1) In light of comic-related current events, you've stated on your message board that you will be creating the character "Medieval Sandman." Are you really serious?
ERIK: Absolutely--and don't think creating a wholly original character like this isn't hard work, because it IS! Coming up with an original character is no picnic, I'll tell you...and the nice thing about me being an artist,
in addition to being a writer, is that I don't have to split the ownership on an innovative creation like this, with somebody who just comes up with the visual.
2) How did you guys come up with the idea for the Image Comics 10th
Anniversary picture? (see picture at right)
ERIK: It was Valentino's idea (Jim Valentino, Image Co-Founder and Publisher).
We actually tried to make it work just as a pure photo, but it didn't read as what it
was supposed to be. The shadow really helped to clarify that.
3) Since the beginning, you regularly kill and maim characters in Savage Dragon. Lately, certain creators have touted that their upcoming projects will feature characters who will die (and stay dead). Has this now become a "gimmick" for others, and how do you manage to keep it surprising and make an impact, now that it's becoming more common?
ERIK: Killing characters means nothing if you don't CARE about the characters to begin with.
If it's just a gimmick--if a character dies on page two--who gives a rat's ass? It's like a random
guy in a movie that a chunk of debris falls on--if you don't know them in any way, you can't
really feel the loss.
We feel the loss of the people from 9/11 because we hear their stories. When a bunch of
people die in an earthquake in Mexico, we don't feel that same loss because we don't get to
know who they are--we don't even know how many people live there or the names of the cities
even -- much less the people. I dunno.
It's just another gimmick now at Marvel and DC, and with the addition of all the other universes, it loses it's impact as well. If there is Ultimate Colossus roaming around--what impact does the death of Colossus have? If there's an Ultimate Kingpin--what impact does his death have? If any Elseworlds story can bring back Barry Allen or Hal Jordan--what impact was there to their deaths? Ultimately, this is why I move on to doing other things. When the Dragon was impaled on a steeple it was novel--once others did the same, the novelty wore off. I tend to keep moving. Now that a lot of Marvel books have a more Savage Dragon sensibility to them,
in terms of subject matter and language, I'll go off in a different direction and innovate in different ways.
To me it's more about keeping things fresh. If I'm doing the same book the same way ten years later, then something's wrong. Savage Dragon evolves and once it becomes boring for me, it will become boring for the readers, and I don't want that to happen--ever.
4) Why do you think that fans who generally decried Marvel for the telling of Wolverine's origin, are so excited about you finally revealing the Dragon's?
ERIK: For me, the mystery of Dragon's origin is NOT a big part of the Savage Dragon book.
It's NOT what makes the book and character work--you're not reminded of it constantly.
But I think the big distinction here is that in the case of Savage Dragon, it's his creator who is
telling the story--NOT somebody who's never written the character before.I think if Chris
Claremont or Len Wein wrote Wolverine's origin, the reader would at least feel as though the
story was legitimate, that it was what was intended from the start--not something cobbled
together years after the fact, by a different party.
I think something else that people respect is that Savage Dragon's story was one that I had worked out PRIOR to the character being introduced in print and that it will make sense. In a way, Savage Dragon's origin is like a murder mystery--the hints are there--the pieces are there--and this is telling who dunnit.
There's no way that a reader could have pieced together the story which has become Wolverine's origin, based on the information that's seen print. In the case of Savage Dragon, we're getting to read the ending to a mystery that's been sitting there for ten years.
Lastly, I think there's the sense that if I don't tell the story, it will NEVER be told and I'll take the secret to my grave. So for some, there's a sense of relief that I won't be leaving them hanging forever.
I'm looking forward to it seeing print so that I can stop having to be so cagey about it anymore, and I think knowing it adds a new layer to the character and the book. Now readers will be saying, "Did he do that because of what he did before?" or "Could it be he's remembering what he was before?"
I didn't want the Dragon himself to find out. This is pure backstory. It's like Savage Dragon #0--it takes place directly before Savage Dragon #1, you could put it there in your collection--it leads right into the first issue.
5) Now we get to the serious one...
You have a midget, a rollerskate, and a baseball bat. What new Olympic sport would you invent?
ERIK: Power Cannibalism.
It was ten years ago, that Erik Larsen began a comic-book that actually started when he was a child. And even though many things have changed, to both the creator and creation, the fact that he is still doing it himself, goes a long way in showing the genuine affection he has for the character.
Erik started out doing fanzines and eventually found himself doing art chores for a book called Megaton. It was within the pages of this title that the Dragon first appeared.
And after stints with Eclipse (DNAgents), and DC (Doom Patrol) he landed a job at Marvel,
eventually working on the title that would bring him the most exposure, Amazing Spider-Man
...taking over the spot vacated by Todd McFarlane.
Then came an invitation to form a new company called Image Comics, and the rest, as they say, is history. As one of the four remaining founders, Erik is the only one that is still working on his original title, and handling all the art and writing chores. And now, ten years later, Image Comics is releasing a special anniversary hardcover to commemorate the event...and in his portion of it,
Erik will finally reveal the long-awaited origin of the Dragon.
I appreciate him taking some time for this interview, and like the rest of the Dragon fans, I eagerly await both the heralded origin story, as well as future issues of Savage Dragon.
