JUSTIN’S PICK :: SAVAGE DRAGON #190: Periodically, I am honor-bound to pick Savage Dragon, because it is my favorite superhero comic. I think it’s a truly underappreciated and misunderstood book, still mired in a reputation hewn from the abysmally embossed 90s. What most people fail to see is that series perpetrator Erik Larsen is a dedicated craftsman who takes plenty of chances when he could just coast by on the fumes of nostalgia. He consistently pushes himself as a writer and an artist, from the book’s driving real time concept (i.e. the characters age with the rest of the world) to stunts like he’s pulling with issue #190. You can opt for the standard sized issue, but Larsen has also reformatted the book’s contents into a 64 page digest edition, wholly as an exercise in the versatility of print media. This is another example of Larsen’s willingness and ability to take chances, and take full advantage of the potential Image Comics engendered at its outset. If you needed any more persuading, Dragon also battles one of his more vicious baddies, the shark-man Mako, amid a prison full of supercrooks. A must!