Savage Dragon Skateboard by Freak Show & Erik Larsen

As you may or may not know, The Blot is a gigantic Savage Dragon fan! I’ve been reading Erik Larsen’s long running comic book since the very first issue was released back in 1992, which means I’ve now been reading the Image comic for well over half of my life. So when Illinois skateboard company Freak Show (Facebook) announced earlier this week that it was launching its new line of comic book themed Longbox skateboards with a Savage Dragon skate deck I got really excited! While I’ve never been much of a skateboarder, I am seriously tempted to pick up one of these beautiful decks to add to my Dragon collection. Wouldn’t it look sick with a Savage Dragon doodle on it by Larsen!?!

While I haven’t been able to find out too much information on the company itself, I did learn the Savage Dragon skateboard is now available for pre-order through Freak Show's online store in three different options: there’s the basic Savage Dragon deck for $54.99, a signed Savage Dragon deck signed by the character’s creator Erik Larsen for $74.99, and a complete working Savage Dragon deck for $149.99. All decks are scheduled to ship the first week of July, and can be purchased at the Freak Show online store or by emailing them at freakshowskateboards@gmail.com.

Savage Dragon #150 - The Return of Overlord

Today sees the release of a huge anniversary issue in the world of comics, the 150th issue of Savage Dragon. Now technically Savage Dragon has been around for over 150 issues, but for the sake of this post let’s just ignore the first three issue mini-series. It’s hard to comprehend that I’ve been reading this book since 1992, which is more than half my life! What’s even more surprising is that after all this time the book is still being written and illustrated by the character’s creator, Erik Larsen.


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.