Erik J. Larsen (born December 8, 1962) is an American comic book writer, artist and publisher. He is known for his work on Savage Dragon, as one of the founders of Image Comics, and for his work on Spider-Man for Marvel Comics.
Early life
Larsen was born on December 8, 1962, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. As a child growing up in Bellingham, Washington, and Albion, California, he created several comic books featuring versions of a character named "The Dragon", whom he has since described as a Batman-like character who drove a car copied from Speed Racer's Mach Five. The Dragon turned into a superhero using a magic word to trigger his powers like Captain Marvel. Larsen and two friends produced a fanzine called Graphic Fantasy, which featured this character.
Career
Larsen's first paid work was for the anthology Megaton, co-creating and illustrating a feature called "Vanguard" with publisher Gary Carlson. A revised version of the Dragon debuted in issue #2 and appeared in the following two issues. The original Dragon, inspired by elements from Captain Marvel, Batman, Speed Racer and later The Incredible Hulk, differs greatly from the modern incarnation.
Savage Dragon was first featured in two issues of Graphic Fantasy, a self-published title with a small print run, published by Larsen and two friends. In this incarnation, the Dragon was a widower and a retired member of a government-sponsored superhero team. Subsequently, the Dragon made another appearance in the third issue of Gary Carlson's Megaton anthology in its Vanguard strip, which Larsen had been drawing. In these appearances, the character of the Dragon remained basically the same as it had been in Graphic Fantasy, with a few details modified (such as the inclusion of his wife, who was dead in his previous incarnation). Both the Graphic Fantasy and Megaton issues featuring the Dragon have since been reprinted in high-quality editions.
Larsen went on to work for AC Comics on Sentinels of Justice and The DNAgents for Eclipse Comics.
Larsen did work at DC on The Outsiders, Teen Titans, Adventures of Superman and Doom Patrol. For Marvel he did a The Amazing Spider-Man fill-in story and five issues of Punisher. A Nova story for Marvel Comics Presents was greenlit but cancelled because it did not fit with an upcoming New Warriors series that would feature the character. Though he continues to write and illustrate The Savage Dragon, Larsen has occasionally returned to Marvel to write and illustrate, on titles such as Fantastic Four, The Defenders, Wolverine and Nova. He has also done work for DC writing Aquaman.
In 1990 Erik Larsen replaced Todd McFarlane on The Amazing Spider-Man with issue #329, having previously penciled issues 287, 324 and 327. With writer David Michelinie, Larsen illustrated stories such as "The Cosmic Spider-Man", "The Return of the Sinister Six" (#334â€"339) and "The Powerless Spider-Man" (#341â€"343). He left the title with #350, was succeeded by Mark Bagley with #351. Larsen again succeeded McFarlane on Spider-Man, where he wrote and drew the six-issue story arc "Revenge of the Sinister Six" (#18â€"23).
Image Comics and Savage Dragon
In 1992, seeking greater control and profit over the work they created, Larsen and six other illustrators left Marvel to form Image Comics, where Larsen launched a series featuring a reworked version of Savage Dragon. This time, the Dragon was a massively muscled green amnesiac, who joined the Chicago police department after being discovered in a burning field. Initially debuting in a three-issue miniseries, the series met with enough success to justify a monthly series, launched in 1993. To this day, Larsen continues to write and illustrate the series entirely by himself, and has maintained a reasonably consistent monthly schedule (save for occasional lapses) in comparison with the other original Image Comics titles. Larsen has occasionally produced ancillary mini-series, and sometimes allowed other creators to produce stories featuring the Dragon or other characters from the series.
In the mid-1990s, Larsen published his titles under Highbrow Entertainment, the label for his imprint of Image Comics. Titles they published included:
- Freak Force (1993â€"1995)
- Freak Force vol. 2 (1997)
- Savage Dragon (1992)
- Savage Dragon vol. 2 (1993 â€" ongoing)
- Savage Dragon: God War (2004â€"2005)
- Star (1995)
- SuperPatriot (1993)
- SuperPatriot: War on Terror (2004â€"2005)
Savage Dragon is one of two original Image Comics titles still published (the other being Spawn) and the only one still written and drawn by its creator, a fact for which Larsen has been lauded, including by those with whom he has had public disagreements, such as Peter David. The character was also adapted into a short-lived (26 episodes) USA Network animated series that started in 1995.
Publisher
In 2004, Larsen became publisher of Image Comics, taking responsibility for all comics produced by creators other than the Image partners and their studios. Larsen stepped down as publisher in July 2008 and executive director Eric Stephenson was promoted to the position.
In an interview with Project Fanboy Larsen explained that the rumors of a coup for the position were baseless and gave his reasons for stepping down as publisher:
Larsen stated that Eric Stephenson was chosen as his replacement because "He was Jim's second in command and mine as well. He worked with Jim and Rob Liefeld before that. He's been with Image almost from day one and he lives and breathes comics. He really was the best man for the job."
Technique and materials
For penciling, Larsen uses a Staedtler Mars Lumograph 100 2H pencil and a Staedtler Mars Plastic Eraser. For inking, he uses a Hunt 102 nib with Higgen's Design ink, a Uni-ball pen, and Pentel Rolling Writer pen.
Personal life
Larsen and his wife, Jannie, live in Oakland, California, with their two sons, Christopher and Joseph.
Bibliography
DC
Art
- Adventures of Superman #431
- Aquaman #50â€"52
- Aquaman Secret Files #1
- DC Secret Origins #13
- Doom Patrol #6â€"16
- Doom Patrol Annual #1
- Doom Patrol & Suicide Squad Special
- Legion of Superheros #55
- Lobo's Greatest Hits
- Orion #6
- Outsiders v2 #24, 27, 28
- Teen Titans #33
- Teen Titans Spotlight #10, 15
Script
- Aquaman #50â€"62
- Aquaman Secret Files #1
Marvel
Art
- The Amazing Spider-Man v1 #287, 324, 327, 329â€"350, v2 #19â€"21
- Amazing Spider-Man Annual #25
- Defenders v2 #1â€"12
- Doctor Strange Sorcerer Supreme #4
- Excalibur: Air Apparent
- Fantastic Four: The World's Greatest Comics Magazine #1, 5, 9, 12
- Guardians of the Galaxy v1 #13
- Incredible Hulk #346
- Marvel Comics Presents #31â€"38,43, 48â€"50,82â€"83,138â€"142
- Marvel Super-Heroes v2 #8
- Namor the Sub-Mariner Annual #1
- Nova v3 #1â€"7
- The Order v1 #1â€"6 (continuation of Defenders series)
- Peter Parker: Spider-Man v2 #19
- Punisher #21â€"25
- Spider-Man #15, 18â€"23
- Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #11
- Spider-Woman #10
- Thor #385 v2 #26â€"28
- Wolverine #133â€"149
- X-51 #12
- X-Force #2â€"3
Script
- Defenders v3 #1â€"12
- Fantastic Four: The World's Greatest Comics Magazine #1â€"12
- The Hulk #8
- Nova v3 #1â€"7
- The Order v1 #1â€"6
- Wolverine #133â€"149
Image
Art
- 10th Muse #5
- Desperate Times #1â€"4
- Image Illustrated #1
- Negative Burn Anthology
- Savage Dragon v1 #1â€"3 v2 #1â€"present
- Savage Dragon vs Savage Megaton Man
- Savage Dragon Companion
- Savage Dragon/Destroyer Duck
- Shadowhawk #4
- Spawn #199
- Splitting Image #1
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1â€"23
- Vanguard: Strange Visitors #1â€"4
- WildC.A.T.s v1 #14
- Youngblood #1
Script
- Deadly Duo v1 #1â€"3
- Freak Force v2 #1â€"3
- Negative Burn Anthology
- Savage Dragon v1 #1â€"3 v2 #1â€"present
- Savage Dragon vs Savage Megaton Man
- Savage Dragon: Sex & Violence #1â€"2
- SuperPatriot #1â€"4
- WildC.A.T.s v1 #14
Editor
- Deadly Duo v2 #1â€"4
- Freak Force v1 #1â€"18
- Savage Dragon: Red Horizon #1â€"3
- Savage Dragon/Destroyer Duck
- Star #1â€"4
- SuperPatriot: Liberty & Justice #1â€"4
- Vanguard #1â€"6
- Vanguard: Strange Visitors #1â€"4
References
External links
- Official site
- Erik Larsen at the Comic Book DB
- One Fan's Opinion, Larsen's column at Comic Book Resources
- Erik Larsen at Lambiek's Comiclopedia
- Comic Geek Speak Podcast Interview, October 2005
- Where Monsters Dwell Interview , Larsen's interview on Where Monsters Dwell podcast