SAVAGE DRAGON #262
Scorched Earth!
June 2022
20 Pages
CREDITS
Erik Larsen: Story & Art
Jack Morelli: Letters
Nikos Koutsis: Colors
Mike Toris: Flats
Gavin Higginbotham: Editor
Josh Eicchorn: engaging in legitimate political discourse
HEROES
Malcolm Dragon
Battle Girl
Paul Dragon
Freak Force
– SuperPatriot
– Barbaric
– Dart III
– Horridus (Death Issue)
– Lightning Girl
– Mighty Man VI
– Ricochet
SUPPORTING CHARACTERS
Maxine Jung Dragon
Amy Dragon
Jackson Dragon
Madeline Dragon
Tyrone Dragon
Dixie Dexter
Dr Larry Bradford (Death Issue)
Nurse Ann Stevens (Death Issue)
Janice Ng
Sam Haze
VILLAINS
Mako II
The Vicious Circle
– Samurai
– Bear Hands (Death Issue)
– Bile
– Brawn (Death Issue)
– Bugeye (Death Issue)
– Carmella Toad
– Chaos & Control (Death Issue)
– Chomper (Death Issue)
– Chrome Dome (Death Issue)
– Crosseye (Death Issue)
– Death-Gaze (Death Issue)
– Devil Doll (Death Issue)
– Donna Justice (Death Issue)
– Fountainhead
– Fourplay (Death Issue)
– Freak-Face (Death Issue)
– Frogman
– Golden Rod (Death Issue)
– Gunman (Death Issue)
– Hell Eyes (Death Issue)
– Horn-Head (Death Issue)
– Insect (Death Issue)
– Larry Lucifer (Death Issue)
– Mister Faces (Death Issue)
– Myotis (Death Issue)
– Pucker (Death Issue)
– Pug Fugly (Death Issue)
– Razor-Face (Death Issue)
– Rotgut (Death Issue)
– Roughneck
– Roy Robot (Death Issue)
– Sage (Death Issue)
– Sickly (Death Issue)
– Skullfire
– Split-Head (Death Issue)
– Tech-Head (Death Issue)
– Tumor (Death Issue)
– UnderMind
– Vein
– Volcanic
– Warfare (Death Issue)
SUMMARY
.Mighty Man flies down to intercept the driving Angel as there is not enough time to wait for her to fly back to Chicago. The hero then races back home to deliver the blood sample from Malcolm Dragon to her parents to try and save Horridus’s life. Unfortunately they are too late and Horridus has already passed away. Larry Bradford and Ann Stevens decide to administer the cure to another patient instead but unfortunately this ends up creating a new variant of COVID.
The Chosen One blood instead instantly transforms the patient who then explodes and it infects Larry and Ann too. They quickly transform and die too and the infection soon has wiped out everyone in Hillman Hospital. Sam Haze reports that the extreme lethality of this variant enabled it to be burnt out quickly as it soon ran out of people nearby to infect. Dixie and Mighty Man are comforted by the rest of Freak Force over the deaths of their parents.
Maxine meets up with her friend Janice for the first time in months due to the COVID quarantine. They catch up from a safe distance on nearby benches. Maxine comments about the recent PR stunt involving the kids and the COVID vaccine and how it did not pay off as hoped. She notes that her husband is off fighting his enemies which worries Janice in case they suddenly targeted them instead but this is shrugged off.
Meanwhile, Malcolm and Paul manage to hold their own against the legions of the Vicious Circle as the vast majority of those present are the dregs of the organization. Most everyone else of note is either deceased or incarcerated by this point so the heroes are confident. Brawn then enters the fray and beats down Paul, destroying the last power glove. The chaos is interrupted once more as the heroes gain an unlikely ally in the form of Mako, announcing his arrival by throwing the brutalized body od Roughneck at the villains.
Mako begins ruthlessly slaughtering the Vicious Circle which prompts a terrified Samurai to make her escape. She is pursued by a handful of villains still out for her blood whilst everyone else tries to deal with their enemies. Brawn is fatally wounded but keeps beating down on Mako until the conflict causes the entire structure to collapse. Malcolm digs himself out of the wreckage and pulls Paul free so that the two can look for any survivors. Brawn’s corpse is discovered but there is no sign of Mako amongst the rubble. Samurai makes her way home and kills Insect as she had been the one to tup off Paul to their location. She then vows that Billy will be the next to die…
BACKUP STORY
MIGHTY MAN AND CAPTAIN TOOTSIE
Alien Invasion
6 Pages & Back Cover
CREDITS
Gary Carlson: Story
Jonathan Dhenry: Art
HEROES
Mighty Man
Captain Tootsie
SUPPORTING CHARACTERS
The Secret Legion
– Fatso
– Fisty
– Rollo
SUMMARY
Boy reporter Bobby Berman travels to a small town in Nevada where numerous reports have come in about alien sightings. He decides to investigate and spots what he assumes is an extraterrestrial vessel and gives chase in his Mighty Man persona. It turns out this is the spaceship of Captain Tootsie and the Secret Legion. A brief misunderstanding leads to a brawl between heroes until they realize their mistake. They then come across real aliens who had been trying to get off-world but needed to get food beforehand. The heroes agree to help out the group and see them safely off back to their home planet.