Erik Larsen on the Trial of Savage Dragon

While Savage Dragon is nominally the territory of Malcolm and Angel Dragon, the former lead character’s kids, these days, it’s Dragon himself who took center stage this month, standing trial for the crimes committed with his body while he was under the control of his original mind, Emperor Kurr.While he’s been able to explain that kind of thing away in the past, this time around we see a legal system that’s a bit baffled as to what happened, how it happened and how it’s possible that a being as powerful as Dragon could seemingly be letting it happen again and again. It’s a tense and sometimes frustrating process to read the testimony in this expansive story that covers a lot of ground in a short time and–yes–ends with a verdict.Spoilers ahead, obviously, for today’s issue of Savage Dragon. If you haven’t read it yet, why not go buy one and read along with Savage Dragon editor Gavin Higginbotham, who asked Erik Larsen this month’s questions while yours truly was hobbled with minor injuries and not particularly efficient at the keyboard.You’ve gone with a distinct panel layout this issue, giving you 200 panels of story. Was this done as a personal challenge? Or was it just a case that this was the best way to cram in a whole lot of story?I knew going in that I wanted to use some kind of a regimented grid throughout. A monotonous grid seemed in line for the story, which was largely a trial. I had initially thought a six-panel grid throughout was the way to go but once I was well into it I saw that it wouldn’t work out. A six panel grid still requires a certain amount of visual variety and this one required a lot fairly static shots, which in a six panel grid format would look even less interesting than it actually was. Also, a larger panel calls out for a background and in a trial that’s a whole lot of the same thing again and again. By going with a nine panel box and a larger open panel I could get a bigger anchor panel and omit the mind numbingly repetitious backgrounds. The only real drawback was that it meant drawing a LOT more faces, which is challenging, and that there was less room in each panel for dialogue, which would need to be more choppy and succinct. Ultimately, the trade off was deemed worthwhile. But a LOT of pages ended up on the cutting room floor. I must have laid out an additional 12-14 pages that I couldn’t use.