Remember to pick up your copy of Savage Dragon #200 tomorrow kids! Written and drawn by the same guy (Erik Larsen) for over 20 years!
That's an incredible achievement. I only read the first 50-75 issues but I fully intend to go through them all one day.
The Savage World arc which takes place right after 75 is a bit jarring but after 10 issues or so it levels out. I just picked up my copies of 200 and it is a really nice package. It's square bound and feels like a trade.
I'm going to try and get a copy of SD#200 today. I'm going to call my LCS and see if they got any. If not I will call around and detour on the way home to a shop that hopefully has one.
For anyone who wants to get a summary of what's been going on with Savage Dragon for the last 22 years this video does a pretty good job. The guy is a little annoying but it gets the job done. WARNING: There area few spoilers in this. [yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwubFsSBW4o[/yt]
I did manage to get a copy of SD#200. My LCS has two copies on the shelf when I got there. The clerk said the owner ordered the few for the hold boxes and 5 for the shelf cause the cover price was so steep but knew he had a few interested(like me) who'd said they wanted at least that issue. Pays to talk shop with the owner! I've not read it yet however. What I have read: The Valiant #1 - of a 4 issue mini, is introducing The Immortal Enemy a foe that has plagued both Giliad, The Eternal Warrior and the Geomancers(Kay McHenry currently) throughout the millennia. Giliad hasn't had much luck defeating the IE, frankly he's lost every time, and Geomancers have died. This time around he has help and intends to enlist members of the Valiant Universe to his cause. The mini is intended to serve as a broad strokes introduction level event for curious new readers to the realm of the VALIANT UNIVERSE and it's characters! X #20 - Is the wrapping of a tale that started with X's first reintroduction with the material in X #0(also the DHP material). X finally confronts Dr.Heide the man responsible for the "Pig Men" and it does not end well for him despite him thinking he's planned for X. I'll be curious to see where things go from here him & Leigh and their loose association with Police Chief Rudisio. Next issue starts a new arc and Dark Horse is re-introducing one of their pre-CGW superhero experiments, a character called The Mark returns. It's a story set to crossover with Captain Midnight as well. Very much looking forward to this as I know nothing about The Mark but his foe Archaron has already returned and posed problems for Midnight so things look to get fun!!! Up next TMNT #41 - Technadrome attack????
FCBD selections for 2015 include a "Secret Wars" preview from Marvel, a classified DC comic, Savage Dragon, Dr. Who and more.
I'm most interested in the Archie super hero relaunch: Dark Circle. Like Dark Horse they seem to have 3 main players to start. I'm guessing they'll draw from some of their library later, once under the banner Red Circle(wonder why the shift in name?) I like Duane Swierczynski's work on VALIANTS Bloodshot and Dark Horse's vigilante X, in that vein Black Hood looks to be a character in similar vein that could be interesting. Read TMNT #41 last night and Krang does another successful test of the Tehnodrome's weapons and declares it ready to go fully on line---tomorrow!! Donnie via Metalhead meets w/Shredder to agree upon a joint venture to bring down Krang. Karai asks the wisdom of teaming up w/the Turtles to which Shredder lets her know "who's using whom, really?". Meanwhile Hob and his Mutanimals are doing drills with the trio of Turtles and while it's going well on that front Raph makes it clear to Hob&crew there is a difference in 'family' and them all being mutants. Raph, ever the hot head. Stockman and Fugitoid and trying to figure out how to agree to best sabotage the Technodrome but never fear, both have their own agenda on that as well. So much happened in this issue as set up that the ball is really going to get moving in #42!! Also Punisher #13 - aka Howling Commandoes #1, that should be the subtitle. Edmondson has been showing us glimpses of this new HC team over the last 10 or so issues and this whole issue was about them. Which is good cause they are poised to really test Frank's buttons. I barely noticed he wasn't even in the issue but that's just good writing imo. When a break from the title character towards other elements just causes you to anticipate the confrontation even more...well played. Bring on #14!
I'm guessing the classified DC book is probably "Darkseid War" (or whatever it ends up being called) as their previous FCBD books have had to do with their events. I got "The Valiant" and am looking forward to it. I think I will be getting "Imperium" when it comes out in a couple months too. I love when companies do books like these.
I've decided to start working on more of my comics, so last night I started Y: The Last Man Vol. 2: Cycles. I just finished the second issue in the collection, and I'm really enjoying it. I had planned on going back to the some of the other stuff I'm reading (I usually read several things at a time), but the end of the second issue is making me reconsider.
"Y: The Last Man" is full of holy shit moments once you start getting into it. I remember reading pretty much the whole run during my second surgery recovering and absolutely being hooked on it.
^^^^ I usually do as well....however, his Dr.Spektor 4 issue mini at Dynamite is a wreck. I read the main story in Savage Dragon #200. I expected to be a bit lost but feel I likely got the main beats. Malcolm is doing the heroics now since Dad can't. He's finally "on" with the girl he really likes---plus his um, adoptive sister? Very odd, but it's basically what's going on within The Flash TV show as well. Making it---still odd. I wasn't aware the Dragons had power to lose. It's mentioned Malcom's 'lighting power' is gone and his Dad's power has been totally taken from him. I thought they were just naturally strong aka Hulk/Thing. I'm not totally clear why Savage is in jail, did they do a one line explain of that and I just don't recall?? I flipped through the other stories for reading later. They look like gap filler stories but thought I'd ask here w/our expert for insight. If they are will lack of context make them difficult to follow or have you read them and they are one offs that hold up on their own. The Vanguard story especially. I like his design.
Almost all the backup stories are written by Larsen and they are worth a read but not critical to the main story. The last backup featuring Vanguard might be a bit confusing becasue it has been running for several issues. Now, on to explaining the Dragons current status. Dragon is actually from a non-violent race called the Krylans. They are roughly comparable to humans in strength and durability, except for their monarchs, who are The Chosen. Before he woke up naked in a burning lot Dragon was their Chosen, Emperor Kurr. He was also just a tiny bit nuts. The Krylans were roaming the galaxy in search of a new home and when they discovered Earth Emperor Kurr decided it would be the perfect home for his people except for all those pesky humans. He decided to wipe out all human life on earth so his people could settle on it but a few of his scientists didn't agree with him. They got rid of him by blowing a hole in his head and filling it up with satellite transmissions from Earth while his brain healed, effectively wiping his memory. They then dumped him on Earth and continued on their merry way in search of an uninhabited world to settle. That's why Dragon woke up with no memory of who he was but actually knew just about everything about Earth. Move forward many years and Dragon has another traumatic brain injury which results in him resuming the Emperor Kurr Persona after he has healed. He decides to continue where he left off and attempts to concur the world, killing thousands in the process. His supporting cast eventually find a way to get rid of the Kurr persona and restore the Dragon one but the damage has been done. Dragon turns himself in, goes on trial, and is sentenced to death. Meanwhile, his race finds a planet to resettle but end up being attacked by a more advanced race and are completely wiped out except for a few. One of the survivors, a woman, goes back to Earth to enlist Dragons help in repopulating their race. The only problem is that if Dragon fathered all the new Krylans they would all be super-powered like him so he agrees to have his powers removed by the Krylan scientists who have devised a way to do so by changing his DNA. So that's why Dragon is on death row without powers. As for Malcolm... He inherited his lightening powers from his Mother, Rapture, but he was hit by a dart containing "Freak Out" which turns Freaks back to normal. He didn't take the precaution of having some of his blood stored at the local hospital like his father did so they had to use Dragon Senior's blood to restore Malcolm's abilities, and since his lightening powers came from his Mom he was S.O.L. Phew. I hope that is relatively coherent.
So Dragon/Kurr's powers are genetic. An anomaly then? Not all Krylans have this ability, so he's a....mutant of his own species?