Rumored for months, today Image Comics made it official when they announced that Savage Dragon will be running for the Presidency of the United States in the pages of the self-titled comic. The beginnings of the campaign will be seen in August's issue #116 with the run beginning full-force in November's issue #119.

This wouldn't be the first time a fictional comics character has run for President. Back in 2000, Lex Luthor ran as an independent candidate in the pages of Superman comics from DC and won. Well, in the DCU he won.

The full press release is reprinted below.

Official Press Release

Erik Larsen's Savage Dragon has done a lot of things over the course of 115

issues, but one thing he's never done is run for public office.

Until now.

As the presidential election heads to the wire, Dragon finds himself thrust

onto the campaign trail with vice presidential hopeful Ronald Winston Urass.

While the seeds of the storyline are planted with SAVAGE DRAGON #116

(available in August), Dragon's run to the White House begin in earnest with

SAVAGE DRAGON #119, available just in time for the election this November.

SAVAGE DRAGON creator Erik Larsen outlines the political game plan for

Dragon.

"Ronald Winston Urass is a wealthy man and his wealth is the key ingredient

needed for a successful run for the White House. But this isn't at simple as

you might think. Dragon himself has no strong political aspirations. He's

literally thrust into the spotlight because the will of the American

public," says the Image publisher. "It'll be a campaign, like none ever

waged. A real grassroots effort. In actuality, neither Dragon or Urass will

actually be on any ballots and that they're depending entirely on people

writing them in. Urass spends BILLIONS in ads and appears EVERYWHERE in an

effort to drum up support for this grassroots campaign."

"When it's revealed that Bush has been replaced by an Imposter (in issue

#119) things REALLY take off for Dragon. People don't trust their leaders.

They don't know what's real and what isn't. They don't know who to believe

in and who to trust."

The election storyline will last beyond the current political season, with

lingering ramifications affecting the future of the book, as well.

"The Dragon has, in the past, saved the world several times," explains

Larsen. "At one point he had overthrown a dictator that had taken control of

the world and there were a number of people who felt strongly that he should

have taken control of the planet himself. He's widely perceived as a natural

leader and respected as a man of power and integrity. When Urass raises the

notion of the Dragon becoming the head honcho of the United Stares as its

Commander in chief it makes a lot of sense to a great number of people."

Be sure to show your support for the campaign by stopping by the Image booth

at Wizard World Chicago and picking up a limited edition "Dragon/Urass in

'04" bumper sticker, and remember to vote for your favorite savage candidate

this November!

Mister Dragon Goes to Washington in SAVAGE DRAGON #119, available for order

in the August issue of Previews and scheduled to go on sale October 27.

Image Comics is a comics and graphic novels publisher formed in 1992 by a

collective of best-selling artists. Since that time, Image has gone on to

become one of the largest comics publishers in the United States. There are

currently four partners in Image Comics (Erik Larsen, Todd McFarlane, Marc

Silvestri and Jim Valentino), and Image is currently divided into three

major houses (Todd McFarlane Productions, Top Cow Productions and Image

Central). Image comics and graphic novels cover nearly every genre,

sub-genre and style imaginable, offering science fiction, romance, horror,

crime fiction, historical fiction, humor and more by the finest artists and

writers working in the medium today.

Visit www.imagecomics.com for more information.