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Issue #4 By Eddie MountainGoat The dragon (no longer a statue) has been dispensing its own brand of justice in Oligopolis, killing criminals without mercy. In the midst of this we get our first glimpse of a new character – a middle-aged gentleman who bears some resemblance to a certain creator of comics. As he meditates, it becomes apparent from his visions and internal monologue that he has some connection to Billy, Jimmy and Sensei. He senses that the dragon is free and must be stopped. At Oligopolis Police HQ, Jimmy suggests that the dragon’s freedom may be for the best – it can now battle evil, unrestricted by his personal shortcomings. Marian admonishes him, reminding him that the dragon is also unrestricted by his conscience – it’s killing people. She concludes that Billy and Jimmy are responsible for the dragon’s actions [How?], and have to try to stop it. They agree. The three board the Lees’ aircraft, the Dragon’s Wing, and set off to locate the dragon. They find it headed toward the central prison. Jimmy openly admits that without the Dragon Force, he and Billy are probably going to die fighting a beast that armed police have already failed against. Billy agrees and they then leap out of the airborne vehicle onto the back of a giant dragon that the police are still firing on [Not even the Scott Wolf portrayal of the character would do something this stupid]. It seems that nothing can defeat the dragon – neither Billy and Jimmy’s martial arts weapons (the twins get thrown off) nor the police gunfire (ineffectual). Not even Marian’s napalm missile attack from the Dragon’s Wing (actually puts the dragon down, but only temporarily). With no clue how to stop the monster, things seem pretty dire. Just then, the middle-aged gentleman shows up, introducing himself as “Stan.” He addresses Billy and Jimmy as “True believers,” telling them that power isn’t controlled with power, but with spirit. Jimmy understands, instructing Billy to take his hand. Together, they concentrate on the Dragon Force and transform into Double Dragon, as they used to. As the power flows into them, it flows out of the dragon, causing it to fragment into rubble. The day is saved. Shortly afterwards, Stan reveals how he knew about the Dragon Force: The twins’ mother taught him. She was his wife. DUN DUN DUUUUUUUN! Eddie MountainGoat’s review: In my opinion, this is the worst of all six comics. I don’t like the idea of the Double Dragons being suicidal fools. Once they decided to stop the dragon, they should have worked out some plan of attack that actually stood a chance of success. Knowing that what they intended to do would most likely get them killed and doing it anyway without even considering alternatives is just plain dumb. Here’s a suggestion/plot hole: Why didn’t they try Marian’s tactic FIRST? Since they started off in the Dragon’s Wing anyway, why not fly the craft at the dragon, draw it away from the police and then blast it? True, that wouldn’t actually work, but the heroes didn’t know this when they began their assault. Marian at least put up a sound tactical attack (and came the closest anyone did [until the end] to destroying the beast). Billy and Jimmy just used reckless self-endangerment. Heck, even the cartoon Double Dragons had a plan for fighting a giant monster (I’ve gotta wonder if that episode was influenced by this comic since it also involves an actual dragon and the Double Dragons’ aircraft). As for Stan Lee as the father of Billy and Jimmy Lee, I can take it or leave it. I know it made some readers angry, but since I can’t bring myself to take these comics too seriously anyway, it’s not such a big deal to me.
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