Erik Larsen has been one of my favorite comic book writer and artist for over 5 years now. I was first turned on to his work on Spider-Man when he worked for Marvel Comics. Then he, along with several other creators such as Todd McFarlane (Spawn), Jim Lee (WildC.A.T.S/Wildstorm Comics) and Rob Liefeld (Youngblood, Supreme/Awesome Comics) formed their own comic book imprint, Image Comics. Erik Larsen's contribution to Image was his creator owned title, Savage Dragon, which he writes, draws and edits himself.

There have been 55 issues of the Savage Dragon to date and each issue is better than the previous one. Gaining notoriety for his combination of bloody action and relationships, the Savage Dragon tells the story of Dragon, a muscle bound green guy with a fin on his head with super strength and regenerative powers. When the serious first started, Dragon was found in a burning vacant lot, an amnesiac, and put quickly to work for the Chicago Police Department. While at the PD, Dragon has suffered severe damage (had his hand blown off among other injuries) in his quest to clean Chicago up from the Vicious Circle, an evil crime syndicate. Throughout this battle, Larsen has worked done some amazing stuff, such as having Dragon witness a fist fight between God and Satan, help fight against the Mars Attacks! Invasion of Earth, and even fight Hitler's brain. There has been some criticism of Larsen's use of language, violence, nudity and sexual situations, but none of that seems to stop him. He is a monument to the creator owned comic book philosophy. It's his book and he does WHATEVER he wants with it.

Somehow he found the time to answer a few questions over e-mail for me. The following are my questions and his answers and I believe it is apparent that Erik Larsen is a guy who loves what he does and loves doing it well.

Since this interview took place, Erik has moved on from working on Aquaman for DC and from Wolverine for Marvel. Currently, he still writes and draws Savage Dragon and is working on a Fantastic Four maxi-series for Marvel.

Please introduce yourself, tell us in your own words what you do and who your favorite Star Wars character is.

My name is Erik Larsen. I write and draw Savage Dragon for Image Comics. I also write Aquaman for DC and Wolverine and Nova, The Human Rocket for Marvel Comics. At Image, I publish a mess of comics including Kabuki, A Distant Soil, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Desperate Times, Big Bang Comics and Jackie Chan's Spartan-X. My favorite Star Wars character is the red Droid that Luke's uncle picks initially. When he threw a rod--I cried.

After making such a public split from Marvel and helping to start Image, how does it feel to go back to the "BIG" Imprints like Marvel and DC years later, and work on Wolverine and Aquaman, two of their biggest titles?

I'm back in a different state. When I was at DC it was as an artist only and most of my work at Marvel was as an artist as well. I only wrote a handful of stories there and in almost all cases, I drew them as well. Now, I'm writing stuff at DC and Marvel but as an artist, my attention is still concentrated solely on Savage Dragon. I'm thankful that the two companies have recognized me as a writer and can see the contributions that I can make in that regard.

Can you tell us any of your plans for Wolverine or Aquaman?

There's too much to tell and in doing so, I'd likely spoil too many surprises. My goal for Wolverine on a very basic level is to get him out of baggy pants and Madripoor and to get him in costume against worthy opponents. As for Aquaman, I'm out to expand his world and give him a greater rogue's gallery. I know, I know--it's not much to go on but I'd rather say too little than too much.

Are you enjoying the irony behind working on Aquaman, Peter David's old title?

Not too terribly. My focus is on making it an entertaining read. The fact that fans are anticipating me to undo everything Peter did while I extract some strange form of revenge annoys me. I may voice my opinions at times in letters columns but I try not to let it effect the work. It's a challenging book. Peter made it work for 50 issues and that in itself is amazing considering the character's track record. I hope I can keep it going for a while longer.

How has this added workload affected your production of Savage?

It hasn't effected it. I always have a down period where I'm thinking about the layout and struggling with making all the pieces fit and now I can take a break and do something else. When I come back to Dragon I can think more clearly and the stuff just flows.

What lies in the future for Savage Dragon?

At some point, there will be a character running around in this book called the Dragon. She-Dragon won't be starring in the book forever. As for the future of the book--most of Dragon's major bad guys are still out there. The SOS is still there as a government super-team. All the things that have been set in motion will continue to unfold in new and surprising ways.

You've received a lot of criticism, both good and bad, for your work on Savage Dragon. How has the negative comments on your use of language, nudity and "odd" situations (i.e. Having God and Satan guest star; Working in Hitler's brain as a character) affected you and your approach to the comic?

Nothing changes the book but me. Had the few vocal negative voices had an effect, the book would lose its unique voice. I think of Savage Dragon as a stepping stone between Marvel Comics and Vertigo. Those that are growing out of Marvel comics but like some of the aspects of far-fetched origins and gaudy costumes find that Savage Dragon has more involved and intricate plots than what they're used to. They find that the world in it is more consistent because there has been a single writer/artist on it from day one. And they find that the characters have sex lives and relationships that are more mature and involved than in their old Marvel comics. They also find that the language is more like that from a movie or real life. It's not as "shocking" as, say, Preacher which dredges up the "F" word to the point that it loses its effectiveness, but there isn't a lot of "Gosh" and "Heck" being said either.

Fans seem to mean a lot to you. You have a large letters column and do things such as this interview for your fans. Why?

Because I'm a fan myself and every move I make is along the lines of what I'd like to see--what I'd like to read. I still bitch about writers and artists just as I did as a kid-- only now I'm in the field. Still-- I haven't lost what it means to enjoy this stuff. I still go to the funnybook store once a week. I still keep in touch with friends who are readers. I like fans.

Any "psycho-fan" stories?

Not really. The only real negative stuff was the result of a character contest I had where the winner got to have their character meet the Dragon. A couple guys thought that either I ripped them off or that I passed their characters out to the other guys at Image. I didn't keep a single character or drawing, actually. It was all done as a thank you to the fans but a few took it the wrong way. It was fun, to an extent, but I'll never do it again.

In retrospect, was splitting from Marvel and forming Image the right thing to do? If you could do it all over, would you?

Yes and absolutely. Owning and controlling my own characters is great and it's good for the industry to have a viable alternative to Marvel and DC. It's healthy for the industry.

What are your thoughts about the financial problems of Marvel? of DC's acquisition of Wildstorm? How are those two situations affecting the comic industry?

I don't know enough about either to comment. I find both situations a bit sad, really. It's too bad that Marvel was so poorly managed that they lost money and it's too bad that Jim felt the need to sell off his characters to DC.

I only have 20 dollars to spend a month at my local comic book store, what books would you say I can't live without?

Savage Dragon, Aquaman, Wolverine, Nova, Sin City, Hellboy, Astro City, Minimum Wage and Big Bang Comics.

After the success (would you call it success?) of the Spawn movie and now Blade, any chance of ever seeing Savage Dragon or any of your creations on the Big Screen? Do you have any desire to make the jump to Hollywood?

I have no desire to go to Hollywood. I'd rather do good comics than bad movies. Most movies suck. Superhero movies almost always bite. I'm not pursuing this in any way. If, on the other hand, somebody great got a wild hair to do something with one of my creations I'd love to see it--but I'm not interested in pitch meetings and running around looking for the next big deal. Somebody has to make sure comics don't suck. Somebody has to do them. Rather than be part of the problem, I'd like to be part of the solution. Comics can be great.

What's your favorite thing about working in the comic book industry? least favorite?

I like the characters. I like the fans. I like telling stories and getting feedback and writing and drawing. I don't care much for editors that make my life difficult. I don't like how long it takes me to actually do the physical work of producing comics. I don't like smelly fat guys at funnybook shows with no social graces that think they're witty as all hell because they can remember lines from Monty Python movies.

If you weren't working in comics, what would you see yourself doing?

Eating a lot of food, bathing infrequently and watching a lot of Monty Python movies.

Can you tell us some of your other media favorites--TV shows? Movies? Books? Music?

TV: Simpson's, Seinfeld and The X-Files. Movies: Summer of '42, The Jerk, Breaking Away, Groundhog Day come to mind but like most everybody, I watch as many movies as I can fit into a day. Books: A lot of non-fiction-- mostly politics or celebrity stuff-- for fun reading, you can't beat Henry A. Schute. Music: Aimee Mann, Beautiful South, the Knack, Q-Kumba Zoo, Army of Lovers, Elvis Costello, Elton John, the Beatles, Eurythmics, Kate Bush, Sammy Kershaw, Green Day, John Lennon, Rockpile, Harry Connick Jr... I've got hundreds of CDs-- some of everything.

What do you do to get away from comics and relax?

Nothing. This is my hobby and profession. Every now and then I'll get hauled off to Hawaii or something on a vacation and I enjoy myself tremendously but during the weekend, I can't wait to get back to work.

And now, the question we ask everyone: I know you're married, but before you were married, how did you go about telling a girl you liked her? What was your move?

I just talked to them. If things went well, I'd wrestle them to the floor--clothes flying in all directions. Being direct is the best way. Everybody likes a compliment. You've just got to have some @#$%ing tact but even that isn't necessary.

Ron Richards is editor of Muddle, a print magazine about pop culture, punk, and hardcore music. He lives in Norwalk, Connecticut. You can read more about Ron at muddle.com.