The Dragon #1 (OF 5)

March 1996
NOTE: This issue reprints parts of the original SAVAGE DRAGON miniseries #’s 1 & 2 (OF 3),
OPERATION: URBAN STORM from the SAVAGE DRAGON TP, plus all-new material.
22 Pages

Credits

Erik Larsen: Creator / Writer / Penciller / Inker
Chris Eliopoulos: Letterer
Gregory Wright, Olyoptics, I.H.O.C.: Colors
Jannie Wong: Editor
Josh Eichorn: Just got back from watching gay midget wrestling and is feeling a little queer
Garrett Chin: Assistant to the Chief Executive
Erik Larsen: Pin-Up (Dragon)

Heroes

Dragon
Mighty Man (Video Footage) (Death Issue)
SuperPatriot (Video Footage)

Supporting Characters

Chicago Police Department
– Lt. Frank Darling
– Detective William Jonson
– Sgt. Bruce Robinson
– Officer Alex Wilde
– Officer Howard Niseman
– Officer Jonah Smith
– Officer Mike Rotch
– Officer Phil Dirt
Ann Stevens
Fred Darling (Death Issue)
Jon Day
Mildred Darling

Villains

The Vicious Circle
– Hardware
– SkullFace

Summary

The man who would become Dragon is discovered in a burning field and is taken to a nearby hospital to recover. He is visited by Lieutenant Frank Darling of the Chicago Police Department who questions the patient. It soon becomes evident that the young man has no memory of his life as he cannot answer any personal questions. Frank is alarmed to discover that the freak can recall seemingly irrelevant trivia but has complete amnesia concerning his own existence prior to being found in the field.

Frank returns home to his wife Mildred where he talks about this bizarre case. As they finish their evening meal, a news report is delivered by reporter Sam Haze regarding local hero SuperPatriot. The hero that has fought crime since the 1940s has been brought to hospital with his limbs crushed beyond repair and half of his face missing.

A nurse named Ann Stevens calls the amnesiac super-freak Dragon due to his unique appearance and he likes the name enough to adopt it as his own. Frank then arrives with a proposal for Dragon, pointing him in the direction of his cousin’s shipyard for a place to work and live.

Dragon is visited in his apartment by Frank who explains how the Chicago Police Department is rapidly losing their battle against super-powered mutants. He pleads with Dragon to join but the pressure of being considered a potential saviour to the city is too much for Dragon and he declines the offer. Frank returns home and vents his frustration to Mildred. He speaks of how he got Dragon a job with his cousin Fred at his shipyard which in turn gave Dragon a place to live in the form of the loft above the warehouse. Frank feels that Dragon owes him and has wasted his time, something that Mildred disputes by pointing out that had Frank not provided a positive influence to Dragon, his colleagues on the police force may have ended up facing him too.

At the aforementioned shipyard, two super-freaks are in the process of stealing from Fred Darling when they are opposed by Dragon. Hardware has his hand and gun crushed before getting his head rammed into a wall. SkullFace leaps into action but is backhanded away with ease before questioning why Dragon is not working with them. He is powerful enough to take whatever he desires and SkullFace cannot understand why he would simply work for a living.

The police arrive to take the villains into custody and as they are taken away, Hardware threatens the life of Dragon. Fred begins to pack up his belongings in preparation of fleeing his home as he believes that Dragon has doomed him over money. Dragon vows to protect Fred from harm but an explosion tears through the warehouse and kills Fred. As the building burns down, Dragon emerges from the wreckage.

A report on WHAM TV reveals how another hero from the 1940s has fallen as Mighty Man has been murdered. The hero’s human form of Robert Berman was brutally beaten and then stabbed in his Elgin, Illinois home. The 67 year old was discovered in his home and brought to hospital where he briefly regained consciousness but ultimately passed away from his injuries. Frank had just watched this report when a knock at his door reveals a naked Dragon who explains how bad guys killed Fred and blew up his warehouse. Dragon is now prepared to join the police force and wishes to be put through the police academy as soon as possible.

After the explosion that killed Fred, Frank comments to his wife how he was desperate after villains killed Mighty Man and crippled SuperPatriot, making him want Dragon on the force as a replacement. He had wanted Dragon to sign up but not at such a high price.

Dragon was unsure that he could even qualify to become a police officer due to his unknown background but Frank assures him that due to special circumstances, it should not be a problem. Once the police training had commenced, it is revealed that Dragon has incredible aim with a weapon but when Frank questions how he could be that skilled, Dragon reacts badly due to the frustration caused by having no memory over how he came by these abilities.

Upon graduating from academy, Dragon is fully inducted onto the police force and enters his new precinct with Frank Darling. He is introduced to a number of his new colleagues including an officer named Howard Niseman. This bigoted man does not desire to have a super-freak on the force and only recently avoided getting fired over beating an innocent black man. Howard attempts to enforce his position as the alpha male of the precinct but Dragon simply shrugs off his threats. He then makes it very clear that he has no tolerance for racism and hopes that his induction onto the force may help ease tensions between humans and super-powered mutants.

A bank robbery is being carried out by a super-powered couple named Cutthroat and GlowBug who have slaughtered staff and customers alike. William Jonson is on the scene and delivers a quick briefing to Dragon before he goes into action…

External Links

Entry at the Image Comics Database

Entry at the Grand Comics Database

NOTE: The story continues from SAVAGE DRAGON #0