Savage Dragon #20

Name: Savage Dragon #20
Brand: Image
Availability: InStock

Jul 1995 · Image · 2.50 USD; 3.55 CAD

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“[Operation: Overlord] (Part 1)”

★ 1st appearance — Volcanic★ 1st appearance — Vein

About this Issue

Savage Dragon #20 (cover-dated June 1995) is the pivotal penultimate chapter of Erik Larsen's Overlord saga — the opening arc that defined the tone and moral stakes of the entire ongoing series. The issue functions as a high-stakes bridge issue: it delivers the first appearances of three Vicious Circle members who would recur across decades of the series (Vein, Volcanic, and MegaTech), while simultaneously orchestrating the death of Captain James Stewart and setting the SWAT assault on Overlord's highrise in motion. Narratively, it crystallizes the central dramatic tension of the series' first twenty issues — can Dragon and the Chicago PD leverage a deal with a resurrected super-criminal to finally unmask Chicago's armored mob boss — and propels the story directly into the climactic confrontation resolved in issue #21. The issue also appears within the same calendar year that the Savage Dragon animated series debuted on the USA Network, meaning it was published at the precise moment the property had its widest cultural reach.

writer, artist, inker Erik Larsen · colorist Reuben Rude · colorist Antonia Kohl · colorist I. H. O. C. · colorist Abel Mouton · colorist Bill Zindel · colorist Lea Rude · colorist Stephane Krieshok · letterer Chris Eliopoulos · colorist Studio Colour Group · cover Erik Larsen

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VERY FINE $2.99 The Savage Dragon Comics (Image Comics) 1990s $1.25 Erik Larsen the Savage Dragon card 20 cover issue 15 Image Comics WildStorm $2.99 Savage Dragon Issue #20 Comic Book. Eric Larsen. Action. Superhero. Image 1995. $3.99

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History

Written, penciled, and inked entirely by Erik Larsen — consistent with his sole-creator stewardship of the ongoing series from its June 1993 launch — the issue was lettered by Chris Eliopoulos and colored by Jannie Wong. It sits at the tail end of the Overlord arc, the first major villain throughline Larsen constructed when he relaunched the Dragon as a police officer for Image Comics. The entire arc, including this issue, was later reprinted in the landmark Savage Dragon Archives Vol. 1 (Image Comics, 2006/2007), a 616-page black-and-white collection covering the miniseries and ongoing issues #1–21 that has been described by Image's own promotional materials as the complete Overlord epic.

Trivia · 8 facts

First appearance of Vein (Vicious Circle member with prehensile vein extensions), Volcanic (lava-projecting rock creature), and MegaTech (cybernetically armored energy-blaster) — all three confirmed by the Savage Dragon Wiki's character profiles and issue index.
Death of Captain James Stewart: Volcanic burns him alive during the Vicious Circle's assault on the Chicago Police Department precinct — a casualty that underscores the arc's willingness to permanently alter the supporting cast.
Death (in-issue) of Strongarm: the Savage Dragon Wiki lists this as Strongarm's death issue, shot by the returning Frank Darling.
Frank Darling makes a significant return to the Chicago PD in this issue, shooting Strongarm and helping repel the Vicious Circle's precinct raid.
CyberFace — whose real name is Sebastian Khan, a former mob lieutenant who weaponized CyberData technology against his old employer Overlord — agrees to testify in exchange for his freedom, providing Dragon the intelligence needed to breach Overlord's headquarters; CyberFace first appeared in Savage Dragon #5.
The issue was written, drawn, and inked solely by Erik Larsen, lettered by Chris Eliopoulos, and colored by Jannie Wong, consistent with the creator-owned, single-creator model that would earn Larsen recognition as the longest-tenured writer-artist on a single ongoing full-color series in American comics.
Published June 30, 1995 — the same year the Savage Dragon animated series (produced by Universal Cartoon Studios, 26 episodes, USA Network) premiered, giving this arc its maximum contemporaneous visibility.
The entire Overlord arc culminating with this issue and #21 is collected in Savage Dragon Archives Vol. 1 (Image Comics, first published December 2006), which reprints the three-issue miniseries and ongoing issues #1–21.