Since the founding of Image Comics way back in 1992, only two books have been continuously produced by the publisher, Savage Dragon and Todd McFarlane’s Spawn. Honestly, if you had asked me back in ’92 which books would have survived the comic book explosion of the 1990s I’m not so sure I would have picked The Savage Dragon. I think it is a testament to the book’s creator and Larsen’s dedication to both the world he has created and his fans. It is also refreshing to read a comic book that takes place in real time and actually ages its characters. I mean seriously, how long can Peter Parker stay in his 20’s?
The main reason I’m so excited for Savage Dragon 150 is that it marks the return of one of Dragon’s greatest foes, Overlord. Why is this such a big deal you might ask? Well for one, Overlord has been dead for many years and in the world of Savage Dragon dead really means dead. So while other companies may bring back their previously deceased characters all the time (cough, cough The Blot’s looking at you Marvel and DC), Larsen sticks with his decisions to kill off characters. That means either there is a new person assuming the Overlord persona or this is possibly an Overlord from another dimension. Either way I’m very excited to see how the return of Overlord plays out over the next few months.
Now that Larsen has hit the 150 issue milestone, I’m interested in see if he can sustain his creative juices for long enough to break the record of longest comic book series with the same artist and writer (a record currently held by Dave Sim for writing and drawing 300 issues of the black and white indie comic Cerebus). Savage Dragon issue #150 hits comic book shops around the world today, Wednesday, July 1, 2009. It is 64 pages long and retails for $5.99.
