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Posted in: Comics, Comics Publishers, Current News, Image | Tagged: elon musk, erik larsen, savage dragon
Savage Dragon Breaks Down Superhero Tropes And Goes After MAGA
Erik Larsen's Savage Dragon breaks down superhero tropes and goes after MAGA... again
Article Summary
- Savage Dragon takes aim at superhero tropes, breaking with tradition and embracing raw alternative comix style.
- Erik Larsen uses blunt, meta narration for comedic effect and sharp political commentary in the latest issue.
- MAGA hats and contemporary culture like Elon Musk get called out, keeping Savage Dragon controversial and current.
- Larsen pushes the boundaries of the superhero form, prioritizing satire, experimentation, and uncensored expression.
It is my contention that Savage Dragon, far from a superhero comic of the nineties, is an alternative comix title from the sixties or seventies, more at home being sold in a head shop than a comic shop. Erik Larsen has far more in common with Robert Crumb than with Todd McFarlane. And that Savage Dragon radically needs reinterpreting and appreciating, while it is still being published rather than afterwards. And deserves the critique common with Cerebus, Zap Comix and Love And Rockets. Maybe we'll all just have to wait till Erik Larsen is dead. Sorry, Erik.
The most recent issue, published a couple of months ago – and you'll have to wait till June for the follow up, used that old trope, someone unlikely discovering a discarded source of power, and becoming a superpowered individual. But in doing so having the character, and anyone he comes into, speak purely descriptively, a summarisation of what is said, as if written by Larsen as the writer of the comic rather than express the actual words.
It enables Erik Larsen to do away with any subtext and just say what's going on, often for comedic affect, amongst the tropes, getting in a few political digs along the way. This has sometimes been used before, most famously by Marguerite Bennett at Marvel Comics on Angela, Queen Of Hel back in 2016, the famous "Unsolicited Opinions About Israel."
Man, she was ahead of the curve with "Redpill MRA Meninist " as well. But Erik Larsen moves on from MAGA-hatted hooligans to something reflecting someone more recent. This comic was published on the 26th of March… only two months after a certain Elon Musk took to the stage…
Before returning to more common superhero fight retorts…
Erik Larsen continues to experiment in the form, be far more partisan political than any other superhero dare try to get away with, and if he is constantly cancelled by both the left and the right, he's co-Founder and Chief Financial Officer of Image Comics and he can keep Dragon going as long as he wants to… and do what the hell he wants with it.
SAVAGE DRAGON #276 (MR)
(W/A/CA) Erik Larsen
Amy Dragon takes center stage in the first of four issues that stars one of the Dragon children. Amy, paired with Walter the talking tiger, face a challenge of unimaginable magnitude. What's a nine-year-old girl to do? Comes with our highest possible recommendation. Retail: $3.99 In-Store Date: 3/26/2025
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