Original Cover

The Savage Dragon #27

April 1996
22 Pages

Credits

Erik Larsen: Creator / Writer / Penciller / Inker
Chris Eliopoulos:Letterer
I.H.O.C. – Reuben Rude, Antonia Kohl, Abel Mouton, Bill Zindel, Lea Rude, John Zaia, Jose Arenas: Colors
In Color: Film Output
Garrett Chin: Assistant to the Chief Executive
Josh Eichorn: Brain-Damaged Degenerate
Dave Johnson: Pin-Up (Liberty & Justice)

Heroes

Dragon
Brute Force (First Appearance)
– Max Damage (First Appearance)
– Major Battle (First Appearance)
– Moe Muscle (First Appearance)
The Deadly Duo
– Kill-Cat
– The Kid Avenger

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Freak Force
– Dart
– Barbaric
– Horridus
– Mighty Man II
– Rapture
– Ricochet
– SuperPatriot
Liberty & Justice
She-Dragon
Star II

Guest Heroes

I Before E:
The Maxx

Supporting Characters

Chicago Police Department
– Captain Jose Mendosa
– Lt. Darren “Bull” McCarthy
– Lt. Frank Darling
– Detective William Jonson
– Sgt. Walter Gilroy
– Officer Alex Wilde
– Officer Bill Ford
– Officer Howard Niseman
– Officer Mike Rotch
– Officer Ray Wong
– Officer Rita Medermade
– Officer Vic Nixon
Amanda Mills
Chester Droars
Frank Darling Jr. (First Appearance)
Mildred Darling
Guy & Duder
Jon Day
Phyllis Deeder

Villains

Chelsea Nirvana
The Inhabiter
Dr. Nirvana (Comatose)
CyberFace

Summary

CyberFace celebrates his victory as Howard Niseman laments the fact that it was the Chicago Police Department that enabled him to regain his freedom in the first place. He is frustrated that his fellow officers and the city’s heroes are celebrating a victory as he believes they have in fact lost. Star attempts to lighten him up but to no avail.

Dragon thanks Mighty Man for saving him from Mako and aiding in his healing properly although he suggests that he work on his bedside manner as he genuinely feared for his life prior to the surgery. Rapture ends up sending her teammate elsewhere as she recognizes in Mighty Man the same feelings for Dragon that she has for him.

Against his better judgment, SuperPatriot starts to introduce his son to his friends and the first person they come across is Dart. She and Justice immediately hit it off and SuperPatriot leaves them to it. Dragon explains to She-Dragon that although he has no idea what happened to the original Johnny Redbeard, his essence seemed to have been passed on to Chelsea Nirvana. With that essence having been terminated, Redbeard appears to be gone forever, leaving She-Dragon feeling alone.

Amanda Mills considers the decisions she has made over the past couple of years, having become obsessed with those that had saved her life. Her frequent attempts to seduce Dragon had failed but she has now slept with Peter Klaptin. The famous singer has left her apartment and even if he is not really the Star that saved her life, she refuses to lose him.

The superhero team known as Brute Force report in with the Chicago Police Department so that they can help with the Gang War. Captain Mendosa points out to the team of strongmen that the conflict ended a couple of days ago and that their services are no longer required. Max Damage recognizes that particular phrase all to well and leads his group off in search of work elsewhere.

Dragon enjoys some downtime with Rapture and they spend the day shopping before heading to a restaurant. They later head to bed where Dragon accidentally sends Rapture flying out of their waterbed whenever he turns over. Rapture responds by electrocuting her apologising boyfriend. A few days later the couple go for a walk together in a park. Rapture talks about how her father drank himself to death and her mother became a prostitute in order to afford to raise her. Rapture’s life has never been a good one until she got involved with Dragon.

Rapture decides to make a marriage proposal to Dragon which instantly takes him aback. They have only been living together for a short while and this is a quite a quick move. Rapture figures that as they love one another then they may as well get married and start a family together. Dragon requests some time to consider the proposal and heads off for some time to think.

Meanwhile at Hillman Hospital, Chelsea Nirvana pays a visit to her comatose father where she begins to talk to the unconscious man. Dr. Nirvana had always wanted a boy to carry on his legacy and due to a strange twist of fate; Chelsea has been transformed into a younger version of him. She injects Dr. Nirvana with a poison of his own creation called Solution-X that is untraceable. With her redundant parent out of the way, Chelsea leaves with the Inhabiter to start her life over.

Dragon goes to speak with Frank Darling about the proposal, talking about how he is not ready to get married and start a family. Frank states that he was just the same but he loves being married and is enjoying raising his young son. Alex Wilde later tells Dragon that she does not like Rapture and he should really think things through before making a decision. Chester Droars gives Dragon a ride in his taxicab and wonders if Dragon is worried that he may already have a wife and child out there but this theory is dismissed. William Jonson things that the proposal is great and that he should go for it while Rita Medermade simply advises Dragon to speak with Rapture and air out any concerns.

Rapture fears that she may have ruined things with Dragon considering they have literally just moved in together. If her proposal is turned down then there may not be a way to salvage their relationship. Dart listens to her concerns before heading off on a date with Justice. Mighty Man and Phyllis Deeder work on decorating Freak Force’s new headquarters and try to comfort Rapture, telling her that even if Dragon does say no then it may not be the end.

The Deadly Duo arrives in Chicago to help with the Gang War but they are swiftly informed by officers at the Chicago Police Department that the conflict ended two weeks ago. Kill-Cat shrugs off this embarrassment by declaring that at least he can go and see Dart. The Kid Avenger mocks him that this will just make their trip a complete waste of time.

Dragon arrives at the apartment that he shares with Rapture and is taken away from where Horridus is watching cartoons. He declares that although he truly loves Rapture that he cannot marry her as he believes that he cannot provide for her all of the things she has dreamt about. Dragon has no intention of leaving her but believes that a wedding between them will end badly. Rapture then drops another bombshell by announcing that she is pregnant…