I want to like Savage Dragon. I used to like it, and there are plenty of great ideas in the new issues that make me want to be a fan. But there are other elements that prevent it, and a fair deal of it stems from Larsen's scripting. You have to give the guy credit, though, for maintaining such a long run with a single creative vision. But I think the book would benefit from a little bit of collaboration, either in the form of a co-writer or editor.
In the Dragon's original home dimension, his biological son is still reeling from the revelations his father shared with him... so much so that he flees the Special Operations Strikeforce headquarters... much to the chagrin of the two corrupt individuals who are running the show. Meanwhile, in the Savage dimension, Dragon tries to explain the parallel universes thing to the alternate versions of Jennifer and her daughter Angel. Finhead also learns of a new cosmic threat that's forced a delay in the reconstruction of the dimension-hopping machine.
Man, I really like the power, innocence and emotion that Larsen pours into Dragon's son. The Dragon design works surprisingly well in a younger version. I also enjoyed the colors in the first story; they're dark and reinforce the grave nature of the story. The second story, though, is a different matter. Larsen's Peanuts-esque design for Angel is terribly distracting and robs the story of credibility. The lab scenes are crowded and unnecessarily busy as well.
I definitely want to see more of Malcolm. He is the one truly new element to be introduced in the title since Larsen "rebooted" with the Savage World storyline in #75. His anger at his dysfunctional upbringing is understandable, and the prospect of an angry child in possession of possibly limitless power is a notion that carries a great deal of storytelling potential.
Unfortunately, the rest of the book consists of Larsen mining the same old characters and plotlines. Darklord was never that interesting an antagonists, and I'm hoping this is the last we'll see of him. Though accessibility is an important element, most of this issue seesm dedicated to explaining the whole parallel universe premise that's not all that interesting to begin with. Larsen hints at a big new villain in this issue, but it sounds like he's simply offering his take on a classic Fantastic Four story from the 1960s.
Note: This comic book was not among this week's new releases.
