Savage Dragon
Encyclopedia
Savage Dragon is an ongoing American
comic book
series created by Erik Larsen
, published by Image Comics
and taking place in the Image Universe
. The comic features the adventures of a superhero
ic police officer
named the Dragon. The character first appeared as Dragon in Graphic Fantasy #1 (June 1982) and first appeared as the "Savage Dragon" in Megaton #3 (February 1986).
The Dragon is a large, finned, green-skinned humanoid whose powers include super-strength
and an advanced healing factor
. He is also an amnesia
c: his earliest memory is awakening in a burning field in Chicago
, Illinois
. Thus, for most of the series, the origins of his powers and appearance are a mystery to readers. At the beginning of the series, he becomes a police officer and battles the mutant criminal "superfreaks" that terrorize Chicago.
Savage Dragon is one of two original Image Comics titles still published (the other being Spawn
) and the only one still written and drawn by its creator, for which Larsen has been lauded.Savage Dragon is the longest running full-color comic book to feature a single artist/writer. The character was also adapted into an animated series, which ran for two seasons (26 episodes) on the USA Network
beginning in 1995.
Savage Dragon has been considered as one of the greatest comic book characters by Wizard magazine and one of the greatest comic book heroes of all time by IGN.
. In his youth, Larsen drew the Dragon in homemade comic books. The original Dragon, inspired by elements from Captain Marvel
, Batman
, Speed Racer
and later The Incredible Hulk
, differs greatly from the modern incarnation. After launching Savage Dragon in a professionally published comic book, Larsen returned to the original and reworked his designs into the characters William Jonson, a police
officer ally of the Dragon, and Flash Mercury, the "Spectacular Dragon".
Much later, a greatly redesigned Savage Dragon was featured in two issues of Graphic Fantasy, a self-published title with a small print run, published by Larsen and two friends. In this incarnation, the Dragon was a widower and a retired member of a government-sponsored superhero team. Subsequently, the Dragon made another appearance in the third issue of Gary Carlson
's Megaton anthology in its Vanguard
strip, which Larsen had been drawing. In these appearances, the character of the Dragon remained basically the same as it had been in Graphic Fantasy, with a few details modified (such as the inclusion of his wife, who was dead in his previous incarnation). Both the Graphic Fantasy and Megaton issues containing the Dragon have since been reprinted in high-quality editions.
In 1992, when Larsen left Marvel
to co-found Image Comics, he reworked the character for the new publication venture. This time, the Dragon was a massively muscle
d green amnesiac, who joined the Chicago police department after being discovered in a burning field. Initially debuting in a three-issue mini-series, the Savage Dragon comic book met with enough success to justify a monthly series, launched in 1993. To this day, Larsen continues to write and illustrate the series entirely by himself, and has maintained a reasonably consistent monthly schedule (save for occasional lapses) in comparison with the other original Image Comics titles. Larsen has occasionally produced ancillary mini-series, and sometimes allowed other creators to produce stories featuring the Dragon or other characters from the series.
According to Larsen, the series is aimed at "older Marvel readers who are about ready to throw in the towel on comics altogether. It's the missing link between Marvel and Vertigo. More mature than Marvel; less pretentious than Vertigo. The kind of comics [he wants] to read. [The] book is really self-indulgent."
, led by the mysterious Overlord
. Realizing that the Dragon's superhuman powers would be a terrific boon to the police in battling the Vicious Circle, Darling asks the Dragon to join the police. At first, the Dragon refuses and takes a job in the warehouse of Darling's cousin. After a number of serious incidents, including the murder of the superhero Mighty Man and the brutal mauling of SuperPatriot
, Darling takes drastic action. He pays Vicious Circle members to threaten his cousin in the hope that it will prompt Dragon to re-consider his offer. Although this achieves Darling's desired result, the two criminals, Skullface and Hardware, kill Darling's cousin and detonate a bomb in his warehouse. The Dragon joins the police, but Darling is now under the thumb of the Vicious Circle, causing him to steer the Dragon away from Vicious Circle activities.
Later, the Dragon gains a girlfriend, Debbie Harris, only to see her shot dead in his apartment by her jealous ex-boyfriend Arnold Dimple. The Dragon falls into a deep depression as a result. Dimple returns to plague the Dragon on several occasions as the Fiend, who makes a deal with the Devil
to gain supernatural powers.
, who he assisted multiple times in later comics. Also during his time in New York, a large prison break occurred and a number of powerful and dangerous criminals were killed. This is the first time the Chicago PD lost a star witness against Overlord; Hardware, who intended to give evidence against the criminal, was shot dead.
Though Captain Darling's Freak Force
program failed, the Dragon carried on a lasting relationship with one of its former members: Rapture
, a former prostitute with electrical powers, who would later have his child. Meanwhile, Overlord's second-in-command Cyberface
broke away from the Vicious Circle to form a rival organization. Cyberface was later arrested but, like Hardware before him, he was killed before he was able to testify. Ultimately Cyberface was resurrected and later led the Vicious Circle under the control of Horde, another recurring villain.
Later, the Dragon made his first attempt to arrest the Overlord, who easily defeated him and left him impaled upon a church spire
. The Dragon was believed to be dead but regenerated from his wounds afterwards. This is not the only time the Dragon was missing and presumed dead; it becomes both a recurring theme and running joke in the series. During his recovery, Dragon was attacked by a person under the mental control of a strange worm. Under the domination of this creature, the Dragon went on a rampage during which many innocent bystanders are injured or killed. He was finally stopped by the vigilante
Mace, and the worms were traced to Horde. The rampage resulted in a massive negative backlash against the Chicago Police Department, and the Dragon's biggest naysayer, R. Richard Richards, took this opportunity to attack the Dragon with a robotic weapon dubbed "Dragon Slayer". Later, the Dragon encountered the She-Dragon
, a young superpowered woman who modeled herself after him.
Following an attack on the police station and the murder of Cyberface (who is later resurrected), the Dragon led a SWAT team to finally take down the Overlord. The battle was harsh, and every member of the SWAT Team perished except for the Dragon, who was skinned alive. Even in his weakened state, the Dragon finally unmasked the Overlord as mafia
boss Antonio Seghetti, who subsequently falls to his death.
After aiding the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for a second time, the Dragon narrowly survived another attack by the Fiend, which left him nearly crippled after his bones healed incorrectly. To make matters worse, Chicago was in the midst of a brutal gang war that arose as a result of the Overlord's death. The Vicious Circle, once kept tightly organized by the Overlord, had since separated into several factions that were battling for criminal supremacy. The Dragon was found by a friendly cabbie and Mighty Man, who used his super-strength to re-set the Dragon's bones. After recuperating from this ordeal
, the Dragon fought another prison break, this time in a maximum security facility torn open by a newly resurrected Cyberface. This battle marked the end of the gang war, and Cyberface assumed command of the Vicious Circle.
This victory was followed by difficult times for the Dragon. After a number of crossovers with other Image Comics characters including WildStar
and The Maxx
, the Dragon encountered Spawn and ultimately was sent to Hell
by the Fiend. The Fiend can possess living bodies, and his powers are fuelled by the capacity for hate of those possessed. His last victim was Debbie Harris' mother, who was unaware that the demon possessing her was the spirit of her daughter's murderer. While in Hell, a fist-fight occurred between God
and the Devil. As God finally overcomes the Devil, he warned his defeated opponent: "Don't fuck with God." Just as the amnesiac Dragon begins to ask about his origins, God returned him to earth.
Afterwards, things grow steadily worse for the Dragon. He was unable to save ill fellow officer Phil Dirt with a blood transfusion. Meanwhile, Rapture (pregnant with the Dragon's child) suffered internal damage when the baby kicked—the unborn child having inherited its father's strength—and Rapture entered premature labour. The Dragon was not able to reach the hospital in time, and the baby appeared to have died. However, in truth, the infant was taken by the Covenant of the Sword
, a shadowy organization bent on world takeover.
After a crossover with Hellboy
, the Dragon was caught up in the Mars Attacks
Image and Mars Attacks Savage Dragon event, in which he was responsible for destroying the Martian
s' bases on Mars using a Martian growth ray. This resulted in their retreat and possible extinction. While he was gone, the Vicious Circle had taken control of the city. Returning home to a devastated Chicago, the Dragon was captured and publicly crucified by the Circle. The Dragon survived and defeated most of the villains, but the Dragon's new superior, Captain Mendoza, suspended him for having been missing for so long. During his suspension, the Dragon spent a few months as a bounty hunter
and helped rebuild the city after the Martian invasion.
departed from Image Comics. The Mars Attacks Image event and the Shattered Image crossover were used as a way to phase out characters created by Liefeld from the collective "Image Universe", including Youngblood
. In the pages of the Savage Dragon, Larsen has the Dragon approached by the United States government to form a superhuman task-force to replace Youngblood. After negotiations, the team is dubbed the Special Operations Strikeforce, or S.O.S. This team includes much of the super-powered supporting cast of the book, including Jennifer Murphy
, a super-strong, invulnerable single mother first introduced in The Savage Dragon: Sex & Violence
mini-series. Despite being the founding member of the team, the Dragon spends little time as a member.
Later, on a dying parallel Earth, a murderous despot named Darklord
begins to swap parts of his earth with parts from the Dragon's. The Dragon leads a team of S.O.S. members, including Jennifer Murphy and his former girlfriend Rapture, to this world to stop Darklord. Rapture is killed by Darklord, and the Dragon and Jennifer are separated from the rest of the team. While the remaining members of S.O.S. manage to stop the transfer and escape back to their own Earth, the Dragon and Jennifer are forced to find their own way off of the dying planet. While they make their escape, Dragon attempts to find this Earth's Rapture, only to find that world's Debbie Harris instead.
The threesome are lost in space for some months, and Dragon is once again presumed dead, eventually landing on Godworld, where Debbie dies but is revived as an angel. Dragon and Jennifer are caught in a battle between Thor
and Hercules
, and then sent back to Earth by All-God; Debbie does not return with them. Following this, Dragon fights a Dr. Doom-like armored dictator before returning to Chicago on leave and striking up a casual sexual relationship with his former partner Alex Wilde.
In giant-sized issue 50, many of the series sub plots are resolved, and in a climatic battle among most of the series cast, the Dragon is killed by the mystic Abner Cadaver; however, the wizard is murdered midway through this by William Jonson, and the Dragon is bonded with him.
Abner Cadaver returns—made up of parts of dead God Squad characters, Darklord, and Dragon's arm—and engages in battle with Fon~Ti, the mystical being who was once Horde. After Fon~Ti’s victory, he separates the Dragon from Jonson and returns the Dragon to his normal body. Having admitted their love, Jennifer and Dragon begin to date. After a fight with Impostor, posing as Rapture, Dragon proposes to Jennifer, and their wedding follows in the next issue, in which Jennifer is apparently killed by the new Overlord. In truth, she was replaced with Impostor beforehand by the Covenant of the Sword. Though he had only been semi-active before, the Dragon officially resigns from the S.O.S. and became the legal guardian of Jennifer's daughter Angel. In the following issue, the Overlord sub plot is tied up after the Dragon defeats his new team. The Dragon kills Overlord, and he is revealed as supporting character Vic Nixon, who had worn the armor to spy on Rita; the armor then corrupted him. After this, the Overlord armor is destroyed.
After losing custody of Angel, and Ann's murder, the Dragon and Mighty Man (now former Freak Force member Dart
) began searching for the missing SuperPatriot. This led them to the Covenant of the Sword, which had in its possession SuperPatriot, Jennifer and the Dragon's child. The Dragon and Mighty Man are captured but eventually rescued in a large battle similar to the one in issue 50 in which a number of characters are killed.
It was revealed that the Covenant was formed by Damian Darklord, a time traveler who was the enemy of a vigilante named Super-Tough. This man became Darklord and started life as Damian, the son of Liberty, SuperPatriot’s daughter who was raped during the Mars Attacks event. Damian also built and detonated the "Nega Bomb" made up of super-powered individuals that de-powered every non-natural "freak" in the world. The Dragon then kills him.
-inspired post-apocalyptic/dystopian story. The Dragon is stuck in a new reality he created by killing the infant Damian Darklord, which prevented him from going back in time, and with most of the mutated and monstrous populace of this world trying to kill him. The Dragon finds his house to be a crater and believes Jennifer and Angel are dead. The Dragon has encounters with WildStar and Madman and finds out that during his time possessed, without Mace to stop him, he went on a much longer rampage, killing Alex Wilde. The Dragon also discovers that Cyberface is now President of America and has SuperPatriot under his control. The Dragon organises a group of old enemies and allies to defeat Cyberface. After fulfilling a commitment to Rex Dexter—who helped him overthrow Cyberface—by saving his daughter, the Dragon returns a hero, and finds his way back to Chicago and is re-united with Jennifer and Angel, who had in fact survived.
The Dragon then finds his old world had survived as well as the Savage World. His counterpart from Darkworld, this Dragon, was defeated, but the Dragon's old Earth was destroyed by a world-devouring Galactus
-like being named Universo, despite the best efforts of the Dragon and his son, Malcolm, who are left floating in space after its destruction. The Dragon is able to save Alex Wilde from that world. After this, the Dragon marries Jennifer and lives with her, Angel, and Angel’s new "pet", Mr. Glum, who is secretly plotting to kill Dragon.
To coincide with the 2004 U.S. presidential election, Larsen created a corrupt politician Ronald Winston Urass, who engineers a successful write-in campaign to elect the Dragon President of the United States. However, once his criminal intents and relationship to the criminal Dread Knight are exposed, the Supreme Court disallows these votes. This leads a vengeful Urass to attack the Dragon using the armour of his father, Dread Knight, who was an old foe of SuperPatriot's.
Behind the scenes, Erik Larsen was made publisher of Image Comics, causing a nearly year-long publishing gap between issues 121 and 122 of the series. The title resumed regular publication in January 2006, with the first story involving a vengeful scientist from Iraq
sending an almost unstoppable robot to kill the President.
Mr. Glum's plans for world domination were realised using the power of the God Gun (a weapon able to grant three wishes to its user). Glum fires the gun and asserts his control of the planet while the Dragon is incapacitated in a hospital, having lost his rapid healing abilities. Glum was, at the time, on the run with the Dragon's stepdaughter Angel after he caused her to grow to more than 100-feet tall, and she accidentally destroyed her house and crippled her mother. The two become partners, and Angel adopts a murderous, merciless personality, while Glum set the people of Earth to work with the impossible task of making the planet look like his face (as his old world did).
The Dragon is revived with his healing abilities restored and is able to defy Glum's control because of a loop-hole in his wish that means he cannot control extraterrestrials. The Dragon is unable to get close enough to Glum due to the various robots and villains Glum has under his control. However, the intervention of a number of characters from the comic series Wanted
, who had come to steal the God Gun, allows Dragon to destroy the weapon, negating Glum's wish.
During the story, Vanguard's space ship is destroyed, freeing Universo, who was imprisoned on it. He begins to suck the energy from Earth once more. Universo and its herald are killed by Solar Man, a Superman
-like hero who became murderous and was wished out of existence using the God Gun, a wish undone by the Dragon's destruction of the weapon. She-Dragon also returns from Dimension X with the Angel from the Dragon's original world of origin. They are being pursued by the Darkworld Dragon and a new villainess Battleaxe.
Meanwhile, a new Overlord takes over the Vicious Circle, resuming his attacks over the city, and Savage, hospitalized after a fight, is ambushed and killed by a new freak, with the power to steal the memories and the lifeforce of his enemies. Due to the huge amount of lifeforce held by Dragon, and his powerful immune system, the freak absorbs all of his memories and physical characteristic, becoming essentially a new iteration of the Dragon. The Impostor Dragon has the remains of his former body packed in a preservative solution by Rex, and resumes his normal life.
Even this new lease at life appears to be short-lived, as the New Overlord, after trying to bargain with Savage Dragon for his allegiance, literally blows his head and torso away: the Impostor Dragon, brought in the Vicious Circle laboratories for analysis, revives himself as a crazed, unstoppable, deformed powerhouse with conflicting memories, bent on nourishing himself on the superpowered Angel and Malcolm.
Still knowing nothing about the actions of the Impostor Dragon, Angel and Malcolm seek a way to revive the body of Savage Dragon, despite being faced by Rex with the prospective of creating nothing more than a soulless being, or a mind-addled monstrosity, due to the brain matter lost during the attack. They set off to ask Nurse Stevens for the last blood sample of Dragon, hoping to use its regenerative abilities to speed on the recovery, and the resurrection, of the Savage Dragon corpse. The Vicious Circle however overpowers them, stealing the blood sample to create an army of Dragon clones.
As a last way resort, after being faced by the Impostor Dragon, who attacks Rex and is frozen in the preservative solution, Rex and Malcolm agree to transfuse part of Malcolm blood in the Dragon corpse. The Dragon revives, but losing all the memories of his former life.
He then proceeds to alienate from himself Malcolm, planning vengeance over the Vicious Circle, now using Dragon's blood to empower his members. The New Overlord decides to strike a truce with the police department as seen in #159. He lends the help of all the Superfreaks in his command to stop Kurr. As the last attempt fails, Kurr sheds his facade, proclaiming his identity and retelling his origins (see below), for the first time in-universe speaking, to Malcolm and Angel. Battling his way through several enemies, including Vanguard, an unnamed Shapeshifter taking She-Dragon's appearance, Glum, the original Angel and other friends and foes from his past, Kurr cleanses Earth from human life, using a special venom.
After he battles and kills Malcolm, the Impostor Dragon wakes up, this time with Savage Dragon's personality fully in charge, and avenges his offspring and world by killing the Kurr-Dragon. Damian Overlord proceeds to restore his original look and body, giving Savage Dragon the opportunity to greet his species, and leave the cleansed Earth in their care.
Distraught by the consequences of Kurr actions, he pleads with Damian Overlord for the power to travel back in time and kill Kurr before he unleashes the potion, thus creating another divergent timeline where his family is still alive. Damian grants his wish, mercilessly killing him shortly thereftar as "Savage Dragon is a dangerous wildcard for the world". As a bittersweet ending to his plight, is strongly hinted that Damian transplanted Savage's personality in WildStar's body, granting him the ability to look after Malcolm and Angel without being Kurr or the Savage Dragon again. However, in the "restored" timeline Kurr's alien son, along with a "mysterious gentleman" takes away Virus 'corpse (as he's called now the Impostor Dragon), taking it on his spaceshift. Malcolm shows confidence at the news, hoping that Virus holds enough of his father to return him to life, someday.
After the Dragon Wars Malcolm Dragon has taken Savage Dragon's role, along with his adopted sister Angel, acting as protectors of the City. A schism in the Superfreaks has brought to Overlord working with the Police Force, and a part of the Freaks still engaging in villainy, with Malcolm to keep them in check.
, Marc Silvestri
, and Jim Valentino
) returning to the characters they first created for the company. Larsen's story revealed that the Dragon used to be an evil tyrant named Emperor Kurr, who led a nomadic race of space aliens who spent thousands of years traveling through space, searching for a suitable new homeworld. After Kurr had chosen Earth, he decided to go against his people's peaceful ways and slaughter all humans. Two scientists named Rech and Weiko conspired against him, giving him brain damage that erased his memory, and implanted within his memories five days' worth of satellite television broadcasts from Earth. Kurr was then sent to live on Earth, while his race moved on to search for a new planet elsewhere.
often features main character Brent Leroy reading a Savage Dragon comic book at the counter of his gas station.
on the USA Network
. Produced by Universal Cartoon Studios
, it ran for 26 episodes from 1995 to 1996 and featured numerous supporting characters from the comic book series, including She-Dragon, Horde, Barbaric, Mako and Overlord. The Dragon was voiced by Jim Cummings
. Additional voices were provided by Mark Hamill
, Michael Dorn
, Jennifer Hale
, Rene Auberjonois
, Frank Welker
, Dawnn Lewis
, Paul Eiding
, Peter Cullen
, Rob Paulsen
, Robert Ito
and Tony Jay
.
Savage Dragon episode 21 (208) called "Endgame" included a crossover with the Wing Commander Academy
1996 animated series.
also listed Savage Dragon as the 95th greatest comic book hero of all time stating that he has a trappings of a great comic book hero.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
series created by Erik Larsen
Erik Larsen
Erik J. Larsen is an American comic book writer, artist and publisher. He is best known for his work on Savage Dragon, as one of the founders of Image Comics, and for his work on Spider-Man for Marvel Comics.-Early life:...
, published by Image Comics
Image Comics
Image Comics is a United States comic book publisher. It was founded in 1992 by high-profile illustrators as a venue where creators could publish their material without giving up the copyrights to the characters they created, as creator-owned properties. It was immediately successful, and remains...
and taking place in the Image Universe
Image Universe
The Image Universe is a fictional shared universe wherein many of the comic books published by Image Comics take place.-Publication history:The Image Universe began with the founding of Image Comics in 1992, launching with series such as The Savage Dragon, Spawn, Youngblood and WildC.A.T.s.Image...
. The comic features the adventures of a superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
ic police officer
Police officer
A police officer is a warranted employee of a police force...
named the Dragon. The character first appeared as Dragon in Graphic Fantasy #1 (June 1982) and first appeared as the "Savage Dragon" in Megaton #3 (February 1986).
The Dragon is a large, finned, green-skinned humanoid whose powers include super-strength
Superhuman strength
Superhuman strength, also called superstrength, super-strength, or super strength, is an ability commonly employed in fiction. It is the ability for a character to be stronger than humanly possible...
and an advanced healing factor
Healing factor
A healing factor is a term used to describe the ability of some characters in fiction to recover from bodily injuries or disease at a superhuman rate...
. He is also an amnesia
Amnesia
Amnesia is a condition in which one's memory is lost. The causes of amnesia have traditionally been divided into categories. Memory appears to be stored in several parts of the limbic system of the brain, and any condition that interferes with the function of this system can cause amnesia...
c: his earliest memory is awakening in a burning field in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
. Thus, for most of the series, the origins of his powers and appearance are a mystery to readers. At the beginning of the series, he becomes a police officer and battles the mutant criminal "superfreaks" that terrorize Chicago.
Savage Dragon is one of two original Image Comics titles still published (the other being Spawn
Spawn (comics)
Spawn is a fictional comic book superhero who appears in a monthly comic book of the same name published by Image Comics. Created by writer/artist Todd McFarlane, Spawn first appeared in Spawn #1...
) and the only one still written and drawn by its creator, for which Larsen has been lauded.Savage Dragon is the longest running full-color comic book to feature a single artist/writer. The character was also adapted into an animated series, which ran for two seasons (26 episodes) on the USA Network
USA Network
USA Network is an American cable television channel launched in 1971. Once a minor player in basic cable, the network has steadily gained popularity because of breakout hits like Monk, Psych, Burn Notice, Royal Pains, Covert Affairs, White Collar, Monday Night RAW, Suits, and reruns of the various...
beginning in 1995.
Savage Dragon has been considered as one of the greatest comic book characters by Wizard magazine and one of the greatest comic book heroes of all time by IGN.
Publication history
Like many of Erik Larsen's characters, the Savage Dragon was created by Larsen while he was a child in elementary schoolElementary school
An elementary school or primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America, where the terms grade school and grammar...
. In his youth, Larsen drew the Dragon in homemade comic books. The original Dragon, inspired by elements from Captain Marvel
Captain Marvel (DC Comics)
Captain Marvel is a fictional comic book superhero, originally published by Fawcett Comics and later by DC Comics. Created in 1939 by artist C. C. Beck and writer Bill Parker, the character first appeared in Whiz Comics #2...
, Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
, Speed Racer
Speed Racer
Speed Racer is an English adaptation name of the Japanese manga and anime, which centered on automobile racing. Mach GoGoGo was originally serialized in print form in Shueisha's 1958 Shōnen Book, and was released in tankōbon book form by Sun Wide Comics, re-released in Japan by Fusosha...
and later The Incredible Hulk
Hulk (comics)
The Hulk is a fictional character, a superhero in the . Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in The Incredible Hulk #1 ....
, differs greatly from the modern incarnation. After launching Savage Dragon in a professionally published comic book, Larsen returned to the original and reworked his designs into the characters William Jonson, a police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
officer ally of the Dragon, and Flash Mercury, the "Spectacular Dragon".
Much later, a greatly redesigned Savage Dragon was featured in two issues of Graphic Fantasy, a self-published title with a small print run, published by Larsen and two friends. In this incarnation, the Dragon was a widower and a retired member of a government-sponsored superhero team. Subsequently, the Dragon made another appearance in the third issue of Gary Carlson
Gary Carlson
Gary Carlson is an American comic book writer, editor and publisher.-Biography:Gary self-published and created the black and white superhero anthology Megaton back in the early '80s, which introduced many new comic book talents including artists Erik Larsen, Rob Liefeld and Angel Medina as well...
's Megaton anthology in its Vanguard
Vanguard (Image Comics)
Vanguard is a fictional alien hero created by Gary Carlson and Erik Larsen for Carlson's self-published anthology Megaton. Vanguard is a white alien with small antennae who has been given the unenviable job of guarding Earth, which is viewed by the aliens as boring with little chance of anything...
strip, which Larsen had been drawing. In these appearances, the character of the Dragon remained basically the same as it had been in Graphic Fantasy, with a few details modified (such as the inclusion of his wife, who was dead in his previous incarnation). Both the Graphic Fantasy and Megaton issues containing the Dragon have since been reprinted in high-quality editions.
In 1992, when Larsen left Marvel
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
to co-found Image Comics, he reworked the character for the new publication venture. This time, the Dragon was a massively muscle
Muscle
Muscle is a contractile tissue of animals and is derived from the mesodermal layer of embryonic germ cells. Muscle cells contain contractile filaments that move past each other and change the size of the cell. They are classified as skeletal, cardiac, or smooth muscles. Their function is to...
d green amnesiac, who joined the Chicago police department after being discovered in a burning field. Initially debuting in a three-issue mini-series, the Savage Dragon comic book met with enough success to justify a monthly series, launched in 1993. To this day, Larsen continues to write and illustrate the series entirely by himself, and has maintained a reasonably consistent monthly schedule (save for occasional lapses) in comparison with the other original Image Comics titles. Larsen has occasionally produced ancillary mini-series, and sometimes allowed other creators to produce stories featuring the Dragon or other characters from the series.
According to Larsen, the series is aimed at "older Marvel readers who are about ready to throw in the towel on comics altogether. It's the missing link between Marvel and Vertigo. More mature than Marvel; less pretentious than Vertigo. The kind of comics [he wants] to read. [The] book is really self-indulgent."
Character biography
For the initial mini-series and the first 38 issues of the ongoing series, the Dragon was a full officer of the Chicago Police Department, and partnered with officer Alex Wilde. Dragon and Wilde would later have a casual sexual relationship. He received the name of "Dragon" (due to his fin and green skin) from Nurse Ann Stevens, who would later become a supporting character in Mighty Man.Mini-series
The Dragon was found in a burning field by Lt. Frank Darling. At the time, Chicago was being terrorized by villainous "superfreaks" (Larsen's collective term for superpowered characters), namely the criminal gang called the Vicious CircleVicious Circle (comics)
The Vicious Circle is a criminal organization of mutants, cyborgs, monsters, assassins, and magicians that serves as the primary opponents for the superheroes in Erik Larsen's comic-book titles, primarily the Dragon.-Overview:...
, led by the mysterious Overlord
Overlord (comics)
Overlord is a comic-book supervillain created by Erik Larsen, first appearing in Larsen's Savage Dragon series and serving as that title's first principal villain. Like many of Larsen's characters, Overlord was based on a character that Larsen had created during his childhood...
. Realizing that the Dragon's superhuman powers would be a terrific boon to the police in battling the Vicious Circle, Darling asks the Dragon to join the police. At first, the Dragon refuses and takes a job in the warehouse of Darling's cousin. After a number of serious incidents, including the murder of the superhero Mighty Man and the brutal mauling of SuperPatriot
SuperPatriot
SuperPatriot is an Image Comics superhero created by Erik Larsen in 1992. SuperPatriot has had regular appearances in Erik Larsen's titles, whether in his own mini-series or as a supporting character and is currently a member of the Liberty League....
, Darling takes drastic action. He pays Vicious Circle members to threaten his cousin in the hope that it will prompt Dragon to re-consider his offer. Although this achieves Darling's desired result, the two criminals, Skullface and Hardware, kill Darling's cousin and detonate a bomb in his warehouse. The Dragon joins the police, but Darling is now under the thumb of the Vicious Circle, causing him to steer the Dragon away from Vicious Circle activities.
Later, the Dragon gains a girlfriend, Debbie Harris, only to see her shot dead in his apartment by her jealous ex-boyfriend Arnold Dimple. The Dragon falls into a deep depression as a result. Dimple returns to plague the Dragon on several occasions as the Fiend, who makes a deal with the Devil
Devil
The Devil is believed in many religions and cultures to be a powerful, supernatural entity that is the personification of evil and the enemy of God and humankind. The nature of the role varies greatly...
to gain supernatural powers.
Chicago PD
As well as being kept away from Vicious Circle activities, the Dragon was loaned out to other police forces across the country to help them in dealing with superpowered criminals. While on loan to the NYPD, he first met the Teenage Mutant Ninja TurtlesTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are a fictional team of four teenage anthropomorphic turtles, who were trained by their anthropomorphic rat sensei in the art of ninjutsu and named after four Renaissance artists...
, who he assisted multiple times in later comics. Also during his time in New York, a large prison break occurred and a number of powerful and dangerous criminals were killed. This is the first time the Chicago PD lost a star witness against Overlord; Hardware, who intended to give evidence against the criminal, was shot dead.
Though Captain Darling's Freak Force
Freak Force
Freak Force is the name of a fictional team of superhuman bounty hunters operating out of Chicago, Illinois. They originated in the Image Comics series Savage Dragon, but subsequently went on to star in their own series...
program failed, the Dragon carried on a lasting relationship with one of its former members: Rapture
Rapture (comics)
Rapture, real name Sharona Jackson, is a fictional superhero created by Erik Larsen for his Image Comics series Savage Dragon. Rapture was inspired by, and named after. The Knack's song My Sharona...
, a former prostitute with electrical powers, who would later have his child. Meanwhile, Overlord's second-in-command Cyberface
Cyberface
Cyberface is a fictional character, a supervillain and enemy of the Dragon in the He first appears in Savage Dragon #5 and was created by Erik Larsen.-Fictional history:...
broke away from the Vicious Circle to form a rival organization. Cyberface was later arrested but, like Hardware before him, he was killed before he was able to testify. Ultimately Cyberface was resurrected and later led the Vicious Circle under the control of Horde, another recurring villain.
Later, the Dragon made his first attempt to arrest the Overlord, who easily defeated him and left him impaled upon a church spire
Spire
A spire is a tapering conical or pyramidal structure on the top of a building, particularly a church tower. Etymologically, the word is derived from the Old English word spir, meaning a sprout, shoot, or stalk of grass....
. The Dragon was believed to be dead but regenerated from his wounds afterwards. This is not the only time the Dragon was missing and presumed dead; it becomes both a recurring theme and running joke in the series. During his recovery, Dragon was attacked by a person under the mental control of a strange worm. Under the domination of this creature, the Dragon went on a rampage during which many innocent bystanders are injured or killed. He was finally stopped by the vigilante
Vigilante
A vigilante is a private individual who legally or illegally punishes an alleged lawbreaker, or participates in a group which metes out extralegal punishment to an alleged lawbreaker....
Mace, and the worms were traced to Horde. The rampage resulted in a massive negative backlash against the Chicago Police Department, and the Dragon's biggest naysayer, R. Richard Richards, took this opportunity to attack the Dragon with a robotic weapon dubbed "Dragon Slayer". Later, the Dragon encountered the She-Dragon
She-Dragon
Amy Belcher, also known as Sensation and mostly as She-Dragon is a fictional 'superfreak' and later police officer created by Erik Larsen for his series Savage Dragon as a She-Hulk like female counterpart for the series' main character The Dragon....
, a young superpowered woman who modeled herself after him.
Following an attack on the police station and the murder of Cyberface (who is later resurrected), the Dragon led a SWAT team to finally take down the Overlord. The battle was harsh, and every member of the SWAT Team perished except for the Dragon, who was skinned alive. Even in his weakened state, the Dragon finally unmasked the Overlord as mafia
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
boss Antonio Seghetti, who subsequently falls to his death.
After aiding the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for a second time, the Dragon narrowly survived another attack by the Fiend, which left him nearly crippled after his bones healed incorrectly. To make matters worse, Chicago was in the midst of a brutal gang war that arose as a result of the Overlord's death. The Vicious Circle, once kept tightly organized by the Overlord, had since separated into several factions that were battling for criminal supremacy. The Dragon was found by a friendly cabbie and Mighty Man, who used his super-strength to re-set the Dragon's bones. After recuperating from this ordeal
Ordeal
Ordeal may refer to* The American title of What Happened to the Corbetts, a 1939 novel by Nevil Shute* Trial by ordeal, the judicial practice...
, the Dragon fought another prison break, this time in a maximum security facility torn open by a newly resurrected Cyberface. This battle marked the end of the gang war, and Cyberface assumed command of the Vicious Circle.
This victory was followed by difficult times for the Dragon. After a number of crossovers with other Image Comics characters including WildStar
WildStar
This article is about the superhero. For other uses, see Wildstar .WildStar is a Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror superhero created by veteran comic book artist Al Gordon...
and The Maxx
The Maxx
The Maxx is an American comic book series created by Sam Kieth and published originally monthly by Image Comics and now collected in trade paperback collections from DC Comic's Wildstorm imprint. The comic book, which stars a character of the same name, spawned an animated series that aired on the...
, the Dragon encountered Spawn and ultimately was sent to Hell
Hell
In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
by the Fiend. The Fiend can possess living bodies, and his powers are fuelled by the capacity for hate of those possessed. His last victim was Debbie Harris' mother, who was unaware that the demon possessing her was the spirit of her daughter's murderer. While in Hell, a fist-fight occurred between God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
and the Devil. As God finally overcomes the Devil, he warned his defeated opponent: "Don't fuck with God." Just as the amnesiac Dragon begins to ask about his origins, God returned him to earth.
Afterwards, things grow steadily worse for the Dragon. He was unable to save ill fellow officer Phil Dirt with a blood transfusion. Meanwhile, Rapture (pregnant with the Dragon's child) suffered internal damage when the baby kicked—the unborn child having inherited its father's strength—and Rapture entered premature labour. The Dragon was not able to reach the hospital in time, and the baby appeared to have died. However, in truth, the infant was taken by the Covenant of the Sword
Covenant of the Sword (comics)
Covenant of the Sword is a fictional, covert organization bent on global domination appearing in the Image Universe and created by Erik Larsen. Although appearing in Larsen's flagship title, Savage Dragon, the Covenant also appeared in a number of Extreme Studios comics by Rob Liefeld, most notably...
, a shadowy organization bent on world takeover.
After a crossover with Hellboy
Hellboy
Hellboy is a comic book superhero created by writer-artist Mike Mignola. The character first appeared in San Diego Comic-Con Comics #2 , and has since appeared in various eponymous miniseries, one-shots and intercompany crossovers...
, the Dragon was caught up in the Mars Attacks
Mars Attacks
Mars Attacks is a science fiction trading card series released in 1962. The cards feature artwork by science-fiction artist Wallace Wood and tell the story of the invasion of Earth by cruel, hideous Martians. The cards depicted futuristic battle scenes and bizarre methods of Martian attack, torture...
Image and Mars Attacks Savage Dragon event, in which he was responsible for destroying the Martian
Martian
As an adjective, the term martian is used to describe anything pertaining to the planet Mars.However, a Martian is more usually a hypothetical or fictional native inhabitant of the planet Mars. Historically, life on Mars has often been hypothesized, although there is currently no solid evidence of...
s' bases on Mars using a Martian growth ray. This resulted in their retreat and possible extinction. While he was gone, the Vicious Circle had taken control of the city. Returning home to a devastated Chicago, the Dragon was captured and publicly crucified by the Circle. The Dragon survived and defeated most of the villains, but the Dragon's new superior, Captain Mendoza, suspended him for having been missing for so long. During his suspension, the Dragon spent a few months as a bounty hunter
Bounty hunter
A bounty hunter captures fugitives for a monetary reward . Other names, mainly used in the United States, include bail enforcement agent and fugitive recovery agent.-Laws in the U.S.:...
and helped rebuild the city after the Martian invasion.
S.O.S. years
Behind the scenes during this period, Rob LiefeldRob Liefeld
Rob Liefeld is an American comic book writer, illustrator, and publisher. A prominent artist in the 1990s, he has since become a controversial figure in the medium....
departed from Image Comics. The Mars Attacks Image event and the Shattered Image crossover were used as a way to phase out characters created by Liefeld from the collective "Image Universe", including Youngblood
Youngblood (comics)
Youngblood is a superhero team that starred in their self-titled comic book, created by writer/artist Rob Liefeld. The team made its debut as a backup feature in the 1987 one-shot Megaton: Explosion before later appearing in its own ongoing series in 1992 as the flagship publication for Image Comics...
. In the pages of the Savage Dragon, Larsen has the Dragon approached by the United States government to form a superhuman task-force to replace Youngblood. After negotiations, the team is dubbed the Special Operations Strikeforce, or S.O.S. This team includes much of the super-powered supporting cast of the book, including Jennifer Murphy
Jennifer Murphy (comics)
Jennifer Murphy, currently Jennifer Dragon and sometimes using the codename Smasher, is a recurring fictional character in Erik Larsen's Savage Dragon comic book series...
, a super-strong, invulnerable single mother first introduced in The Savage Dragon: Sex & Violence
The Savage Dragon: Sex & Violence
The Savage Dragon: Sex & Violence was a two-issue limited comic book series starring the Savage Dragon, created by Erik Larsen. It ran from August to September 1997...
mini-series. Despite being the founding member of the team, the Dragon spends little time as a member.
Later, on a dying parallel Earth, a murderous despot named Darklord
Damian Darklord
Damian Darklord, or sometimes simply Darklord, was a re-occurring villain in Erik Larsen's The Savage Dragon comic book series who would have major ramifications on the series every time he appeared....
begins to swap parts of his earth with parts from the Dragon's. The Dragon leads a team of S.O.S. members, including Jennifer Murphy and his former girlfriend Rapture, to this world to stop Darklord. Rapture is killed by Darklord, and the Dragon and Jennifer are separated from the rest of the team. While the remaining members of S.O.S. manage to stop the transfer and escape back to their own Earth, the Dragon and Jennifer are forced to find their own way off of the dying planet. While they make their escape, Dragon attempts to find this Earth's Rapture, only to find that world's Debbie Harris instead.
The threesome are lost in space for some months, and Dragon is once again presumed dead, eventually landing on Godworld, where Debbie dies but is revived as an angel. Dragon and Jennifer are caught in a battle between Thor
Thor
In Norse mythology, Thor is a hammer-wielding god associated with thunder, lightning, storms, oak trees, strength, the protection of mankind, and also hallowing, healing, and fertility...
and Hercules
Hercules
Hercules is the Roman name for Greek demigod Heracles, son of Zeus , and the mortal Alcmene...
, and then sent back to Earth by All-God; Debbie does not return with them. Following this, Dragon fights a Dr. Doom-like armored dictator before returning to Chicago on leave and striking up a casual sexual relationship with his former partner Alex Wilde.
In giant-sized issue 50, many of the series sub plots are resolved, and in a climatic battle among most of the series cast, the Dragon is killed by the mystic Abner Cadaver; however, the wizard is murdered midway through this by William Jonson, and the Dragon is bonded with him.
William Jonson and the new Overlord
The series changed its title to Savage She-Dragon for five issues, featuring her as the main character during an attack by The God Squad to retrieve the various super-freaks that were descendants of gods. This led to the S.O.S. returning to Godworld and its accidental destruction by S.O.S. member and former Deadly Duo member Kid Avenger. During this time, William Jonson realizes he and the Dragon are sharing bodies, and shortly thereafter Dragon finds he has the ability to take over Jonson's body so they become a masked superhero. While he is helping She-Dragon, Jonson's fiancé, Rita Medermade, is kidnapped by Jonson's brother Ralph and they both encounter an individual wearing the Overlord armor. While rescuing her, Jonson is shot, Ralph is killed by Overlord, and Dragon is given full possession of his body.Abner Cadaver returns—made up of parts of dead God Squad characters, Darklord, and Dragon's arm—and engages in battle with Fon~Ti, the mystical being who was once Horde. After Fon~Ti’s victory, he separates the Dragon from Jonson and returns the Dragon to his normal body. Having admitted their love, Jennifer and Dragon begin to date. After a fight with Impostor, posing as Rapture, Dragon proposes to Jennifer, and their wedding follows in the next issue, in which Jennifer is apparently killed by the new Overlord. In truth, she was replaced with Impostor beforehand by the Covenant of the Sword. Though he had only been semi-active before, the Dragon officially resigns from the S.O.S. and became the legal guardian of Jennifer's daughter Angel. In the following issue, the Overlord sub plot is tied up after the Dragon defeats his new team. The Dragon kills Overlord, and he is revealed as supporting character Vic Nixon, who had worn the armor to spy on Rita; the armor then corrupted him. After this, the Overlord armor is destroyed.
Single parent and Damian Darklord
Following the resolution of the new Overlord plot, the series spent most of its issues wrapping up all the remaining sub plots. This was preparation for the eventual revamp in issue 75, with the Dragon as a single parent looking after Angel and eventually losing a custody battle for her because of his dangerous lifestyle. The Dragon dated a television producer named Marcy Howard, resumed his casual affair with Alex Wilde, and dated Ann Stevens before she is murdered, while a number of super-powered children and adults were kidnapped by the Covenant of the Sword.After losing custody of Angel, and Ann's murder, the Dragon and Mighty Man (now former Freak Force member Dart
Dart (comics)
Dart is a fictional Image Comics superhero. Created by Erik Larsen, she first appeared in 1992, in Savage Dragon #2 .-Publication history:...
) began searching for the missing SuperPatriot. This led them to the Covenant of the Sword, which had in its possession SuperPatriot, Jennifer and the Dragon's child. The Dragon and Mighty Man are captured but eventually rescued in a large battle similar to the one in issue 50 in which a number of characters are killed.
It was revealed that the Covenant was formed by Damian Darklord, a time traveler who was the enemy of a vigilante named Super-Tough. This man became Darklord and started life as Damian, the son of Liberty, SuperPatriot’s daughter who was raped during the Mars Attacks event. Damian also built and detonated the "Nega Bomb" made up of super-powered individuals that de-powered every non-natural "freak" in the world. The Dragon then kills him.
This Savage World
With issue 76, the series changed into a Jack KirbyJack Kirby
Jack Kirby , born Jacob Kurtzberg, was an American comic book artist, writer and editor regarded by historians and fans as one of the major innovators and most influential creators in the comic book medium....
-inspired post-apocalyptic/dystopian story. The Dragon is stuck in a new reality he created by killing the infant Damian Darklord, which prevented him from going back in time, and with most of the mutated and monstrous populace of this world trying to kill him. The Dragon finds his house to be a crater and believes Jennifer and Angel are dead. The Dragon has encounters with WildStar and Madman and finds out that during his time possessed, without Mace to stop him, he went on a much longer rampage, killing Alex Wilde. The Dragon also discovers that Cyberface is now President of America and has SuperPatriot under his control. The Dragon organises a group of old enemies and allies to defeat Cyberface. After fulfilling a commitment to Rex Dexter—who helped him overthrow Cyberface—by saving his daughter, the Dragon returns a hero, and finds his way back to Chicago and is re-united with Jennifer and Angel, who had in fact survived.
The Dragon then finds his old world had survived as well as the Savage World. His counterpart from Darkworld, this Dragon, was defeated, but the Dragon's old Earth was destroyed by a world-devouring Galactus
Galactus
Galactus is a fictional character appearing in comic books and other publications published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist and co-plotter Jack Kirby, the character debuted in Fantastic Four #48 , the first of a three-issue story later known as "The Galactus...
-like being named Universo, despite the best efforts of the Dragon and his son, Malcolm, who are left floating in space after its destruction. The Dragon is able to save Alex Wilde from that world. After this, the Dragon marries Jennifer and lives with her, Angel, and Angel’s new "pet", Mr. Glum, who is secretly plotting to kill Dragon.
To coincide with the 2004 U.S. presidential election, Larsen created a corrupt politician Ronald Winston Urass, who engineers a successful write-in campaign to elect the Dragon President of the United States. However, once his criminal intents and relationship to the criminal Dread Knight are exposed, the Supreme Court disallows these votes. This leads a vengeful Urass to attack the Dragon using the armour of his father, Dread Knight, who was an old foe of SuperPatriot's.
Behind the scenes, Erik Larsen was made publisher of Image Comics, causing a nearly year-long publishing gap between issues 121 and 122 of the series. The title resumed regular publication in January 2006, with the first story involving a vengeful scientist from Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
sending an almost unstoppable robot to kill the President.
Mr. Glum's plans for world domination were realised using the power of the God Gun (a weapon able to grant three wishes to its user). Glum fires the gun and asserts his control of the planet while the Dragon is incapacitated in a hospital, having lost his rapid healing abilities. Glum was, at the time, on the run with the Dragon's stepdaughter Angel after he caused her to grow to more than 100-feet tall, and she accidentally destroyed her house and crippled her mother. The two become partners, and Angel adopts a murderous, merciless personality, while Glum set the people of Earth to work with the impossible task of making the planet look like his face (as his old world did).
The Dragon is revived with his healing abilities restored and is able to defy Glum's control because of a loop-hole in his wish that means he cannot control extraterrestrials. The Dragon is unable to get close enough to Glum due to the various robots and villains Glum has under his control. However, the intervention of a number of characters from the comic series Wanted
Wanted (comics)
Wanted is a comic book limited series written by Mark Millar, with art by J. G. Jones. It was published by Top Cow in 2003 and 2004 as part of Millarworld...
, who had come to steal the God Gun, allows Dragon to destroy the weapon, negating Glum's wish.
During the story, Vanguard's space ship is destroyed, freeing Universo, who was imprisoned on it. He begins to suck the energy from Earth once more. Universo and its herald are killed by Solar Man, a Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
-like hero who became murderous and was wished out of existence using the God Gun, a wish undone by the Dragon's destruction of the weapon. She-Dragon also returns from Dimension X with the Angel from the Dragon's original world of origin. They are being pursued by the Darkworld Dragon and a new villainess Battleaxe.
Back to Basics
After Angel and Malcolm's return to the new world, Savage Dragon is left to face a new array of troubles. With Jennifer now disappeared and presumed dead, two superstrong kids, but ill-equipped to face the return to normalcy after months spent in isolation (Angel has now learning deficits, and Malcolm is nearly illiterate) and no income to care for his family, Savage Dragon returns to the Police force.Meanwhile, a new Overlord takes over the Vicious Circle, resuming his attacks over the city, and Savage, hospitalized after a fight, is ambushed and killed by a new freak, with the power to steal the memories and the lifeforce of his enemies. Due to the huge amount of lifeforce held by Dragon, and his powerful immune system, the freak absorbs all of his memories and physical characteristic, becoming essentially a new iteration of the Dragon. The Impostor Dragon has the remains of his former body packed in a preservative solution by Rex, and resumes his normal life.
Even this new lease at life appears to be short-lived, as the New Overlord, after trying to bargain with Savage Dragon for his allegiance, literally blows his head and torso away: the Impostor Dragon, brought in the Vicious Circle laboratories for analysis, revives himself as a crazed, unstoppable, deformed powerhouse with conflicting memories, bent on nourishing himself on the superpowered Angel and Malcolm.
Still knowing nothing about the actions of the Impostor Dragon, Angel and Malcolm seek a way to revive the body of Savage Dragon, despite being faced by Rex with the prospective of creating nothing more than a soulless being, or a mind-addled monstrosity, due to the brain matter lost during the attack. They set off to ask Nurse Stevens for the last blood sample of Dragon, hoping to use its regenerative abilities to speed on the recovery, and the resurrection, of the Savage Dragon corpse. The Vicious Circle however overpowers them, stealing the blood sample to create an army of Dragon clones.
As a last way resort, after being faced by the Impostor Dragon, who attacks Rex and is frozen in the preservative solution, Rex and Malcolm agree to transfuse part of Malcolm blood in the Dragon corpse. The Dragon revives, but losing all the memories of his former life.
Dragon Wars
Concerned about the new, harder attitude of the Dragon, the New Overlord has the Dark Dragon sent after the Savage Dragon. Showing a callous disregard for human life, the Savage Dragon ultimately reveals to have regained every shred of his past memory as Kurr the Emperor (see above), and after beating up the Dark Dragon he eats his brains, killing him for his defiance.He then proceeds to alienate from himself Malcolm, planning vengeance over the Vicious Circle, now using Dragon's blood to empower his members. The New Overlord decides to strike a truce with the police department as seen in #159. He lends the help of all the Superfreaks in his command to stop Kurr. As the last attempt fails, Kurr sheds his facade, proclaiming his identity and retelling his origins (see below), for the first time in-universe speaking, to Malcolm and Angel. Battling his way through several enemies, including Vanguard, an unnamed Shapeshifter taking She-Dragon's appearance, Glum, the original Angel and other friends and foes from his past, Kurr cleanses Earth from human life, using a special venom.
After he battles and kills Malcolm, the Impostor Dragon wakes up, this time with Savage Dragon's personality fully in charge, and avenges his offspring and world by killing the Kurr-Dragon. Damian Overlord proceeds to restore his original look and body, giving Savage Dragon the opportunity to greet his species, and leave the cleansed Earth in their care.
Distraught by the consequences of Kurr actions, he pleads with Damian Overlord for the power to travel back in time and kill Kurr before he unleashes the potion, thus creating another divergent timeline where his family is still alive. Damian grants his wish, mercilessly killing him shortly thereftar as "Savage Dragon is a dangerous wildcard for the world". As a bittersweet ending to his plight, is strongly hinted that Damian transplanted Savage's personality in WildStar's body, granting him the ability to look after Malcolm and Angel without being Kurr or the Savage Dragon again. However, in the "restored" timeline Kurr's alien son, along with a "mysterious gentleman" takes away Virus 'corpse (as he's called now the Impostor Dragon), taking it on his spaceshift. Malcolm shows confidence at the news, hoping that Virus holds enough of his father to return him to life, someday.
After the Dragon Wars Malcolm Dragon has taken Savage Dragon's role, along with his adopted sister Angel, acting as protectors of the City. A schism in the Superfreaks has brought to Overlord working with the Police Force, and a part of the Freaks still engaging in villainy, with Malcolm to keep them in check.
Origin revealed
Savage Dragon's origin was revealed in the Image Comics 10th Anniversary hardcover book, which was released on November 30, 2005. The collection featured stories by the four remaining Image founders (Erik Larsen, Todd McFarlaneTodd McFarlane
Todd McFarlane is a Canadian cartoonist, writer, toy designer and entrepreneur, best known for his work in comic books, such as the fantasy series Spawn....
, Marc Silvestri
Marc Silvestri
Marc Silvestri is an American comic book artist, creator and publisher. He currently acts as the CEO for Top Cow Productions.-Early life:Marc Silvestri was born in Palm Beach, Florida.-Career:...
, and Jim Valentino
Jim Valentino
Jim Valentino is an American writer, penciler, editor and publisher of comic books.-1970s - 1992:Valentino began his career in the late 1970s creating small press and mostly autobiographical comics. The early-mid 1980s saw normalman which first appeared as a back-up story in Aardvark-Vanaheim's...
) returning to the characters they first created for the company. Larsen's story revealed that the Dragon used to be an evil tyrant named Emperor Kurr, who led a nomadic race of space aliens who spent thousands of years traveling through space, searching for a suitable new homeworld. After Kurr had chosen Earth, he decided to go against his people's peaceful ways and slaughter all humans. Two scientists named Rech and Weiko conspired against him, giving him brain damage that erased his memory, and implanted within his memories five days' worth of satellite television broadcasts from Earth. Kurr was then sent to live on Earth, while his race moved on to search for a new planet elsewhere.
Collected editions
- The Savage Dragon (collects #1-3 of the original Savage Dragon mini-series, plus the Savage Dragon story from Image Comics #0, with pages rearranged to appear in chronological order)
- Savage Dragon Volume 1: Baptism of Fire (reprints #1-5 of the Dragon miniseries, a reworked version of the original Savage Dragon miniseries)
- Savage Dragon Volume 2: A Force To Be Reckoned With (collects #1-6)
- Savage Dragon Volume 3: The Fallen (collects #7-11)
- Savage Dragon Volume 4: Possessed (collects #12-16 and WildC.A.T.s #14)
- Savage Dragon Volume 5: Revenge (collects #17-21)
- Savage Dragon Volume 6: Gang War (collects #22-26)
- Savage Dragon Volume 7: A Talk With God (collects #27-33)
- Savage Dragon/Hellboy (collects #34-35)
- Savage Dragon Volume 8: Terminated (collects #34-40, #1/2)
- Savage Dragon Volume 9: Worlds At War (collects #41-46)
- Savage Dragon Volume 10: Endgame (collects #47-52)
- Savage Dragon Volume 11: Resurrection (collects #53-58)
- Savage Dragon Volume 12: Last Rites - cancelled (would have collected #59-63)
- Savage Dragon Volume 13: Desperate Times - cancelled (would have collected #64-69)
- Savage Dragon Volume 14: End of the World - cancelled (would have collected #70-75)
- Savage Dragon Volume 15: This Savage World (collects #76-81)
- Savage Dragon: United We Stand (collects #139-144) (August 2010) (ISBN 1607062968)
- Savage Dragon: Back In Blue (collects #145-150) (January 2010) (ISBN 1607061848)
- Savage Dragon: Identity Crisis (collects #151-156) (March 2010) (ISBN 1607062585)
- Savage Dragon: Dragon War (collects #157-162) (November 2010) (ISBN 1607063239)
- Savage Dragon: Emperor Dragon (collects #163-168) (to be released on April 5, 2011)
- Savage Dragon: Team-Ups (collects Vanguard #3-4, Velocity #2, Freak Force #10, Savage Dragon #13A, 25, and 30)
- The Dragon: Blood & Guts (collects the 3-issue Blood & Guts mini-series)
- Savage Dragon Archives Volume 1 (collects #1-3 of the mini-series and #1-21 of the ongoing series)
- Savage Dragon Archives Volume 2 (collects #22-50)
- Savage Dragon Archives Volume 3 (collects #51-75, to be released on January 10, 2012)
- Savage Dragon Archives Volume 4 (collects #76-100, to be released)
Multimedia
- The Erik Larsen CD-Rom Comic Book Anthology (1995, Think Multimedia Entertainment) collected the Savage Dragon Mini-Series (1-3) Savage Dragon 1-10, Freak Force 1-4, Vanguard 1-6, SuperPatriot 1-4, and the Savage Dragon Vs. Savage Megaton Man Special plus Graphic Fantasy 1 & 2 and Megaton 3 (early independent comics featuring the Dragon)
Other media
The Canadian sitcom Corner GasCorner Gas
Corner Gas is a Canadian television sitcom created by Brent Butt. The series ran for six seasons from 2004 to 2009. Re-runs still air on CTV and The Comedy Network in Canada; it formerly aired on WGN America in the United States....
often features main character Brent Leroy reading a Savage Dragon comic book at the counter of his gas station.
Animated series
In 1995, the Savage Dragon appeared in an eponymous half-hour animated television series as part of the Cartoon ExpressUSA Cartoon Express
The USA Cartoon Express was a programming block of animated productions which aired on cable television's USA Network from late 1982 to September 15, 1996...
on the USA Network
USA Network
USA Network is an American cable television channel launched in 1971. Once a minor player in basic cable, the network has steadily gained popularity because of breakout hits like Monk, Psych, Burn Notice, Royal Pains, Covert Affairs, White Collar, Monday Night RAW, Suits, and reruns of the various...
. Produced by Universal Cartoon Studios
Universal Animation Studios
Universal Animation Studios , is an American animation studio which is a division of Universal Studios....
, it ran for 26 episodes from 1995 to 1996 and featured numerous supporting characters from the comic book series, including She-Dragon, Horde, Barbaric, Mako and Overlord. The Dragon was voiced by Jim Cummings
Jim Cummings
James Jonah "Jim" Cummings is an American voice actor who has appeared in almost 100 roles. He has appeared in classic animated movies such as Aladdin and The Lion King, as well as taking on roles in more current films, such as Bee Movie, Princess and the Frog, and Winnie the Pooh.-Personal...
. Additional voices were provided by Mark Hamill
Mark Hamill
Mark Richard Hamill is an American actor, voice artist, producer, director, and writer, best known for his role as Luke Skywalker in the original trilogy of Star Wars. More recently, he has received acclaim for his voice work, in such roles as the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series, Firelord...
, Michael Dorn
Michael Dorn
Michael Dorn is an American actor, and voice artist who is best known for his role as the Klingon Worf from the Star Trek franchise.-Early life and career:...
, Jennifer Hale
Jennifer Hale
Jennifer Hale is a Canadian-born American actress and singer best known for her voice over work in video games like Grandia II, the Mass Effect trilogy, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Tales of Symphonia, the Metroid Prime trilogy, the Metal Gear Solid games, Brütal Legend, and Disney's...
, Rene Auberjonois
Rene Auberjonois
René Murat Auberjonois is an American actor, known for portraying Father Mulcahy in the movie version of M*A*S*H and for creating a number of characters in long-running television series, including Clayton Endicott III on Benson , Odo on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Chef Louis in The Little...
, Frank Welker
Frank Welker
Franklin Wendell "Frank" Welker is an American actor who specializes in voice acting and has contributed character voices and other vocal effects to American television and motion pictures.-Acting career:...
, Dawnn Lewis
Dawnn Lewis
Dawnn Lewis is an American actress and singer, perhaps best known for her roles on sitcoms such as A Different World and in the first season of Hangin' with Mr. Cooper.-Career:...
, Paul Eiding
Paul Eiding
Paul Eiding is an American voice actor, voice instructor, and actor, perhaps best known as the voice actor behind Perceptor in the original Transformers cartoon, Roy Campbell in the Metal Gear series, the narrator in Diablo, Judicator Aldaris in StarCraft, and Max Tennyson in Ben 10, Ben 10: Alien...
, Peter Cullen
Peter Cullen
Peter Claver Cullen is a Canadian voice actor, known as the voice of Eeyore in the Winnie-the-Pooh franchise, Optimus Prime and Ironhide in the original Transformers series, and the narrator in both of the original American Voltron series...
, Rob Paulsen
Rob Paulsen
Robert Fredrick "Rob" Paulsen III , sometimes credited as Rob Paulson, is an American voice actor, best known as the voice behind Raphael from the 1987 cartoon of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Yakko Warner and Dr...
, Robert Ito
Robert Ito
Robert Ito is a Canadian voice, television, and movie actor of Japanese decent.A Canadian actor of Japanese descent, Ito was, for many years, a dancer with the National Ballet of Canada before turning to acting in the mid-1960s...
and Tony Jay
Tony Jay
Tony Jay was an English actor, voice actor and singer. A former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, he was known for his voice work in animation, film and computer games. Jay's distinctive baritone voice often landed him villainous roles...
.
Savage Dragon episode 21 (208) called "Endgame" included a crossover with the Wing Commander Academy
Wing Commander Academy
Wing Commander Academy is an American animated television series created and produced by Universal Cartoon Studios, along with a team led by Larry Latham. The show was based on the Wing Commander franchise and loosely served as a prequel to Wing Commander. The show's premiere airdate was September...
1996 animated series.
Reception
Savage Dragon was listed by Wizard magazine as the 116th greatest comic book characters of all time. IGNIGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
also listed Savage Dragon as the 95th greatest comic book hero of all time stating that he has a trappings of a great comic book hero.
External links
- SavageDragon.com - Official site
- ImageComics.com - Image Comics Official site
- Full Issue: Savage Dragon #1, Image Comics
- Savage Dragon Daily @ ComicBookGazette.com - New Page of Savage Dragon Every Day, Free