Savage Dragon Books

The island of Socotra, the subject of this book, is about 70 miles long by 30 wide, and is located 150 mi. east of the Horn of Africa, between the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. Photo plates in this book show cave-dwelling aborigines and some grotesque and unusual trees; studies here of anthropology, archaeology, botany, zoology.

Lords of the Var: The Savage King (Book 1)

King Kirill became King once his father was murdered. His father had taught his sons to have many women therefore King Kirill was not looking for love. Until an agent comes to planet Qurilixion to look for a biological weapon that the former King had acquired.

Ulyssa was only there strictly on business. She was captured and eventually became King Kirill's lover. Many things happen and before she can realize she was slowly falling in love with him in denial, and tries many avenues of escape. King Kirill was also falling for Ulyssa as well. It was taught to have many women from his father but he couldn't--he only wanted her.

Fighting the ruling of his kingdom, the previous rules for women and fighting his feelings for Ulyssa, he had to make a choice and fight for it. In the meantime, he had to also convince Ulyssa to be his lover. That was hard.

Many hot sexy scenes. Many fights. This book is definitely a great start to the story of the Var's part of the planet.

GREAT READ as well as a GREAT SERIES to follow up from the Draig series.

Let me start by saying I discoved Pillow at Ellora's Cavern with The Maiden and the Monster and fell in love with her writing. I was looking forward to a untamed erotic read with this expansive series, but that wasn't to be.

Ever read a romance/erotica that has so many male characters you can just see the series coming at you from a mile away? This was such a series. We meet a bevey of princely brothers and the first brother is, of course, our first hero.

Enter the heroine. Thrust the two at each other--and that is Pillow's attempt at a plot. I hate to read erotica when the couple is a forgone conclusion. This entire series is like that--each prince finds his princess, without any conflict, good dialog, or even thought. It is a forgone conclusiont hat the hero will have sex with the heroine that Pillow stops even attempting to make sense of the courtship or the fact that any woman would have turned tail and run.

I was deeply disappointed with this novel. The erotica scenes were ok, but lacked any warmth...and worse yet, the plot that held the entire story together was silly. Add in that so many characters from the pervious series of Dragon Lords appear--well, it all got confusing and dull.

Ulyssa is an agent working undercover. While on a mission, she is captured by the King of Var and placed in his harem. She escapes and as she wanders through the palace she bumps into Kirill. Kirill is about to be crowned the new king of Var after the death of his father. Upon meeting Ulyssa, he is instantly attracted to her.

The men of Var do not fall in love. They do not submit to women in any way. Ulyssa will be nothing more than a mistress to Kirill. Ulyssa bows to no man and tries to fight her attraction to Kirill. They are able to come to an agreement about their mutual attraction, but Ulyssa discovers that her job as an agent must once again be her first priority even over her own feelings. With the fate of the planet riding on her shoulders, she must put business before pleasure. Through many uncertainties and hidden secrets, Kirill and Ulyssa have to choose their paths, will they lead to each other?

Kirill and Ulyssa are very hot together. When Kirill says "more," I squirmed in my seat. When he says it again and again, I melted. But they go from hot to cold so quickly it dampens the mood. Ulyssa is very independent and strong willed. Kirill was equally strong willed and dominant, so their head-butting is expected, however the story gets too
heavy with conflict. When Kirill and Ulyssa make love, they are tender and passionate. But they would quickly be at odds again. It took the romance out of it for me. I did enjoy the story because their world is so unique and interesting. Add to that, Kirill's brothers are just as sexy as he is. I found the ending very moving and heartfelt. Overall, The Savage King lacks depth but is enjoyable.

Nannette
reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

Agent Ulyssa Payne (Lyssa) with the Human Intelligence Agency was sent to the planet of Qurilixen on a mission involving the Medical Mafia, now she is stuck on the barbarian planet until the Agency can retrieve her in about 3 months. While camped out in the forest she is captured by the Var, a handsome race of cat shape shifters. The newly crowned King Kirill of the Var and Lyssa share a instant attraction, but the king and his brothers were raised by their father who was a hard man that taught them to distant themselves from emotions and that they should not restrict themselves to just one woman. Lyssa was trained to keep her idenity a secret and going from orphanage to the strict agency, she also struggles with the new feelings she has to deal with. This is a good sensual romance that I enjoyed very much.

A continuation of the wonderful world of Qurilixen. Just the right amount of subplot and sexy romance to keep a reader going. I loved this book and can't wait for the rest of the Lords of the Var to be challenged by their women.

There are just five issues in the fifth Savage Dragon trade paperback. This reprints issues seventeen to twenty-one, with the odd extra panel and piece thrown in.

This has the aftermath of Dragon being possessed by the leech type creature, and him having to deal with what he did then.

Needless to say, a smackdown with Overlord is coming.

Savage Dragon is better than any comic you're reading, guaranteed, unless you're somehow reading to copies of Dragon at once. Anyway, in this TPB, Dragon smashes some stuff, rescues lovely ladies and hands some bad guys their ...

Guarantee void in Kentucky.

In this trade paperback of the savage dragon, dragon has just gone on a rampage and killed a lot of people. But it wasn't his fault, because had a leech on his neck that possessed him. he then goes on to fight the Dragonslayer, the fiend and the octopus man. In last, and I think best, fight, dragon goes face to face with overlord, who`s identity is revealed. It's a great trade paperback, and the Savage Dragon is a great comic.

The Dragon gets involved with a team of super powered operatives that help him deal with the increasing levels of superhuman crime. He meets Rapture, for one.

This trade has the start of the actual Savage Dragon series, and also has some of the backup stories from those books, including some Mighty Man fun.

Savage Dragon is the best funnybook on the market. If you're tired of all comic book characters being clones of the Authority, try this title. It's reccomended for fans of Top Ten, The Hulk, cheese fries, and that chewing gum you can only get with baseball cards.

This textbook made up for my (nice, but) boring professor. He'd rush through several important lessons, so I'd just read them and teach myself from this book. Every chapter had excellent examples that were thoroughly explained, and I didn't find any errors. Answers are in the back, so if you're motivated, you can even learn Mechanics of Materials without any guidance from a professor.

I am an instructor of an introductory course on mechanics of materials. I used this textbook by Gere and another textbook with the same title by Roy R. Craig, Jr. as my references. I find the textbook by Craig has a much better content structure than this text. For example, this text splits Stress Concentrations, Energy Methods and Indeterminate Problems into subsections of different chapters which is rather annoying. These topics should be a complete chapter of itself for clarity.

The coverage of the material is excellent. The discussions of the various techniques are rational and insightful. The author is a seasoned engineer/academician who really understands mechanics, and knows how to convey its flavor to the reader.
Timoshenko's classic "Strength of Materials" covers most topics that are relevant to an engineer; however it comes with a "bag of tricks" and is difficult to follow. Gere's book takes a step back by eliminating certain advanced topics, and methodically explains the principles and techniques of mechanics.

This book is awful. The writing style is terrible. I think the author needs to learn how to speak english. Here's a quote from the book:

"Having found the principal stresses and their directions for an element in plane stress, we now consider the determination of the maximum shear stresses and the planes on which they act."

Instead he SHOULD have written:
"We will now find the maximum shear stresses."

The whole book is like this. It is far too wordy. This book could be a lot smaller if the author didn't try to make everything so complicated.

This is a comprehensive, enlightening and reader-friendly textbook on mechanics of materials. This excellent book is full of worked examples, illustrations and equations to help students relate to the fundamental concepts in mechanics of materials. The book provides a great foundation in this subject for undergraduate engineers. The book is well organized and well written with clear and easy to follow explanations.

The book is especially useful for reference, as it explains the derivations and many forms of complex equations in a step-by-step and simple to understand format.
Overall, one of the best books on mechanics of materials particularly for those that need a gentle introduction to stress and strain analysis.

This book has some of the first Savage Dragon work, including the limited series, and some bits of the Megaton Man story.

Dragon mysteriously appears in the city, and goes to work with the police force. He meets the co-workers that will become important parts of the story.

A family conflict ends up with Dragon's girlfriend being killed by a hitman sent to bump him off. This sends him diving into a bottle.

This is an enormously entertaining intro story to a great character and great comic book series. There is a more recent, and improved-upon edition of this book, though, entitled "Savage Dragon Vol. 1: Baptism of Fire."

Also, please listen Amazon, author Erik Larson (that's "Larson" with an "o") had nothing to do with this book, or any other of Erik Larsen's ("Larsen" with an "e") comic books. They have had their listings combined on this site for years, which is just silly.

While Marvel is shifting their focus to darker stories, Erik Larsen has done the exact opposite, filling his world with brightly colored, mature, yet all ages appropriate stories. This is where the series starts, and it's an excellent TPB to have in your collection.

Savage Dragon is a piece of comic art and an under appreciated gem that came out in the early 90's. Overshadowed by it's distinguished sibling Spawn from the same company, this diamond in the rubble had some of the finest uncomplicated action and adventure than any of it's superhero competition. Critics have passed up the Dragon as a Hulk knock off but leave it up to it's creator, writer, and penciller to prove them all otherwise. Savage Dragon, filled with humor and surprises, is one of the most original heros of that decade and sure to be highly entertaining to all superhero fans.

Well, first of all, it should be noted that the only similarity that Dragon has with the Hulk is green skin. And it should also be noted that the Hulk's visual was initially ripped-off from Frankenstein's. So, Dragon is pretty much original. The powers, personality, and others stuff is totally original.

And this book is pretty darned good.

It features a lone warrior cop waking up an amnesiac and being the city of Chicago's only hope against a crime organization with total power over the city. He struggles against terrible odds and watches those he loves die around him. Featuring a very human character, Savage Dragon is a book not to be missed by true superhero fans.

I root for Erik Larsen, so I'm damned glad that SAVAGE DRAGON has lasted this long. I didn't think it would, not because it isn't a good comic book, but because I assumed it would've fallen prey by now to Image's long-publicized inconsistencies. But it seems that Image has, over recent years, recouped some of its fallen rep and glory. I've only again started checking out Image's newer stuff, having heard some good things on the grapevine. Currently I'm digging Invincible: The Ultimate Collection, Vol. 1, The Walking Dead Book 1 (Walking Dead), Noble Causes Volume 1: In Sickness And In Health (Noble Causes), Dynamo 5 Volume 1: Post-Nuclear Family (Dynamo 5), and Brit Volume 1: Old Soldier. So the future looks very promising. And some of the old school is still representing. SPAWN keeps on keeping on, although McFarlane has relinquished storytelling and artistic duties. In fact, of the seven artist/creators who founded Image Comics, only Erik Larsen has steadfastly stuck with simultaneously writing and drawing his comic book SAVAGE DRAGON. Since 1993, in fact. And, if one counts the mini-series preceding the monthly series, then it's since 1992. That's an impressive run.

I root for Erik Larsen not only because he does have ability but because, back then, he wasn't considered one of the "superstar" Image founders. That label fell on McFarlane, Liefeld, and Jim Lee, with Larsen, Valentino, Portacio, and Silvestri considered to be the backup talent. To me, though, Larsen, like his creation Dragon, is a down-to-earth, blue-collared guy who worked really hard and made good. He more or less kept SAVAGE DRAGON going on schedule (although, yes, there were occasional lapses). So I give him props. Larsen deserves to make duckets off this archives series. And, at their reasonable prices, I was definitely gonna get in on this. SAVAGE DRAGON ARCHIVES VOLUME 1 takes you back to the beginning and showcases the energy and enthusiasm which are the hallmark of his titles. In black and white, this tome of intimidating bulk (which seems thick enough to stop a bullet) collects the 3-issue mini-series and issues #1-21 of the regular monthly title.

As the story opens, Chicago is simply being overrun by superpowered menaces, dubbed "super freaks," against whom the all too human Chicago police force is powerless. The most powerful criminal entity is the Vicious Circle, led by the enigmatic, ruthless Overlord and their influence and power are rapidly spreading. Into this scene enters Dragon, an amnesiac freak found naked in a burning field. Dragon is of normal height but is massively constructed. He's green, and two-toed. And he's got a fin which elevates his height to 6'6" (if I remember my stats correctly). Time will show that Dragon is incredibly strong and resilient, gifted with amazing regenerative powers. Circumstances lead to Dragon joining Chicago P.D. and becoming the leading stopgap against the law-breaking "freaks." This archive covers the entire OverLord saga as Dragon grimly attempts to take down the Vicious Circle ringleader. It won't be easy.

Plenty of surprises here as Larsen brings to these pages a cavalcade of characters he had imagined long ago from a fertile childhood. Some of these would be popular enough to merit their own titles (SUPERPATRIOT, FREAK FORCE). I also liked Mighty Man, whose alter ego startled me. Naturally, there are villains other than the Vicious Circle. We get to see Dragon face off against lobster mutants and disgusting sewer monstrosities. But the most insiduous nasty might be the demonic Fiend, who's fueled by hatred and can possess his victims. Guest stars occasionally pop in. In one out-of-town mission Dragon encounters New York's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Later he runs into the WildC.A.T.s. Larsen doesn't neglect the Dragon's personal life as we see various hotties fall for him. Alas, we don't find out his origin in these issues. That'll come much later. But we do get an idea of just how formidable Dragon is and how tenacious his recuperative ability. Larsen really puts his guy thru his paces.

Here's my shot at being objective. For me, as a read, SAVAGE DRAGON ARCHIVES VOLUME 1 is worth around 3 stars. I'll add a half star for the very do-able price. Why 3 stars? A big part of why is the storytelling. The cartoony art I can live with, and, over time, Larsen even improves his renderings. But cool splash pages and buff, heroic poses can only carry the narrative so far. I haven't been religiously following SAVAGE DRAGON in recent years, so I can't comment on Larsen's writing skills as they are today. But his writing in these early issues is suspect, the plotting amateurish, the flow of the narrative spotty. What undermines this lengthy story arc even more is the decision to not insert copies of the original comic book covers (or anything to serve as a break). As it is, these issues just run into each other. This doesn't give the reader enough breathing room or a chance to assimilate the stuff he'd just read. The pace is relentless, and, at 500 pages of nonstop action, it's wearying. Brawl after brawl after senseless brawl, and, pretty soon, they melt into each other and lose all meaning. Of course, the very young comic book junkie probably won't mind too much. When I was a kid, nothing but nothing beat a wicked splash page.

What do I like best about Dragon? I like that he's the toughest hombre in the Windy City. I like that he looks cool and so formidable. And I like that he's the working man's superhero. He doesn't grandstand or indulge in superheroic excesses. He does what needs to be done, then he's out. Yes, he's prone to surliness and he can be brutally no-nonsense, but when you're up the smelly creek without a paddle, he's the one you want bailing you out. I root for the Dragon, just as I root for Erik Larsen. So despite my negativity about Volume 1 of the Savage Dragon Archives, I still recommend it. So three and a half stars for Volume 1. And I just ordered Volume 2.

By the way, how much do you think it costs Chicago P.D. to keep Dragon's uniforms in stock? Geez, the way he goes thru 'em...

I admit I never bought the Savage Dragon, but as a kid I read my friend's entire collection and loved it. Now in my late 20s, I wanted to reread the series but was afraid hindsight was going to destroy all my fond memories of the book. It did not. On the contrary, I was surprised how well it all holds up. Yes, it's very early Image in that there's plenty of splash pages and mindless fight, but they're always fun and they work. The story moves and break-neck speed with lots of subplots moving in and out of the main Overlord story. The art is fantastic in B&W. Overall, it was an excellent buy!

Note: This book made me wish Image was collecting all of Freak Force.(Hint hint, Mr. Larsen!)

Eric Larson writes funny books the way they are supposed to be written.
1) Funny books aren't supposed to take anything too seriously.
2) Funny books are supposed to be bigger than life.
3) Funny books are supposed to poke fun at people who do take themselves too seriously.
4) Funny books are supposed to have men with fists bigger than their heads and women with boobs bigger than their heads. (That's the way we nerdy fanboys like `em)

If you are looking for a serious contribution to American literature you should probably go somewhere else. If you are looking for some serious butt kicking, fun loving, old school funny books, this is the comic for you. I have always loved Eric's drawing style and wish that he got more credit for his writing. He has larger than life characters who show an amazing amount of depth, even the ones with boobs bigger than their heads. So pull up a chair and sit down. This book will make you laugh; entertain and let you escape from your regular life for a couple of hours.

Not to be outdone by Marvel and DC, Image Comics enters the black and white "phone book" fray with SAVAGE DRAGON ARCHIVES VOLUME 1, reprinting writer/artist Erik Larsen's Savage Dragon 3-issue miniseries and regular series issues 1 - 21. When this book was announced, I could only think back to the dreaded early days of Image and fear for what this could foreshadow (Youngblood Archives, anyone?). But I was more than willing to give the book a shot when I heard that it would contain 600 pages for the reasonable price of twenty bucks. I stopped reading Savage Dragon after about 7 issues back in the `90s, but as it has been fairly continuously published since then, I figured I could give Larsen a second chance and see if I'd missed anything. Interestingly, this time around was even worse, due to the fact that it was presented as one supposedly-continuous story. This book collects what is popularly known as "The Overlord Saga", beginning with the amnesiac Dragon's recruitment by the Chicago police to help them fight the increasing numbers of super-powered villains plaguing the city. As Dragon sends the bad guys to either prison or the hospital, the Overlord takes the fight to him and his friends.

Savage Dragon was one of the original Image series, meaning it's packed full of excessive splash pages, fights upon fights, big guns, gratuitous T&A, dizzying speed lines, and ridiculous sound effects. One thing to keep in mind is that when these stories were originally collected in color trades, Larsen added pages to make the story flow more smoothly. If what is contained in SDA volume 1 is the result, he failed. The reader is jerked from segment to segment with absolutely no narrative flow and no guidance as to a setting or time. Snippets are taken from other Image books that supposedly contain related plot points, such as Spawn and Wildstar, with no reference as to what is going on. While the book does have an overall plot, it reads as a collection of 1- to 3-page fragments rather than a complete storyline, as if pages are either missing or out of order. As the original covers are left out of the story sequence, there is no way to tell when you have reached the end of a particular issue, so you're left with a 600-page whirlwind of fights. Larsen's dialogue is not too shabby compared to that of his Image cohorts, but it is often repetitive. On the other hand, there are segments where more dialogue could certainly help the reader. If there's one good thing I can say about this book, it's that Larsen's artistic talents really shine in the black and white format, with dynamic and well-rendered art, and an excellent design sense for super-villains.

In the end, this book comes off as a mish-mashed scrapbook of all the Savage Dragon material Larsen could locate. It's an awkward read at best.

Ah, the early 1990s. I think I was maybe 13 - 14 when I first read this run. Good times.

See, the thing with the Dragon is that while yeah, it's excessive and probably not the greatest thing ever made... that's the virtue of it. Oh you can mention how great and awesome Marvel & DC are and how their stuff makes this look like crap for years.

But they're the one's that directly aped this style afterwards and nearly helped to kill the market.

Anyways, Dragon. Yep... it's probably greatest guilty pleasure to come along since the Hulk. You can really just tell Larsen was having fun with this, and I can respect that. Hell, it made him a cash cow and I can't blame him for that.

THIS BOOK IS FUN! That's all you need to know. It's a hoot during a time where a few guys were willing to take a risk and do something the other publishers were afraid to do. Have fun. It's written all over this book, and seriously well worth the cash to have a hoot over.

Savage Dragon is torn between his government work, and the bad things he knows are happening to his friends and fellow city dwellers back in Chicago.

He leaves to go back to help. The Vicious Circle criminal organisation has been clever, and worked together to defeat heroes and other law enforcement.

Dragon has to find a wedge to drive between them.

Savage Dragon is definetly one of the best superhero books around these days and there is no end for him in sight! These hardcover editions are a wonderful and impressive way for the tales of Savage Dragon to be collected.

The only reason I'm giving 4 out of 5 stars is because amazon has vol. 10 listed as the numbered edition. The one they sell is just the regular edition so look out.

I have read and reread this book. This is 2nd book in the Savage Empire series. Two different societies which fear the each other. One has the gift of telepathy, the other society has the all other extrasensory (telekinetic, etc) abilities. The writer has made the charactors interesting, the story is well written and keeps one interested to the very end. I'm not sure who wrote the editorial review, but it could not have been about this book.

Popgun Vol. 1 by Image Comics literally contains something for everyone. Whether you're a sci-fi nut, fantasy fan, horror addict, noir junkie, superhero fanboy or a cheesy romantic, this comic anthology will almost certainly have a story tailored specifically for you. It's 450 pages of innovative, colorful, well-written and well-drawn comics that kept me reading consistently for a week or so. Many of the stories I read twice, and there weren't any particular ones that I disliked. Most of them are printed in gorgeous color and range from anything between 2 pages to 8 pages in length. The following four comics were the ones I enjoyed most:

1) First among these were "Mexican Wrestler Funnies," written and drawn by Andy Kuhn, where El Tigre and Hombre Supremo face off against each other without actually wrestling. Their ridiculous insults are what makes this story hilarious. ("The time for insults is over! But if it were not, I would call your mother a Gravy Boat full of Kaka!")

2) My second favorite is "Sanz Panz: Ninja Platypus," where an ultra-cool duck-billed martial artist goes up against The Cheesy T-Shirt Gang. Awesome.

3) Next I would have to pick "The Amazing Joy Buzzards in The Fearless Vampire Hunters" by Mark Andrew Smith and Dan Hipp. Ridiculous, but funny as hell.

4) Finally, "Tag" by David Crosland - An artistic repesentation of a game played throughout the eons by evolution, which gives a whole new meaning to the term "survival of the fittest."

Other great stories also appear, and some by renowned comic creators such as Fear Agent Rick Remender ("The Death of the Midnight Sky"), Savage Dragon Erik Larsen ("Cheeseburgerhead") and Madman Mike Allred ("For the Record"). Numerous fictitious adds also appear between stories, most of which are quite good. Some stories are very experimental though, and may put off readers who are looking for a particular fix. I loaned Popgun to a friend and he only enjoyed about 10 out of the 50 or so stories, so it might not be as enjoyable if you are merely a casual reader of graphic storytelling. Having said that, Popgun Vol.1 is one of the best comic anthologies I have ever read, and that's saying a lot. Pick it up if you like short comics or don't have time to read longer story arcs.