Dragon

Dragon is a super-powered, fin-headed amnesiac who awakens in a burning Chicago field with no memory of his past. He joins the Chicago Police Department to fight crime and the supervillain gangs plaguing the city, anchoring Erik Larsen's long-running Savage Dragon series.

Few characters can claim they've been running strong since the Bronze Age all the way into the present day, but Dragon — Erik Larsen's creation who first burst onto the scene in Graphic Fantasy #1 in 1982 — is exactly that kind of enduring figure. Larsen's singular vision has kept this character at the heart of Savage Dragon for over four decades, an almost unheard-of feat in an era of constant reboots and relaunches. Along the way, Dragon shares the page with a colorful cast including SuperPatriot, Angel Dragon, and Paul Dragon, making for a rich, interconnected world that rewards longtime readers. With two key collector issues to their name and a publishing run stretching from 1982 to 2026, this is one character whose legacy in independent comics is absolutely worth exploring.