Savage Dragon #275
“Prisoners of the Reds!”
January 2025
32 Pages
CREDITS
Erik Larsen: Story & Art
Jack Morelli: Letters
Nikos Koutsis: Colors
Mike Toris: Flats
Gavin Higginbotham: Editor
Josh Eicchorn: red hot piece of ass
HEROES
S.O.S. West (Disbands)
– Dragon, Malcolm (Quits)
– Battle Girl (Quits)
– The Crusader (Quits)
– The Destroyer (Quits)
– Paul Dragon (Quits)
– Wall-Crawler (Quits)
– Web-Slinger (Quits)
Freak Force
– SuperPatriot (Death Issue)
– Barbaric
– Dart III
– Dixie Dexter (Joins)
– Lightning Girl
– Mighty Man VI
– Ricochet
Captain Tootsie
SUPPORTING CHARACTERS
Amy Dragon
Jackson Dragon
Madeline Dragon
Tyrone Dragon
Alex Wilde
Angel Murphy (Alternate)
Frank Darling Jr. (Possessing Mister Glum)
Laila Darling
Mildred Darling
Jon Day
Joseph Strange
Theo Strange (First Appearance)
Niles Peckerwood (First Appearance)
VILLAINS
The Reanimator (First Appearance)
SUMMARY
S.O.S. West deal with a group of white supremacists with ease but before they can celebrate their victory they are approached by a liaison from Washington, DC. Niles Peckerwood introduces himself before announcing that the new administration has ordered their unit to be disbanded. All members will be ejected from their complex headquarters. Malcolm Dragon suspects this is due to prominent politicians from the area being opponents of the new President-elect.
A confused Battle Girl is confronted by Captain Tootsie who is inexplicably still alive despite his corpse being on the floor. He explains that he rebuilt some of the Sex Dolls as decoys equipped with blood for authenticity. The portal to Dimension-X suddenly opens again and Frank and the younger Angel arrive back home to Earth. Frank explains that his own body died along with Mister Glum and he is stuck in the alien form going forward.
Maxine is alarmed that all of her family’s belongings have been casted out onto the streets. Malcolm has put in a call to the governor and mayor to find some temporary accommodation. His teammates decide to contact their respective parents for somewhere to live for now. Meanwhile, Frank takes Battle Girl with him to see his mother and daughter and try to explain his new situation. The young Angel is introduced to Laila as her new sister, Angelica.
Meanwhile, Freak Force engage a horde of zombies that are all armed with weapons. The heroes have no idea why these undead creatures would require guns and other armaments but are urged to ignore this by SuperPatriot to take down the real threat, the Reanimator. The heroes soon gain victory and render the villain unconscious. SuperPatriot delivers a speech where he reveals how proud he is of his teammates and how welcoming they have been to their newer members, creating a new adopted family for them all.
Paul Dragon goes to see his old friend Joseph Strange who had asked him to drop by to ask him a favor. It seems that Joseph’s son Theo was on military duty in Ukraine has been taken captive by the Russians. He had fitted his son with a tracking device and now asks that Paul can go into hostile territory to retrieve Theo. Joseph has arranged some help including a plane and pilot but needs some super-powered assistance to ensure his son’s safe return.
The rescue mission is soon readied and the loved ones of the heroes going to carry it out are less than enthused by the idea. Maxine threatens to sleep with all of Malcolm’s friends if he does not come home safely to her. Alex wishes to accompany Paul on the mission but that idea is shot down because even when his late wife would attend with her superhuman abilities, she was still killed. Angel leaves her growing family behind and the trio join with SuperPatriot to depart.
SuperPatriot and Paul meet for the first time properly despite their memories of their friendship from the multiverse merging together. Battle Girl reveals that she has something with her to act as an insurance policy but will not tell Malcolm what it is as she fears it will upset him. As the quartet reach their destination in Russia, SuperPatriot advises not to kill anyone to prevent an international incident. They then initiate their assault and fight their way inside.
It is not long before Theo Strange is located but the young soldier is in sorry state having clearly suffered at the hands of his captors. A swarm of powerful robots is dispatched to deal with the invading superhumans and they soon shoot off Paul’s cyborg arm before blasting his chest open. SuperPatriot attempts to intervene but is killed when a hlast tears through his torso.
Battle Girl is helpless to prevent Theo from getting blown up and instead fights her way to the dying Paul where she hits him with an injection of Dragon’s blood. She had secured the final sample of her adopted father’s blood from Lorella and hopes it will save Paul’s life. Malcolm and Battle Girl are then saved when Theo is revealed to have been restored when SuperPatriot’s cybernetic parts had moved over and merged with his shattered form.
As the robots close in the remaining heroes are saved when Paul returns to action, having been fully restored in the form of the late Dragon. Malcolm gathers up the remains of SuperPatiot and the group flee the scene. Battle Girl tries to break it to Malcolm that there is no saving their fallen friend and they race towards their aircraft. A huge energy beam then shoots passed the heroes and blows up their vessel, leaving them stranded in Russia…
Backup Story
THUNDER-HEAD
“Succsession”
16 Pages
CREDITS
Erik Larsen: Story
Simon Mallette St-Pierre: Art
MAIN CHARACTER
Thunder-Head
SUPPORTING CHARACTERS
Mei Ling Lai
Miss Tanaka (First Appearance)
VILLAINS
Ichiro Tanaka (First Appearance)
DoubleHeader (Image Only)
SUMMARY
Whilst at work, Thunder-Head is teased by his colleagues over the sex tape that he had made with his girlfriend a while back. This bullying is interrupted by their boss, Miss Tanaka, who requests that Kevin so see her in her office. Expecting to be punished over the incident, he is surprised when he is instead invited to a fancy dinner party as his boss’s guest.
Kevin and Mei attend the event, unaware that Thunder-Head has been brought there for another reason which soon becomes obvious. A red-armored samurai attacks the party and is revealed to be Tanaka’s brother, Ichiro. This villain attempts to eliminate his sibling who is defended by Kevin but when a concerned Mei tries to intervene, she is impaled by one of the villain’s swords. An enraged Thunder-Head is unleashed and he brutally beats down Ichiro who is forced to flee.
In the aftermath, Kevin is treated for his injuries but he is more concerned with the fate of his girlfriend who remains in a coma. A doctor reveals that the sword has caused permanent damage to Mei’s spine and that she will never walk again. Miss Tanaka instructs her employees to pay for all expenses for Mei but has other plans for Kevin now that he is mixed up in her affairs…
Backup Story
NORTH FORCE
“In the Beginning…!”
8 Pages
CREDITS
Erik Larsen: Story
Scott James: Art
Nikos Koutsis: Colors
Mike Toris: Flats
Jack Morelli: Letters
HEROES
North Force
– The Canadian
– Blue Jay
– The Flame (Image Only)
– Grizzly
– The Jet (Image Only)
– The Knight (Image Only)
– The Raptor (Image Only)
SUMMARY
After fending off a group of abominable snowmen, two superheroes in Canada agree to meet up again away from the action to become friends. The Canadian and Blue Jay meet in a local bar in their civilian guises and talk about their mutual goals. It seems that the Canadian has been attempting to put together a team he would call North Force and he would like to recruit Blue Jay for the roster.
Other potential members are discussed for North Force as another bar patron is sexually harassed by a drunk man. This woman suddenly transforms into the terrifying Grizzly and defends herself, leading to all the other drinkers to attack. Canadian and Blue Jay come to her aid and when the dust settles, all three depart in a government aircraft to officially form North Force.
Backup Story
FLASH MERCURY
“Catchin’ Up With Flash Mercury”
1 Page
CREDITS
Joe Keatinge: Story
Ryan Alexander-Tanner: Art
HEROES
Flash Mercury
Fever
PowerHouse
VILLAINS
The Lava Lords
Backup Story
FANTASTIC COMICS
Samson
14 Pages
NOTE: This reprints the Samson story from FANTASTIC COMICS #24
CREDITS
Erik Larsen: Story & Art
HEROES
Samson
SUPPORTING CHARACTERS
David
VILLAINS
Monsteress (First Appearance)
Frogman (First Appearance)
SUMMARY
—
Backup Story
HERCULIAN
“Guy Talk”
25 Pages
NOTE: This reprints the 24-Hour Comic story from HERCULIAN #1
CREDITS
Erik Larsen: Story & Art
MAIN CHARACTERS
Buddy (First Appearance)
Earl (First Appearance)
HEROES
Herculian (First Appearance) (Death Issue)
VILLAINS
Punchin’ Judy (First Appearance)
PIN-UPS
Maxine by Raven Perez
SuperPatriot by Dave Johnson