Erik Larsen's WildCATS #14 in Japanese

Once upon a time, in the fall of 1994, the six Image Comics co-founders all swapped books.  As part of this, Erik Larsen wrote and drew WildC.A.T.s #14, in which the characters from his series Freak Force and Savage Dragon mixed it up with Jim Lee's Covert Action Team.

What's interesting to note is that this issue was localized for Japanese readers, even though Larsen's own titles never were.

The sixth collection of WildC.A.T.s comics translated into Japanese was released by Dengeki Comics on August 15, 1998.  It not only included Larsen's issue #14, but also issue #13 (the concluding installment of a story arc by Jim Lee and Chris Claremont, which guest-starred Claremont's Huntsman characters) and #15 (the first of a short-lived run by James Robinson and Travis Charest).

Here are some excerpts:

The front cover, utilizing artwork from WildC.A.T.s #13.

The back cover.

This guide to the Freak Force characters served as a forward to issue #14.

The first page featuring Freak Force in this issue.

Freak Force leaps into action.  Note that Ricochet's "Yee-haw!" is left unaltered.

Can you find the reference to Terminator 2?

Dragon enters the picture.  Note that the editor's note regarding Dragon and Grifter's prior encounter is untranslated, and references an issue never released in Japan.

And to wrap things up, I give you the same two pages not included in the Savage Dragon: Possessed trade paperback:

The Two Pages from WildC.A.T.s #14 that weren't in Savage Dragon: Possessed

Nearly all of WildC.A.T.s #14 was included in the trade Savage Dragon: Possessed, except for two pages (or at least parts of them).  For referential sake, I am including them here, with the hope that maybe Erik Larsen could include them as an extra in a Savage Dragon collection one day down the line.

The Simpsons Parody Youngblood and WildC.A.T.s

"When Bongos Collide!" was a comic book storyline that ran through Itchy & Scratchy Comics #3, Simpsons Comics #5, and Bartman #3.  In it, the residents of Springfield were transformed into reckless super-powered beings (the story behind all this is really funny, and I don't want to give too much away).  Included were parodies of the Image Comics teams Youngblood (as "Old Blood") and WildC.A.T.s: Covert Action Teams (as WildB.R.A.T.s: Wild, Bullying, Rowdy, Adolescent Team):

Note the reference to the name-change of a certain member of Youngblood.  For more info on "When Bongos Collide!", check out The Simpsons Wiki or Wiki Simpsons. You can buy the entire storyline in the trade paperback Bartman: Best of the Best, or in the magazine-sized Simpsons Classics #3 (from which I procured these scans).