Wild Dog: Bio, Origin & History

Real Name: Jack Wheeler 

First Appearance: Wild Dog #1 (September, 1987)

Powers: Expert marksman and proficient in hand-to-hand combat

Affiliation: United States Marine Corps

Did You Know? Wild Dog was created as an answer to the ever-growing vigilante market

A Little History

Created by Max Allen Collins and Terry Beatty, Wild Dog was just one of many masked vigilantes to appear in the 1980’s.

Jack Wheeler was once a promising, young football star. Unfortunately, as much as he had the world at his fingertips, he lost it. A devastating injury cost Jack his education and he was no longer able to afford to take his classes. This caused Jack to enlist in the Marine Corps.

As a member of the Marine Corps, Jack served just one tour of duty before electing to return to his education. Shortly after this, he met his future fiancé Claire Smith. All was well for Jack until Claire Smith, actually Claire Carmonti was murdered by the Mafia. This happened because Claire, unbeknownst to Jack, was the daughter of a recently murdered mob boss. Claire was not a victim of the attack but rather a target to attack 

Enraged, Jack took to the streets as the masked vigilante, Wild Dog. As Wild Dog, Jack wore a hockey mask and an old football jersey marked with the image of a dog.

Unlike a number of other vigilantes of the era, Jack does, in fact, kill those who he deems to be criminal. This includes, but isn’t limited to terrorists, murderers, rapists, members of the mob, and gang members. 

Cheers,

Joel