TITLE: The Savage Dragon Mini-Series Issue #2
YEAR: October 1992
COMPANY: Image Comics
Creator/Writer/Artist/Inker: Erik Larsen
Letterer: Chris Eliopoulos
Colorist: Gregory Wright
Editor: Jannie Wong
Color Separation: Olyoptics
As I went into a brief history of Erik Larsen and the Savage Dragon, the second issue of the mini-series featured Savage Dragon as a Chicago Police Dept. officer and taking on super-powered villains that have been causing mayhem throughout the city.
This would be a revolving theme for the series and Dragon unable to remember his past but doing whatever is right by taking out these baddies.
And the second issue features the Savage Dragon taking on Arachnid, a gruesome, huge beast that has his victims (people) webbed underground for him to feast on.
Dragon beats him and while another day, another dollar, Lt. Frank Darling feels guilty for getting him involved, knowing it was selfish to thrust this responsibility upon Dragon but he had no choice, the Super-Freaks have caused too much trouble and he needed to find someone with power to fight power. And so much has gone out of hand with Mighty Man dead and Superpatriot crippled.
Dragon receives word that three of Chicago’s notorious Vicious Circle (Basher, Hellrazor and Mako) have taken hostages at the mall and have called Dragon to surrender himself to them in exchange for the hostage’s lives.
Needless to say, these super-freaks never intended to release the hostages and it leads to an ambush with three against one.
But out of nowhere, a newly revived Superpatriot emerges… But is he friend or foe?
For Superpatriot, Erik Larsen thanked Fabian Nicieza for helping design the new improved Superpatriot and for the most part, this was an action-packed and interesting battle as Super Patriot thinks Dragon is bad and starts fighting him. But Dragon also learns that he’s not immortal and he can bleed.
But Superpatriot ends up being a character that would appear on the Savage Dragon quite frequently for many years to come.
Overall, while an early Erik Larsen Savage Dragon book, it is still a mini-series worth reading!