Question about the 'original' Image titles

[Colossus77]

I am at a point right now that I have a disposable income and it looks like it'll grow more in the future. I spend $100+ a month on Marvel comics and I want to buy more comics, no more than $50 extra a month. I have bought several DC titles in the past but I just did not enjoy them. So now I am looking at Image comics, the original ones founding titles. I understand that Wildstorm is not doing so well and is over at DC. It looks like Youngblood has been relaunched within Image. Where is Top Cow at these days? Also Savage Dragon, Shadowhawk and any other titles that came out during Image's debut (aside form Spawn; never liked it).

[PamGrierOverdrive]

The early Image offerings haven't stood the test of time, in my opinion. Liefeld's early Youngblood was horrible, and isn't required reading to follow the new series. Never cared much for Shadowhawk. The early Cyberforce, Wetworks and Wildcats series were not bad when considered as products of their time, but again, they haven't aged all that well either. The only title from the original Image line-up that I wish I had followed is The Savage Dragon. If I had your sort of disposable income, I'd go back and buy the entire series.

[Colossus77]

No I mean what universes, of the old Image, are still around right now that I can buy on a monthly basis?

[Gavin Higginbotham, BotF]

CYBERFORCE recently had a mini-series (a couple years back, anyway) but they seem to be on hiatus. Both Velocity and Cyblade from that team are getting their own solo ongoing series soon.

SHADOWHAWK had a series end a year or so ago and the character is now pretty much in limbo, aside from a few guest appearances every now and then.

YOUNGBLOOD is indeed now being relaunched and written by Joe Casey, it kicks ass. Only 2 issues are out so far so it'd be easy to get in on it.

WILDCATS was supposed to be relaunched a while back by Grant Morrison and Jim Lee but after 1 issue, it fell off the schedule. And yes, it's over at DC nowadays.

As for SAVAGE DRAGON... well, that's still going strong. The book has a rich history and a HUGE cast of characters but don't let that pull you off, Erik Larsen is good at keeping readers entertained and gives enough background in each issue so that you can enjoy each book.

I started collecting it in 1999 and it was a lot harder to follow then, and yet it was still so enjoyable that I simply HAD to go back and purchase all the back issues so that I could enjoy it all the more. There's a companion book that gives info on the first 100 issues (co-written by me, shameless plug!) and you can normally find huge runs available on eBay for cheap.

Plus, if you don't mind black & white, there's Archives volumes out that have huge amounts of issues collected. Volume 1 has the original 3-issue mini-series and 1-21 of the regular series, and volume 2 has 22-50. There are two further volumes planned (3 will have 51-75 and 4 will have 76-100).

And... any questions you may have will be happily answered by me, many other fans, and even by Erik himself.

I could rant on for hours about how SAVAGE DRAGON is the greatest superhero comic of all-time, but I'll let you find that out for yourself. You'll be pleased you did.

Oh, and here's a blog from my MySpace page that may help sway you;

Why everyone should read Savage Dragon

I've been reading comics pretty religiously now since January 1995. I got turned on to them after falling in love with the X-MEN cartoon and then finding a bunch of them in a WHSmiths once. This prompted me to find a nearby comics shop and I found one in Reading (Escape Comics, awesome store). I snapped up as much as my meager budget could afford and I was hooked.

After several years of collecting and gaining a steady income, I branched out and threw a shitload of money at this hobby. In my experimentation, I acted on my interest in something called SAVAGE DRAGON. I'd seen reviews of the book and interviews with Erik Larsen (the creator of the series) and I was certainly interested. I visited Escape and bought up whatever back issues I could find.

I was hooked.

The action, the artwork, the dialogue, the characters, the violence, the death scenes, the bouncy females… it was all awesome. I then began a search around any other local(-ish) comic shops and did my best to fill in the gaps in my collection for both the main series and the various spin-off series (SuperPatriot, Freak Force, Star, the Deadly Duo, Vanguard, and many more).

When I finally entered the modern age and got the internet, I completed my collection from the online store at www.savagedragon.com. With this I entered the online community and joined up with the message board. I met up with a crapload of my fellow Fin-Addicts and many of them became good friends. The coolest thing about this board though? Getting to interact with Erik Larsen himself.

I'd never 'spoken' to a celebrity or famous person or however you want to describe it before and this was a real thrill. I had simply posted some questions about the series and Erik had been the one to reply. I couldn't believe how cool this was! I became a regular on the board and joined up with two email communities and got to meet even more cool people that way.

After reading Savage Dragon for a year or so, I'd become pretty obsessed and wrote up hundreds of issue summaries, character profiles, timelines, character databases… basically, I totally geeked out on this comic book. And you know what? I friggin' loved every second of it!

When Erik was putting together a companion book to Savage Dragon, I volunteered my writing services and got to write a fairly big chunk of the thing. Seeing my name in print when the book was published was an absolute thrill and for that, I'll always be grateful to Erik. I hope that when/if a second volume gets released, that I'll be involved with that one too.

Now, just why did I become such an addict to this comic called Savage Dragon? I'd collected tons of other comics, television series, DVDs, videos, etc before this. What made Savage Dragon different from all the rest?

I'm not entirely sure.

The artwork has a cartoonish feel to it at times; at others it is graphically violent. There is no real sense of realism in Erik's style, anatomy isn't completely crazy or anything, but some of the exaggerated proportions make it so that a live action movie of the series would be pretty difficult without some serious CGI involved. Dragon himself has fists as big as his head and shoulders almost as broad as he is tall.

But the artwork is just awesome. The late Jack Kirby is the undisputed King of Comics but his energy, ability to create an endless amount of characters and certain aspects of his style all live on somewhat in Erik. He can draw everything from crime stories to cosmic battles between gods to straight-up superhero slugfests. Just don't get him to draw cars or animals!

The characters themselves can be pretty strange. PowerHouse has the head of a bird, coated with yellow feathers and he has a beak. Mako is a shark-man that would scare the piss out of you if you saw him walking down an alleyway towards you. Redneck has a head and face that resemble both male and female genitalia. Wally is a floating eyeball that shoots laser beams. The list goes on and on. And on. And on. Erik has created over 300 characters for the book and new characters are being added to the cast all of the time.

Now, one of the great things about Savage Dragon is the fact that you NEVER know who's going to turn up in the pages of any given issue. Sure, the cover may give you a rough idea but they can simply be great examples of misdirection. SD#72 for instance featured Dragon fighting the human puss-ball named CessPool.

CessPool did not actually show up until the end of the book and the rest of the issue focused on a funeral battle scene between Dragon and the survivors of Freak Force against the latest host to the Mighty Man entity, Chelsea Nirvana (herself trapped in the body of her elderly, dying father), who was in turn possessed by the evil Wicked Worm leech. Pretty wild stuff, huh?! It's crazy!

The fact that Erik has so many characters does make waiting for your favourites to show up sometimes excruciating (bring on Zeek!), but when they do make their return, it's always worth it.

To combat such a gigantic cast, Erik isn't afraid to kill off a character or twelve. The bodycount in this series is massive. No one is safe. No one. At any given point, watch out! Your favourite character could get his spine torn out, or head punched off, or his heart run through. You never know what is going to happen when you turn that page. And I love the book for that aspect of danger.

Another great thing about Savage Dragon is the continuity, both in story elements and the creative team. You can count on every single issue to be written, penciled and inked by Erik. He's even lettering and colouring the series now, it's truly a one-man show. This may not sound strange to non-comic fans, but a stable creative team is almost unheard of nowadays. The constant influx of a new writer or artist wishing to stamp their mark on characters can lead to poor costume changes, bizarre changes in personality and the ignoring of past plot points.

To put this in terms that more people would understand; imagine the third season of Lost opened up with Pee Wee Herman in the role of Jack. He was no longer a doctor but in fact a dog trainer who could also speak to the polar bears on the island. It'd suck. By reading Savage Dragon, you miss out on all of this type of shit.

As for the hero himself, Dragon is different from other comic stars. He's heroic, sure, but that doesn't mean that he's a boy scout like Superman. If you fuck with Dragon's friends or family, he'll rip you in half. He can be a jerk on occasion to his loved ones. He doesn't always take threats seriously. But he will always do what he believes is right, no matter what.

Dragon is also fiercely loyal and brave. He will defend innocents and those he cares about from threats, no matter how much danger he could be putting himself in. In order to protect his good friend Alex Wilde, Dragon went to face dozens of supervillains all on his own. He was outnumbered, outmatched and outgunned. But did Dragon back down? Fuck no! He took the fight to his enemies. Dragon at one point in the battle had his arm shot off. Did he surrender then? Nope! He picked up his severed limb and smashed people with it.

I love Savage Dragon. If I had to give up all of my comic collection and only continue with one series, it would be Dragon. I will only ever stop reading the series when it concludes. And thanks to Erik's stubbornness, that shouldn't be for decades to come. I hope to be reading it when both me and Erik are old men. And I'm positive that I'll still enjoy every single issue.

So in conclusion, give this book a go.

[Brandon Hanvey]

Pretty much only Spawn and Savage Dragon are still being published on a regular basis.

[BrikHed21]

I am at a point right now that I have a disposable income and it looks like it'll grow more in the future. I spend $100+ a month on Marvel comics and I want to buy more comics, no more than $50 extra a month. I have bought several DC titles in the past but I just did not enjoy them. So now I am looking at Image comics, the original ones founding titles. I understand that Wildstorm is not doing so well and is over at DC. It looks like Youngblood has been relaunched within Image. Where is Top Cow at these days? Also Savage Dragon, Shadowhawk and any other titles that came out during Image's debut (aside form Spawn; never liked it).

Sorry to hear that Spawn never worked for you - it is better now than ever. As for the original Image titles other than Savage Dragon you are out of luck - but let's not look backwards lets look to the now and the future.

Invincible, Wolf-Man & The Walking Dead are all amazing from Kirkman. There are some really good minis from Jonathan Hickman (Pax Romana, Transhuman drops Wednesday, and A Red Mass from Mars is about 6 weeks out). I hear great things about Proof and FireBreather is a new one coming out in May that looks good too.

[BrikHed21]

There's a companion book that gives info on the first 100 issues (co-written by me, shameless plug!) and you can normally find huge runs available on eBay for cheap.

Dude where were you when I wrote my masters thesis? I could have used an extra 20-25 pages of info... at least you only sneaked in ONE shameless plug. In all honesty there is nothing shameless if you get to be associated with Savage Dragon - scream that one from the top of the mountains. Great book and now that it is hitting stands again on a regular basis I am back on board with it.

[Colossus77]

I have another question. Does Spawn, Pitt, Wildstar, Darkchylde and the Tenth all exist in the same universe?

[Gavin Higginbotham, BotF]

Dude where were you when I wrote my masters thesis? I could have used an extra 20-25 pages of info... at least you only sneaked in ONE shameless plug.

Heh, I do tend to go on a bit when I'm talking about SAVAGE DRAGON. I just absolutely love the book.

In all honesty there is nothing shameless if you get to be associated with Savage Dragon - scream that one from the top of the mountains.

I was very proud of how the Companion turned out, despite a few minor errors and an item that I thought was a wasted opportunity (there's a page that identifies minor characters, but it didn't really showcase many actual characters, but nevermind... maybe for volume 2!).

Great book and now that it is hitting stands again on a regular basis I am back on board with it.

Good decision! SD is the only book that I get so excited about that I HAVE to go and pick it up first chance I get. It's the one book that I can talk about for hours and it's been amazing to have had some interaction with Erik himself, and getting an email from him out of the blue always makes me turn into a total over-excited geek! :)

[Gavin Higginbotham, BotF]

I have another question. Does Spawn, Pitt, Wildstar, Darkchylde and the Tenth all exist in the same universe?

I think, yes. Darkchylde may not as I think it's been published elsewhere recently, maybe Wildstorm.

[mgs]

I have another question. Does Spawn, Pitt, Wildstar, Darkchylde and the Tenth all exist in the same universe?

I don't thnk so, Spawn, Pitt Darkchylde and the Tenth have had crossovers all over the place in the past, but it's hard to tell about currently where they stand.

[riley rossmo]

There were some Alan Moore wildcats that were pretty cool, as well Joe Casey and Travis Charest did a Wildcats relaunch thats was interesting. It was kind of after the wildcats are retired and have to get back together plus the art was just stunning.

Wetworks doesn't hold up that well but theres something special about the art and concept.

DV8 1-8 or so was good not part of the launch titles but well written.

And finally as a new creator (my book is Proof), I have to recomend Proof
here's issue one for...free (online)
http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=139470

[DWEarhart]

Savage Dragon. Nuff said.

[BrikHed21]

I have another question. Does Spawn, Pitt, Wildstar, Darkchylde and the Tenth all exist in the same universe?

Spawn is in his own universe these days and as for the other titles they really no longer exist.

[BrikHed21]

There were some Alan Moore wildcats that were pretty cool, as well Joe Casey and Travis Charest did a Wildcats relaunch thats was interesting. It was kind of after the wildcats are retired and have to get back together plus the art was just stunning.

Wetworks doesn't hold up that well but theres something special about the art and concept.

DV8 1-8 or so was good not part of the launch titles but well written.

And finally as a new creator (my book is Proof), I have to recomend Proof
here's issue one for...free (online)
http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=139470

WildCATS, WetWorks and DB8 are all part of Wildstorm which is now a DC imprint since Jim Lee sold them out. I agree that Proof is a good read (have not picked it up on a regular basis but everyone I talk to loves it). I hope the books sticks around - The Circle was another good Image book that recently got shelved.... don't want to see that with Proof.

If you don't mind just going with mini's Jonathan Hickman is putting out some incredible work for Image with Pax Romana and Transhuman right now and The Nightly News last year. All are must reads.

[BrikHed21]

It's the one book that I can talk about for hours and it's been amazing to have had some interaction with Erik himself, and getting an email from him out of the blue always makes me turn into a total over-excited geek! :)

Trust me I am envious of that type of interaction - I have this same geek-ism when it comes to Spawn and would love nothing more than for David Hine or Brian Haberlin to shoot me the occasional e-mail to talk about the book.

[Gavin Higginbotham, BotF]

Spawn is in his own universe these days and as for the other titles they really no longer exist.

Although Erik was considering having Spawn stop by in SAVAGE DRAGON as part of his Image World Tour. Not sure if that's going to happen or not, but I'd like to see the pair of them meet up again.

[BrikHed21]

Although Erik was considering having Spawn stop by in SAVAGE DRAGON as part of his Image World Tour. Not sure if that's going to happen or not, but I'd like to see the pair of them meet up again.

I wonder if they could meet up again or not... now that Spawn is more horror than superhero it seems like it might be tough to get the two of them in he same room - but I am sure the powers that be are smart enough to figure out a way.

[Gavin Higginbotham, BotF]

I wonder if they could meet up again or not... now that Spawn is more horror than superhero it seems like it might be tough to get the two of them in he same room - but I am sure the powers that be are smart enough to figure out a way.

It may just be a cameo. Spawn didn't really do a whole lot last time he was in SD, just kept Dragon company briefly while he was in Hell. It could be similar to that, with Dragon just walking passed Spawn's Alley. I'd prefer a team-up of sorts, with maybe Nyx along for the ride, but I'll take what I can get.

And if Overt-Kill or Cy-Gor could show up too, that'd be sheer genius!

[Greg Anderson]

Damn, is there a link to Erik saying that? I think that'd be really awesome to see it happen.