The Savage Dragon - Definition and Overview

The Savage Dragon is a long-running comic book by Erik Larsen, published by Image Comics since 1993. Along with Spawn, it is one of the two original Image titles still being published, and it is the only one still written and drawn by its creator.

The series originated as a mini-series published by Image in 1992, which met with enough success to justify a monthly series, which Larsen continues to create to this day. It is the second-longest tenure in history of a single writer/artist on a single comic book, surpassed only by Dave Sim's 300 monthly issues of Cerebus. Larsen has occasionally produced ancillary mini-series in addition to the main series, and sometimes allowed other creators to produce Dragon mini-series as well.

The Savage Dragon tells the life story of reluctant superhero the Dragon, who is super-strong and extremely durable. The Dragon's past is unknown, since his earliest memory is awakening in a burning field. He, like many of the series' characters, was created by Larsen in elementary school. The series is unique among superhero comics for its "real-time" storytelling - each month's issue represents roughly a month in the life of the Dragon.

According to Larsen, the series is aimed at "older Marvel readers who are about ready to throw in the towel on comics altogether. It's the missing link between Marvel and Vertigo. More mature than Marvel--less pretentious than Vertigo. The kind of comics I want to read. This book is REALLY self-indulgent."

Adaptations

A Savage Dragon cartoon series aired from 1994-1995.

External links

• savagedragon.com (http://www.savagedragon.com/)