Savage Dragon #116

Power Outage
August 2004
22 Pages

Credits

Erik Larsen: Story & Art
Bill Crabtree: Colors
John Workman: Letters
Josh Eichorn: has a chicken in a bag and he’s letting it cool.
Victor Bridges & Erik Larsen: Pin-Up (Freak Force)

Heroes

The Liberty League
– Dragon
– Jennifer Dragon (Quits)
Red Giant

Supporting Characters

Angel Dragon
Jon Day
Ronald Winston Urass (First Appearance)
Osgood (First Appearance)

Villains

The Brain-Child (Death Issue)
Snake-Eyes (First Appearance)
The Sky-Riders (Disbanding Issue)
Negate

Summary

The United States government contacts Dragon to ask for his help with a situation in the Danger Zone where a number of people have gone missing. In an effort to take her mind off of Angel’s hospitalized state and to get her some fresh air, Dragon brings his wife along for the mission. Jennifer and he soon arrive in the Danger Zone where they are attacked by a monstrous super-freak called Snake-Eyes. Dragon recklessly leaps into action without prior planning and he is struck aside by the brute.

Jennifer Dragon rushes to her husband’s aid and knocks Snake-Eyes off of a cliff before they are swarmed by the Sky-Riders. Dragon dives right into the villains but is unable to prevent his wife from being carried away by one of the flying dragons. Jennifer is taken to the Sky-Riders’ headquarters where the abducted people are suspected of being held. She forces herself loose and plummets down to the ground before getting up and effortlessly battering aside the guards.

The huge door to the building is torn off of its hinges by Jennifer but she is then rushed by the kidnapped women, all of whom are being mind-controlled. Dragon manages to scatter the remaining Sky-Riders with a huge strike to the ground, sending up numerous chunks of debris. Jennifer is knocked down by Red Giant who has also become a slave to the Sky-Riders’ new master, Brain-Child. Dragon joins the fray but as he recognizes the Brain-Child, the villain creates more of its stone drone that it uses to distract him.

Jennifer takes down Red Giant and she becomes the primary target for the Brain-Child, allowing Dragon to gain the advantage against the stone creatures. He is about to help his wife when he notices Jennifer bludgeoning the Brain-Child with a large rock. The repeated strikes mortally wound the creature that passes away, calling out for its mother before it dies. The sight of this proves to be too much for Jennifer and she breaks down and cries.

The media soon arrive on the scene and Dragon asks that they leave them alone as Jennifer in particular is having a hard time. Watching the television footage of Dragon is multi-billionaire Ronald Winston Urass and his assistant, Osgood. They note that Dragon’s incredible popularity means that he is virtually untouchable in terms of the media. Urass believes that he has identified a partner for the Presidential elections and will nominate Dragon for the role and with him as his running mate.

As Dragon wraps things up with the reporters, a figure moves through the crowd and makes physical contact with both him and Jennifer, causing a massive energy surge. Jennifer reacts and strikes out at this assailant but ends up hurting her hand. Dragon tries and takes out the man with ease, revealing him to be the villain Negate. He had been sent by the Vicious Circle to remove their threat to the criminal organization but Dragon seems to be unaffected.

Some time later, Jennifer mourns the loss of her superhuman abilities as she settles down beside her comatose daughter. She features that she can no longer protect Angel against their enemies and just feels guilty over her current state. Angel finally awakens and assures her mother that she is fine and that everything will turn out okay.

BACKUP STORY

Mighty Man
“The Never Ending War Against Evil!”
Chapter Eight: Judge and Jury
8 Pages

Credits

Gary Carlson: Co-Plot/Script
Mark Englert: Pencils/Colors
Erik Larsen: Co-Plot/Inks
Robert Kirkman: Letters

Summary

SuperPatriot addresses the gathered superheroes and briefs them all on the recent activities of the new Mighty Man. The excessive and sometimes lethal force being handed out for relatively was merely the beginning but he is now building his own prison and has hospitalized Dragon. The heroes are worried that they will be useless against Mighty Man due to his vastly superior strength. SuperPatriot points out that Billy Berman has been operating in his powered form too much and has not allowed his human body any time to rest which should leave him weaker.

Ann Stevens and Larry Bradford watch on as Wally teleports the heroes away and they discuss what should be done with Billy. They do not believe that they can take the powers away from Billy without killing him which makes them just as bad as him. Ann takes her boyfriend to Billy’s apartment where they find the gun that allowed Billy to steal the Mighty Man powers from her and they depart, hoping to catch up with their allies.

The heroes commence their raid upon Mighty Man’s new headquarters but he is ready for them, defeating every single one of them despite his weakened state. By the time that Ann and Larry arrive, everything has gone quiet. Ann takes the gun and fires it at a sleeping Mighty Man but it does nothing except wake up the death-dealing hero. He points out that the weapon only works mid-transformation before destroying it. With his enemies all now defeated and incarcerated using the Slammer’s power-pack, Mighty Man will be able to sleep in his human form to recuperate. He takes Ann prisoner but meets surprising new opposition in the form of Larry…

NOTE: This issue features COMIC BITS by Chris Giarrusso and Jacob Chabot