It's a comic book and a birthday card! It's Marvin the Dragon, the latest brain bomb from teacher/ creator Brian Clopper.
Randy:
Those of you who have been reading us a while have seen us talk about Brian Clopper's work before, and will know from the name that we're going to look at something that stretches the format boundaries of the medium. His newest offering is Marvin the Dragon, which aims at the younger readers crowd and aims to serve as a comic-book and birthday card.
Don:
Though perhaps not as visually enticing as some of his past work, the story and moral here are delightful, and are bound to really sing to any collector or comic-book fan.
Marvin the Dragon
written & illustrated by Brian Clopper
published by Behemoth Books
Don:
Marvin is unlike all of the other dragons. The ultimate aspiration of any young dragon is to find a job as the protector of a pile of gold and valuables, incinerating any human foolish enough to try and snatch any of the loot away. But Marvin's more interested in toys, comics and other collectibles. He's mocked by family and friends alike for the choices he's made, but he never regrets his unconventional passions.
Randy:
Marvin the Dragon, like most of Clopper's work, is reminiscent of the books you read when you were a younger kid. The good ones, I mean, the ones that had a moral but that weren't so obsessed with telling you the moral that they didn't tell a fun story. For an adult, the moral of Marvin the Dragon is more transparent, but it makes a point that is good to remember, especially for those of us in the comic-book reading game who might be tempted to give up our childhood dreams in favor of more socially acceptable progress.
Don:
When I was a teenager, my parents started encouraging me to leave comics behind and to pursue more mainstream interests. I never did and I never will. I love the medium, and it was by sticking to my four-color guns that I also learned that one needs to make decisions that make one happy, not to bow down to what's expected. That's what Marvin the Dragon is all about. Clopper's message not only speaks to genre-fiction fans and collectors, but it offers an important message that every kid -- not just those interested in "geeky" pursuits -- needs to hear. Clopper isn't saying that comics are cool. He's saying, for instance, that if your friends and parents are pushing you toward a pasttime in football but you want to take bassoon lessons, go for the latter.
Randy:
Clopper has done a lot of work that explores the notions of childhood monsters from different angles. Vampires who want to live in the sun, children of war gods who seek a peaceful and fun-loving existence and a book that explores the "truth" behind monsters are a few examples of his work. Marvin the Dragon fits that paradigm as well, being an exploration of a dragon who eschews the hoarding and protecting tendencies of his dragon brethren, instead choosing to collect and show off. Yes, it's true... this is a story of a dragon who is a comic-book collector and eBay aficionado. Clopper clearly has put more than a little of himself into this character, and it's something that I imagine a great number of our readers will be able to relate to. I know I can.
Don:
One of the visual strengths of Clopper's past self-published work was the wonderful array of characters and designs to be found in each book. Marvin the Dragon doesn't offer the same visual variety. He plays around with various looks for dragons, but the same diversity in the artwork isn't to be found. His top-of-the-page text is a little loose too, but overall, the book boasts a light, fun look that tells the story well.
Randy:
Marvin the Dragon is clearly aimed at a younger audience, with its rhyming narrative and kid-friendly humor, but it's easy to see that Clopper has his finger on the pulse of what kids like, perhaps due to his role as a teacher. There's a nice message in this book, though, one that applies to adults as well as kids, and I would think that any comic-book fan would want to get the message out to their nephews, nieces, sons, daughters or what-have-you that Marvin the Dragon has to impart.
For more information on Marvin the Dragon, visit
