Reviewer: Chris Delloiacono
Story Title: The Flying Shoes Incident
Written by: Erik Larsen
Art by: Erik Larsen
Colored by: Erik Larsen
Lettered by: John Workman
Editor: N/A
Publisher: Image Comics
I want to start off by complimenting Nick Piers on his review of the trade paperback SAVAGE DRAGON: A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH. I enjoyed reading some one else’s opinions on SAVAGE DRAGON, especially such a fair and comprehensive review of the book. This book continues to be one of my favorites each and every month, and it’s fantastic to see some additional coverage for it.
I think Erik Larsen absolutely has outdone him self with the latest installment of SAVAGE DRAGON! “The Flying Shoes Incident†is yet another superb story that expands the Dragon mythos, while telling a simple story that would better fit a bygone era of storytelling. Larsen grew up in the 60’s and he’s brought the style and flair of Marvel’s greatest period of storytelling back to us on a monthly basis.
As we learned last issue the floating city of the Gods is irking our esteemed Commander in Chief. It’s up to Dragon to go up there and talk things over, before the Prez launches a strike to locate “weapons of mass destruction.†The opening caption perfectly captures the long-gone days of a Stan Lee comic. The narrator talks about basements and the junk you can find down there. Dragon’s basement of course is better than the kiddies at home, because it houses the Liberty League’s headquarters. This is the setup for a web-shooter of a certain wall crawler coming into play to hilarious effect.
In typically ludicrous fashion, since they cannot find a babysitter, Dragon and his wife Jennifer, the hero Smasher, bring Jen’s daughter Angel along to the floating city of the Gods. Of course things go bad quickly, as one of the gods lends Angel a pair of flying shoes. With Angel careening out of control through the city, it’s up to Dragon to save his stepdaughter. Dragon does his best Spidey impersonation and all the classic poses are here, captured in hilarious detail by Larsen.
SAVAGE DRAGON is really a homage to the superhero stories of the past, while Larsen has told some complex tales during the mammoth 108 issue run, stories like this have always been among his best. For about two years leading up to the 100th issue of the book, Larsen told one of the most intricate multiple worlds stories ever, and while it was great it prevented new readers from jumping on at that point. Characterization of the Dragon and his co-stars has always been important, the stories are told in what is relatively close to real-time, but the stories since issue 100 are all great jumping on points. Larsen’s turned the Dragon into more of a spinner rack book then a comic shop book. Now anyone can pick up a copy and follow the Dragon’s latest adventures.
I say this a lot with the books I read, but here’s a perfect spot to sample SAVAGE DRAGON for a month. Each of the main characters is integral to the story, and the wild and wacky plotline is a great example of what this book’s all about. I was willing to give NEGATION a try to get people to read SAVAGE DRAGON, read my review of the first NEGATION trade this week. Does anyone else out there want to make a similar challenge? I believe so strongly in SAVAGE DRAGON, that if you pick it up for a month, I’ll try any book you’d like!
