Savage Dragon #184 Review

A dialogue heavy issue, Savage Dragon #184 deals with all the repercussions of previous issues. This is easy enough to pick up through repetitive comments, but it none the less has very little impact by its self.

The official description from Image:

“THE TRIAL OF SAVAGE DRAGON”
When he was Emperor Kurr, Savage Dragon came close to destroying the world. Now his past deeds come back to haunt him as the Savage Dragon is brought up on charges. This is the one battle he may not win. Savage Dragon is on trial and things may never be the same! Comes with our highest possible recommendation!

This issue kicks off where the previous one ended. With Dragon arrested, the comic takes a simple and predictable path. Given recent events, its a decent change of pace to avoid the action-packed and violent route, but it does seem underwhelming at times.

Part of this is due to the writing. With characters like the titular Dragon taking a back-seat, most of the spotlight is given to the likes of Malcolm and Angel. Whilst the writing does its best to capture a sense of youthfulness or hopelessness in the given situation, the writing does become overtly repetitive. Readers of the series already know that Savage Dragon is technically innocent (if being possessed by yourself is ever really a technicality in the eyes of the law is a question for comic book plot lines), it doesn’t need to be stated nearly every other page.

That said, the smaller focus is arguably what the series needs. After inter-galactic travels, battles in space and all-out war, having a more personal and emotional story, even if its not written to the best of its possibilities, adds breathing space to a series that can get quite big at times. Savage Dragon did start off as a policeman after all, sometimes its useful to go back to the series roots, even if its not in the most direct circumstances.

As for any actual action, there are a few brief panels (and I mean panels) of action. It seems like a decent amount of plot-threading or foreshadowing; especially when thrown in with the cliffhanger ending. Speaking of the ending, it certainly opens up various possibilities, but seems to go against the current, small scale and personal storyline that’s currently running.