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Strontium Dog - Outlaw

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    chad
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  • Strontium Dog - Outlaw



    Strontium Dog: Outlaw
    Released by: 2000 AD/Rebellion
    Released on: February 11th, 2016.
    Written by: John Wagner
    Illustrated by: Carlos Ezquerra
    Purchase From Amazon

    Even before I'd read my first issue, I already had a soft spot for 2000 AD comics because I'd hear how much grittier they were than American comics and I'm a lifelong Anglophile. That being said, I guess I was predisposed to like Strontium Dog and my god! Sooooooo good!

    First a little background:

    In the future, nuclear wars have led to an increase in the birth of mutants thanks to the radioactivity in the atmosphere, namely Strontium-90. These aren't the sexy mutants Marvel presented to the world where they look like the beautiful people but they can read minds or shoot lasers or have gravity defying cleavage; no these mutants are actually mutated and most have some sort of physical deformity. A good portion of the Earth has been destroyed and this new breed is naturally hated and feared so they're hearded into ghettos and mistreated. Eventually there is a war led by our hero, Johnny Alpha, that leads to the mutants being exiled from Earth. The only jobs many of them can find is working as bounty hunters for the Search/Destroy Agency whose distinctive SD badges give this title and our characters their names.

    Johnny Alpha is the most famous Strontium Dog in the universe, he can see through walls and read minds and isn't noticeably deformed. He led the mutant uprising on Earth against his hated father Nelson Kreelman, a bigoted politician who rose to power on hatred and anti-mutant legislation. Johnny's partner is a time-displaced viking named Wulf Sternhammer who travels the universe with Johnny kicking ass and bringing the criminals to task.

    As the Outlaw storyline begins, we find the two Stix Brothers landing on Och-Eleven, a waterbound town full of broad Scottish stereotypes where they begin to slaughter everyone before telling the survivors that Alpha and Wulf are responsible. Word reaches the head of the SD agency who confronts Alpha and Wulf who quickly make an escape to find out who framed them. Their boss is then gun downed by the Stix brothers as well, and they once again frame Johnny and Wulf. He is replaced with a mutie hating human who has the Stix gun down anyone who questions him.

    Johnny and Wulf travel the galaxy as the most wanted men around. They eventually recruit some sympathetic co-workers who are gobsmacked that the most respected bounty hunters in the universe could also be cold-blooded murderers. We learn that the new head of the SD agency is a disguised Nelson Kreelman who Alpha had tracked down and locked in a time loop reliving the moment where he begs for his life over and over again. He had been discovered by chance by the Stix brothers who hated Alpha for shooting their brother. They team up to get revenge on Alpha and the other Mutant Army veterans and shoot all those they can before eventually catching Alpha on Och-Eleven where he's come to clear his name. He's taken back to the Doghouse SD base where Kreelman takes great pleasure in torturing him.

    Eventually after much back and forth and how will they get out of this, Alpha manages to escape with the help of his lovable comic relief pet The Gronk (who can eat through metal). Kreelman is gunned down by the mutants and Johnny and Wulf get the Stix brothers.

    This was a fantastic fast-paced read that made me fall in love with characters I'd never met before. I was emotionally invested in the Dogs getting away and getting their revenge; I have to say I'm always gonna be a sucker for stories with hate spewing villains as they're a trigger for me in real life as well. I also couldn't help but notice that the Stix brothers (at least to my eyes) bore a passing semblance to The Saint of Killers from the "Preacher" series. I know Garth Ennis did some writing for 2000 AD so I wouldn't be surprised if he'd been influenced there.

    Again, another 2000 AD storyline and another character for me to love. It doesn't hurt that the character was created by my favorite duo John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra. I'm a huge Judge Dredd fan and they created him as well so it was a bit of a given that I'd be a sucker for Ezquerra's art in this collection. He gives each mutie their own distinct look be it a potato for a head or irradiated eyes, he also does a fantastic job on the Antarctic Rain Forest...yeah thanks stupid nuclear war. If you're a fan of the work Wagner/Ezquerra did on Dredd then I highly recommend picking this collection up and getting another favorite!








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