Hot Comics Revue 24: More Like, "Raunchy," Dragon, Am I Right? I Said, "Am I Right?" Wow, Quiet Crowd Tonight

 

When Image Comics launched back in 1992 (over 30 years ago, damn I'm old), I wonder how many people thought some of those earliest series would, somehow, continue to this day. Certain titles from that first decade occasionally had series off-and-on and grew into a complicated publishing history ("Youngblood," for example). Other lines went over to DC (Wildstorm in 1998). Some books arrived with a splash before being forgotten--"Tribe," anyone? Still, "Spawn," grew to be almost the face of Image at points, persisting with a consistent schedule for years and years. Todd McFarlane and various folks he worked with kept pumping out, "Spawn," comics even when it seemed they were being released more as a favor to McFarlane by Image than actually moving units. Inexplicably, Spawn had its popularity return, and now it is a hit again with spin-offs and ongoing chatter of another movie being possible (the original one was a bit of a mess). That said, this post isn't about, "Spawn," and now that I've got you too in deep to quit this piece, it is time to pull the rug and reveal this post is about the other long-running Image book. Yes, "The Savage Dragon," has also become the talk of the town lately, albeit for reasons, "Spawn," probably wouldn't ever dream of.

Created by Erik Larsen in the 1980's and originally just known as, "Dragon/The Dragon," the debut issue of, "The Savage Dragon," hit shelves in 1992, and ever since then Larsen has been the sole writer and artist. He puts out issues sporadically, and the series seems to feature whatever is on his mind, or he fancies discussing. Dragon was an amnesiac hero who became a police officer. Later on, he's in a dystopian reality. Big powered wars happen. Characters seemed to age in real time; the original Savage Dragon died, and his son took over the series. The book started occasionally getting a bit raunchy. It often riffed on politics. A public domain Mickey Mouse showed up and was a jerk, quite recently. Describing, "Savage Dragon," is best done by saying, "Random and weird stuff happens," and that is meant as a compliment. This is a comic that has kept coming out and has a die-hard fanbase, but is generally ignored by shops who only order it for said fans. Then issue #280 did something creatively raunchy--and baby, sex sells.

Without spending a whole paragraph explaining the lore, I will just say that issue #280 involved Malcom Dragon (the son of the original who now is the focus of the book) arriving home to find his beloved involved in a group-sex session of sorts with other heroes. For some years now, "Savage Dragon," has been racy, yes, but Larsen did something funny with this issue. The, "A," cover also features a different last page than the, "B," cover with a retro trade dress. In, "A," cover copies, the last page is a bit less (how to put this) visceral in the fluids pictured. In issues with the, "B," cover, things are quite visible and messy. It is absurd and crass, yes, and boy did it light a fire under the comic for some reason, with people learning there was a surprise, "Dirtier," iteration of the comic causing mayhem. The A and C covers (the C has the same interior as A) were sought-after, and B has gone nuclear. Issue #281 came out last week with various covers and no interior changes, but it has been desired by fans who hadn't cared about, "Savage Dragon," in years. Meanwhile, with #280, the A cover is an easy 20 bucks, and the B cover is over $100. There is going to be a second printing this week that is specifically the B cover and its interior--which is a bit unique to hear. As I said, sex sells. I suppose gimmicks sell too, so combine them and there ya go!

They’ve Already Got a Public Domain Mickey Mouse Horror Game in the Works

Today, January 1st of 2024, the copyright for the earliest iteration of Mickey Mouse expires. The version seen in, “Steamboat Willie,” to be precise. People can do all kinds of creative things now with that specific Mickey Mouse without worrying about copyright or having to claim it as parody/satire to skirt any legal concerns. Countless creative things could be done but for some reason lately when something is no longer copywritten people decide to make a horror-styled version of it (look at Winnie the Pooh). Hence, "Infestation 88," was just announced today less than 24 hours after Mickey Mouse entered the public domain in his earliest form.

I just recently Reviewed an ingenious parody of Mickey Mouse titled, “Michael Mouse.” I love it when people take something and remix it in interesting ways, allowing them to comment on it and create something new from something old. If your first idea with Mickey Mouse is to make a gritty horror character you’re not really being creative, at this point you’re being derivative.

Seriously, we can now literally do anything with the Steamboat Willie incarnation of Mickey, and your first idea is to make a horror game where you fight a monster that happens to look like him? You could have it be any monster and the game would be the same. Is there some clever commentary on Disney or capitalism? Is it just a bland horror game that is seizing an opportunity to get press via using Mickey Mouse? Perhaps there is something clever in the game but based on the announcement trailer I’m not seeing anything. Again, we can do anything with Mickey Mouse as long as it’s his earliest form, I look forward to more creative interpretations.

"Michael Mouse," is a Twisted Parody With the Madness Cranked Up to Delightful Levels

Mitch Lohmeier started doing a, "Michael Mouse," strip on Instagram in November of 2020. It was a short silly parody of another famous rodent and his friends, but Mitch realized it should keep going, as he says in the forward (where he also asks us not to tell Walt AKA Walt Disney and has a huge disclaimer about how this is a legally protected work of parody). Hence, we get an epic crime story as Donald...ahem, David Duck, is drawn back into a life of crime due to Michael. What follows is an extremely violent and drug-filled yarn that could stand well on its own if it didn't have the parody elements, but they make it oh-so-more tasty. There is a wonderful absurdity to a cocaine deal going down at the, "Magic Kingdom," which happens to be a strip club filled with dancers who resemble famous Disney princesses, after all.

The art is what locks this down. Lohmeier's style looks enough like a classic Disney cartoon for this work that you could almost picture this being a fever dream of a Disney animator, but a layer of grime and darkness seeps into the comic in a manner that creates a beautiful dichotomy between cute animals and the awful things they're doing. Goofy would never beat a convenience store owner to death in a drug-fueled rage, but Goony would. This reminds me in some ways of Mark Millar's comic that even he likes to pretend didn't happen, "The Unfunnies." The idea of that series is an evil force invades a happy cartoon land and makes all the characters behave horribly. The problem with, "The Unfunnies," was that shock value aside (and great art by Anthony Williams) it sucked. It wasn't funny or scary and it definitely wasn't especially clever beyond the initial idea. What Lohmeier does right is he tells an intense and brutal crime story, and then cranks the madness up with all the parody elements. It shouldn't work, but it does.

"Michael Mouse," is a twisted tour de force and Mitch Lohmeier should be equally proud and ashamed of what he's made here. It's a monstrosity and I loved it. You can ask all finer comic shops to order, "Michael Mouse," or order it directly from the publisher, Floating World Comics (they continue to put out great stuff). I'd highly recommend reading this if you'd like to witness a stellar parody.

5 out of 5 stars.

This Copyright Expiration Stuff Should Be Bigger News

I'm going to talk about copyright law, but before your eyes glaze over and you tune-out please know this is actually really interesting stuff that could impact a lot of peop...hey, I said to pay attention! Alright then, as you may know lots of stuff has a copyright to, "Protect," its intellectual property. In other words, unless you sell the rights to something you have gotten a copyright for, people can't make stuff related to it without your permission/giving you money. Copyright is why someone can't make their own Mickey Mouse comic/cartoon/put him on a cake they sell. It is why if you sing a cover of a hit song and try to sell your version there's going to be Hell/lots of cash to pay. When something doesn't have a copyright anymore that means it is public domain and anyone has the right to use it, make something from it, and sell what they made. Because mega-corporations like money various attempts have been made to extend copyright, some with success. However, we are now nearing a time when more and more copyrights are going to expire, and that is quite interesting.

Before too long the earliest appearances of Mickey Mouse and Batman will be public domain. That opens the door to all kinds of wild possibilities, but as this fascinating article on the subject details, there are a number of complications as things become public domain. Even though Batman's first appearance may lose its copywritten status, other versions of him have not. You could write a story about the old version of Batman before too long but work in other aspects of the character introduced later (sidekicks, villains, certain gadgets, etc.) and you're opening yourself up to a lawsuit. Still, as more and more copyrights expire for popular things that have stayed in the public consciousness for many decades it will be cool to see what folk do to take advantage of these cool opportunities for creation, business, etc.