Savage Dragon #223
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeSavage Dragon #223 is the opening chapter of 'The Merging of Multiple Earths,' a three-part cosmic story (concluding in the landmark 25th-anniversary issue #225) that reshapes the entire Dragon mythology — culminating in the permanent death of the original Savage Dragon and the irreversible collapse of the series' multiverse. As the first issue to set Mister Glum's multiverse-merging scheme in motion, it directly triggers the chain of events that ends with every character gaining memories from countless alternate timelines, a narrative device Erik Larsen has continued to draw on through the 270s. The issue also crystallises the generational baton-pass that defines the modern era of the book: Malcolm Dragon, his half-siblings Marsha Bradley and Thunder-Head, and their combined family unit are assembled together here as a unified fighting force for the first time, cementing the cast that would carry the series forward after the original Dragon's death.
ComicBooks.com Value
This exact issue on ebay
Raw — NM+ ▾ $29.99–$55 3 listings
Raw / ungraded ▾ $22–$46.93 5 listings
More listings for this title
Read it digitally
Sell my copy
Have this issue — or a whole collection? Get a fair offer from us, skip the marketplace fees and the hassle.
We Buy Collections ▸History
The 'Merging of Multiple Earths' arc was deliberately timed to coincide with Savage Dragon's 25th anniversary, with Erik Larsen — sole writer, artist, and creator of the series since its Image Comics launch in 1992 — building toward Dragon's death across multiple preceding issues. Larsen has acknowledged in interviews that he knew well in advance that #225 would be Dragon's final issue, and that #223 was designed as the narrative ignition point for that long-planned conclusion. The issue carries the full Larsen solo-creator production model: story, pencils, and inks by Larsen, colors by Nikos Koutsis, letters by longtime collaborator Chris Eliopoulos, and editing by Gavin Higginbotham.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published April 26, 2017 by Image Comics; Diamond order code FEB170619.
- Titled 'The Merging of Multiple Earths – Part 1 of 3'; the arc concludes in issue #225, the series' giant-sized 25th anniversary special.
- Written, pencilled, and inked entirely by Erik Larsen, with colors by Nikos Koutsis, letters by Chris Eliopoulos, flats by Mike Toris, and editing by Gavin Higginbotham.
- Mister Glum infiltrates Darklord's hidden stronghold — the first character in the series established to have ever breached it — and activates a device capable of merging parallel universes, setting the arc's catastrophic events in motion.
- The issue formally assembles Malcolm Dragon, Marsha Bradley (Lightning Girl), and Thunder-Head (Kevin Gorelick) as half-siblings on-panel together for the first time; Malcolm had only recently revealed their shared parentage to Marsha.
- Jennifer Murphy is restored to her superhero identity in this issue, receiving a replica of her old costume from her daughter Angel, re-establishing her as an active costumed hero after a long absence.
- The Krylan birthing program subplot is closed out here: Dragon learns the U.S. government has defunded the project and Lorella reveals she is no longer able to produce new offspring, ending that ongoing storyline.
- The arc collected in this issue — #223 through #227 — was subsequently reprinted in the trade paperback Savage Dragon: Merging of Multiple Earths (ISBN 9781534307988), which also encompasses the original Dragon's death and Malcolm's subsequent exile to Canada.
Cast · 20 characters
Full credits
Key issues in Savage Dragon
Variants (1)
Reviews
Reader reviews
No reader reviews yet.