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Johnny Alpha

Johnny Alpha, drawn by Carlos Ezquerra; Strontium Dog copyright Rebellion A/S 2005. Carlos Sanchez Ezquerra (born November 1947 in Zaragoza) who has also worked under the alias L
Publication information
PublisherIPC Media
First appearanceStarlord #1 (1978)
Created byJohn Wagner
Carlos Ezquerra
In story information
Alter egoJohn Kreelman
Team affiliationsSearch/Destroy Agency, Mutant Army
Notable aliasesJohnny Alpha
AbilitiesMutant eyes allow him to see through solid objects and read brainwave patterns,
limited telekinesis,
Superb military skills,
Has mastered Yogi trick of stopping & restarting his own heartbeat

Strontium Dog is a long-running comics series featuring in the British science fiction weekly 2000 AD, starring Johnny Alpha, a mutant bounty hunter with an array of imaginative gadgets and weapons. IPC Media is one of the United Kingdom 's leading consumer Magazine and digital publisher with a large portfolio selling over 350 million copies each year In Comic books and other stories with a long history first appearance refers to the first occurrence to feature a Fictional character. Starlord was a shortlived weekly British Science fiction comic published by IPC in 1978 as a sister title to This is a list of Comics -related events in 1978. Related year entries List of years in comics | 1977 in comics | 1978 in comics John Wagner is a Comics writer who was born in Pennsylvania in 1949 and moved to Scotland as a boy Carlos Sanchez Ezquerra (born November 1947 in Zaragoza) who has also worked under the alias L Comics (via Latin from the Greek "" kōmikos, of or pertaining to "comedy" from kōmos "revel" The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located A mutant is an individual organism or new genetic character arising or resulting from an instance of Mutation, which is a base-pair sequence change within the DNA

The series was created by writer John Wagner (under the pseudonym T. John Wagner is a Comics writer who was born in Pennsylvania in 1949 and moved to Scotland as a boy B. Grover) and artist Carlos Ezquerra for Starlord, a short-lived weekly science fiction comic, in 1978. Carlos Sanchez Ezquerra (born November 1947 in Zaragoza) who has also worked under the alias L Starlord was a shortlived weekly British Science fiction comic published by IPC in 1978 as a sister title to This is a list of Comics -related events in 1978. Related year entries List of years in comics | 1977 in comics | 1978 in comics When Starlord was cancelled the series transferred to 2000 AD. In 1980 Wagner was joined by co-writer Alan Grant, although scripts were normally credited to Grant alone. US publications --> Events and publications Year overall Marvel's answer to Heavy Metal, Alan Grant (born 1949 is a Scottish Comic book writer known for writing Judge Dredd in 2000 AD as well as various Grant wrote the series solo from 1988 to 1990. Events January February March April May June The Evolutionary War crossover event in

Contents

Series background

Nuclear wars had led to the birth of a sizeable population of mutants through showers of Strontium-90 in nuclear fallout. Strontium-90 (90Sr is a Radioactive Isotope of Strontium, with a Half life of 28 After the Great War of 2150 ("Nobody ever knew who fired the first missile - but suddenly the whole world went crazy!"), wiping out 70% of Britain's population, the number of mutants increased and was met with loathing by the "norms" and institutionalised racism: laws were passed forbidding mutants from owning businesses and segregating them into ghettos such as Milton Keynes. 2150 is the title of a work of Fiction written by Don and Thea Plym in 1970. A ghetto is described as a "portion of a city in which members of a minority group live especially because of social legal or economic pressure Milton Keynes ( ˌmɪltənˈkiːnz often abbreviated to MK, is a large town By 2180, one of the few jobs left is that of bounty hunter, a job considered too dirty for normal humans. The 22nd century of the Common Era will span the years 2101&ndash2200 of the Gregorian calendar. A bounty hunter captures Fugitives for a monetary reward ( bounty) The strongest of mutants thus hunt down criminals throughout the galaxy for the Search/Destroy agency, whose distinctive SD badges give them the nickname Strontium Dogs. The SD agents operate from an orbiting space station known as The Doghouse.

The mutants of Strontium Dog differ from the usual depiction of mutants in American comics, such as those published by Marvel, in that they are generally afflicted with severe physical deformities and only rarely granted with superhuman powers. A mutant within the Marvel Comic books particularly those of the X-Men mythos is an individual who possesses a genetic trait called an Marvel Comics is an American comic book company owned by Marvel Publishing Inc A superhuman is an entity with intelligence or abilities exceeding normal human standards Often this leads to humour and character names being puns, as Spider-Dan in the Young Middenface spin-off and skull-faced Welsh mutant Dai the Death in Strontium Dog: Traitor To His Kind.

Even by the standards of 2000 AD, Strontium Dog plotlines could be bizarre. In one story Alpha travels to an alternate dimension that passes for Hell. Hell, according to many Religious beliefs, is a location in the Afterlife, which may be described as a place of suffering In another he is sent by time machine to 1945 to arrest Adolf Hitler. Year 1945 ( MCMXLV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar Hi and welcome to Wikipedia! Please understand that this article is frequently vandalized and vandalism is reverted immediately There was also a bleak, minimalistic edge to the series at times reminiscent of spaghetti westerns. Spaghetti Western, also known in some countries in mainland Europe as the Italo-Western, is a nickname for a broad sub-genre of Western

Earth wasn't often seen in the strip. When it was, the focus was often New Britain - Great Britain after a devastating nuclear war. It is much closer to modern-day Britain than Judge Dredd's Brit-Cit by the same writers, but contains areas of nuclear devastation like the Greater London Crater and Birmingham Gap. Brit-Cit is a huge fictional City in the fictional universe of British comics 2000AD and Judge Dredd. The flying building of Upminster contains both the parliament and the monarchy. The mutants of New Britain live in ghettos, isolated from the human population and living in poverty.

Johnny Alpha

The most famous and respected of the Strontium Dogs is Johnny Alpha, whose mutant eyes allow him to see through walls and read minds. He is responsible for such legendary achievements as destroying the Wolrog homeworld, leading the mutant uprising on Earth, and bringing Adolf Hitler to the future to face trial. Hi and welcome to Wikipedia! Please understand that this article is frequently vandalized and vandalism is reverted immediately His legendary career and his assistance to mutants in trouble - such as donating a large sum of money to the Milton Keynes ghetto in "Mutie's Luck" - has made him an icon to Earth's mutants. He is a highly skilled and dangerous fighter.

He is a highly dogged bounty hunter, never giving up in the pursuit of his quarry. While he does work for money, he possesses a conscience and will often take a job, forego payment or sometimes drop a job entirely: in "The Doc Quince Case", he immediately turned around and rescued a man he'd hunted down. He also can be extremely vengeful when angered, as shown by his actions towards Nelson Kreelman and Max Bubba.

He's the son of Nelson Kreelman, a bigoted politician who drafted the anti-mutant laws and gained power on the back of bigotry. Despised, abused and hidden away by his father, Johnny escaped at a young age and joined the Mutant Army, becoming one of its key leaders by age 17 and playing a major part in the mutant uprising of 2167. The 22nd century of the Common Era will span the years 2101&ndash2200 of the Gregorian calendar.

He has a "norm" sister called Ruth, who is married and has a husband (Nigel) and daughter. She and her family have traditionally been friendly to Johnny; she even helped him escape and caused Nelson Kreelman's blackmail during the Mutant Army uprising of 2167. However, after her daughter was abducted and almost killed by a criminal looking for revenge on Johnny, she forbade him from coming near her family again.

It should be noted that, 'Portrait of a Mutant,' was written when the right-wing National Front were at the peak of their power in the UK and the treatment of mutants, similar to that of the Jews under the Nazis, is an obvious allegory, a warning that, 'It could happen here. '

Weapons and equipment

Like all Search/Destroy agents, Alpha is armed with highly advanced technology including a variable-cartridge blaster, electrified brass knuckles, a short-range teleporter, and a "time drogue" that can briefly "rewind" the last few minutes of time. Brass knuckles, also sometimes called knuckles, knucks, brass knucks, B-Nux or knuckle dusters, are Weapons used in Teleportation is the movement of objects from one place to another more or less instantaneously either by Paranormal means or through technological artifice A drogue is a device to slow a boat down in a storm so that it does not speed excessively down the slope of a wave and crash into the next one


Supporting cast

Johnny's original partner is Wulf Sternhammer, who is not a mutant but a normal human from Scandinavia. Terminology and usage As a cultural term "Scandinavia" has no official definition and is subject to usage by those who identify with the culture in question as well He acted a lot like a stereotypical Viking - eventually being revealed he really was a Viking, accidentally brought into the 22nd century when Johnny was pursuing a criminal gang through time. A Viking is one of the Norse ( Scandinavian Explorers Warriors Merchants, and pirates who raided and colonized wide areas While he doesn't need to work as a Strontium Dog and suffer the indignities of it, he stays with Johnny out of a sense of camaraderie.

Early strips included the Gronk, a timid, metal-eating alien from the planet Blas, in the Gallego system. The Gronk provided medical back-up and constantly worried about its "poor heartses". In the Strontium Dogs spinoff, the Gronk transformed into a gun-toting highly aggressive soldier.

Two allies who gained their own solo spin-off series were Middenface McNulty, a Scottish mutant raised in a ghetto/concentration camp called 'Shytehill' - presumably a reference to the Sighthill area of Glasgow - and whose head is covered with lumps; and Durham Red, a buxom agent whose mutation resembles vampirism and who is thus feared & despised by other mutants. Archibald "Middenface" McNulty is a fictional character from the 2000 AD series Strontium Dog. Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. Sighthill is a District in the Scottish city of Glasgow. It is situated north of the River Clyde. Lucy "Red" Durham was originally created in 1987 as a female Sidekick and lover for Johnny Alpha in the long-running British Comicbook series Vampires are mythological or folkloric revenants who subsist by feeding on the blood of the living

Feral, introduced in "The Final Solution", was a young, savage mutant.

The supporting cast would gain their own spin-off strip Strontium Dogs in the 1990s, written by Garth Ennis and Peter Hogan. Garth Ennis (born January 16, 1970 in Holywood, Northern Ireland) is an Irish Comics writer best known for the DC Peter K Hogan was editor of Cult political British comics Crisis and Revolver in the late 1980s and early 1990s It was criticised by Ennis in the book Thrill Power Overload as being anti-climactic and that the lead, Feral, "was nowhere near as interesting as Johnny". The series was scrapped when David Bishop became 2000 AD's editor. David Bishop is an award-winning screenwriter and author Born in New Zealand, he was a UK comics editor during the 1990s running such titles as the Judge Dredd The Mighty Tharg is a recurrent character in Science fiction Comic 2000 AD, one of only two characters to appear

Significant stories

"Portrait of a Mutant", a flashback story in 1981, filled in the background of the series and Johnny's role in the Mutant Army; it introduced Kreelman and the Kreelers, his quasi-official anti-mutant police. Events Year overall Big Rapids a major midwestern comics distributor goes under and two former employees (John Davis and Milton Griepp form Capital City Distribution Kreelman drafted laws stated mutants were not allowed to work or own businesses, leading to them being forced from their homes into slums and eventually into being forced into labour camps; the only option for many mutants was to join the nationwide guerilla Mutant Army. An attack was launched on Upminster in 2167 as part of a general uprising, but the Army's leaders were forced to surrender in the face of mass mutant executions. The 22nd century of the Common Era will span the years 2101&ndash2200 of the Gregorian calendar. Kreelman used this as an opportunity to push forward the extermination of all mutants; Johnny Alpha and the other leaders escaped (thanks to Johnny's sister and mother) and led the Mutant Army in a second major uprising to prevent genocide. The Prime Minister and King agreed to draft into law a better deal for mutants, and - after hearing Alpha was Kreelman's son from Ruth - blackmailed Kreelman into resigning. The mutant leaders were pardoned on condition they go into exile in space, leading to the creation of the Search/Destroy agency; the Kreelers were disbanded and replaced with a new police force. (This changeover was depicted by a panel showing Kreelers, which was then repeated but with a different uniform, showing that the same people and attitudes remained)

In the present day, bookending "Portrait", Johnny tracked his father down and activated a time device, causing his father to relive his final moments: begging for his life, forever.

In the story "Outlaw", Kreelman was later freed, and, in disguise, had himself appointed head of the Search/Destroy agency. He used his position to frame Johnny and other Mutant Army veterans for murder. Johnny was soon made aware of the truth and had no qualms about dragging his own father before the deceived mutants who gunned him down on the spot.

In the story "Max Bubba", a lengthy story explaining Wulf's origins, Wulf was killed off in 1986 at the hands of Max Bubba and his gang. This led to the epic "Rage", in which Johnny remorselessly hunted down his partner's killers. After that Johnny either worked solo, or with Durham Red or Scottish mutant Middenface McNulty. Lucy "Red" Durham was originally created in 1987 as a female Sidekick and lover for Johnny Alpha in the long-running British Comicbook series Archibald "Middenface" McNulty is a fictional character from the 2000 AD series Strontium Dog.

Johnny was killed off in 1990, sacrificing himself to save mutants from extermination at the hands of Kreelman's illegitimate son, Lord Sagan. Artist Carlos Ezquerra disagreed with the decision to kill him and refused to draw it, so Johnny's final adventures were illustrated by Simon Harrison and Colin MacNeil. Colin MacNeil is a British comics artist best known for his work on 2000 AD and in particular on Judge Dredd and other stories within his John Wagner later admitted in Judge Dredd Megazine's Thrill Power Overload feature on the history of the comic that "killing off Johnny Alpha was a mistake [that] I'm doing my best to rectify. John Wagner is a Comics writer who was born in Pennsylvania in 1949 and moved to Scotland as a boy Judge Dredd Megazine is a monthly British Comic magazine, launched in October 1990. "[1]

The medium of time travel allowed him to make further appearances. This article details time travel itself For other uses see Time Traveler. In the 1991 Judge Dredd Annual John Wagner wrote and Colin MacNeil drew "Top Dogs", in which Johnny and Wulf travel back in time to Mega-City One in pursuit of a criminal, and encounter, and only narrowly escape, Judge Dredd. Events January February March April X-Force debuts in New Mutants vol For the 1995 film see Judge Dredd (film. For the Reggae / Ska performer see Judge Dread. For the 1995 film see Judge Dredd (film. For the Reggae / Ska performer see Judge Dread. Johnny and Dredd renewed acquaintances in 1992 in the Judge Dredd story "Judgement Day", written by Garth Ennis and drawn mainly by Ezquerra. Events January February March April May Namor the Sub-Mariner, issue 26 (May cover date - Garth Ennis (born January 16, 1970 in Holywood, Northern Ireland) is an Irish Comics writer best known for the DC

Revival

In the Prog 2000 holiday special, published at the end of 1999, Johnny Alpha was revived by his original creators, Wagner and Ezquerra. US publications -->==Events and publications== January February March April The new stories were set before Johnny's death. Wagner introduced the concept that all previous stories were 'folklore', and the current series was the truth, which allowed him to revise continuity; subsequent stories have tied into the original run.

The first story, "The Kreeler Conspiracy", was based on a treatment Wagner had written for an aborted Strontium Dog TV pilot, and featured Johnny working solo, but Wulf returned in subsequent stories.

The subsequent story "Traitor To His Kind" (Prog 1406-1415) introduced Johnny's half-brother, head of a brutal police unit that dealt with mutant crimes. Hired by pro-mutant First Minister Negus, Johnny was sent to get a kidnapped King Clarkie back from mutant guerillas; loathe though he was to do so, he knew elements within the government were trying to use this as an excuse to viciously crackdown on mutants. Johnny and Wulf rescue the King, as well as uncovering a conspiracy in the Home Office to allow the kidnapping and subsequently fake the King's murder so as to provide a reason for mutant brutalisation. While this led to an improvement in the lives of mutants, all of it was behind the scenes and Johnny Alpha was branded a traitor by mutants for working against his kind.

Collected editions

In 1987 Titan Books produced the first collected volume of Strontium Dog stories and others have appeared piecemeal over the years. Titan Publishing Group is an independently owned publishing company established in 1981 In Comics, a trade paperback ( TPB or simply trade) refers to a collection of stories originally published in comic books, reprinted in book format Starting in 2007 Rebellion have begun releasing a complete run of collected Strontium Dog stories as the “Search/Destroy Agency Case Files”. Events January January 10: Superman & Batman vs Aliens & Predator released Rebellion is a British Computer games company based in Oxford, who are most famous for the first Aliens versus Predator computer game

Spin-offs

Computer games

In 1984, a computer game called "Strontium Dog - The Killing" was released by Quicksilva for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum. Quicksilva was one of the most successful British games software publishers during the early 1980s Sinclair Research Ltd is a consumer electronics company founded by Sir Clive Sinclair in Cambridge, England (originally as Sinclair Radionics in 1961 to The Sinclair ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal Home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd [4] In the game, Johnny Alpha has to rid the galaxy of all the 'vicious murderers' by roaming through a maze of corridors and rooms killing the murderers with his gun.

The game was of extremely poor quality, with reviews of the period deriding it for poor graphics, a lack of playability and for being extremely boring. [5]

The same year, Quicksilva released "Strontium Dog - The Death Gauntlet", a side-scrolling shoot-em-up for the Commodore 64.

Rebellion Studios, the current owners of 2000ad, have hinted that a Strontium Dog game may be in the works (their third 2000ad game property after Judge Dredd and Rogue Trooper). However, nothing has been heard of this for several years.

Novels

In 2003, Black Flame started publishing official 2000 AD novels, including a number featuring Strontium Dog. The year 2003 in literature involved some significant events and new books Black Flame was an imprint of BL Publishing, the publishing arm of Games Workshop and a sister imprint to the Black Library and Solaris Books To date, these are:

Audio dramas

In recent years, Big Finish Productions have released a number of audio dramas with 2000 AD characters. Rebecca Levene is a British Author and editor best known for editing Virgin 's New Adventures series of original fiction Doctor Who Simon Spurrier is a British Comics Writer, who has previously worked as a cook a bookseller and an Art director for the BBC. Jonathan Clements (born July 9, 1971) is a British author and scriptwriter Andrew Cartmel is a British Science fiction writer and Journalist, and former Script editor of Doctor Who. Steve Lyons is a British writer He has written several Doctor Who spin-off novels as well as programme guides for Star Trek Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio plays (released straight to Compact disc and These have mostly featured Judge Dredd, but three have starred Strontium Dog. For the 1995 film see Judge Dredd (film. For the Reggae / Ska performer see Judge Dread. In these Judge Dredd and Wulf Sternhammer are played by Toby Longworth and Johnny Alpha is played by Simon Pegg. For the 1995 film see Judge Dredd (film. For the Reggae / Ska performer see Judge Dread. Toby Longworth is a British actor who has appeared on Film, Radio and Television. Simon Pegg (born Simon John Beckingham; 14 February 1970) is an award-winning English Actor, Comedian, Writer The current list of Strontium Dog plays includes:

Pre-Emptive Revenge takes place in the immediate aftermath of Judge Dredd/Strontium Dog crossover story "Judgement Day". Jonathan Clements (born July 9, 1971) is a British author and scriptwriter

Fanzines

Dogbreath is an unofficial small press comic produced by fans of the series. Dogbreath is Fanzine dedicated to the 2000 AD series Strontium Dog. British small press comics is a term used to describe Comic books self-published by Cartoonists and Comic book creators within the UK Fans in Little Italyjpg|thumb|right|Fans in Little Italy Manhattan celebrating the victory of the Italian association football team after the 2006 FIFA World Cup]][[Image Wm-oly-de-cr

In popular culture

Strontium Dog, and in particular the death of Johnny Alpha, is referenced in an episode of TV sitcom Spaced. Spaced is a British Television Situation comedy written by and starring Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson, and Actor and co-author Simon Pegg later went on to play Johnny Alpha in the Big Finish Productions Strontium Dog audio plays. Simon Pegg (born Simon John Beckingham; 14 February 1970) is an award-winning English Actor, Comedian, Writer Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio plays (released straight to Compact disc and

See also

References

  1. ^ Judge Dredd Megazine, volume 4, issue 17, p. Archibald "Middenface" McNulty is a fictional character from the 2000 AD series Strontium Dog. Lucy "Red" Durham was originally created in 1987 as a female Sidekick and lover for Johnny Alpha in the long-running British Comicbook series Judge Dredd Megazine is a monthly British Comic magazine, launched in October 1990. 49
  2. ^ File 01 details
  3. ^ File 02 details
  4. ^ 2000 AD's games section, with the game (and emulator) free to download
  5. ^ Your Sinclair magazine review of the computer game "Strontium Dog - the Killing"

External links

Reviews

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