Real
Name: John Kreelman
Identity/Class: Mutant human
Occupation: Bounty Hunter (Strontium Dog); formerly rebel leader
Affiliations: Wulf Sternhammer (partner); Mutant Army (now disbanded); Middenface McNulty; Durham Red; the Gronk; Feral
Enemies: Lord Sagan; Nelson Bunker Kreelman; Sadan; Billy Joe; Stix Brothers; Max Bubba, Unrighteous Brothers
Known Relatives: Nelson Bunker Kreelman (father, deceased); Diane Kreelman (mother, deceased); Ruth Kreelman (sister); Lord Sagan (half-brother); Marci (niece)
Aliases:
Base of Operations: The Doghouse, deep space;
First Appearance: Starlord #1 (1977 on); 2000A.D. #86 (October 1978) - #687 (when he died)
History: I'll let the man himself tell you - this character profile appeared in Judge Dredd Megazine #4 Vol. 2 ( by Mike Butcher ).
"I WAS born in 2150, just after the Great War that left Britain a nuclear wasteland with only 30% survivors.
My mother was Diana Kreelman. I guess you could say that my father was a freak strontium storm that she was caught in before I was born.
That was what caused my mutation and changed my life before it had even begun.
Unfortunately, my real father was much worse than any radioactive storm. He was Nelson Bunker Kreelman, Civic Leader in New Britain's South West Sector and pioneer of the harsh new anti-mutant legislation.
Not surprisingly, I never saw even-to-eye with my father. There were far too many alpha waves coming from my eyes for his liking. He kept my mutant eyes a closely-guarded secret, as he built his political career on ever more rabid mutant bashing.
I was practically confined to the house throughout my early childhood. No-one told me I was a mutant. I really believed I had a dangerous eye condition that could prove fatal if ever exposed to the light.
It was only when I had to attend school that I discovered the truth about my eyes. Some of the pupils decided to rough me up a bit and pull off my special goggles.
They regretted picking on me when they say what was underneath. Me, I was delighted. I wasn't dead. In fact I had special powers I'd never dreamt of.
I rushed off to tell my dad. I thought he's be delighted, too. Fat chance! He was furious. If word got out about my mutation his career would've been over, so he made me a prisoner at home.
That's
when I truly learnt to hate my father. I'd always felt he resented me for
some reason. Now I knew why - I was a mutant.
He'd fought long and hard to pass laws that made it illegal for mutants to own anything, to work, or even to live among 'norms'. All along, he'd had a mutant living under his own roof'.
I decided to escape from my father's house. I'd heard stories about a rebel Mutant Army, fighting for mutant rights, l figured that if joined them I might be able to put right some of the terrible things Kreelman had done.
I suppose I must have seemed pretty crazy to the rebels. there I was, 12 years old and full of hate, begging to join to roughest, toughest band in the South West Sector.
I couldn't even tell them who I was. I said my name was Johnny Alpha, and they accepted me into their ranks.
Kreelman was happy to believe that I was dead, while I swiftly became a leading figure in the Mutant Army. I led my first guerrilla raid at the age of 14 and by 2167. I was second-in-command of the whole unit.
But then our struggle became all the more desperate. Kreelman set up the Mutant Labour Camps, where mutants were subjected to slave labour and horrendous living conditions.
The Mutant Armies from all the different sectors of New Britain held a joint meeting and we discussed tactics for war! It was decided we should attack the floating fortress at Upminister and try to seize control of the Government. Despite heavy losses, we won. Unfortunately Kreelman escaped and then forced us to surrender by threatening to kill 100 mutants every hour. We thought surrender was the best option, as the King and Prime Minister seemed a little sympathetic to our cause. However we reckoned without the depth of my father's influence and I was sentenced to death, along with the other mutant generals. Then the Mutant Extermination Bill was passed and we had to fight back.
Ironically,
it was my sister whom I hadn't seen for years, who played a key part in my
father's downfall. First she helped me and the other generals escape our
execution.
Then she revealed the truth about Kreelman's mutie son to the Prime Minister and King. This game them the ammunition they needed to discredit my father and force him to resign.
The Mutant Army did the rest. We struggled hard to cause maximum disruption to the Mutant Extermination Programme.
The Prime Minister was keen to settle with us so the Bill was abolished, my father's secret police, the Kreelers were disbanded and new areas were set out where mutants could live in peace.
We were a long way from equality with the 'norms', but the Kreelman era was over. I was exiled off-planet, which suited me. I'd had enough of Earth and the people who lived there. Then the Galactic Crime Commission set up an agency for interplanetary bounty hunters, or Search/Destroy Agents. It was a dirty and dangerous job, ideal for mutants,' according to the 'norms'.
I joined right away. It wasn't long before we were known by our more common name - the Strontium Dogs!"
Powers/Abilities: Johnny's mutant eyes can emit piercing Alpha rays. This enables him to see through solid objects and read the electromagnetic patterns in a man's brain to tell if he is lying or not.
One of Johnny's non-mutant tricks has saved his life at least twice. He is capable of slowing his autonomic functions such as his heart beat until they are virtually non-existent, allowing him to convincingly fake his own death. He uses this very sparingly, as it is extremely dangerous, and could genuinely be fatal if he does not receive medical treatment shortly after using it.
As well as his natural abilities, Johnny uses the weapons available to all Strontium Dogs - a blaster (Westinghouse variable-cartridge blaster in his case), electro-nux (electrified knuckle duster), time bombs and dimension bombs, beam polariser (capable of drawing energy beams from blaster weapons to it), and a short range teleporter. He also has a time drogue, capable of turning back time for a short while (the first time we see him use this, it is so he can question a man he has just killed by bringing them temporarily back to life.)
Comments:
Created by John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra. Johnny comes from around the
year 2178 A.D. His closest friends are Wulf
Sternhammer (until his death), Middenface
McNulty (who he served with during the mutant revolt years before), and
the Gronk (a timid alien healer who eats metal).
He also worked with Durham Red and
Feral.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Any Additions/Corrections? Please let me know.
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