Savage Dragon
The Savage Dragon is the name of three superheroes created by Erik Larsen, published by Image Comics and taking place in the Image Universe. The comic initially follows the adventures of a superheroic police officer named the Dragon. The character first appeared as the Dragon in Graphic Fantasy #1 and first appeared as the "Savage Dragon" in Megaton #3, before starring as the protagonist of the ongoing comic book series The Savage Dragon.
The Dragon is a large, finned, green-skinned humanoid whose powers include super-strength and an advanced healing factor. He is also an amnesiac: 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 under the legal name "Savage Dragon" and battles the mutant criminal "superfreaks" that terrorize Chicago. Ultimately, the Dragon is revealed to be the amnesiac Kurr, tyrannical emperor of the known universe. After sacrificing himself in the thirty-ninth volume Merging of Multiple Earths, the Dragon is succeeded by his son Malcolm Dragon as the Savage Dragon, who becomes the new protagonist of The Savage Dragon. Paul Dragon is also introduced in a supporting role as a version of the original Dragon who survived his universe's destruction.
Together with Spawn, Savage Dragon is one of two Image Comics titles that debuted during the company's 1992 launch that continues to be published well into the early 2020s. Further, Savage Dragon is the only one of the two that has been written and drawn entirely by its creator for the entirety of its run, 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 on the USA Network beginning in 1995.
The Savage Dragon was listed by Wizard as the 116th-greatest comic book characters of all time. IGN listed the Savage Dragon as the 95th-greatest comic book hero of all time, stating that he has the trappings of a great comic book hero.
Publication history
Like many of Erik Larsen's characters, the Savage Dragon was created by Larsen while he was a child in elementary school. 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.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 Comics anthology Megaton—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. 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 muscled green amnesiac, who joined the Chicago police department after being discovered in a burning field. Initially debuting in a three-issue miniseries, the Savage Dragon comic book met with enough success to justify a monthly series, launched in June 1993. To this day, Larsen continues to write and illustrate the series entirely by himself, and has maintained a reasonably consistent monthly schedule in comparison with the other original Image Comics titles.
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 to read. book is really self-indulgent."
As the series has progressed, it has become a 'Mature Readers' title with occasional nudity and strong language.
Fictional character biography
For the initial miniseries and the first 38 issues of the ongoing series, the Dragon is a full officer of the Chicago Police Department, and he partners with officer Alex Wilde. Dragon and Wilde later have a casual sexual relationship. He receives the name of "Dragon" from Nurse Ann Stevens, who later becomes a supporting character in Mighty Man.Miniseries
The Dragon is found in a burning field by Lt. Frank Darling. At the time, Chicago is being terrorized by villainous "superfreaks", namely the Vicious Circle, a criminal gang led by the mysterious Overlord. Realizing that the Dragon's superhuman powers can 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 reconsider 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.
Chicago PD
As well as being kept away from Vicious Circle activities, the Dragon is 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 meets the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, whom he assists multiple times in later comics. Also during his time in New York, a large prison break occurs and a number of powerful criminals are killed. This is the first time the Chicago PD loses a star witness against the Overlord; Hardware, who intended to give evidence against the criminal, is shot dead.Though Captain Darling's Freak Force program fails, the Dragon carries on a lasting relationship with one of its former members: Rapture, a former prostitute with electrical powers, who later has his child. Meanwhile, the Overlord's second-in-command Cyberface breaks away from the Vicious Circle to form a rival organization. Cyberface is later arrested but, like Hardware before him, he is killed before being able to testify. Ultimately, Cyberface is resurrected and later leads the Vicious Circle under the control of the Horde, another recurring villain.
Later, the Dragon makes his first attempt to arrest the Overlord, who easily defeats him and leaves him impaled upon a church spire. The Dragon is believed to be dead, but regenerates from his wounds afterwards. This is not the only time the Dragon is missing and presumed dead; it becomes both a recurring theme and running joke in the series. During his recovery, the Dragon is attacked by a person under the mental control of a strange worm. Under the domination of this creature, the Dragon goes on a rampage during which many innocent bystanders are injured or killed. He is finally stopped by the vigilante Mace, and the worms are traced to the Horde. The rampage results in a massive negative backlash against the Chicago Police Department, and the Dragon's biggest naysayer, R. Richard Richards, takes this opportunity to attack the Dragon with a robotic weapon dubbed the "Dragon Slayer". Later, the Dragon encounters the She-Dragon, a young superpowered woman who models herself after him.
Following an attack on the police station and the murder of Cyberface, the Dragon leads a SWAT team to finally take down the Overlord. The battle is harsh, and every member of the SWAT team perishes except for the Dragon, who is skinned alive. Even in his weakened state, the Dragon finally unmasks 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 survives another attack by the Fiend, which leaves him nearly crippled after his bones heal incorrectly. To make matters worse, Chicago is in the midst of a brutal gang war that arises as a result of the Overlord's death. The Vicious Circle, once kept tightly organized by the Overlord, separate into several factions that battle for criminal supremacy. The Dragon is found by a friendly cabbie and Mighty Man, who uses his super-strength to re-set the Dragon's bones. After recuperating from this ordeal, the Dragon fights another prison break, this time in a maximum-security facility torn open by a newly resurrected Cyberface. This battle marks the end of the gang war, and Cyberface assumes command of the Vicious Circle.
This victory is followed by difficult times for the Dragon. After a number of crossovers with other Image Comics characters including WildStar and The Maxx, the Dragon encounters Spawn and ultimately is sent to Hell by the Fiend. The Fiend can possess living bodies, and his powers are fueled by the capacity for hate of those possessed. His last victim is Debbie Harris' mother, who is unaware that the demon possessing her is the spirit of her daughter's murderer. While in Hell, a fist-fight occurs between God and the devil. God ends up being victorious. Just as the amnesiac Dragon begins to ask about his origins, God returns him to Earth.
Afterward, things grow steadily worse for the Dragon. He is unable to save ill fellow officer Phil Dirt with a blood transfusion. Meanwhile, Rapture suffers internal damage when the baby kicks—the unborn child having inherited its father's strength—and Rapture enters premature labour. The Dragon is not able to reach the hospital in time, and the baby appears to have died. However, in truth, the infant is taken by the Covenant of the Sword, a shadowy organization bent on world takeover.
After a crossover with Hellboy, the Dragon is caught up in the Mars Attacks and Mars Attacks/Savage Dragon event, in which he is responsible for destroying the Martians' bases on Mars using a Martian growth ray. This results in their retreat and possible extinction. While he is gone, the Vicious Circle takes control of the city. Returning home to a devastated Chicago, the Dragon is captured and publicly crucified by the Circle. The Dragon survives and defeats most of the villains, but his new superior, Captain Mendoza, suspends him for having been missing for so long. During his suspension, the Dragon spends a few months as a bounty hunter and helps rebuild the city after the Martian invasion.