Savage Dragon Creator Erik Larsen Breaks Down #268, the Dragon Family's New Digs, and...Mickey Mouse?

Savage Dragon returns this week and continues its tradition of being one of the most unpredictable superhero books in the business. With Malcolm Dragon and his family relocating to San Francisco recently, this issue marks their first real experiences in the city, since last issue centered on Angel Murphy's wedding, and didn't really leave that setting. Writer/artist Erik Larsen wastes no time establishing the place -- as well as some of new characters and concepts unique to the new setting. Among other things, the issue introduced "Super Juice," a designer drug that gives its users powerful but brief powers.

It also introduced Mickey Mouse to the world of Savage Dragon. Here, Mickey is a (possibly immortal?) movie star who appeared in the now-public domain short films Plane Crazy and Steamboat Willie. And if you know anything about Savage Dragon, it's likely Larsen is setting something wilder up for the Disney icon.

You can check out this month's issue of Savage Dragon at your local comic shop, or pick up a digital copy at ComiXology and other digital retailers. You should probably do that if you don't want to be spoiled on the events of the issue. Check out our commentary track (and read along with us) below!

Was the initial "who's stealing toothpaste?" a misdirect that pays off with the Super Juice, or was it both things happening simultaneously, like as a commentary on the recent shoplifting hysteria?

It served multiple purposes from establishing that items being locked away is a thing in some stores in San Francisco, to spoon-feeding us information about the drug itself—even establishing that a stash of it was found on a bus by a schoolgirl. That, and it started things off with a bang. 

Do we know how Freaks would react to the Super Juice? Is this a real steroid, or just something that triggers powers?

It's gives people a temporary but powerful boost. It would likely be even more potent in the hands of somebody who's already got powers, but at this point, we've only seen how it affects normal humans.

How much does Frank know about Glum? I understand his panic, but it's a little strange he even thinks he can get Kid Angel on his side, since this is all she has ever known.

Frank was around when Glum took over the world, so he would have experienced that firsthand. In terms of the rest — bits and pieces. Angel would have confided in him quite a bit but he wouldn't know how to operate any of his devices without the aid of the young Angel variant that Glum abandoned him with. There was the Merging of Multiple Worlds event some time back, and the memories of every variant was shared — so, possibly there's something in the back of this Angel's head that would put her at ease. 

And Glum spent hours spying on Frank and Angel through his looking glass, so Variant Angel would have seen that Frank loves his Angel. So, she knows he loves a version of her at least.

Does Glum really think programming this alternate Angel to love Frank would help? That feels like he's pretty far removed from understanding human emotions.

Glum doesn't want her to be unhappy, and he's convinced her that this is for the best. At the end of the day, he does love her and sees her as a contingency plan if things go wrong. 

Do you use the same/recurring establishing shots of Dimension-X or is it just simple enough to redraw every time?

I redraw it every time. Dimension-X is pretty fun to draw so I don't often recycle anything when drawing that. I'm not above doing a bit of cutting and pasting when it's necessary but it's not necessary here. 

We talked a little about how gross Glum's gambit was last time. The on-page sex is certainly getting some fans talking. Was that just about...it's not believable that in a month or several, it woudln't have happened?

There's no question that Glum's gambit here is screwed up. The sex scene this issue is visually a bit shocking but not actually all that explicit upon closer examination. We don't see any naughty bits. It's all discretely covered. It's less explicit than a certain scene from Scary Movie (you know the one). 

Glum isn't especially good at keeping his poker face, though. How long can a gambit like this keep going?

He has a couple things going for him. First, he's observed Angel and Frank for months—so he's up on all of the major relationships and pet names and physical tics and whatnot. Second, he's in Frank's body. So he looks and sounds like Frank. Third, nobody knows Glum is alive. Angel believed that she saw him die and there's been no indication in the years following that he's still alive. And fourth, even if Angel did suspect that Glum was alive—she wouldn't know that he was capable of swapping minds with anybody. He'd never done anything like that in the past. 

Why did you decide to do the "Maxine cosplay?" Was it just the idea of that striking cover?

There are a few schools in town with school uniforms. I thought a schoolgirl trouncing Malcolm would make for an effective cover, and it had been years since Maxine dressed that way so I foolishly thought I could just draw the same uniform and people wouldn't think it was her. In retrospect, I should probably have mixed it up a bit but I didn't want to use a real San Francisco school's actual school uniform (or school) because of what went on in the story itself. 

So, ahh...do you have any opinions on the 13-month calendar, Erik? Seriously, though...did I see you talking about this on Facebook back when it was going around?

I thought it made for a decent Maxine rant and we haven't heard one of those for a while. And I can't disagree with a word of what she said. 

Okay, so of course everyone is going to talk about Mickey. Why did you decide to throw him in?

Because I could. That version of Mickey Mouse entered the public domain and that made him available. 

Any chance we'll see him playing a bigger role, a la Daredevil or Captain Tootsie?

He'll be a recurring character for a bit. My spin on him is that he's an old actor who starred in Steamboat Willie and worked in Hollywood until his roles dried up. 

This cameo might not work in a lot of books, but there's a really high degree of elasticity to the characters in Dragon. Is it helpful to know that you don't have to modify Mickey for the book in a way that could be seen as trading on Disney's IP?

I'm trying to keep him as on model as I can. This Mickey was pretty elastic in his own right, getting stretched and distorted when he was involved in any physical altercations. I'm going with that as the basis for the character. Later version's of Disney's Mickey Mouse were far more grounded and realistic in their own way. Because there's so little material in the public domain -- just "Plane Crazy" and "Steamboat Willie" -- I've had to build on that and make it my own.    

Are you planning to do anything more with the viral video, or is that just a callback to show that people in the world still mostly remember Maxine from the reality show era?

These sorts of things are always sitting there, bubbling on the back burner. They're there if I need them. I'll remind readers that it exists from time to time but whether that builds to something bigger remains to be seen. It is something Maxine can't keep a lid on. Eventually her kids are going to know it exists. It haunts her. 

Are we going to get to know any of these cops in San Francisco?

There'll be recurring cops, just as there was in Chicago, though Malcolm not being on the force does remove them a bit from the spotlight. But the thought is to populate their new home with various characters who will become fixtures going forward. 

The Super Juice seems, a lot like Dragon blood, to have wildly different impacts on people before the crash (or, y'know -- "sput"). Is that something you are going to play with a bit going forward?

Again, it's there if I need it. It's another rake on the lawn that I could step on. I don't want to wear out its welcome and use it every issue but it's been introduced and it can exist going forward.

Malcolm obviously had a real reaction to this event. Is this just you pointing out that you're aware of the dangers the kids face/present as they start school? Or is there a broader plan at play for the next couple years?

It's a concern. We're living in a world where real kids are going into schools and murdering their classmates. We just saw the mother of one of these kids get thrown in jail for having enabled her son. That's got to weigh on Malcolm. There's no denying that there are risks sending children who are capable of tearing other kids' limbs off to a public school. At the same time, if danger does present itself and the administration is faced with a deadly menace—they're better equipped to deal with that than most swat teams.  

A last thing -- Rob Liefeld told us this week that he doesn't see himself being able to keep going much longer. I know you've basically said you'll go on with Dragon as long as you physically can. What were your thoughts when Rob said he was going to be cutting way back?

I haven't given it much thought. This is actually the first I've heard of Rob scaling back. That's his decision to make, I suppose. I've still got a few more years left in me. It's something to think about, I suppose. But for the foreseeable future, I'm content to keep chugging along. And not because I have to — but because I want to.