Welcome to Adventure(s) Time's 138th installment, a look at animated heroes of the past. This week, the animated debut of a cult-favorite Savage Dragon character, one whose origin required a serious rethink. And if you have any suggestions for the future, let me hear them. Just contact me on Twitter.
December 20, 1995, saw the debut of the Savage Dragon episode "She-Dragon," which introduced the most obvious character you can think of. The premise of Dragon's cartoon is loyal to the comic's initial status quo -- Dragon is a Chicago police officer, paired with a human cop named Alex Wilde to fight the city's army of "super-freak" villains. Written by Henry Gilroy, this episode introduces She-Dragon as an overly enthusiastic vigilante who's patterned herself after Dragon. In the opening scene, she botches a police sting and earns Dragon's ire. Later, when Alex is kidnapped by the villainous shark-freak Mako, Dragon's forced to reluctantly team with She-Dragon in order to rescue his partner.
While working the case, Dragon learns more about his female admirer. In this continuity, She-Dragon's father was Dr. Sherman Belcher, "the most famous freak scientist in the world." He invented a powerful microchip coveted by Mako's boss, and the ruler of Chicago crime, Overlord. Some time ago, Dr. Belcher was killed and the microchip stolen. Like any other self-respecting superbeing, She-Dragon became a crimefighter to avenge her father and halt Overlord's operations.
Ultimately, Alex is rescued, Overlord's scheme is thwarted, and She-Dragon sticks around as a supporting player. Her portrayal here is an early example of the "overly excited fangirl" trope -- she worships the titular hero and has to remind you in every scene she's in that she's just obsessed with how awesome he is.
During the show's two seasons, She-Dragon appeared quite regularly. Not surprising, given that she was one of the few Dragon characters immortalized in the concurrent toyline promoted by the show. (A toyline Dragon had to share with a revamped version of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles… redesigned by Jim Lee!)
The show doesn't tease the possibility that She-Dragon is related to Dragon; apparently, simply stating her father was a "freak scientist" is enough to explain her green skin and super strength. What the series deliberately avoided is her origin from the comics, which had practically no chance of ever being adapted for Saturday morning television.
She-Dragon's comics debut came in March 1993's The Savage Dragon vs. The Savage Megaton Man #1. The premise of the one-shot had Erik Larsen rendering his Dragon characters, while cartoonist Don Simpson penciled his Megaton cast, often on the same page.
It's a truly strange comic, one you might dismiss as a gimmicky crossover, and yet it's one of the more significant Savage Dragon comics of the early years.
The story's opening has Dragon confronting a gang of super-powered freaks who are in the midst of a rampage. (A brutal one, actually. The bloodied bodies of numerous homeless men are nearby. Some are even decapitated.) The freaks claim they're rebelling against their creator, Johnny Redbeard, who toyed with their powers and then tossed them away when they no longer amused him. The gang identifies itself as Johnny Redbeard's Nixed Men.
The members conveniently state their names and abilities. The aquatic Sub-Human has lost his flying powers, his undersea kingdom, and his memories. Super-X's amazing powers came with the ability to repel dirt…but also soap. His body odor now drives away his friends. And finally, we have the character now known as She-Dragon. In her debut, she's called Sensation, a green-skinned beauty whose actions entertain people from another realm. They're growing bored and irritated by her adventures, though.
Savage Dragon fans will identify the two remaining members, the ones that don't speak here, as Lightning Bug and Fade. And any comics fan of the era will get the larger joke. These characters are all parodies of Marvel and DC heroes revamped by creator John Byrne. The writer/artist was producing a creator-owned series for Dark Horse entitled John Byrne's Next Men at the time.
Sub-Human is a Sub-Mariner parody, who was revamped by Byrne in his 1990 series Namor, and left an amnesiac at the end of Byrne's run. Fade is a play on Invisible Woman of Fantastic Four fame. And a bit of a cheat, since Byrne's run on that title wasn't a revamp. Larsen's also mocking Byrne for leaving these titles quickly, but his Fantastic Four stint lasted several years. Finally, Sensation is a reference to Byrne's humorous Sensational She-Hulk monthly, which had its star breaking the fourth wall and occasionally addressing the reader directly.
Some of these jokes are pretty obscure. Lightning Bug, as Larsen revealed years later, is a reference to Uncanny X-Men's Storm, but with no obvious gag attached. And Super-X's issues with soap is a parody of a bit from Byrne's Superman revamp that irritated Larsen. Byrne postulated that Superman's powers were psionic in nature, enabling him to fly and generate a shield that protected his body. The thought of Superman's psionic shield also repelling soap seemed to amuse Larsen.
What does any of this have to do with Megaton Man? It's not particularly deep. As the Nixed Men flee from Dragon, Megaton Man arrives in the newly formed Image Universe. He'd been sent by his compatriots in the Megahero universe, who viewed footage of Dragon and were falsely convinced this world was overrun by aliens disguised as police officers. The heroes fight, then face the final Nixed Man, Slagg Heap. Rather than satirizing Byrne, Slagg Heap is Don Simpson's parody of over-the-top '90s villains. He literally falls on top of the other Nixed Men, ending their threat to Chicago.
As Larsen jokes in the comic's afterword: "To me, this book defines what Image Comics are all about. Out of control cartoonists churning out hopeless, incoherent drek that comes out months later than originally scheduled."
As the months went on, Larsen saw potential in Sensation and Johnny Redbeard as more than jokes. Sensation was revealed to be Amy Belcher, the child of a Vietnam War veteran who was exposed to strange chemicals overseas. Born ill, she was eventually taken to Johnny Redbeard for treatment. She developed powers and became Redbeard's girlfriend. However, her communication with strange voices caused Redbeard to view her as unstable and he ended their relationship.
While in prison, Sensation developed feelings for the Dragon. Upon release, she rebranded herself She-Dragon and attempted to earn his favor as a local hero. After a few appearances, Larsen hit upon her classic look. After having her hair burned off by the robotic Dragon-Slayer (itself a parody of the Spider-Slayer robots found in Spider-Man comics), She-Dragon re-grew her hair into a Mohawk that imitates the Dragon's fin.
The character went on to become a fan favorite, at one point replacing Dragon as the star of the comic for a few issues. And even Megaton Man would also make a Savage Dragon return, starring as a backup feature for several years.
CONTINUITY NOTES
Johnny Redbeard doesn't make an actual appearance in The Savage Dragon vs. The Savage Megaton Man, presumably because Larsen viewed this all as a one-off gag. Redbeard later appeared on panel in Freak Force #11, a Dragon spinoff. Eventually, Larsen divorced Redbeard from his roots as a John Byrne parody by redesigning and rebranding him as The Creator.
Larsen also later decided to provide an origin for the voices She-Dragon hears. (Initially, the reader was led to believe she's unstable.) The voices were eventually revealed to be the Eternal Youths, five super-powered youngsters imprisoned on an alternate Earth called Darkworld, calling out for help.
"THE RESULT OF SENSELESS REVAMPING!"
Aside from courting a lawsuit, it's easy to guess why She-Dragon's comics origin didn't work for animation. It's an in-joke barely a fraction of the audience would get, referencing comics no longer being published in 1995. And it's not as if this joke was good-natured joshing -- Byrne was possibly the most vocal critic of Image's founders in the early '90s, and the comic reads as an intentional effort from Larsen to get under Byrne's skin. Read outside of the context of its time, the one-shot probably comes across as more odd than amusing.
If Larsen knew just how long some of these characters would be around, it's doubtful they would've been introduced in this way. (Also doubtful that future reformed hero She-Dragon would've been portrayed as an accomplice to actual murder, if not a murderer herself.) She-Dragon's affable persona and striking design won many fans over, but her initial appearance doesn't hint at what's to come. This might not be the most awkward comics introduction ever, but it's got to be up there.