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Published by: Image Comics
Released on: June 18, 2014
Teenaged-, green-skinned superhero Malcolm Dragon is having a rough time of it but, apparently, he always has, being the son of the mighty Savage Dragon himself. This issue turns to him dealing with his unique problems with his girlfriend, Maxine, plus another lady from his past.
[SAVAGE SPOILERS BELOW!]
The issue opens with young Malcolm visiting his good friend, Angel Murphy. Her babysitter is none-too-impressed with him but finally lets him in. Malcolm reveals to Angel his recent discovery that his mother is actually some kind of replacement, that he did indeed witness his real mother's death months' prior. Angel is sceptical but not unreasonable. But before they can discuss this any further a villain named Sexy Beast crashes through the wall, intent on taking Angel with him.
It turns out, fortunately, that Angel's babysitter is Alison Summers, wielder of the God Sword, a magical sword that can cut through anything. Malcolm tries to use his young powers but is quickly thrown aside. Alison, though, hops in and slices Sexy Beast pretty much in half.
Cut to the present and teenaged Malcolm is fighting a group of bad guys when Alison appears again. He's apparently somehow interfered with her plans so she's intent on taking him out. She tussled with his father previously and that Savage Dragon barely survived the encounter. She figures the younger version will be pretty easy to dispatch. Malcolm's pretty quick and strong, though, and bounds away from her finally even though she's hit him with a bunch of tranquilizer darts.
Those cause him to pass out at the apex of a skyscraper-high jump so he awakes surprised to find himself in a hospital bed. Maxine is there and he has no pants. Shortly thereafter the two are at a nearby diner, discussing their predicaments as a couple: Malcolm wants to think they're dating and Maxine does, too; but her parents only want her to date other Chinese boys so they've been forcing her to go on dates. Malcolm doesn't understand why she gets to play around and he's stuck not being able to get with her. She points out the obvious problem with his logic there but their conversation is then interrupted by the diner owner. Apparently, one of the girls Malcolm's buddy Lamarr brought over [in the previous issue] was killed in the subsequent building collapse, a result of the fight there between Malcolm and Torment.
Malcolm sees where this is all going and hurriedly leaves, only to find more angry parents outside the diner. They proclaim him to be a menace to the city and the high school and vow to get him expelled, from both places if possible. But as this is going on the robotic terror known as Red Rage attacks, forcing Malcolm to grab Maxine and get her to safety before taking on the bad guy. Their fight escalates over the Chicago skyline, climaxing in a fiery explosion. The next scene has this result of equal-demise reported to Alison, who won't believe Malcolm is dead until she sees anything that's left of him, though…
This episode nicely moves the character into more a development cycle, worrying less about establishing the craziness of his life as the previous issues have done. Erik Larsen gets something really cooking here, still embracing the style of the original series but forcing the perspective now onto characterization. This can only serve the series better from here on out, too, making this one very much worth picking up. A nice bonus included at the end features a one-page story featuring a teenaged Angel Murphy plus some "funnies," single-row comics thrown in just for the heck of it.
