Those who teach, can...

[digicom]

Fans of comics love to argue who is the best/fastest/toughest character. Among DC Martial Artists, Cassandra Cain, Lady Shiva, or Batman often get the nod. But there's one fellow who sometimes gets missed, even though he's been around since the early 70's:

Part of it is understandable, as he disappeared from comics after his short-lived series (based on a novel by Denny O'Neill & Jim Berry) was canceled, but 23 years ago, Denny re-invented him as the archetypal martial arts master, that guy who isn't as flashy as some, but is the best person to learn from.


Richard first re-appeared (along with his sometime ally Lady Shiva) in The Question #2, where he put Vic Sage on the path to, if not enlightenment, at least relative sanity:





After that, he disappeared from the book until the last arc, when he showed that he wasn't quite as helpless as Vic had assumed.

After Barbara Gordon was shot by the Joker, Richard helped her find new strength, both physically and mentally.











When Vic Sage saw Huntress heading down the same self-destructive path he'd been on, he took her to Richard, hoping that he'd be able to help her as well.








And finally, when Vic was searching for a successor, he took Renee Montoya to Nanda Parbat, where Richard now resided


 

It's because these scenes (among others) were so cool that I didn't care for the Dixon revamp. I do have a pet theory that "Richie" is a different fellow entirely, but this might not be the place for that. :)

(Scans from Birds of Prey #87, Batman Chronicles #5, Cry For Blood #3, and 52 #27.)

Comments

[majingojira]

My current thought process is that Cass is now retraining with Richard Dragon to get herself back on track.

It's either that or go directly to Sun Wukong.

[digicom]

It's been suggested that's where Connor went, too.

[jlbarnett]

he ought to be trying to meet up with Thundermind and Accomplished Perfect Physician.

[majingojira]

This sounds like a miniseries in the making.

[digicom]

I'd write it if I could....

[jaybee3]

Yeah, but that's partly because Cass/Connor are my imaginary cracktastic DC pairing. But aside from that I don't see how DC could lose by putting Richard Dragon, Cass, Connor, Lady Shiva (as a special guest star) and maybe The League of Assassins or some other big-time martial arts using villains in a mini-series. 6-8 issues of kung-fu goodness using characters DC obviously has no use for these days.

[digicom]

They'd turn it into a Batman showcase, like Dixon's "Brotherhood of the Fist" crossover.

[majingojira]

Which is part of the reason why I suggest the Monkey King be the true leader.

That, and Sun Wukong is just awesome.

And end it Cass, Conner and whoever else gets snagged along in a final test of their skills.

A raid on the JLA watchtower, while the full guard is there.

In a repeat of Monkey's raid on the Jade Empreror's palace.

Why would Monkey do such a thing? Because it is there! No one's hurt terribly by the assault, but Monkey sure has a laugh.

[mistersandman]

I like this a lot! Maybe in one issue they could face off against the Great Ten's Seven Deadly Brothers?

[majingojira]

Or the Great 10 as a whole directly afterwards.

Why? Because they are there--and because it is MONKEY!

[darkblade]

And after that the Monkey can beat up the Super Young Team.

[majingojira]

I was thinking he'd then head to New Krypton eventually, so they'd make a nice pit stop.

[icon_uk]

Well, he IS the funkiest Monkey there ever popped..

Sorry, possibly something only Brits of a certain age will get, but if you seek enlightenment, click here

[kingrockwell]

I'd buy two copies!

[fifthie]

Personally I prefer "that's where she's been all along, and sooner or later she's going to come back and ask what's up with this crazy clone of her that was running around trying to kill people".

[aaron_bourque]

I would totally buy that. Richard could also teach her more social aspects of life, as well.

[ian_karkull]

Is that Richard Dragon?

How would you know, you've got a lampshade pulled over yur face.

[digicom]

There's a little window thingy. :)

(That's one of the 12 Brothers In Silk that Gail used in BoP. The hats don't stop them from being some of the toughest foes Dinah ever fought)

[icon_uk]

There's usually a little window thing, that model appears not to have one.

[ian_karkull]

Yes, exactly. I know how these things are supposed to work, but the way it's drawn here, it's an accident waiting to happen.

[victory_or_death]

I think it's a Big Trouble in Little China reference and that's what the artist was trying to go for:

[icon_uk]

Not quite, the bamboo hats are traditional warrior garb, but those there make sense, they protect the head and shoulders and can be looked out of because they're tilted back on the head. The ones in the OP are, as noted, lampshades, covering too much of the face to be looked out from underneath, but forward vision is also impaired.

[victory_or_death]

Right, and I think the artist was just thinking about the reference (maybe), and I think it just ended up being practicality fail.

Then again, maybe they just like to party and they ARE lampshades.

[fungo_squiggly]

That's why he has to ask.

"Seriously. is it? I can't see a goddamn thing."

[thanekos]

Richard Dragon has something for everyone.

[glprime]

Huntress, you obviously don't know Tai Chi if you think doing it that fast counts for something in training. It's control, fluidity... Hell, when someone first demonstrated it for me, I said, "Oh, like the improv Mirror Exercise?" I love that the butterfly remains on his hand.

He also seems to love using soft arts to pwn students. Then again, when your master's name was O-Sensei...

[kosaginolegion]

It *is* allowable to do it faster, depending on the circumstances. Sometimes you do it quicker to test that you're staying in pattern. (Or so I'm told. I still do it slow.)

Her mistake is that she's not following the leader. If Richard is training her, then she shouldn't be going off on her own.

[minyandu.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Huntress, doing it slowly would actually take more strength and control and you sure would sweat more. Doing it fast is much more easier.

[big_daddy_d]

I've always had a great admiration for Mr. Dragon.

[kingrockwell]

I've much love for Richard. That tai chi sequence from Cry For Blood is one of my favorites in one of my favorite books. I also love how Hel's training page parallels Vic's!

2004 was a funny year for properties created by or defined by Denny. After he left DC, it feels like there was some campaign to swipe his work under the rug, what with Dixon's Richard Dragon series, Veitch's Question mini and the later retcon of Shiva's origin in Batgirl. Continuity was a weird thing around that time anyway, so I think Infinite Crisis settled things back for Vic and Richard, but I doubt it changed things for Shiva.

The Dixon/McDaniels series is actually kind of okay if you can pretend that the lead character isn't Richard Dragon, though I do like that it re-established his relationship with Ben Turner, who's become more a Suicide Squad character post-Crisis. I just wanna see those two hang out again.

[digicom]

It's actually easy enough to retcon. Here's the theory I posted elsewhere:

--

There are two Richard Dragons.

The first, who's last name is actually Dragon, was trained by the Sensei along with Ben Turner, and adventured with him for a while, but retired into a life of contemplation when Ben disappeared. During this period, he trained Vic Sage, Helena Bertinelli, and Barbara Gordon. Eventually, he moved to Nanda Parbat.

As we know, Ben eventually broke free of his conditioning, and joined the Suicide Squad. After leaving the Squad, he lived a private life for a short while, until the day he met a young Richie Dragunov. The coincidence in names amused him, and he eventually trained this second Richard Dragon, only to lose him after an encounter with Shiva.

During the intervening years, various heroes (including some trained by the original Dragon) came to Dragunov to see what he had to teach. He also trained a few other martial artists, some of whom became villains.

Jump forward to the mini, which basically happens as written, sans the egregious MA mistakes (e.g. silat is NOT "Monkey style"). After being revived by Neron, Richie is probably wandering the US, seeking peace.

This theory works, basically, because there's about 10 years, real time, when Ben was unaccounted for. You can slot the Richie flashback in there. The one thing I'm not sure of is which Dragon showed up in Birds of Prey. He looks too old to be the second, but he's clean shaven. *shrug*

--

Which means that if I ever get a chance to write my "Fists of the Dragon" miniseries, I can include Richie, along with Connor & Cass.

[kingrockwell]

While the one in Birds had the clean-shaven design from the Dixon/McDaniels series, he's also there due to his past connection to Hel, via Cry For Blood. Maybe his chin was feeling itchy, or he wanted to try something new for a little bit?

One thing I miss about their pre-Crisis story is that it was actually Richard who helped Ben break his conditioning. When Ben's backstory was explored in Suicide Squad, that story got left out. It wasn't even written by Denny, but I liked the idea that Richard didn't leave his best friend high and dry. It's the one thing that's really bugged me about how Ben was separated from Richard and Shiva post-Crisis.

And my personal canon is that Tot talked Vic into moving to Nanda Parbat after he was diagnosed with cancer, and he could've lived there the rest of his life there in relative peace, but there were too many questions left and Vic knew there'd have to be someone in his place to ask them. Richard was just visiting as a favor to his star pupil.

[digicom]

Given that Richard apparently gave himself a temporary receding hairline, a simple shave isn't too hard to accept. :)

I like your canon idea, as well.

[kingrockwell]

One day, I'll write that fic. Until then, it lives on in my head.

[shadowpsykie]

i love how he is basically telling them all the same thing, and that all the Heroes that went to him were coming to him for basically the same reason, they were all running from something.

and the perfect line was from renee, "ladies and gentlemen, Richard Dragon."

[aaron_bourque]

I never forget Richard Dragon. He should do a little more adventuring, maybe then people wouldn't forget him, either.