Erik Larsen: Swimming With Makos

Posted: Tuesday, April 13, 2004
Posted By: Brandt Preston

Erik Larsen is no stranger to making waves in the comics industry, but as fate would have it, as the newly appointed Publisher of Images Comics, he has to surf controversies not of his own making. Brandt Preston recently caught up with Larsen to see how the "defection" of two of Images' brightest stars may affect the company's future plans, and how Larsen's new responsibilities will affect the future of Savage Dragon.

Brandt Preston: I would first like to thank you for your time Erik and congratulate you on recently taking the helm of publisher at Image.

Erik Larsen: Thanks.

BP: Can you give an overview of what you would like to accomplish as publisher of Image in your first year of tenure?

EL: There aren't any specific goals that I'm looking at needing to get tackled with a set time period but the overall drive is to take on new projects that are stronger ones and improve the overall quality of the books that we do. In some cases that will mean helping people to better present books that are already decent books so that they reach a larger audience.

But for the most part, I'm looking toward adding new and exciting books to Image comics.

BP: You made a huge announcement recently about an Image team book composed of the "core" Image characters, Savage Dragon, Spawn, Witchblade, and Shadowhawk. Have you considered any particular artists or writers for the book yet? If so, can you name a few?

EL: It's not fair to the creators to drop names at this point. It's just inappropriate and unprofessional to do that. If a talented creator who's vying for the assignment doesn't end up with the gig, I'd rather not have that information get out there. A lot of talented people have contacted me about working on this book-and I don't want to brand anybody a "loser" here.

BP: Unfortunately there was also an announcement recently that Brian Michael Bendis and David Mack will be taking their respective titles (Powers and Kabuki) over to the new Marvel "Icon" imprint. What are your feelings on this move? How do you feel this will affect Image, if at all? And what are your feelings on Marvel's new imprint?

EL: Well, I'm not pleased by it but life goes on. I haven't formed much on an opinion about this latest Marvel imprint. I hope it works out for everybody involved. I certainly don't wish any ill to Brian or David.

BP: With Bendis and Mack taking their respective books to Marvel, will this mean that other talented Image Central creators such as Robert Kirkman, George T Singley, Jay Faerber, or B Clay Moore will be stepping up with new projects? If so, who, and have they been announced yet? Any details?

EL: Several of those mentioned do have new projects in the pipeline and those projects will announced at the appropriate time. There are a ton of other projects in the works as well. But I don't want to announce a project before the creators of those books are ready to announce them. It's tempting, I'll grant you - I get as excited about these books as anybody - but it's really not a good idea to announce books before contracts are signed and work's begun.

BP: You have also mentioned on your message boards that there are some new Image Universe books in the works. Are any of the creators mentioned above working on them? If so, who, and any details?

EL: Again, I don't want to be prematurely announcing titles before the creators are ready to do so. We will be emphasizing which books are part of our shared universe in the future and there will be more of a cohesiveness to the whole shebang as time goes on.

BP: Would you like to state again the benefits of Image comics over all other publishers in the industry? What makes Image the place to be?

EL: I think it's pretty obvious what benefits there are to owning your own characters. Not only can you decide what you want to do in your book but for those inclined to do so there are other avenues to explore as well. From t-shirts to toys and motion pictures to video games. Sure, it's fun to work on Batman or Spider-Man but when a Batman or Spider-Man movie is made, the people working on those titles don't benefit from that. It's nice to work for a company that takes no ancillary rights of any sort and lets creators own their creations fully. Even small independent companies that you'd think wouldn't take such things are cutting themselves in for a huge piece of the action. We don't do that.

For people who just want to do comics - nobody's telling you how to write or draw your character - nobody's getting in the way. You get to decide what happens. For me that was a huge selling point. I love that kind of freedom.

On the financial end... we take a flat fee off the top once the money rolls in and the creators get everything else.

BP: How will Savage Dragon be affected by your new position as Image EiC?

EL: At least initially, I'm losing all kinds of ground. I'm hoping that, over time, I can get things more under control and get things on track. I'm still very enthusiastic about the book... but finding the time to do everything I want to do is no picnic.

BP: Is there anything new you would like to announce or get off your chest to wind up this interview?

EL: I just hate it when I'm drinking a thick, creamy shake and I tilt the cup back and a big ol' ball of ice cream comes barreling right at my face - but what can I do? Not drink thick, creamy shakes? That's not a solution I can live with.

BP: Thank you, Erik.

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