What A Cartoon! - The Savage Dragon "She-Dragon"
Added 2021-04-19 04:00:02 +0000 UTCChosen by premium Patreon subscriber James, we're exploring both the edgy comics of the '90s and the USA Network in the forgotten Savage Dragon adaptation! The series resurfaced unexpectedly on Peacock's streaming service, so we dive into its strange creation, the early '90s comic boom, as well as some tangents about the weirdest stuff that's happened in Savage Dragon comics. Listen now for a ride on the Cartoon Express!
Comments
Savage Dragon's origin was eventually published as an affordable "Savage Dragon #0" comic, I assume because Larsen started doing a storyline based on what he had established in said origin.
Dennis K
2021-04-25 02:47:16 +0000 UTCI remember the Savage Dragon as a thing that existed, and the USA action zone or whatever they called it was like the B-tier Fox Kids for me growing up, though I watched a surprising amount of the Mortal Kombat cartoon. I don't know if I ever actually watched Savage Dragon, but the little I saw always kind of impressed me that they were able to hire Akom and get them to make cartoons even cheaper than what they did for X-Men without it looking absolutely terrible. Anyway, I just wanted to comment to show my support for Henry in his support for the best turtle, Leonardo. It's also pretty incredible you've covered Savage Dragon before any TMNT cartoons. That's not a criticism, just an observation, as that original 80s series is a pretty bad show by objective measures.
Joe Hodgson
2021-04-23 12:52:10 +0000 UTCMy spicy Image comics take: Rob Liefeld is the Jack Kirby of our generation. HEAR ME OUT! No, Liefeld isn't nearly as talented nor as creative and prodigious as Kirby, but he is a guy who, with limited training, broke big in comics and his work and style did have an outsized influence on the generation that followed. Liefeld certainly wasn't the only one to embrace the raditude of the early 90s, but he is the guy that ratcheted it to 11. Like Kirby before him, he changed the visual language of comics, pushing style to extremes, even when it broke the reality on the page. They both pioneered trends that were imitated for decades. They even share a having a notable limitation in their drawings: famously Liefeld can't draw feet, but Kirby put beefy, square-fingered man hands on EVERYONE. Look at the meat hooks on Sue Storm and tell me that's not where the Seinfeld writer's room got the idea for the man hands ep. I have absolutely no love for Liefeld the man, or his work, for that matter, but Deadpool ain't going anywhere and you gotta give the man responsible his due.
Ron Sterling
2021-04-21 16:56:02 +0000 UTCPut me in the camp that hopes the guys eventually get to the Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter Cartoons
Royce A Murray
2021-04-21 02:24:54 +0000 UTCGreat episode! Larsen's politics seem to be very centrist overall, but I think that Trump did radicalize him a bit to the left, if his Twitter feed is any indication. I wouldn't read too much into him making Dragon a cop. At the time I recall him saying that he did it because he thought it was a novel idea. The idea of Spider-Man just being able to string up criminals and that being justifiable for an arrest seemed strange to him I think. Besides, Dragon was only a cop for a short time in the long-run of things. I believe he quit the force sometime after God helped him get out of hell. It's a weird book.
James Eldred
2021-04-20 23:47:57 +0000 UTCShockingly, Canadians did not have access to the USA Network, but this show did air on the animation channel Teletoon. For whatever reason, it was part of the same nighttime block as The Simpsons, Duckman, and Dragon Ball Z. It was a good thing I saw it there, too, because it meant that I was less confused when Savage Dragon appeared in the Sonic the Hedgehog/Image crossover comic, where a crew of mostly second-string Image characters (and The Maxx) team up with the Sonic cast from the animated series you covered last year. For many different reasons, it's a comic that will likely never be made available again.
Christmas Ape
2021-04-20 14:43:56 +0000 UTCIf you are a person super nostalgic for this show production cels can be had fairly cheap. Go nuts! https://animationlegends.com/products/savage-dragon
Dagan Fish
2021-04-19 23:07:44 +0000 UTCYou briefly mentioned the"If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" cartoon, and I have seen a few since my kid watches it before school sometimes. I can say fortunately it does not share the objectivist political messaging of the books. It is more of a standard young children's show and the "If you X, then" messages are more like reasoning out or describing the things you need to do another thing. "If you help a mouse make a carnival... You'll need to make some carnival games!" etc. Very PBS Kids energy, except it's on Amazon instead.
Paul
2021-04-19 19:21:36 +0000 UTCOh and also Cartoonist Kayfabe is great! They’re such a wealth of inspiration, passion and knowledge of the comics medium. They’re a super underrated channel, and I’m glad you put a spotlight on them, Henry
Tashmon Dimps
2021-04-19 18:12:54 +0000 UTCMan, I have such a soft spot for these dumb 90’s action cartoons with way too complex of designs for the limited animation budget they’re given. As revolutionary and as important as the 90’s were for TV animation, there was a lot of straight up junk in that era too. Sweet sweet junk lol I hope you guys do cover Street Fighter at some point with Matt. It’d be funny to see you guys try and figure out why the hell it looks so bad
Tashmon Dimps
2021-04-19 15:44:48 +0000 UTCINNER MONOLOGUE: Do I want to be the person who posts about the fact that Erik Larsen did, in fact, make some X-rated stuff in some issues of SAVAGE DRAGON? Will I forever be brandished as the Savage Dragon porn guy? (ponders it a minute) If not me, who? Yea, so Erik Larsen did some pretty graphic SAVAGE DRAGON stuff. He's shown bare breasts for years, but In issue 228-229 (whose covers never hint at the fact), the art of lovemaking is documented in rigorous detail. There's no genitalia on display, but let's just say (shield the innocent's eyes) many fluids make an appearance. As the years have gone on, Larsen has experimented every which way because his audience stays with him, and there's no real reason for him not to try stuff out. He even published an issue in an ARCHIE DIGEST style format. You guys hit the nail on the head that he's seemingly a 50+ center (slightly right) democrat as I've seen him go on sigh-inducing rants about "People keeping me for drawing whatever I want! (Women with very large breasts)" I've never been a loyal follower of the comic, but I do enjoy the Jack Kirby esque brawls and waaaayyyy too complex world-building (and world-destroying) plotlines Larsen likes to get lost in, so I like to pick up a trade if I see one lying around For a comic that's so punchy punchy, the giant status quo changes and the brutal deaths of main characters are always surprising, if a little numbing because it happens so often.
The Important Cinema Club
2021-04-19 13:55:59 +0000 UTCHenry, I am with you. As someone who works in Philadelphia (about a few miles from the Comcast headquarters) I just call it Comcast and rarely Xfinity. Here are some nicknames I give it for fun that you and anyone reading this are free to use. "Scumcast" and the more obscene "Cumcast."
Angel
2021-04-19 13:16:05 +0000 UTCI am from the Twin Cities area I kept going why does Erik Larsen sound so familiar and he is from Minneapolis!
Nick Rothe
2021-04-19 07:16:07 +0000 UTC
