December 29, 2017
Posted by Stefan Kalscheid in News – 3 comments
Of the 30 contestants 26 sent in their submissions. I’ve updated the post and the GIF for you guys to compare them. To me they are all winners…
In June 2017 Erik was announced Winner of the 10th annual Inkwell Award in the category “ALL-IN-ONE (pencilling and inking together)”.
Part of the 2017 Inkwell Award is the “Sinnott Inking Challenge Spotlight on Erik Larsen” where 30 professionals ink a pencilled page by Erik himself. The first results have been posted online and we want to share these with you. It’s quite fascinating to see the different results and it really helps to understand the work of an inker, how important it is and how much of a difference it can make…
Click on the image to see all the single images.
It seems some of the artists have slightly rotated the original artwork for their inks — For better comparison, I have taken the liberty to re-rotate the pages so they all sit firmly above each other and the original pencils.
I’ll keep adding the newest entries so keep checking back to see more of the challenge contestants.
Contestants
01 – Andy Smith
02 – Richard Clark
03 – Neil D Vokes
04 – Chris Madd
05 – Lebeau Underwood
06 – Joe Prado
07 – Tom Schloendorn
08 – Dee Fish
09 – Keith Williams
10 – Scott James
11 – Geof Isherwood
12 – Rodney Ramos
13 – Andy Owens
14 – Mark McKenna
15 – Scott Rosema
16 – Keith Champagne
17 – Mark Stegbauer
18 – Richard Bonk
19 – Rudy Nebres
20 – Idan Knafo Kerbis
21 – Rusty Gilligan
22 – Mike Sellers
23 – Kevin Conrad
24 – Don Hillsman
25 – Alex Saviuk
26 – John Floyd
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December 27, 2017
Posted by Stefan Kalscheid in News – 5 comments
Yes, you read that right. Savage Dragon #230 was released today, just 3 weeks after the last issue and it’s a blast! Pick up your copy and join the discussion – here, on Facebook and on Discord.
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December 6, 2017
Posted by Stefan Kalscheid in News – 6 comments
Just two weeks after the release of #228 we get the next stellar installment of our favorite comic. Check out these awesome preview pages. You can buy your digitaly copy at Image Comics or Comixology…
Enjoy
Stef
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November 28, 2017
Posted by Stefan Kalscheid in News | Reviews – 3 comments
With #229 coming out next wednesday, a mere 2 weeks after the latest issue, it is high time we take a look at Savage Dragon #228.
The Seeker. Savage Dragon #228 is supposedly all about the Seeker. A villain that fans have been clamouring to see again. A character we hardly know anything about. It has been nearly 15 years since his last appearance and the solicitation promises: “At long last — all of his secrets are revealed!”
But then…
Something big came up
Yeah, reread those speech bubbles carefully: “Something big came up” and “You knew this was going to happen eventually”. It’s not just a funny pun, it seems as if Erik is hiding a meta-comment on the issue itself in the dialogue between Malcolm and Maxine.
A couple of months ago Maxine’s nip-slip would most likely have raised an eyebrow or two but by now it is pretty obvious Erik has raised the bar…
The new status quo
A few weeks ago Erik went onto Facebook and posted the following:
Wondering how many Savage Dragon readers are straight up onboard with whatever the hell I do?
How far can it stray before I’d lose you?
What if it was funny animals? Animated style? Pornography? Romance comics? A Western? Those left seem to be enjoying the ride immensely.
A big part of the joy of doing this book is following my muse — be it Jack Kirby, Frank Miller or R. Crumb.
So what (if anything) would have you saying, “okay — I’m done here.”
It seems this wasn’t just a rhetorical question… The XXX cover variant for issue #225 had already reached new grounds, so to speak, but Savage Dragon #228 did something no other comic book (I can think of) has ever done before: introducing the graphic depiction of sex to a classic super hero comic book.
Let’s not beat around the bush here — no pun intended — those pages are clearly pornographic. They are openly displaying (some pretty absurd) sex scenes and Erik is doing it just for the heck of it. He stated a couple of times that he is currently influenced by Robert Crumb and anyone slightly familiar with Crumb’s work knows what that might allude to…
Sometimes I do stuff just to do stuff. Been on something of an R. Crumb jag lately and admiring his complete lack of self-restraint. That doesn’t mean that this is what the book will be like from here on out.
To what extend Erik will keep displaying sex and erotic content remains to be seen. The latest solicitations suggest that sex will remain a topic in the next couple of issues. What’s interesting — to me — is the fact that the pure display of body parts is losing its shock value and is actually adding to the storytelling. When Erik displays a topless Jennifer (after months of fighting in Dimension-X), it actually feels more realistic and believable.
So, in a way, this is liberating and, down the line, will become more natural and easier acceptable. And who knows, maybe it will help bridge the gap between the graphic display of violence and sex in american comics in general — a topic that keeps coming up…
The Seeker
As for the Seeker: The big reveal is — as it seems — there wasn’t much of a story behind him. Not every character is connected to someone else. Erik recently addressed something similar on Facebook regarding Star Wars — saying that connecting all the dots eventually makes a universe smaller and less believable. It’s no less true when it comes to Savage Dragon.
So while we may not have seen the last of the Seeker’s tech, the character himself was most likely really nothing more than a bounty hunter working for Cyberface — who never got the memo that the former world leader has long bought the farm…
On a closing note: that panel of the Seeker attacking Malcolm looks like a nice homage to the cover of Savage Dragon #87
REVIEWS OF SAVAGE DRAGON #228
Here are some reviews of the book
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November 27, 2017
Posted by Stefan Kalscheid in News – one comment
Erik has released the covers for Savage Dragon #232 and #233!
The cover for 233 has already gotten some attention on social media and while a lot of people seem to get the joke, there were also voices of concern. Apparently displaying a comic with a cover like that can still cause trouble in this day and age – at least in an “all ages” section. But, Savage Dragon isn’t an all-ages book and it has officially been rated as “M/Mature” for a while…
Erik also has a slightly different version of the cover online and asked people which they prefer. What do you think?
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Posted by Stefan Kalscheid in News – no comments
A couple of days ago we posted the cover for Savage Dragon #231. People started wondering who that new character on the cover is and if she is a hero – or a villain. Now we have the solicitation text:
“THE SAVAGE SEX DOLLS” Made for love. Programmed to kill. Malcolm Dragon faces the menace of the Savage Sex Dolls.
So, for now, it seems Erik is adding a character to Malcolm’s new rogues gallery in Toronto. Multiple characters actually as he is talking of “dolls”. It will be interesting to see what their agenda is. Or better yet – the agenda of the person who programmed these dolls…
Stay tuned!
Stef
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November 22, 2017
Posted by Stefan Kalscheid in News – no comments
Just a quick reminder that the new issue is out TODAY! Pick up a copy or two of Savage Dragon #228 and join the discussion over on Discord. There’s a lot to talk about…
Update!
Russ Burlingame’s Interview with Erik about Savage Dragon #228 is online over at comicbook.com. If you still haven’t gotten your copy, there are a couple of preview pages over at Image Comics
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November 14, 2017
Posted by Stefan Kalscheid in News | Previews – 2 comments
We still don’t have a solicitation text for #231, but Erik postet this sweet Savage Dragon #231 Cover preview on Facebook. It seems like this new character doesn’t even break a sweat kicking Malcolm’s ass. Asked where he found the inspiration for this “lovely ass kicker” Erik answered: “Manga and sex dolls”. The Savage Fincast talked about this as well, explaining the concept of “magical girls”. Check out their latest podcast around the 8:00 minute mark.
The cover is a real head-turner as you try to figure out the perspective. Erik commented on this as well:
I briefly considered putting the logo on landscape to emphasize that. But it created a lot of weird tangents and wouldn’t have worked well on a newsstand.
Erik dismissed the idea of putting this out as a variant but it’s still an interesting idea and a nice insight into Erik’s creative process. We’ll keep you updated on this as soon as we know more…
Stef
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November 9, 2017
Posted by Stefan Kalscheid in News | Previews – 4 comments
It’s less than two weeks until next issue so let’s take a look at what we can expect from Savage Dragon #228.
As we can tell from the cover, Malcolm is about to meet an old enemy of his father. The Seeker is a favourite among fans, although he hasn’t made an appearance in the comic in almost 15 years!
Who is the Seeker?
The Seeker first showed up in the Savage World storyline in issue #87 and attacked Dragon without warning or explanation. We never see him utter a word which makes him even more mysterious. Is he man or machine? And what is his agenda?
It was assumed that he was working for CyberFace but we can’t be sure about that. Dragon eventually escaped the attacks of this powerful villain in issue #88 when he managed to destroy his glider with the hammer he had ‘borrowed’ from Thor.
The second and actually last time The Seeker showed up was in Savage Dragon #106 which was released in December 2002. By that time CyberFace had been disposed of but the Seeker seemed to continue his mission to eliminate Dragon. Our hero once more barely escaped by robbing the seeker of his flying device. The Seeker was stranded in the snow, wandering an unspecified location in the Great Northwest.
And now, 15 years later Dragon’s son Malcolm will have to face this foe and his powerful blasts and missiles.
The Seeker’s Design
The Seeker’s glider probably reminds most people of Spider-man’s famous nemesis The Green Goblin (and his various incarnations). Erik recently posted on Facebook though that the true inspiration is actually a villain called the ‘Red Baron’ who appeared in the pages of Kamandi #22 way back in 1974.
As we can see Erik did not only base his design on the Red Baron but he also payed homage to the cover of Kirby’s Kamandi #22.
What else?
Malcolm was originally beardless on the cover but Erik added the goatee before he sent the book to the printers. You can see just a wee bit of facial hair on Malcolm’s face on the cover of #227 and you can watch him grow it during the issue so it only made sense to update the solicited cover for #228. Here’s the old cover for comparison…
Also: Erik posted this great pin-up of ‘Li’l Dragon’ by Scott Shaw which will be featured as a backcover of #228.
As Erik put it: “This makes me smile. Scott Shaw’s Li’l Dragon back cover image on Savage Dragon #228 next to the Rated M/Mature UPC code. Gotta love it.”
If the Facebook chatter between the two is any indication we might see some more of Scott’s great work in the future.
That’s it for now. If you are still not convinced to pick this copy up you might want to check back next week. We usually have some preview pages by the time the issue hits the stands.
Until then
Stef
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November 2, 2017
Posted by Stefan Kalscheid in News | Website – no comments
Just a short notice that we have added the link to the Savage Fincast Discord channel to our Links Section. The guys from the Fincast came up with the great idea to use Discord as a chatroom where we can text or voice chat about the latest issues or everything else Savage Dragon related.
You can simply use Dicord in your browser but there’s also a free software with some additional features (like alerts when people start chatting) and there’s also an app for your smartphone.
Stef
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