PIT BULL

Real Name: Gaylord Picaro

Identity/Class: Human (alternate Earth, New Universe) Paranormal

Occupation: Former steel mill worker, former leader of a gang of scavengers, former soldier

Group Membership: Paranormal Platoon

Affiliations: Paranormal Platoon (All-American, Kathi Blizzard, Jeff Walters, Pretty Boy, Troll, Shooter, Metallurge, Gridlock, Mapper, Sgt. Haledman, Bazooka, Norad), leader of the Wardogs, ally of Nightmask, Justice, Psi-Hawk, Philip Nolan Voigt, Chrome (Jenny Swenson), Captain Manhattan, Kayla Ballantine, Quasar

Enemies: Blowout, Dave Landers, the Stranger, Skeletron, Psi-Force (Thomas Boyd, Wayne Tucker, Tyrone Jessup, Lindsey Falmon), Colonel Oort

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Place of Birth: Reading, Pennsylvania, USA, Earth-New Universe

Base of Operations: Fort Benning, Georgia

Hobbies and interests: Brawling, womanizing, shooting firearms, watching football

Religion: Roman Catholic (non-practicing)

First Appearance: DP7#20 (June, 1988)

Powers: Superhuman strength, able to lift at least 4 tons; Superhuman resistance to injury: .22 Calibre slugs fired from a distance of 15 feet cannot penetrate his dense muscle tissue; Superhuman endurance: can exert at peak performance for three hours before fatigue begins to impair performance; Superhuman recuperative abilities: can heal virtually any non-fatal wound in about half the time it takes the average human being. Besides his powers, Pit Bull is an excellent street fighter, marksman, knife thrower, and motorcyclist.

History: (DP7#20)- Pit Bull was leading his scavenger team, the Wardogs, about the area surrounding the Pitt, when they came across a group of paranormals led by Jennifer Swenson. Pit Bull fought Swenson, and was seemingly killed by a grenade, but rose again, barely injured, and pursued them. He followed Meriam Sorenson back to where her friend Dave Landers was resting, and fought him, calling Landers "uglier than me". In the midst of their battle, Pit Bull bit Landers in the shoulder. Landers, disgusted, became infuriated, and broke Pit Bull's jaw, then smashed him into a wall.

(DP7#21)- Pit Bull was taken by the military to a field hospital, where he was able to rest.

(DP7#22/The Draft)- Soon, his jaw healed fully, and he was informed that all of America's paranormals were being drafted into the army. He was brought to Fort Benning for training, where he began to pick on Blowout (Harley Mook). He also unwisely stood up against Sgt. Hadleman, whose ability to fill the minds of others with horrific images brought even Pit Bull down. Pit Bull's constant riding of Blowout ultimately led to Blowout attempting to kill him, but Pit Bull was saved by Jeff Walters. From that point on, Pit Bull considered Walters to be his best friend.

(Psi-Force#23/DP7#23)- When members of Psi-Force came to Fort Benning to free their team-mate Thomas Boyd, Pit Bull joined the other soldiers in fighting them, but he found himself unable to best Boyd in combat.

(Psi-Force#27)- Later, Tyrone Jessup of Psi-Force was sent to Fort Benning himself, and Pit Bull made a point of giving him a rough time.

(Psi-Force#29)- However, as Jessup gathered strength, his powers proved strong enough that he was able to seriously injure Pit Bull in a training exercise.

(The War#1)- Preparing for World War 3, Pit Bull and other members of the Paranormal Platoon were introduced to Major Kathi Blizzard, their new leader. Later, they were given a pass, and Pit Bull attempted to go AWOL, but ran into Sgt. Haldeman almost immediately, and turned around. The next day, they moved out to South Africa.

(The War#2)- Upon their arrival in South Africa, Pit Bull was one of the first to realize something was wrong, when he saw the contempt their "ally" Colonel Oort had for Jeff Walters, based on his skin color. Pit Bull joined the rest of the Platoon in attacking the rebels Oort claimed were sheltering the paranormal who destroyed Pittsburgh. In the midst of the battle, Pit Bull was left behind when the others pulled out.

(The War#3)- Pit Bull became so enraged from the pain he experienced that he massacred most of the rebels in anger before being reunited with the others, and returning to Oort's base to rescue Walters and Blizzard.

(The War#4)- Pit Bull joined with the others in destroying Oort's supply of tanks, rescuing Blizzard and Walters from him, and escaping from South Africa, returning home to the United States, as heroes.

(Quasar#56)- Years later, Pit Bull was among those paranormals summoned by Nightmask to deal with the threat of an "alien invasion" by Skeletron. Kayla Ballantine appeared before the gathered paranormals, and informed them that Skeletron was nearby.

(Starblast#4)- Voigt arrived with the super-hero Quasar, who soon convinced them he was on their side, and transported them to Skeletron's vessel. Aboard there, they were attacked by Quasar's allies, who had been enthralled by the Stranger. Pit Bull fought the Inhuman Lockjaw, dog against dog. Ultimately, Skeletron was trapped within the New Universe, while the Stranger brought their earth into the Marvel Universe for him to study.

(Quasar#57)- In the aftermath, the Living Tribunal returned Pit Bull and the others to their own earth, and sealed it off from the Marvel Universe.

Comments: Created by Mark Gruenwald and Paul Ryan.

Pit Bull has an extensive bibliographical profile in DP7#26.

The New Universe possesses interesting temporal characteristics. The White Event occurred on September 4, 1986, after which events moved in real time, at least up to the War, sometime in later 1989, or early 1990. They interacted with the Marvel Universe in 1991-1992 of real time, and were last seen in 1994, at the conclusion of the Star Blast saga. It's unlikely that the characters of the NU will be seen again (a true shame), but I'd like to think that they should somehow stay in real time. In addition, as the Prime One points out, since the Living Tribunal has isolated them from the rest of the Universe, they should be isolated from Eternity as well, meaning they won't be a part of 'Marvel Time' (or lack thereof).--Snood.

by Prime Eternal

Clarifications:
The War Dogs have no known connections to:

• War Dog, of the Special Executive, @ Daredevils#6 (Marvel UK)
• Dogs of War, agents of Simon Krueger, @ Iron Man: The Iron Age#2
• Dogs of War, aka the Hatut Zeraze, Wakandan agents, led by White Wolf, @ Black Panther III#4