Erik Larsen and his Savage Dragon have been around for quite a while, and Larsen has put his green skinned fin-head through some crazy stuff. Me, I wouldn't really know. I missed most of it. But Wikipedia certainly has some stories to tell!
In the early and mid nineties I was a deprived Image junkie. Living in my small town home, with no dedicated comic shop and no decent public transit, I thrived off of whatever came in on grocery/variety store racks and the ever reliable Wizard! Magazine (back when it was smaller in height, bigger in thickness, and had decent commentary on ideas and arcs...not Big 2 pandering). I managed to pick up what little I could of Spawn, Savage Dragon, Shadow Hawk, Cyber Force et al., but they were few and far between.
I got back into comics around five or six years ago and, amidst picking up back issues and seeing new covers, I had been toying, for a long while, with getting into Savage Dragon. I was excited to find out that Image's offering for FCBD would be a brand new and numbered issue of Savage Dragon. I immediately set about to get it.
The issue itself is designed as a jumping-on point for new readers, which makes sense seeing as it was to be given out for free by shops. The first four pages of the issue serve as a flashback across the entirety of Dragon's history, carefully glossing over the complicated and potentially confusing multiple worlds SavDrag has lived in without retconning his dimension hopping out of existence (thankfully, because I hate annoying retconning and Dragon has an interesting and unique history). The previous issue, as well, is ignored. Not that it matters, because it was basically a standalone story, but it had Dragon die and revive in one issue, and in a very interesting fashion. Larsen has a habit at that.
This issue introduces the Golden Age Daredevil, who is in the Public Domain, in seeming direct competition with Alex Ross's Project Superpowers. The plot that comes out of this is a relatively happy tale, ending with Dragon and Daredevil saving the day, while the foreboding of a future story arc is set up simply. It's action-packed and makes the reader want to see what happens next, perfect consider the role it is playing as a promotional item.
Like everything I have read that is penned and pencilled by Erik Larsen, it isn't the most eloquent of dialogue. It is, however, very fun and accessible. There are some comic writers who I know are trying too hard to be considered greater than "just a comic book writer" (*cough Brian Michael Bendis cough*), but there is no pretension in Larsen's writing and it comes out very smooth and fun. I wouldn't give it an award for writing, but I'd give it an award for Fun. Now, I am not saying that the writing is stupid, don't ever get me wrong. I'm just drawing a line between literary brilliance (Percy Bysshe Shelley, Alan Moore) and literary fun (Ed Greenwood, Erik Larsen). There are writers who waver between one and the other, mind you (Brubaker, Piers Anthony).
The art is Larsen at his standard. Save for when Larsen was also Editor-in-Chief of Image and was pressed for time and resorting to artistic laziness in the face of deadlines, as I understand it and have been shown, I can honestly say that he has stayed more or less consistent throughout his career. I mean, I can look at issue #2 of SavDrag and issue #148 and I know that the artist is the same and, certainly, there are bits of improvement here and there...but nothing so stellar as some other artists i have seen (not that I can think of any while writing this, no, that would make my life easier). What this boils down to is that Larsen's art is distinctly dated, but not in a way that makes it look bad. If you don't like older styled art, well, then you won't like Larsen much. If all you like is hyper-stylized cartoony art or hyper realism then, well, you'll have to look for a different book to read. Larsen's art reminds me, often, of Jack "King" Kirby. He isn't the best at anatomy or the most detailed, but his art has a good dynamism to it and the characters are just real and stylized enough to feel like the perfect comic book art. I don't stand by the thought that comics are ever required to be confined to one art style, but what feels right feels right.
The whole issue here is, without a doubt, solid. It suffers from, perhaps, being a bit over simplistic...but, then again, I say that after having read up extensively on the history of the book. Maybe, to someone else, there is more confusion and mystery. Me, I see it as a solid issue. A solid issue that decided for me that I would have to start keeping up with the book. As it stands I should have the following two issues waiting for me at one of my comic shops. That being said, this issue has CLEARLY served its purpose, bringing in new readership to one of Image's longest running flagship titles.
Should you pick it up? If you have ever considered yourself to be on the fence regarding this title, or have had it recommended to you on several occasions (even if just by the same person) then this is a great issue to try out. It tells you all you need to understand the events and doesn't overwhelm you with anything too heavy. The art is classic and should appeal to most long and short time comic fans. The FCBD issue might be hard to come by, but this issue was subsequently released as a regular pay issue, so plenty of places should be able to get you a copy dead simple.
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