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07-09-2003, 03:32 PM
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STAYING THE COURSE: LARSEN ON SAVAGE DRAGON
 Creative changes, relaunches, editorial differences, new artist, new writer. Sure, these are things that come up nearly daily in comics, but to one creator, they mean nothing. Erik Larsen’s been creating Savage Dragon for 11 years. Newsarama caught up with Larsen for his view on keeping it real for years and years.Larsen is the only remaining Image founder still writing or drawing a book - in fact; he’s in rarified company these days. As one of the few creators that writes, pencils and inks a (nearly) monthly book for over 11 years, Larsen is in a club in which fewer and fewer modern creators can claim membership. Last week's Savage Dragon #108 saw him add a new string to his bow when he colored the book as well. Despite serious (and publicized) illnesses, having his house burn down, working on a 2nd and sometimes a 3rd monthly title, his involvement with the two season run of the Dragon cartoon (soon to be released on DVD) and his constant online presence answering questions and shooting the breeze at www.savagedragon.com he's still managed to produce 108 issues (111 if you include the initial mini series) of Savage Dragon, including last year's quadruple sized issue #100. His often strongly stated opinions may not make him a frontrunner for the most loved man in comics, but his 111-issue stretch qualifies him as one of the hardest working folks in comics. And of course, some of the loudest critical praise Larsen’s Savage Dragon has garnered over the years has come from his peers, including the likes of Joe Quesada, Kurt Busiek, Joe Madureira, Jim Steranko, Mike Allred, Jeph Loeb, Harlan Ellison and even Kevin Smith. All that said, Savage Dragon’s sales, frankly, blow. So why isn't it's fulsome critical acclaim, regular shipping, creator driven story and unchanging creative team translating into greater attention? We put it to Larsen. Newsarama: Savage Dragon has regularly been cited as a 'must read' by your fellow pros, yet that's never translated into massive sales. Why do you suppose that is? Erik Larsen: I don't think anybody in the business is sitting there going, "Yeah, I'm getting as many readers as I should be." Like everybody else working in comics I'd like it if my book was selling better, but it's always gratifying to hear from fellow professionals that they're enjoying the book. I didn't get into this business to get rich. I got into this business to be in this business and thus far I've been able to do that. I'm happy to not have been voted off the island. NRAMA: Fair enough, but at the same time, the recent upheaval of some high profile creators on books, has demonstrated how much press and hype can be generated by publishers who change a book's creative team. Does it ever frustrate you that books that have retained the same creative team for years, haven't been plagued by behind the scenes interference or delays don't garner a fraction of that attention?  EL: It's the nature of the beast. Change is news. A creative shuffle is news. Newspapers don't publish lists of who made it through the day unaltered. Death, marriage, divorce, bankruptcy--that's news! I can fully understand why creative changes get attention. Change is something new and anything new automatically attracts attention. I mean look at the buzz Jim Lee and Jeph Loeb are generating now with a short stint on Batman. It's new, it's the first time they've worked together on the book but it's a sad fact of life that if they were to stick with the book that attention would fade. Would they attract the same attention or buzz if they were working on their 60th or 70th issue together? I doubt it. Look at 100 Bullets — it doesn't get the attention it did when it was new. Look at Bone -- a few years back it was getting all sorts of attention and winning all sorts of awards. It's just as good now, if not better--but now it's not the fascinating new thing. I can't expect to get the same kind of attention after 108 issues that I did 11 years ago.NRAMA: Speaking of the attention factor though, right from the start you've made it clear that the Dragon was your book, your voice, your vision. From a publishing standpoint you've taken some pretty powerful marketing tools out of the equation, you can't reinvent it with a new creative team, how do you overcome that restriction? EL: Well, that's true (laughs). But, I can do plenty of things that Marvel or DC can't do or won't do with their books and I get to play with my own toys. I can do whatever I want to serve the story. I can have my hero die, I can have my hero age, I can set the book in real time and they can have kids and we can watch the kids get older, y'know, and that's part of the kick that I get from writing book. I can do all sorts of things that as a fan, I as a kid, looked at Marvel and said, "Whoa, wouldn't it be cool if we got to see the heroes' lives unfold as we got older together and see where they went?" but because of underoos and videogames and whatever, Marvel feels an obligation to keep Spider-Man at 25. But I'm not restricted by merchandising deals or the need to keep characters essentially the same so that successive generations of creators and fans can work on or enjoy a young, vital Spider-Man. As a fan I was always wondering what would happen if things didn't work that way. Doing this on my own, I have that option. My heroes aren't always going to survive. The necessity of maintaining a certain status quo is, to me, limiting. Certainly there are movies and books where you feel pretty comfortable that key characters will survive intact but what if that wasn't the case? What if there was a very real chance that Spider-Man might not make it through the next episode? What if everybody in a book could bite it? A few years back I got a letter from a fan asking me why Marvel kept doing these stories which threw their heroes into alternate worlds and made it appear as though things would never be the same--only to go back to the normal world a few months down the line. He'd bought into the hype and was really excited about the possibilities of a new world in Age of Apocalypse and when that story ended and things reverted to normal, he was crushed. Now, I have no idea why he asked me that--but it did get me thinking.  A few years later, after having that seed of an idea planted, I had Dragon go to another world--and then I blew up his old one! (laughs) Which is a long way of saying, yeah, I don't have the marketing tools of getting a new creative team--but that there are things I can do that they can't so it's a trade off. The one thing I can offer is consistency of characters, plot and art. If you read a hundred issues of Batman he doesn't look or act the same over the length of that run--on Savage Dragon it stays consistent. The entire series holds together.NRAMA: Just in speaking along these lines of looking at the mechanics and effects of storylines on sales, have comics lost any of their magic now that your aware of the behind the scenes stuff? EL: (laughs) Oh yeah! Yeah, I mean I still enjoy a lot of the books out there, but knowing a lot of the other Pros, I'm always coming across characters where I now know they're saying something because that's what the writer always says, or I hear their voice when I read the stuff, so yeah that can take you out of the book. NRAMA: You've worked in the work-for-hire arena as well as establishing the industry's largest creator-owned publisher, when you see something like the Mark Waid's recent firing from Fantastic Four, what are your thoughts? EL: To be perfectly honest, I just kind of look at that and think, "Well, what did you expect?" I mean it's inevitable, they're not your characters and that's what it comes down to. As much as people might enjoy a particular creator's take; the way they're being written or how they look, the reality is that the minute say, Brian Michael Bendis comes up with a great story that involves Peter Parker being killed and replaced by Flash Thompson, he'll find out just how important he is to Marvel's Spider-Man. I mean they're not their characters; they're not even on loan. They're Marvel's characters and sure, they're a great stable of characters to play with and that's the reason so many creators do, but if you want to ensure that you're not going to be removed from a book and that your vision drives the title, well then you have to go the creator owned route. The fact that Marvel sacks someone who's popular and doing work-for-hire doesn't surprise me. They're Marvel's characters, you got to do what they tell you, that's the bottom line and anyone who goes in as work-for-hire has to know this. But I don't know what went on in this particular instance so I really have no business slamming anybody for this. There have been some changes made that I applaud and some I don't but I'm on the same playing field as most fans on this. I'm no better informed than most of the readers out there. I don't know that Marvel wasn't perfectly justified in their decision, I just don't know, but I do know it comes with the territory. If you work for somebody else--they can fire you. NRAMA: Back to your neck of the woods, most folks still think of Dragon as a book about a green finned cop in Chicago. Are you ever tempted to revisit old stories for the fans, or to take that further, maybe renumber or re-launch to attract the hundreds of thousands of readers who read it for the first year or two? EL: No. I mean, it's tempting, but not tempting enough. I don't really want to try to relive the past; it's just not the same. Sometimes getting the band back together isn't such a good idea.  It's like high school, yeah I had a lot of fun in high school and I have a lot of fond memories of that but I don't want to go back to high school again? I've done that. That part of my life is over. No, you've got to move on, and that's not to say that at some point in time it may serve the story to have Dragon revisit a particular facet of his life, but it would be done in a different way rather than just a rehash of stuff that happened before. I don't want to feel as though I'm endlessly recycling the same old stories over and over. That wouldn't be exciting for me or the reader. I'd rather tell that story once, tell it well, and move on and tell another one. As far as starting over with issue one goes--I'm not into that. I think renumbering in most cases is unjustified, manipulative and shortsighted. It's done to boost sales. DC didn't renumber Batman -- but that seems to be doing okay. Nobody's bitching about that book feeling as though they need to get the previous 608 issues.I don't really subscribe to that mindset that all folks are put off by comics that've been around for years. I'd think, to a fan, that a big number on a cover is reassuring. I mean gee--it's been around for 300 issues--what are the chances that the book will get cancelled in the middle of this story? My own personal take when I pick up a new book that I enjoy is, "Wow, there's more issues of this! Great!" Given the choice between buying a first issue of a new comic, where you have to wait a month for the next issue or picking up issue 20 or 120 of a comic that's already ongoing and really enjoying it and knowing that I can pick up a few more issues off the shelf or the back-issue bin? I'll go for the one with the back issues. There's nothing I like better than discovering something like a series of comics that I didn't know about and can get caught up on. A few years back I bought a near complete run of Stan [Lee] and Jack's [Kirby] Thor. I never read it as a kid, it was well before my time, and the inking by Vinnie Colletta put me off so it took me a while to get around to it but man, was that ever cool to be able to read a long run of a great comic all in one sitting. It was mind-boggling! NRAMA: That said, what are some of the main preconceptions of Dragon you encounter with non-readers? EL: Well, there are a number of odd preconceptions out there. Just recently I was chatting to an editor who'd never read the book because, as they put it, "that kind of book wasn't their cup of tea,' so I sent them off a few copies and they found that their idea of what the book was like was completely wrong. Their particular, um, notion, not having ever read it, was that the book was basically a Schwarzenegger movie on paper—all steroids and no brains. And that's not it at all. From the outside—people read about it in Wizard magazine and think it's all shock value stuff or that there are no quiet moments or character development and that's not right. There are even those that think it's just a goofy comic with no real story and that's not right either. NRAMA: Another thing that comes across in a lot of posts from folks that have never read it is that it's just a T&A book, care to comment on that? EL: Oh yeah, T&A, how could I forget T&A? I don't agree and nobody who really reads the book thinks it's a T&A book. Y'know a lot of it comes down to my natural drawing style, everything is exaggerated, all the guys have the biggest muscles possible. I mean Dragon has the biggest chest in the book! I've never set out to do a T&A book and all the feedback from readers suggest it's not a T&A book. I mean the main character is a happily married dad! And y'know while the women characters may be 'exaggerated' none of them are there as eye candy--I don't have characters that exist only to be rescued. The women characters in the book are strong and important characters and the number of female readers the book has attracted can attest to that. Besides Dragons appeared in the buff way more than any other character if anybody is being exploited here it's that guy! NRAMA: Going back to something you touched on earlier, one of the things that differentiates the Dragon from pretty much every other mainstream superhero title out there is the fact that your characters exist in real-time. They age and change and with each issue generally covering a month, the stories move at quite a pace. 100 issues in, has this type of absolute continuity approach hurt the book's sales? EL: I don't know. Certainly there are a lot of people out there who enjoy the book's continuity; they enjoy the progression and stuff like that. I think the flip side of continuity is there's an impression though, that because of that, the book might be kind of impenetrable, full of in-jokes and references to stories that they may have missed, or that it's impossible or very difficult to get caught up. That's a challenge that every writer has to face in a book that's been going on a while so how do I deal with that? Well, I'm always aware of it and I try to make the book accessible, like not referencing something that happened 50 issues ago as crucial to the plot or if I do I'll use dialogue or if necessary a footnote to get new readers up to speed.  Recently we've seen Marvel giving over the first page of all their books as an introductory page, to get readers up to speed, well, that's nothing new. Stan and Jack used to use that approach all the time, except they'd feature great full page artwork as well, and that's something I've been doing for a while now in the Dragon, is using a good ol' fashioned splash page at the start of each issue. If continuity is done right, rather than being a hindrance it's like an added bonus for the long-time fans, like in simple terms you can feature a monster and new fans will hopefully think, "Wow, that's a cool looking monster", whereas the old fans will think, "oh cool, there's that guy from 50 issues ago, so he wasn't killed in the volcano" or whatever so it works for everyone. That's the real challenge, to try not to lose the new folks but have it as a bonus for the readers who've stuck with the book.NRAMA: Following on from that have you ever been tempted to slow down the pace or stretch out stories into stand-alone arcs? EL: No. I have so many stories to tell, and it's one of the pitfalls of having the book happen in 'real time' that I don't have time to waste on padding like Ping-Pong dialogue. Y'know and having a couple of pages where two folks discuss having a cup of coffee where it's like, 'would you like a cup of coffee?', 'no thanks', 'you sure?', 'yeah, I'm cool'. 'okay then' well sure, that's realistic dialogue and real natural but ultimately in a book where you only have 22 pages to tell so much story, it just eats up space. I don't see the advantage to the reader of 'padding' the story out. My goal is to give folks a good comic, not part three of a really good trade. It's like why would folks go to see a movie if they held the really good fight scene off until the sequel? NRAMA: Speaking of trades, you recently announced a new drive to get your trades out in a timely fashion, at a time when 'wait for the trade' has become something of a mantra for some readers. Is this a concession to folks who see trades as the future for comic books and economically is this a step in the right direction when the monthly isn't selling strongly? EL: No absolutely not, I mean 'waiting for the trade' is only going to hurt the book you're looking to collect. However when you've been doing a book that's been around as long as the Dragon has, trades are an important way of helping folks catch up or fill in the gaps in their collection. I mean it's easy enough to pick up Savage Dragon back issues at cover price or less. On the website, www.savagedragon.com, there's summaries of every single issue and they can be purchased there as well. I'd always recommend checking with your local retailer first but failing that, it's nice to have the material be available somewhere at all times. For those folks out there who collect trades--or collect the comics but want reading copies as well I don't think it's such a bad idea to get these out there for them. Some folks like to have a nice looking collection on their shelves with all the numbers down the side--or want to loan books to friends instead of handing them an unwieldy stack of comic books, so sure I'm collecting the comic books into trades but I don't think that trades are any substitute for the monthly book itself. NRAMA: But, realistically why should someone go to the bother of going to the store every month for 5 or 6 months, when they can pick up the trade cheaper within a month or two? EL: Well, firstly with my book, they're going to be waiting a lot longer than a few months for the trade, I'm not putting them out to compete with the comic. At the moment my trades are about four years behind at least! But the real answer is that I try to give the comic readers the best value possible in the comic book itself.  The trade only collects the 22 pages of the Dragon's story but the rest of the comics are packed with other stuff that won't be collected in those trades. You've got letters pages and backups and comic strips and pinups or what have you, I mean, just looking at last week's #108, there's the regular 22 page Dragon story, then there are some letters pages, then there's a brilliant 'Mexican Wrestler' 6-page story by Andy Kuhn, Chris Giarrusso's 'Comic Bit's' and 2 pages of 'Savage Dragonbert', oh and a neat pinup by Tomm Coker - there's not a single ad in there and none of that bonus material is going to ever be collected in the trades - it's there for the comic book only. I like the comic book as a form and what I try to do is pack each issue with as much stuff as possible so the readers are getting a good value for their money and stuff that's never going to be available outside of the monthly comic. And starting in #109 I'm going to be even tighter for space when the ten-part Mighty Man back-up I'm doing with Gary Carlson and Mark Englert debuts.But I don't want to come across as anti-trade. They're different forms, different mediums I just don't agree that one is a substitute for the other. Like in my trades, there not just reprints, I have the chance to add in pages of story, fix screw-ups or talk about why I wrote this story or looking back what I think about it now. And that kind of commentary that you can do in trades, along with the sketches and abandoned scenes and whatnot, is not something that lends itself to the monthly book. NRAMA: Moving out to the bigger picture that trades have found themselves in, recently there's been a lot of discussion, on this site and elsewhere, about promoting or 'fixing' comics. If you had unlimited resources to attract new readers to comics or bring back those who'd left the field, what would you do? EL: If I could, I'd make them cheaper or add to the page count, I'd do something to make them better value for the money. Right now the biggest stumbling block is distribution but beyond that is basic entertainment value. While I think there are books that are well-crafted, when a person can either rent a blockbuster movie for pennies a serving and get a full story or hunt down a comic book shop to buy a comic book that contains a fraction of a bigger story it's pretty tough for us to compete. If we're going to try and compete with other avenues of entertainment using the product we're currently producing it may not be that easy. I don't think throwing our current product at its current cover price is going to make everything right in the world. I think it's important to note that everybody in this business is trying to do their very best work. Publishers are trying to produce what they feel are the best possible comics and I think sometimes people lose sight of that. We want good comics.  We all want comics to sell in huge numbers. If we're going to make this really work, I mean really work, then we're all going to need to pull together. Creators and retailers and everybody have got to speak in a collective voice and say, "This is good stuff. This is good material and it deserves your support." I don't know how many times I've heard about a retailer deliberately not ordering books for their customers or badmouthing books that they have in stock in their stores and should be trying to encourage people to buy instead of discouraging. At times there seems to be almost an antagonistic relationship between the creative community, retailers and fans and that just shouldn't be the case. And that's just crazy, because we want the retailers to do more business and sell more comic books. We all want the same thing--good comic books that sell through the roof. Why should we be at each other's throats? Sure, we don't all agree on what is good but that doesn't mean that people are going out of their way to produce substandard material--people just have different taste. Not every book is to everybody's taste. There are a lot of comic books, magazines, and books. TV shows and movies that I'm not interested in. They're not all aimed at me. But just because a TV show aimed at six-year old girls doesn't appeal to me, that doesn't mean that I feel that there shouldn't be TV shows aimed at six-year old girls. We try to be very accessible at Image--we answer our mail and pick up the phone. Retailers are the conduits between the audience and us. We should be working together. And...uh...if I ran things I'd make sure everybody got at least the chance to read Savage Dragon and see for themselves if they liked it. NRAMA: When we spoke last year, you had the Dragon pretty much mapped out to issue #108 which hit the shelves last week, how do your current plans for the book compare with your rough view you had of the book last year or even 11 years ago? EL: Well, they're pretty different. 11 years ago I couldn't tell you for sure that there would still be an Image Comics much less a Savage Dragon book and I'd wager few people start up a series with a strong idea of what they hope to get done in issue #110. As real life goes by and each day is affected by the previous one, so does the life of fictional characters. One idea spawns three more and over time there becomes so many ideas of what you want to do that it's impossible to use them all. In very broad strokes, this is what I've been working for years. I drew Dragon stories as a kid and in those the Dragon was eventually married with a daughter and now that I'm a professional and working for print, I've finally gotten to the point where I left off 20 years ago. It's an exciting time for me. It's a time where anything is possible. I'm looking forward to what's coming up. And I think it's a direction that will please fans both new and old. It's very tightly focused with a number of the Dragon's most popular foes in rapid succession and there will be some devastating changes in the book that will surprise the hell out of everybody. It may sound weird after 11 years and 110 issues--but it feels like I'm just getting started. |
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07-09-2003, 03:38 PM
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#2 |
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Larsen has been a pillar of consistancy throughout the years and Savage Dragon is always one of the most entertaining books on the rack, I love every issue and Im sure if more people picked it up they would as well.
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07-09-2003, 03:48 PM
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#3 |
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I consider Savage Dragon to be not only one of the best super-hero books on the stands today, but one of the best super-hero books of all time. To me, it is one of the best and most significant super-books since Stan and Jack were working together. Here's hoping that it enjoys a couple hundred more issues.
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07-09-2003, 04:30 PM
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#4 |
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i'm in agreeance [like fred durst]
savage dragon is definitely my favourite 'super-hero' book, even though it's obviously so much more than that.
i recently re-read the first 100 issues and i was amazed by 2 things: 1) how well it read as a complete story 2) how much things changed in that length of time i started reading SD when i was in high school, when i was a poor college student i still managed to scrape the money together for it every month, and it's *still* the first book i read every month! keep it up, erik! b[a]y |
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07-09-2003, 04:35 PM
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#5 |
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there was a time when i'd buy a comic if erik had only inked the cover. i used to read the older issues of savage dragon and think to myself "i can't belive that sales keep dropping. what person in their right mind would stop buying this book?". but recently i've found that savage dragon just doesn't match my taste enough to buy it on a regular basis. it's a shame though, that because it's a low profile book that it's not meeting the people who's taste it might match.
but here i am reading this article and thinking about picking it up... |
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07-09-2003, 05:04 PM
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#6 |
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"Despite serious (and publicized) illnesses, having his house burn down, working on a 2nd and sometimes a 3rd monthly title, his involvement with the two season run of the Dragon cartoon (soon to be released on DVD) and his constant online presence answering questions and shooting the breeze at www.savagedragon.com he's still managed to produce 108 issues (111 if you include the initial mini series) of Savage Dragon, including last year's quadruple sized issue #100. His often strongly stated opinions may not make him a frontrunner for the most loved man in comics, but his 111-issue stretch qualifies him as one of the hardest working folks in comics. "
Meanwhile, crybaby Warren Ellis can't manage to crank out the last 10 issues of Planetary. Ellis, take a page out of this guys book. Maybe you'll learn something.  |
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07-09-2003, 05:16 PM
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#7 |
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I give Erik Larsen a lot of credit, he's really worked hard on SAVAGE DRAGON. To stay with the series as long as he has is quite impressive.
Sadly, I don't read SAVAGE DRAGON. I bought the first issue or two when the initial miniseries was released, and I absolutely HATED it. I don't know the extent to which Larsen has improved as a writer since, but he could only have gone up from there. However, over the years, I've keep my eye on the book and I've liked the looks of some of what Larsen has done with it. It definitely has a Stan and Jack vibe going for it these days, and eventually, I'm gonna get my ass in gear and give it another try. Here's to hoping I find it much better than those early issues. |
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07-09-2003, 05:20 PM
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#8 |
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Wow, thanks for a cool Interview Matt (It's great to see Newsarama shining a light on something that's no longer new or a 'buzz' book)! After 11 odd years reading the book sometimes you can get a little complacent and not really appreciate what Larsen is doing month in and month out. Then I read a piece like this and remeber why I'm a fan again.
GOD |
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07-09-2003, 05:25 PM
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#9 | |
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Quote:
Absolutely agreed. I read Savage Dragon (and all related titles, minis, and spin-offs) from the original #1 clear up to issue #105. And for those final 10 issues or so, every time I would plunk down my $2.95 (US), I would say to myself "Man, I hope this issue is better than the last one. I hope something happens. I'm not even sure why I'm still buying this." The Savage Dragon I loved was the one from the original mini-series and first year or two of the on-going. Action-packed artwork that leaped off the page with amazing detail. Legions of interesting new characters with cool outfits and witty names every single issue. Mind-blowing plots with real, lasting effects on the character. And lots of butt-kicking, of course. But now I feel like the vision has been diluted, the artwork isn't as crisp or impressive. The characters talk too much, and yet hardly ever say anything profound or amusing. The plots and style are too much like an imitation of Kirby than they are a tribute. There's way way too much filler material in each issue from artists/writers, and about characters, I've never heard of or don't care about or just don't find amusing (I mean, what the heck is up with that Savage Dragonbert crap? Who finds that funny? How is that original storytelling in any way?) And I just don't care about this new Dragon's family, the little girl is annoying and the wife might as well be a bikini-model card-board cutout. After reading the horrible waste of paper that was issue #105, I finally dropped the book that I had once declared my favorite comic ever. I pay my money to read entertaining stories about interesting characters, not to read a rant about the comic book industry that was as insulting to me the reader as it was pointless. Larsen loved Kirby. Larsen loved Calvin & Hobbes. Larsen doesn't love Byrne. We get it already. Geez. The truly sad thing is, I really liked the Savage Dragon as a character. I still like and admire Erik Larsen as a creator. I just wasn't getting what I wanted out of this comic book anymore. |
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07-09-2003, 05:37 PM
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#10 |
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I proudly admit that Erik Larsen's work is the driving reason that I am so interested in comic books. Sure, the years and years of general knowledge about superheroes that washed over me until the age of 13 was great, but it was a warm summer day when my brother handed me a copy of Savage Dragon #3 (miniseries) bought from the 7 - 11 around the corner that my world frickin changed.
His book was the only book I collected for a looooong time and I have been thrilled by it everytime. There was no need for "Make mine Marvel" or "Dig DC" or what have you, when I had Savage Dragon. Now that I have thoroughly slobbered all over Mr. Larsen's body of work, note the pun {but not in the way you're thinking of you sick, sick bastards}, I would like to say that a larger part of the decline in the book's sales is due to the fact that he changes the central character's surroundings so much. Nothing major really, but it does put some people off. Additionally, the change from Dragon being a cop in Chicago to being any of the other incarnations he has donned in his multi-world spanning life has furthered the decline in sales. People tend to get attached and a cop superhero always represents the through and through good guy, and that, people get attached to even more. Yes, change is good. (Loved the SOS era fo Dragon, by the way.) But I do think that the randomness of the villians has been a bit too much lately. I know, I know, the new world is fraught with danger, but I loved the Over Lord character, Cyberface, Abner Cadaver, Damien Darklord and all the others that filled out the pantheon of bad guys that Erik had created. We don't know the villians anymore, they just pop in, cause some damage and pop out. I'd like a bit more of the good versus evil now that Dragon has set up roots in his new world, but hey, that's me. So keep on keeping on, you writer of mythic mayhem and I'll keep buying. |
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07-09-2003, 09:14 PM
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#11 |
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OK, I figure this is as good of a place as any....
If I wanted to get on board SAVAGE DRAGON right now, where would be a good place to start? I realize it's probably easily accessible and followable from any issue, but I'm going to ask, anyways. And how is the THIS SAVAGE WORLD trade paperback? It looks like it could be fun. How about any of the trades, for that matter? |
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07-09-2003, 09:47 PM
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#12 | |
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Quote:
Savage World would be a great place to start, the book changes quite a bit right around that arc. You could also probably get a lot of other back issues also for pretty cheap. |
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07-09-2003, 11:52 PM
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#13 | |
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Now!
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Honestly, Jawaplumber, I would suggest picking-up the newest issue (#108) for starters.  The THIS SAVAGE WORLD trade paperback is also pretty good, but Issue #108 struck me as especially fun (for whatever reason), and is as good a place to start as any. If you like #108 you should then *definitely* pick-up THIS SAVAGE WORLD and start working your way to the present issues from there... By the way, nice article, Matt! Fin Addicted, Aaron Weisbrod |
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07-10-2003, 01:26 AM
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#14 | ||||
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Sorry to see you go, Grendel Prime...
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While I feel that no person should buy something that they're not enjoying, Savage Dragon is a book that is always evolving. You may not like the direction of the title post issue #90-#100, but there are things that are happening right now that may pique your interest. If you're honestly finished with buying the book, I invite you to at least stop by SavageDragon.com from time to time to see what's going on. Quote:
So, it's clear that you enjoyed Dragon as a cop. So did I, but those events took place over nine years ago. I found it refreshing that as time went by, after those first couple of years, Dragon realized that his abilities would be far better put to use outside of the trappings of a badge. As far as the title's artwork is concerned, I feel that it's never been better! The "mind-blowing" plots and the "lasting effects" are still there, along with the "butt-kicking", too! Larsen is doing the best work of his career, but that's my opinion. Quote:
It's interesting that you use the word "filler" to describe the material within the pages of Savage Dragon outside of Larsen's own work. Every month, Erik presents a full-length Dragon yarn, and in place of ads or other useless bull$#!+, he offers his readers BONUS material like: Pin-ups, back-up comics (Mighty Man or the recent Mexican Wrestler Funnies), reader letters (a now extinct feature at the "big two") and other extra stuff at no additional cost to the buyer! Quote:
Well, that's too bad. I'm really sorry to see you go, Grendel Prime. I honestly feel that you're going to miss out on some really great stuff. -Kevin |
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07-10-2003, 08:16 AM
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#15 |
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Savage Dragon really is a great value comic - I would urge anyone that has not tried it to at least pick up one of the latest issues and have a look.
The stories at the moment are fun, and easy to get into without knowing any of the history of the character. |
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07-10-2003, 10:46 AM
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#16 |
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I used to love Eric Larsons work back when he was doing Spider-Man a decade or so ago. But then he decided to do some work on the last Spider-Woman series. That series helped get my then girlfriend, now wife into comics, and was one of my favorite comics because I love the character (yet I dont like Spider-Girl, alternate universes arent my cup of tea). I thought his artwork was sooooo sloppy. I wondered if he really wanted to do that title or if he was just doing it as a favor. I mean it was really bad. I have seen other work he has done at that time and since, and it wasnt bad. But man he really screwed the pooch on that one. So now I cannot read anything he has done without remembering that horrible horrible art. I mean at least take the time to line up the facial features, COME ON!!!
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07-10-2003, 11:09 AM
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#17 | |
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Re: STAYING THE COURSE: LARSEN ON SAVAGE DRAGON
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Glad to hear somebody else say it! Some people don't seem to get this, though. |
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07-10-2003, 11:31 AM
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#18 |
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Eric Larson
SlugNLettuce apart from the fact that you say you were a fan way back when, the guy's name is all over this article!! It's Erik Larsen, okay?
He only did one issue of Spiderwoman about a 3 years ago as a favour for the editor to ensure it made it's deadline. Cut him some slack, your picking one single issue out of about 130 he's done since leaving Spiderman and the Spiderwoman art had to be turned around in under a week whilst he worked on Dragon and Thor IIRC. GOD |
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07-10-2003, 01:23 PM
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#19 | |
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Quote:
Well said. |
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07-10-2003, 01:42 PM
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#20 |
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Wow GOD seems really testy today.I guess he is not being very forgiving today.
 I understand the whole problem with people not giving Dragon a chance.It seems that no matter what you tell someone they will always have pre concieved notions of what a book is all about.I personally have not read anything of his since he left his Amazing run just after The Todd's run.The reason of course being I still am waiting for my money tree to take root,hey it works in Animal Crossing why not in real life. I try and try to get my friend who is on a TPB kick right now to read Watchmen,and Millers only good Dark Knight but he keeps saying I only want to read Sandman and Preacher (both great books and nothing wrong with them).So rather than experience two GREAT reads he will try and keeps himself "Alternative" and not give something a chance.Stigmas run vicious circles I guess. Anyways I think Erik Larsen is great for his dedication and for not "selling out" he shows he cares about the fans who grew up spending under a dollar for a book (I started at 35 cent books) and delivering bang for your proverbial buck. Thank You Mr. Larsen |
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07-10-2003, 02:30 PM
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#21 |
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Boo hoo . So you dont want me to dislike Eric Larson. I believe in the comfort of my home I am allowed to dislike any artist I feel like. And at that point in time Spider-Woman was barely hanging on because of poor writers and poor art. The last thing they needed was to have a big name come in, which could have brought in new readers, and screw it up with chicken scratch. I didnt think it would be a big deal to write that but I also don't buy into the whole fan loyalty crap. Minions who freak out if you say you cant stand kevin smith (and I cant). I always get blasted for that. I guess im just not into being a star f****r. Im sure if eric larson gave a crap about what I said, which he doesn't (and why should he, Im not his boss or his friend), he would have said something. He's a grown-up and can handle it himself, hopefully. Im sure the larson-minion will have something to say, and if he/she doesnt the better for all of us.
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07-10-2003, 02:35 PM
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#22 |
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you know someone has issues when they get mad if you dont spell some comic book guys name right. larson. larson. larson. hahahahaaa. typos are a part of life. get used to it. oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooo
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07-10-2003, 08:17 PM
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#23 |
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Hmmm...
I liked that cover with the purple guy better the first time I saw it on Fantastic Four #182.
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07-10-2003, 08:44 PM
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#24 | |
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Re: Hmmm...
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Larsen did many covers as homages to the old Fantastic 4 run by the great ones. Its not a jack but a homage. |
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07-10-2003, 08:47 PM
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#25 | |
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Quote:
I think all he was trying to do was point out the truth behind the situation involving the Spider-Woman fill-in, seeing as he was in a position to explain it. And I don't know you, but there's an off chance that you get blasted for knocking other creators not because you dislike the creators, but because of the way you come across with your opinion, which here is disrespectful and uninformed. Sorry, just calling it as I see it. |
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