Levi Erickson

Levi Erickson
by: John Burgin

When I think of the name Levi Erickson, it conjures up thoughts of a broad-chested, red beard who is sailing a boat on treacherous waters toward an ice-covered village besieged by a great dragon. A red bearded, “giant of a man” with massive, tattooed forearms and chains sewn into leather wrist cuffs. I see him gripping his battle axe and leaping from his sturdy vessel to size up the foul, fire breathing beast. He charges forward with fierce eyes and flared nostrils leaping into the air. With one mighty swing of his trusty axe, the head of the evil monster is separated from its body and falls lifeless onto the icy ground below. The once terrified villagers emerge from their creaky, wooden cottages and erupt into cheers as they raise frothy pints of ale in boisterous celebration!!!

Ah, but you must excuse my wandering mind for a second as I come back to the present day and talk a little about my friend Levi Erickson – a slightly less barbaric, but, possibly, just as wild and, no doubt, a very interesting fellow. The Levi I’ve known has lived in the Charlotte area for about twenty years now; since his time as a United States Marine came to an end. You will find him at his home base, a little garage/studio/skatepark that he has dubbed, the “Asteroid M”. It is a nod to the mutant, Magneto (his home base in Marvel’s X-men series). Yes, Levi is a comic book nerd, but that’s not all. On any given afternoon you may find him shredding his homemade mini ramp, thrashing some punk guitar tunes, or writing and drawing his original comic book series called, “The Big”. It’s a sort of horror story about Bigfoot folktales.

Originally born in Kansas, Levi moved with his family to Hot Springs, Arkansas and he lived out his teenage / high school years there. It was during these formative years, of the mid to late ‘80’s, that he developed his love for skateboarding and punk music. In his words, he says, “when I see something that I like, I can’t just sit back and like it, I have to try to do it, too”.

He recalls picking up G.I. Joe comics, specifically issues 26 and 27 (the origin of Snake Eyes). He dove into those storylines and, captivated by the characters and the art, he began to try to draw what he saw in those stories. Levi found himself being influenced by several of the image creators at that time: Todd McFarlane, Rob Liefeld, Erik Larsen, and John Byrne.

After high school, Levi moved to California to try his luck as a musician and comic artist in Los Angeles. He remembers the grueling days of pounding the pavement; knocking on doors – just trying to score a big break in either field. Eventually, he began to miss the slower pace that life had to offer in the smaller towns and he moved all the way across the country to Maine. Maine was great and he fell in with a group of musicians. That project became his focus for a while. He honed his guitar playing skills on the small club circuits, but things weren’t super easy.

He decided to join the United States Marine Corp. Being enlisted was life-changing, to say the least. Mr. Erickson spent a decade serving and then decided it was time for, yet, another change. He decided to move to the Charlotte area of North Carolina around 2007. He settled down and started a family. He spent some time in various jobs; including being a background/environment artist for a video game design company. (He was tasked with designing the vegetation in various landscapes in the backgrounds of video games. How cool is that?!)

Still, Levi had the desire to create his own art and write his own stories – as he has always been fascinated with the folklore surrounding Bigfoot, or, as someone who grew up in Arkansas might call it, the Fouke Monster / the creature from Boggy Creek. Erickson’s stories in “the Big” focus on the folklore and asking the real questions. For instance, if Bigfoot is real, where is the proof? Why can’t we find him? He also wants to explore how the local townsfolk relate to the creature plus give accounts of outsiders coming to town looking for evidence of Bigfoot’s existence. He is telling these stories in 12 issues. Each of which is 12 pages in length and he is currently working on issue number four.

Creating comics is an arduous process and one still has to pay the bills and our Mr. Erickson works very hard as a teacher in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system. He teaches 3-D game design at Phillip O. Berry Academy of Technology. Dude has excelled at inspiring students and teaching them the basics AND excitement of “nerding”. Just this past year, he was nominated for the Beginning Teacher of the Year Award and made it to the round of finalists. Not too shabby, if you ask me.

I met Levi, networking as a comic book writer and author myself (FROGBOY), and he is one of the nicest guys in the world – always willing to talk comics and share secrets of the trade. In fact, he even finds time to film a podcast with his good friend, Ryan Holgerson, also an independent comic book writer and author. They talk all about comics, share some of their favorite storylines, and give insight into their own processes. It’s called, “Comics in the Making” and I think you should give it a listen.

Well, there you have it. My pal, Levi Erickson, may not be a village saving, dragon slaying Viking, cruising around the arctic circle, but it’s my opinion that he is far more interesting than that.

Podcast: Comics in the Making
Book: The Big
Instagram: @leevai

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