Savage Tenacity

From G808:

In December of 2014 Erik Larsen’s Savage Dragon reached issue 200 and I find that absolutely amazing. Now, I’m not a Savage Dragon fan really. I have about fifteen or twenty comics that I’ve gotten through the years and that’s about it. So why am I even talking about it especially after it happened two months ago? Well, I’m talking about it because while I’m not a fan of Savage Dragon I am a huge fan of Erik Larsen. Erik Larsen has a big influence on me and should have one on everyone else that puts a pencil to paper too, and that influence is what Savage Dragon represents, his incredible tenacity at continuing to tell stories. There are a lot of people in his position who have, for some reason or another put the pencil in the box a long time ago. They aren’t slouches though, and in fact some have even changed the face of media in association with comics. They are guys that started at the drawing board and are now running massive media empires that include games, movies, toys, and everything in between. However, I don’t care about that stuff.

What I care about is making comics, and one of the best examples of just sitting down and making comics day in and day out year after year after year for TWENTY years is Erik Larsen making Savage Dragon. That tenacity is a testament to his love of craft. There are times I think that I just don’t want to make comics or make anything anymore. I’m sure everyone has had those weak moments, maybe even Larsen himself, but then I think about guys like Dave Sim, Jeff Smith, and especially Erik Larsen and I get myself back together, get back to the board and keep on drawing. I don’t know how long I’ll be making Atomsplit, or my own comic The Lost Circus, but I do know this; when I get to the end of the line I’ll be gone and all I’ll have left is the work I’ve done, and I want to have a body of work as large and impressive as Larsen’s or anyone else like him. The only way I can do that is to be as tenacious as him at making good comics. So, even though I’m not a fan of Savage Dragon I’m totally a fan of Larsen’s work ethic and tenacity. I’m glad he’s there pushing the comics culture forward year after year, and in doing so, pushing me and everyone else who makes comics along with it.

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