The Savage Dragon

Are YOU a fin fan?

Starting in 1993, The Savage Dragon is an ongoing comic book series by Image Comics

It all started with this guy right here-

ERIK LARSEN

The Savage Dragon is meant to be a bridge between Marvel and Vertigo Comics(Vertigo is intended for mature readers)

Larsen usually describes the Savage Dragon series as a very self-indulgent work. Meaning that he writes purely for the fun of it and that he may include things just for the very fact that they would look cool.

Image Comics allows creators to have full control of their properties, meaning that Larson can pretty much make anything happen in the Savage Dragon.

Even God and the Devil duke it out

THE PLOT IN A NUTSHELL-

The Savage Dragon awakens in a bed of flames in the streets of Chicago.

He has no recollection of who he is or where he came from.

The Savage Dragon gets recruited by the police force to combat Chicago's super thugs...

and that is pretty much the plot in a nutshell

Cyberface and the Vicious Circle are up to no good

WHY is the Dragon so awesome?

1. He gets laid (A LOT)

Note: the dialogue has been changed by a fan

2. He has back hair

3. He can recover from nearly any wound

4. He's not afraid to drop an F-bomb

5. You can relate to him. When he's lying on the couch depressed, drinking a beer, and with a beard- you know the feeling

INTERESTING TIDBITS-

The first openly gay superhero appeared in the Savage Dragon series

Mace

Also,
One of the earliest interracial relationship in comics

Rapture and the Savage Dragon even get married

AND NOW FOR-----> A Review of the Series

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

THE GOOD-

The series is fast paced and action packed- it reads like a cross between the Hulk and the Punisher. The Dragon is a very cool character, so it's always fun to watch him, whether its wrestling bad guys or putting the moves on the ladies.

And...

SHE-DRAGON

Also...

In the back of every issue, there is a comic strip called Desperate Times which is done by the letterer of the Savage Dragon.

Desperate Times is hilarious, it's about the misadventures of two twenty-something year olds and their bad luck with women.

Lastly, what made me fall in love with Savage Dragon in the first place is...

Larsen held a contest in which he asked his fans to submit character designs. The Winner would be featured in an issue of the Savage Dragon.

The winner was...

JIMBO DA MIGHTY LOBSTER

A trash talking crustacean with a mouth that would put a sailor to shame.

And now..

THE BAD-

About halfway through the series, the Savage Dragon loses it bite

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NO MORE BLOOD

NO MORE SEXY SCENES

NO MORE CONTROVERSIAL CONTENT

But luckily, this was all just a temporary phase

Secondly,

Larsen speaks his mind in the comic book which may offend some people...

THE UGLY-

FREAK FORCE

The problem with Freak Force is that they weigh down the plot and are largely unnecessary.

Freak Force was a cheap ploy to create a toyline, which Larsen even acknowledges within the dialogue of the comic book.

IN CONCLUSION-

The Savage Dragon isn't flawless but it does deliver the goods with a vengeance!

The action scenes are epic and the Dragon is always a blast to read

SAVAGE COMMENTS-

Please comment on my article...

Have you ever heard of the Savage Dragon before?

Who's your favorite villain in the Savage Dragon?

Who's your favorite out of Savage Dragon's girlfriends?

Comments

I think I have heard of this, but not sure. Definitely doesn't appear to be my style too, too crass and dirty. lol God bless.

He get laid a lot, didn't he?

Never heard of this dragonman, but nonetheless an entertaining article. Pic #1 is now my background

A) The name is OVERLORD there with the Vicious Circle! Yes, "Cyberface" was / is a major Dragon nemesis on his own right, but I find it hard to mistaken when it comes to that armor!
B) Why did you mention Dragon & Rapture's "marriage" as a tidbit, as if "happily ever after?" Get real, we all know what happens probably only a handful of issues later anyways; (hint: according to the "Refrigerated Women" website, it mentions "all of the Savage Dragon's girlfriends": DEAD!)

Savage Dragon was awesome and not only that but I did like the cartoon as well.

Dragon fan since issue 1.There were also a couple cartoons of the dragon.One was kinda goofy and cartooney but the other was dark and gritty and was my fav but I liked both.Also, this is one of the most violent comics out there.Awesome.

Great job, I've always loved Dragon but the convenience store where I bought my comics on even got the original 3 issue mini-series and #1 of the ongoing and that was it, convenience my arse. Anyways I've always liked the character but have never really read a whole lot from him aside from that, I plan on going through the whole series in trade sooner or later. Great job on Image's #2 super hero....the non=retro Invincible is #1 haha.

I entered that character creator contest. Obviously I did not win. I still have one of the drawings I did of the character. It's a horrible drawing, nothing compared to what I can do now. But one thing about the guy that I created, not long after, in an issue of Spawn, a character called the Redeemer showed up with the same head design that I used for my guy. I always wondered if Todd McFarlane bit off my picture. Most likely not, but it's still funny to think about.

Thanks guys! I was intentionally trying not to make it wordy, but points taken and I'll do differently next time

With Northstar, it says that "The character was finally revealed to be gay in 1992's Alpha Flight issue 106"

My bad, Mace came out a year later. But that's still VERY close

I think he is a cool character and one of the most underrated.

Good article, but I suggest less pics and more substance.

Thumbs up anywayZ.

I mostly know about The Savage Dragon from his crossover appearances with Mike Allred's "Madman", "The Atomics" and the short lived cartoon series.

Also, about the "first openly gay super hero" declaration, I'm pretty sure John Byrne beat Erik Larsen to the punch on that one with Alpha Flight's Northstar character between 1983-1992. But it wasn't a terribly popular series, so I can understand why it was overlooked.

Was never a big Savage Dragon fan. But I respect Larsen and his drive to keep his creation going.

Hmm, this article is a ton of pictures followed by a ton of little blurbs. This would usually be bad, but it seems that you have SO many blurbs and pictures that it actually makes this article entertaining... kind of like a long children's book. More information would be better but I cant really say this sucks.