Strontium Dog is a long-running comic strip story that began in British comic book Starlord before moving over to 2000 AD, following the adventures of time traveling mutant bounty hunter Johnny Alpha. Written by John Wagner, it's notable for its distinctive mix of dark humour and gritty action.
After The Great War of 2150 ("Nobody ever knew who fired the first missile - but suddenly the whole world went crazy!") showers of Strontium 90 have led to the birth of a large population of mutants, who are discriminated against, and only permitted to work as Search/Destroy agents, whose distinctive SD badges give them the nickname Strontium Dogs.
Other characters have included metal-eating furry alien The Gronk , Wulf the hammer-swinging Viking, and mutant vampire Durham Red who was spun-off into her own series when Johnny Alpha was killed off.
In the Prog 2000 holiday special, published at the end of 1999, a new series of Johnny Alpha stories began. Initially adapted from a screenplay John Wagner wrote for an abortive attempt to develop a Strontium Dog TV series, Wagner used the conceit that these stories were the "true" history of Johnny Alpha and all ealier stories were apocryphal. While the original story only featured Alpha on his own, Wulf was brought back in the next and all following stories.
Strontium Dog, and in particular the death of Johnny Alpha, is referenced in an episode of TV sitcom Spaced. Actor and co-author Simon Pegg later went on to play Johnny Alpha in the Big Finish Productions Strontium Dog audio plays.
The Audio Plays
In recent years Big Finish Productions have released 16 audio plays feature 2000AD characters. These have mostly featured Judge Dredd although three have starred Strontium Dog.
In these Judge Dredd and Wulf Sternhammer are played by Toby Longworth and Strontium Dog is played by Simon Pegg
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 .
External links
Last updated: 10-14-2005 01:57:21
