Erik Larsen On ‘Savage Dragon’ #281’s Wild Porn Twist: “The Only Actual Sex In The Issue Was Off-Panel Sound Effects”

Last week saw the release of Image Comics‘ Savage Dragon #281 — the first full issue featuring Malcolm Dragon, Paul Dragon, and Angel Murphy back in the United States after months of a rescue mission in Russia. Following last month’s shocking final page (which sent the comic back to press for a second printing), the new issue centers on the revelation that not only has Malcolm’s wife been having sex with a number of his friends while he was gone — but she has turned it into a business opportunity.

There’s no big battle to be fought in this issue — the only blows are between Maxine and someone else’s wife — but it may not be as cut-and-dry as it seems at first glance.

As always, Larsen joined Comic Book Club to discuss the latest issue!

NOTE: The images below are VERY not safe for work. Be warned!

Comic Book Club: What made you want to bring Beast Boy back in as part of the porno crew?

Erik Larsen: I’d actually composed the last page of Savage Dragon #280 with several different configurations of characters. I knew that I wanted Maxine to be making adult films while Malcolm was away but I’d considered numerous other possible partners, including various public domain funny animals and cartoon characters, including Popeye and Mickey Mouse. Beast Boy was the last one drawn.

I wanted somebody inhuman-looking — I knew that, but there were a number of options. When I narrowed it down to characters that Malcolm would consider friends the circle became smaller. Ultimately, I had to make a choice and he seemed the best option.

I know there were some people who thought it was going to be Maxine’s mom, and not Maxine, who actually was engaged in the group sex. I hadn’t even considered the possibility. Did you think people might make that mistake given the perspective used at the end of #280?

I hadn’t considered it. It honestly never crossed my mind — especially given Malcolm’s string of pet names at the end of #280. He wouldn’t be using those in regard to his mother-in-law.

You know, the “Savage Dragon is porn now” people are never going to shut up now that Maxine is ACTUALLY making porn.

Again, if a person was super into porn and really turned on by naked people fornicating — there’s not much for them in Savage Dragon. The only actual sex in the issue was off-panel sound effects.

Maxine seems totally oblivious to the idea that this all might have hurt Malcolm. I think her sex addiction has been simmering in the background, but is she…okay?

She’s looking at it as an actress playing a part would. She’s playing a role in these films. She isn’t looking at it as though she’s having an affair. She’s not forming an attachment to these other partners — she’s acting in a movie.

At the same time — one of the staples of porno films is the husband walking in on his cheating wife — so he unwittingly supplied the perfect finale to the picture.

I had assumed the big drama would be between Malcolm and Maxine, but it really seems like this may have caused an irreparable rift between Angel and Maxine. Is that a dynamic we’ll be exploring a bit in the coming issues?

Yeah—that and Angel’s relationship with Frank. With Maxine—it’s not out of character for her to do something like this necessarily but it’s a huge departure for Frank, who was a police officer not that long ago.

Obviously “Baby Angel” is a huge liability going forward. You’ve said in the past that Angel is actually stronger than Malcolm. Is it possible you’re setting her up as an OverLord/Dart style mega-antagonist for the Dragon kids?

She’s obviously very young at this point. Adult Angel’s powers kicked in when she hit puberty and that’s a ways off. In the meantime — I liked the idea of flipping the script and having the extended Dragon family harboring an evil Angel instead of an evil Mr. Glum.

Paul has seemed pretty “at home” in our world before now, but the fact that everyone now thinks he’s Dragon really seems to sting. How will this affect his relationships with the ones closest to him?

I expect it too, yeah. At the same time, Paul wanted to feel closer to Malcolm’s family and now he looks more like his dad. So there’s a bit of “Be careful what you wish for.” He’s more accepted but that’s in large part because he now looks like Savage Dragon.

The kids love Paul and really didn’t know Dragon very well before he died. How will that influence this part of the story?

They’ve been more accepting of Paul to begin with, so things won’t change a whole lot as far as the kids are concerned. They already see him as their grandpa, and as far as they’re concerned, Alex is their Grandma.

I love Maxine as a character, but this really feels like a seismic shift in the relationship that has held the book together for about 10 years. Have you been thinking about this since the foursome, or when did it come into play?

It’s been in the works for a while — a couple years at least. The seed was planted back in SAVAGE DRAGON #243. And the stuff with Kevin and Mai set it up to an extent. Her viral video as well. It just seemed like it was going there in retrospect. But it was firmly in mind when I had Malcolm head off to Russia.

“I’m happy enough” is an absolutely deadly line of dialogue. What went into the decision to leave that one hanging and move onto the next scene?

Maxine had just been arguing with Malcolm in the kitchen and she wasn’t feeling too supported at the moment. She had certainly hoped that Malcolm would have taken it better. From her point of view — she found this amazing path to home ownership after it looked incredibly bleak.

As far as she’s concerned — Malcolm is overreacting. It’s “just sex” it’s not love, after all. She’s looking at it like a bodily function instead of intimacy. She’s looking at it purely as a job. He’s not seeing her side of it. So, at the moment — she’s less happy than she’d like to be.

Can I just say how much I love Laila? The fact that she immediately told Angel what was going on speaks highly of her.

She’s a good kid.

This is the first “big” thing Frank has done in Glum’s body and he seems desperate to avoid consequences and responsibility. How much has the physical change taken a toll on him as a person?

It seems like it has changed him a bit. Frank was never as animated as he’s been since the change. Now, Mr. Glum’s body does have low-grade super strength, so he’s able to hop up higher than he could as a normal human but he definitely doesn’t seem quite like the Frank of old and he is literally in another person’s body so every action feels a bit like he’s an outsider looking in. It’s a bit like having gotten bitten by a radioactive spider—part of him just wants to see what he can do.

I understand where Maxine is coming from in the last page, but is it really fair to say she wasn’t doing it behind Malcolm’s back?

There really was no way for her to reach Malcolm to give him a heads up. And she was left in something of a bind—they’d just been kicked out of the S.O.S. headquarters and there belongings were thrown into the street when the Count of Mostly Crisco shut it down. It’s admirable that Maxine would do whatever it took to help her family. But also, I would expect, something of a shock.

Savage Dragon #281 is in stores now.

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