ERIK LARSEN
CREATES COMICS
Specifically, Savage Dragon
By Alex Ness
May 6, 2024
First off, I am writing this because I given many suggestions to readers that Savage Dragon is a complete comic experience. And, Erik Larsen both writes and illustrates it.
It features the story of a world and group of people who are unique, and have an impact upon the world they live in in a different way than most comics show.
It is a comic story with an experience where the characters, scenarios, and worlds, all grow and mature as time moves forward. That is, the comic book paradox that characters never age, so 400 issues happen in the same year, doesn't occur here. I appreciate that, in a format and genre where there is little or no attention to the passage of time. In Savage Dragon Larsen takes a beginning point and follows some rules making a wild tale, and makes it conform to his own set of rules.
I like the risk taking of that concept, the bold action oriented stories, the great writing, and the art that reminds anyone within 20 years of my old age, of Jack Kirby, and in a positive way. Other artists might claim the mantle of Jack Kirby but Erik Larsen lives it in every story. Jack Kirby is easily my favorite story teller and one of my favorite purely artist. So, in the prevention of anyone assuming bias, hell yeah I dig the work of Erik Larsen.
Frankly, over the time of my working in the world of comic book journalism. Larsen, Jamie Delano, Mike Oeming, and Alan Dean Foster were my most common interview subjects, and there is a reason more than their classic good looks for that. They were people who shared their joy of comics and books, the love of creativity, and ability to share that. Along with my best friends in comics, Mike Grell, Mike Baron, Jamie Delano, Erik Larsen joined them with support and advice, and mostly, kindness, when my life was shattered by recurring cancer, a recurring virus, mono, that most people get once, I have it constantly, and my bones have a disorder, that will end my career due to pain and more. He is someone I gratefully call a friend.
My favorite story is a wasteland in the style of Jack Kirby called The Savage World. I tried to buy all the singles, but ended up missing significant periods due to health eras of my own, and money crises, as an author of a lot of works, but rarely compensated works. So I am now trying to acquire the TPBs of the series.
The beginning point of Savage Dragon was a work from a teenager who is self taught in his art, and obvious has read many comics, but also books, and common culture. The comic itself might be called crude, but what first work is born without signs of youth, or with the experience learned style and craft marks of excellence? And yet, whatever comprises the story, and revelation of a fair amount of intelligent design.
Graphic Fantasy #1 (June 1982) and first appeared as the "Savage Dragon" in Megaton #3 (February 1986). Called Dragon, a green alien with super strength, healing abilities and a finned head, who performs the duty of a police officer, serves the public good, has a sense of mystery about his purpose, origins, and motivations. It is worth reading for the simple enjoyment of the medium, but it shares a moment that will be added upon for almost 40 years.
There are many eras in the adventures of the now Savage Dragon, are substantial, and aim to reach 300 in the run, as a hallmark of an independent creator's achievement.
The first Savage Dragon was a unique sort of character, awakening upon earth, in the ruins of a city block in Chicago. Upon gathering his wits, he realizes, he has only the most basic perceptions of what is going on, where he is, and why he is where he is. Even less, in fact, who he is. This amnesia is not short lived either. His name is a reference to his appearance. But he longs to fit in this world, and sets out as a police officer for Chicago, because this world has costumed villains and heroes. He is a talented and thorough officer. But as with most costumed or super heroes experience, a number of the mutants and costumed bad guys are recurring villains. Many good guys interact with Savage Dragon and become allies.
All of the previous stories reveal little of his true origins, until the Image Comics Hardcover with a story from Larsen, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri, Jim Valentino, and the bomb dropped... reprinted in SAVAGE DRAGON O. He is the former evil dictator KURR of a great nomadic space empire. When the ships of Kurr near Earth, some of his former assistants and servants act upon their desire to rid the empire of Kurr so they maroon him, unconscious upon Earth. Eventually, made to remember his memory, he surrenders his role as cop and realizes he must face galactic justice. But as mentioned, his story is one going forward in time.
He is a character who has family. He has friends. And he has romantic partners, and as a result he has a son. Forced by circumstances of the past, Savage Dragon ends his ongoing role as a police officer, while his son Malcolm Dragon takes over the role SD had played. With Malcolm the path of the hero, an epic telling of how one enters a role of honor and justice is on view, and his life behind the scenes of a hero are as much the story now as the adventures. The stories are just as broad, just as fun as the first Dragon but truly even more so. Larsen took advantage of the evolution of the story, and characters, and has created homage issues to newspaper and cartoon characters, and tells stories using different and rather new manners. I would argue, this is a superhero tale. But it is also a work that travels through time, space, and through different dimensions in depth. This is science fiction and fantasy, with a side of humor, a personal work for Larsen who has a broad career, but this is his story, and it shows. He was comfortable in his creator role enough to allow other writers and artists to write stories and smaller series featuring his characters and universe.
I would suggest buying the single issues, get a taste first, but find a tpb collecting a story arc, and dive in. And I'd like to say, I meant to go through and detail each era, but found myself worrying about spoilers, and only added the big twist of his true identity because if anyone reads the current Dragon, it will be obvious. Also, as much as I wanted to do a fully detailed love letter to the series, with my memory issues from health events, I don't remember some of those periods well. However, I can say, there isn't an issue that I didn't enjoy, and there are precious few comics I can say that about. If not every issue was the greatest ever, that's reality, not an insult. His work is excellent overall, and I am grateful to have read his concepts and his creative legacy of one powerful being with a past of evil, fighting instead for good, and the twisting path that takes him, and eventually his son and others upon.
Well done Erik. And thank you.
Find Erik's Voluminous List of Works on the Comic Book Data Base
Visit him at his site Savage Dragon
All images are copyright per the respective owners, Erik Larsen © and others and are used in fair use, no rights are assumed transferred or shared.
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