McFarlane has been helming ever since 1992. Spawn has not just maintained a loyal readership over the past 34 years, but has greatly affected the trajectory of the comic book industry - so while we were on the topic of Spawn's place in the medium, I had to ask: might Spawn ever get his own Absolute or Ultimate spin?

"Yes," said McFarlane, "I even have a name for it."

I don't have to tell you, reader, that my eyebrows went up at that.

"Either Definite Spawn or Definitely Spawn," McFarlane continued, "It's a little wink to 'Absolute.' Absolutely. Definitely. 'Oh yeah, I'm Absolutely Batman; I'm Definitely Spawn,' would be a fun sort of word balloon if they ever faced each other. But yeah, The answer is yes."

McFarlane went on to give his opinion on why DC & Marvel are putting cutting-edge creators in cutting-edge stories, saying the trend comes from "when a company looks at their characters and goes, 'Is it becoming just a little bit obvious, a little bit stale?'" But don't take that as McFarlane accusing either of the Big Two of cheap tricks in their Absolute/Ultimate lines.

"You actually give [comic readers] some cool content," McFarlane said of those books, "Which is where those other ideas come in, which to me is way better as a fan. I go, 'Oh man, I get a new take on Batman!' It's up to me to decide whether I like that new take or not."

So all this said, what would it take for McFarlane to launch his 'Definite Spawn?' After all, the creator certainly doesn't indicate that anything going on in the Spawn-verse is getting 'stale.' Well, according to the comic book and action figure pioneer, it all comes down to what the premise of Definite Spawn would be.

"The answer is," he concluded, "Would I want to read this? If it's just doing it because you can do it, that's never been good enough for me."

Todd McFarlane's Spawn is available now wherever you get your comics. Spawn '77 arrives on shelves September 9.

Interested? Here's where to find your closest local comic store, courtesy of Sweet.