GROTH: Tell me about Buddy Saunders.
MCFARLANE: I love Buddy Saunders. I met him for the first time [at Diamond Distributors’ retail seminar]. I’ve read about Buddy Saunders, you’ve given him a big forum in your book. I’ve read a lot of Buddy stuff. He was polite, he just didn’t like a few things. It didn’t surprise me. He’s got his opinions and his reputation to put on the line.
MCFARLANE: I think I put the word ‘“ass” or ‘“bitch” in Spawn, or something like that.
GROTH: He like that, huh?
MCFARLANE: I don’t even know…I don’t know whether it was that — I mean I say “Jesus” and “God damn it” and stuff like that a lot. That’s how I talk in real life anyway. So that might be it. To some people, depending on their beliefs, that’s probably more offensive. They don’t mind hearing the odd word “shit” hut they don’t want to hear somebody going “Jesus Christ.” I don’t think I use the word “Christ.” In a weird kind of way I draw a line. I put ‘Jesus’’ all over the place but “Jesus Christ.’“ that’s like…now I’m really insulting a specific guy.
GROTH: It could be “Jesus Smith,” if you just put “Jesus,”
MCFARLANE: Yeah, Jesus. I don’t got any problem with that. When I said “Jesus,” I don’t think that “Jesus” is just a discredit, just a cool word.
GROTH: What did you tell Buddy in answer to this?
MCFARLANE: He was being polite, like I said. I just told him I got to make a judgment call; for better or for worse. I gotta live with it and he’s got to make his own judgment call. If people don’t want to carry my book because I’m an asshole, fine; if they don’t want to carry it because it’s a bad-selling comic book, fine. If they don’t want to carry it because they think it’s too explicit, or too violent or has got too much language in it, that’s fine too. I can’t control the world right now, so he’s just give to next to Spider-man. I’m just acknowledging that he might have to put his own label on it or something; I don’t know. He’s gotta do what he’s gotta do with those books. All’s I do is produce them and give them to him. How people sell them is out of my hands.
