Ben Palmer

Ben Palmer is a minor character who appeared in Erik Larsen's self-published Graphic Fantasy #1 in 1982, the early independent anthology in which Larsen first developed concepts that would evolve into the Savage Dragon universe at Image Comics.

Few characters can claim they were there at the very beginning — but Ben Palmer debuted in Graphic Fantasy #1 in 1982, the Bronze Age launch point that Erik Larsen used to develop what would eventually become the Savage Dragon universe. That origin gives Palmer a rare historical cachet: he's part of the foundational mythology that Larsen carried all the way into Image Comics, where Savage Dragon became one of the publisher's longest-running creator-owned titles. With a publishing presence stretching nearly four decades to 2021 and a key-issue appearance to his name, Palmer is a rewarding discovery for collectors who love digging into the deep roots of a beloved series — sharing pages along the way with the likes of Dragon, Angel Murphy, and Rock. Eleven appearances may be a modest count, but for fans tracing the full arc of Larsen's world from its earliest sketches to its Image heyday, Ben Palmer is exactly the kind of character worth seeking out.