When an Artist Goes Too Far
Can I really keep supporting this?
Long time fans of the Second Print Comics Podcast know my all-time favorite ongoing series is Savage Dragon by Erik Larsen, one of the first creator-owned books published out of Image Comics in early ‘90’s. I’ve long been aware of Larsen’s politics - he’s basically always been your angry leftist Uncle.
Larsen has always inserted his politics into his books, even going so far as to have his title characters formally endorse Barack Obama and Joe Biden within the content of his books.
I never had an issue with it. I just took it all as “oh, there’s crazy old Uncle Erik with his political nonsense again.” And, with the title character Dragon essentially being an extension of the artist as is often the case, I always just accepted it as a part of the story. To me, the enjoyment I received from following this book for literally over thirty years now outweighed any issues I might have had with Larsen’s politics.
Of course, COVID has changed everything. Larsen even went as far as to block me on Twitter over a COVID-related exchange.
And nevertheless, I persisted in reading his book. That’s how committed I’ve been to the characters and stories - and I will never shy away from remaining steadfast that Erik Larsen is one of the most talented and prolific comic book creators in history.
But I may have just reached the point where it’s become difficult to stomach his work for much longer after his latest piece of propaganda. In Savage Dragon #261, the issue of COVID is front and center, as we found out that Horridus, a super-powered character who often survives tremendous battles with mega-powered villains with barely a scratch, not only has COVID but is on a ventilator. We know ventilators likely killed more than they saved in the early months of the pandemic, and should only be used in the absolute most extreme cases to try to keep a patient alive. But here we have a seemingly otherwise healthy, under-50-year-old super-powered creature on a ventilator. Frustrating, yes.
But wait….there’s more…
Later in the issue we see that Malcom Dragon is having his children vaccinated against COVID. Now, even in our normal world, there is no scientific reason whatsoever to be vaccinating a 9 year old against a disease that has virtually no chance of harming them, paired with a known chance of causing conditions such as myocarditis and quite frankly, who knows what else down the road. Even here in the “real” world, children are essentially superheroes when it comes to dealing with COVID.
And yet, here we have the child of Dragon - who has super human healing ability - receiving a COVID vaccine. They can’t deliver the vaccine via traditional means due to their super tough skin, so they give her a prick on the tongue. “My tongue feels funny,” the child remarks.
Here we now have Erik Larsen openly propagandizing for COVID vaccination for children.
No doubt, Erik Larsen would see me as a “science denier” who “just read some crazy shit on the internet”, as his lead character Malcolm Dragon opined while discussing the issue with a more skeptical character.
But as far as I’m concerned, Larsen has blood on his hands just as Big Bird does.
The question is now: can I keep sending this man my hard-earned money with this level of propaganda that quite openly advocates for children to be part of a clearly harmful, unscientific mass medical experiment?
I don’t know the answer. I can’t emphasize how much this book has been a part of my life for the past thirty years. And after all the progressive politics I’ve endured over my thirty + year fandom, this is the first time I’ve had to ask: can I really keep supporting this? What would you do?
To go further down the vaccine rabbit hole with me, check out my Lions of Liberty w/ Marc Clair relaunch this Monday, as I interview Del Bigtree of The Highwire. This one will change your perspective on the vaccine issue.
Meanwhile, I had a great podcast consulting session this week, as evidenced by this tweet!
If you need help getting that podcast launched or are just stuck with stagnating growth, book a podcast consultation with yours truly!
Speaking of podcast consulting, my first true client was my friend Mikkel Thorup, whose podcast The Expat Money Show I have had the pleasure of working on for over a year now. It is truly delight to work with Mikkel and help others find freedom outside their country of origin.
So you can only imagine how honored I was to be asked to be a guest on The Expat Money Show, in an interview where I got more personal than I ever had on a podcast before. I’ve been friends with Mikkel for so long I almost forgot I was even on a podcast interview, and I really just let it flow. I discussed meeting my wife in Mexico, and all the trials and tribulations of dealing with immigration on both sides of the Us-Mexico border, and more! Check it out:
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