Venom by Erik Larsen

This is a commission I had Erik draw for me when he attended one of the local comics conventions in Belgium.

Having been a fan and follower (to this day) of Savage Dragon, I went with a Dragon commission as first choice (which can be seen in this very gallery).

But my love for his work for the big two pushed me towards a gluttonous second commission.

Since Erik had been drawing Spider-Man after Spider-Men during the show and considering I already owned a very tight vintage Spidey sketch from him (which can be seen in this very gallery), I went for a Venom.

A perfect fit for me if there ever was one as I love the character for one but second, I find that Larsen really defined him visually (see the covers to Amazing 332, 346 or 347) as he took McFarlane ‘s initial bulky designs and began overextending his jaw, tongue and the length of his pointy teeth.

Basically, it all boils down to a past comment I read on CAF that for another collector, Larsen was the second McFarlane on Amazing and I could not agree more with that statement.

About the piece itself. The pose is quite dynamic if a bit too similar to my previous Dragon commission, complete with all you would expect from a Larsen Venom as previously mentioned. The filling in marker could have been tighter for my taste but Larsen’s (original) art and inks have always been bombastic and spontaneous, so it is consistent with his approach (and to be frank, it’s difficult to imagine something pristine done at a show-even if counter examples to that do exist, isn’t it?).

Many thanks to Erik Larsen, one of the very best and committed initial Image creators, for the super long chat about comics, OA (as he is a big collector himself), industry gossip, (his) creative process and storytelling.