| Erik Larsen | |
|---|---|
 Larsen at the 2011New York Comic Con | |
| Born | Erik J. Larsen (1962-12-08)December 8, 1962 (age 63) Minneapolis,Minnesota, U.S. |
| Area | Writer,Penciller,Inker, Publisher |
Notable works | The Amazing Spider-Man Doom Patrol Savage Dragon Spawn Spider-Man Supreme |
Erik J. Larsen (born December 8, 1962) is an Americancomic book artist, writer, and publisher. He currently acts as the chief financial officer ofImage Comics.[1] He gained attention in the early 1990s with his art onSpider-Man series forMarvel Comics. In 1992 he was one of several artists who stopped working for Marvel to foundImage Comics, where he launched his superhero seriesSavage Dragon – one of the longest running creator-owned superhero comics series – and served for several years as the company's publisher.
Larsen was born on December 8, 1962,[2] inMinneapolis,Minnesota.[3] He has one older brother and two younger sisters.[4] Growing up inBellingham, Washington, he became interested in comics through his father, a professor of English who readEC Comics, and owned a large collection ofCaptain Marvel Adventures. Through him, Larsen was exposed to those books and those of Marvel Comics, and began to buy comics in earnest in the mid-1970s. It was Larsen's exposure toDick Sprang's rendition ofBatman that would later influence the earliest incarnations of his own creation,The Dragon, who drove a car copied fromSpeed Racer'sMach Five, and who turned into a superhero using a magic word to trigger his powers likeCaptain Marvel.[5]
About a decade after creating the Dragon, Larsen and two friends produced afanzine calledGraphic Fantasy, which featured this character.[3]
For the anthologyMegaton #1 (1983), Larsen co-created and illustrated a feature called "Vanguard" with publisherGary Carlson. A revised version of the Dragon debuted in issue #2 and made a cameo appearance in the following two issues.[6] The original Dragon, inspired by elements from Captain Marvel,Batman,Speed Racer and laterThe Incredible Hulk, differs greatly from the modern incarnation.[7]
Savage Dragon was first featured in two issues ofGraphic Fantasy, a self-published title with a small print run, published by Larsen and two friends. In this incarnation, the Dragon was a widower and a retired member of a government-sponsored superhero team. Subsequently, the Dragon made another appearance in the third issue of Gary Carlson'sMegaton anthology in its Vanguard strip, which Larsen had been drawing. In these appearances, the character of the Dragon remained basically the same as it had been inGraphic Fantasy, with a few details modified (such as the inclusion of his wife, who was dead in his previous incarnation). Both theGraphic Fantasy andMegaton issues featuring the Dragon were later reprinted in high-quality editions.[8]
In 1985 Larsen worked onSentinels of Justice forAC Comics, andThe DNAgents forEclipse Comics.[5]
By 1986, Larsen penciled scripts for the Renegade Press bookMurder, which were written by Robin Snyder and Jim Senstrum, whom Larsen met because Snyder, like Larsen, lived inBellingham, Washington, and frequented the same comics store.[5]
Larsen did work at DC onThe Outsiders,Teen Titans,Adventures of Superman andDoom Patrol. His art onDoom Patrol was negatively received by readers at first, something Larsen thought was due to his style being such a drastic departure from that of his predecessor on the series,Steve Lightle. He remarked, "Years later, I learned from the experience and made more of an effort to ease the transition."[9] In 1998, he briefly wrote the seriesAquaman.[10]
His first work forMarvel Comics was a fill-in onThor that was inked byVince Colletta.[11] He later did a fill-in issue ofThe Amazing Spider-Man and five issues ofPunisher for Marvel. He then pitched to editorTerry Kavanaugh a story he would write and draw forMarvel Comics Presents featuringNova, a character that Larsen adored. It was initially approved, but when it was found that it did not fit with an impending storyline inNew Warriors, a team book in which Nova was a member, Larsen's series was cancelled.[7] Larsen instead drew an "Excalibur" arc forMarvel Comics Presents, despite lacking interest in that group, because he needed work. This led to Larsen doing more Spider-Man work.[5]
In 1990 Erik Larsen replacedTodd McFarlane onThe Amazing Spider-Man with issue #329, having previously penciled issues 287, 324 and 327. With writerDavid Michelinie, Larsen illustrated stories such as "The Cosmic Spider-Man", "The Return of theSinister Six" (#334–339) and "The Powerless Spider-Man" (#341–343). He left the title with #350, was succeeded byMark Bagley with #351. Larsen again succeeded McFarlane onSpider-Man, where he wrote and drew the six-issue story arc "Revenge of theSinister Six" (#18–23). Larsen also gained critical acclaim for his work with the characterVenom during his time on Amazing Spider-Man. His design of Venom was highlighted during the story "Venom Returns" (#330–#333, #344–347, Annual #25), which introduced signature visual elements to the character such as giving Venom a long reptilian tongue dripping slime.[12][13] Though his work with Venom was widely lauded and sales were strong, Larsen has gone on record saying he did not enjoy drawing the character and that he found the origin story of bothEddie Brock and the Venom symbiote to be unlikable.[12]
Larsen stopped working for Marvel in 1992 (see below) but has occasionally returned to write and illustrate, on titles such asFantastic Four,The Defenders,Wolverine andNova. In 2000, he returned to pencilThe Amazing Spider-Man vol. 2, issues #19–21 with writerHoward Mackie. In 2019, he penciled and wroteAmazing Spider-man: Going Big, a one-shot for Marvel's 80th anniversary, along withMark Bagley andGerry Conway.[14]
In 2025, it was announced that Larsen was returning to Marvel to write a newSpider-Man Noir mini-series, with art by Andrea Broccardo.[15]
In 1992, seeking greater control and profit over the work they created, Larsen and six other illustrators left Marvel to form Image Comics, where Larsen launched a series featuring a reworked version ofSavage Dragon. This version was a massively muscled green amnesiac, who joined the Chicago police department after being discovered in a burning field. Initially debuting in a three-issue miniseries, the series met with enough success to justify a monthly series, launched in 1993.[3] Larsen continued to write and illustrate the series entirely by himself, usually maintaining a roughly monthly schedule except during times when it was not in production.[5]
As an Image partner, he formed the studioHighbrow Entertainment, which publishes through Image.[16]
Savage Dragon is one of two original Image Comics titles still published (the other beingSpawn) and the only one still written and drawn by its creator.[17] The character was also adapted into a short-lived (26 episodes)USA Network animated series that started in 1995.[18]
In 2004, Larsen replacedJim Valentino as publisher of Image Comics, taking responsibility for all comics produced by creators other than the Image partners and their studios.[19] Larsen stepped down as publisher in July 2008 and executive directorEric Stephenson was promoted to the position:
Fans wanted more Savage Dragon and I wanted to do more Savage Dragon—but it was not possible to be both a fulltime publisher and a fulltime cartoonist efficiently. Something had to give, and given the fact that Image was in a good place—going in the right direction—and Eric Stephenson was completely up to speed and ready to go—it seemed that the timing was right.[20]
In 2012 and 2013, Larsen had a run as writer and artist on a short-lived revival ofRob Liefeld'sSupreme, illustrating writerAlan Moore's final unpublished script with issue #63 and writing new stories from issues #64–68.[21][22] Also in 2012, Erik Larsen purchasedMario Gully's characterAnt.[23] In 2015, Erik co-wrote and drewSpawn starting withSpawn #258 and ending withSpawn #266; this run was notable for having included a crossover with Savage Dragon and for featuring Gully's creationAnt.[24][25] In June 2021, Larsen concluded the first volume of Gully's seriesAnt.[26] In November 2021, Larsen launched a newAnt series, starting with a new first issue.[27][28]
Larsen and his wife Jannie live inSan Francisco, California, with their two sons, Christopher and Joseph.[3]
In October 2022, Larsen said he would leaveTwitter ifElon Musk bought the platform. In an email to NBC News, he said, "Yeah, I left. I said I would leave if Musk bought Twitter. Musk bought Twitter. So, I had no choice. The move only emboldened those most toxic users. The racists, 'patriots' and creeps are back in full force".[29]
In 2012, Larsen received anInkpot Award from Comic-Con International.[30]
Larsen was nominated for the 2016Inkwell Awards All-in-One Award, for "Favorite artist known for inking his/ her own pencil work in award year interior, cover-dated, American comic book material."[31] In 2017, he was again nominated and received the 2017 All-in-One Award for his work on Savage Dragon.[32][33]
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| Preceded by | The Amazing Spider-Man artist 1990–1991 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Spider-Man writer-artist 1991–1992 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Wolverine writer 1999–2000 | Succeeded by |
