Real
Name: John Page Junior BULLDOG
Real
Name: John Page Junior
Identity/Class: Alternate reality
(Earth-81752) human;
British
citizen
Occupation: Owner and publisher of Page Comics
Group Membership: Formerly Bentley, Olympians
(Athena/Diane MacQueen, Brainwave/Edwin "Eddie" Peace, Dolphin
Master/Tom West, Ladybird/Julia Peace, Virtuoso), Max Tarrant;
probably not but just an outside
chance of maybe: Corps (see comments)
Affiliations: Rover
(Kirsten "Kirsty" Tarrant);
(sometimes) Brand (Frank Byrne);
former partner to Rover (Todd Jason), numerous other Rovers;
allegedly Merlin
the Magician
Enemies: Anvil, B-21, Brand (Frank Byrne),
Buccaneer, Clown Prince (Lord Zachari Zubidiah), Dr. Calculus, Dolphin
Master (Tom West), Gloria, Lise Chill, Party Animal, Rabid;
possibly Teenage Mutant Samurai Cockroaches (see
comments)
Known Relatives: John Page Sr (father, deceased), Betty Page (mother, deceased) (see comments)
Aliases: Mighty Man-Dog
Base of Operations: Formerly the Kennel, underneath the basement car park of Page Towers, 387 ??, London, U.K.
First
Appearance: The Olympians#1 (July 1991)
Powers/Abilities: Bulldog is a spectacularly
inept crimefighter. Though in good physical condition, reasonably agile
and fairly acrobatic, he's terrible at hand to hand combat - for
example, he can perform leaping kicks, he just can't aim them. He's
marginally less observant than Mr. Magoo, and less clued in about what
he does notice than Frank Drebin. He does have customized vehicles, a
Bulldog bike, Bulldog mobile and Bulldog copter, though there was no
evidence they were in any way superior to regular vehicles
performance-wise, and he wasn't a particularly good rider/driver. The
Bulldog copter was outfitted with front-mounted machine guns and
missiles though. Despite his epic ineptitude, he seemed almost protected
by fate; while he could and did suffer injuries at the hands of his
foes, he was never seriously hurt, while his mere presence seemed to
initiate chaos around him.
Height: 5'6" (by estimation)
Weight: 140 lbs. (by estimation)
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Brown
History:
(The
Olympians#1 (fb) - BTS) - John Page Junior was a young boy
when he went to the cinema with his parents, John Page Senior and
Betty Page, to see a double bill of Lassie and 101 Dalmatians. As they
walked home at night a tramp asked if they could spare some change,
but John Sr took offense at this, calling the man a layabout who
needed to get a job. He got himself so excited that he suffered a
heart attack, stumbled backwards and knocked both himself and his wife
into the path of a Number 39 bus. Seeing his parents die in front of
his eyes scarred John for life, and he became a fantasist, often
oblivious to the real world around him. He convinced himself that his
parents had been murdered by a sadistic psychopath, and that he had
subsequently been chosen by Merlin the Magician (see comments)
to become Britain's champion of justice, the Bulldog, and trained in
the mystic arts of unarmed combat by druid priests in the Cotswalds.
He grew up to be the millionaire publisher of Page Comics, and a
legend (in his own mind). He believed his dual identity as the Bulldog
was secret but it was actually very much public knowledge, despite
Page wearing a (not very convincing, often half-falling off) fake
mustache while in his civilian identity. He claimed to be a super
athlete and master of the martial arts, but in truth couldn't punch
his way out of a wet paper bag. Despite this he continually survived
battles with his many genuinely dangerous supervillain nemeses, though
a string of teenage sidekicks playing the role of his partner Rover
were not so lucky.
(The
Olympians#2 (fb) - BTS) - For all his failings, he still
somehow managed to capture many dangerous criminals, including
Doctor Calculus, Rabid, Anvil and Buccaneer.
(The
Olympians#1) - Page Comics published the
hero's title, The Bombastic Bulldog and Rover, and licensed a range of
Bulldog action figures and accessories. Bulldog's base, the Kennel,
was located under Page Towers, complete with signs directing visitors
were to go in the underground carpark, and its own clearly labelled
button in the elevators.
In 1999 the Ministry of
Superheroes was formed under the aegis of Member of Parliament Sir
Adrian Britton to drum up patriotism and win votes. Bulldog joined the
Olympians, who were formed to be Britain's national superhero team,
based from their headquarters at the top of the 222 story high
Claremont Building. They were an overnight sensation, allegedly making
all London feel safe in their beds at night. However, some wags
suggested the Olympians had earned that title by acting as if they
thought they were God's gift to humanity. The leader of the team was
the aging psychic Brainwave, but his nemesis the Clown Prince
frequently made laughing stocks of the team, leaving the people of
London to count the cost of the death and destruction wreaked in their
wake. Other members included the ocean lord Dolphin Master, Amazonian
Athena, and somewhat mentally unstable alien Virtuoso; Athena secretly
judged that Bulldog had mentally yet to hit puberty.
At some point Page began an
affair with his secretary Kirsy Tarrant, despite her being the
daughter of Adrian Britton and married to an up-and-coming civil
servant troubleshooter Max Tarrant.
The latest Rover, Todd Jason,
was run over while chasing the Clown Prince's getaway car. A week
later Max Tarrant was appointed be the Olympians' new administrator
after his predecessor Bentley left under somewhat of a cloud.
(The Olympians#1) - Bulldog was battling
an unidentified, robotic-looking supervillain in the lobby of the
Claremont Building when Tarrant arrived, but though he was clearly
getting soundly trounced nobody, not even his Amazonian teammate Athena.
After Bulldog made a spectacular flying leap attack that ended with him
missing his target entirely and instead smash a large glass aquarium
that had been a centerpiece of the lobby the villain stomped off in a
huff, grumbling about the state of the world when a guy couldn't even
get a decent slugfest. Only at this point did Amazon acknowledge
Bulldog, turning to him as he lay sodden on the floor to introduce him
to Max. Hearing the name, Bulldog got Max's confirmation that "John
Page's" secretary was Max's wife, and enthusiastically welcomed him and
invited him to go out for lunchtime drinks. After Athena and Max walked
off Bulldog was approached by reporter Lise Chill, who complemented him
on his recent display of fighting skills and asked for a display of his
superhuman prowess for the folks at home watching her livestream.
Bulldog agreed with a smile, then punched her in the face, leaving her
with a black eye.
Bulldog biked back to Page Towers, managing
to smash his bike against a wall as he drove down into the underground
parking garage. After depositing the bike in the Kennel, he changed into
his civilian identity and climbed up to the 154th floor. As he exited
the Kennel ladder via the hidden entrance in the ladies' toilets while
hastily reapplying his fake mustache "disguise," he ran into Kirsty
Tarrant; accustomed to this inept method of sneaking into his office,
Kirsty playfully teased him about it. Kirsty subsequently came to Page's
office to inform him that the local council was threatening to demolish
the Kennel because he hadn't applied for planning permission when
he constructed it, but Page, busy playing with his Bulldog action
figure, wrote this off as just a ploy by his old foe Doctor Calculus to
undermine his secret identity. Turned on by his superhero talk, Kirsty
began to disrobe and they began to make out, but Page abruptly halted
their liaison as he realized he was late for his lunch with Max.
(The Olympians#1 - BTS) - Max meanwhile had begun an affair with Athena that very morning.
(The
Olympians#1) - Bulldog met up with Max at his
favorite pub, The Cape And Cowl, run by the Australian Frank Byrne
(secretly the pyrokinetic vigilante Brand). After recounting his version
of his origin story, the sozzled Bulldog decided to go back on patrol,
so as he left Frank called the police to report a DWI (driving while
intoxicated). Within minutes he nearly collided with constable B-21's
bike, and got pulled over. Bulldog tried asking the officer not to
breathalyze him as a favor to a fellow law enforcer, but when B-21
insisted Bulldog blew well over the limit. B-21 told Bulldog to
accompany him to the station, but then an alert came over the radio
about a bank robbery in progress, and Bulldog used this as an excuse to
race off.
Arriving at the robbery to find the thieves
already outside the bank in the middle of a shootout with the pursuing
guards. Bulldog crashed his car into the back of the getaway vehicle,
somersaulting out as he did so. However, when he tried to pursue the now
fleeing criminals while proclaiming his (nonexistent) martial arts
prowess, they turned around, smacked him in the face with a garbage can
lid, pistol-whipped and punched him, then threatened to shoot him in the
face; with harsh reality momentarily breaking through his delusions,
Bulldog begged for mercy, adding that he was rich. Before they could
pull the trigger both assailants burst into flames and burned in seconds
to ash, courtesy of the newly arrived Brand. Despite owing Brand his
life, Bulldog berated the vigilante for killing and threatened to arrest
him, but Brand amused himself by setting Bulldog's cape alight. Running
wildly trying to escape the fire, Bulldog fled straight into the street
and into the path of B-21. Struck flying, Bulldog went through a pet
store window and into a fish tank (his second of the day), which at
least put the cape out. Arrested by B-21, Bulldog was being led away in
handcuffs when he was tapped on the shoulder; turning, he was punched in
the face by Lisa Chill, who smirked down at the floored Bulldog and
asked rhetorically if he could demonstrate his legendary ability to
absorb punches.
(The Olympians#1 -
BTS) - Bulldog was charged with Drunk & Disorderly and Assaulting
a Police Officer.
(The
Olympians#2 (fb) - BTS) - Three weeks later after his
initial court appearance Bulldog was remanded to Pandemonium Prison
(and Community Center) without bail.
(The Olympians#2) - As a guard called Turk escorted Bulldog to his cell the hero informed Turk (and seemed to genuinely believe himself) that he was really there on a top secret mission for the minister to root out Mr. Big, adding how much he was looking forward to seeing all his old sparring partners again. Shoved into his cell, Bulldog learned he was sharing with disgraced Olympian the Dolphin Master, who had been imprisoned after he formed the Fish Liberation Front and tried to flood London in order to turn it into a tropical aquarium for his pet goldfish. The pair greeted one another warmly, and Bulldog again reiterated that he was looking forward to catching up about old times with his foes, most of whom he'd not seen since he'd put them away. Dolphin Master suggested that he might instead want to keep a low profile, since most of the villains were itching for revenge.
The next day in the prison canteen the
villains made a move. As Bulldog and Dolphin Master stood in the queue
to be served, Doctor Calculus and Rabid pointed the superhumanly strong
(but blind) Anvil in the right direction and he charged at Bulldog.
However at the last second Bulldog spotted that his shoelace was undone
and bent over to tie it, and as a result Anvil missed him and crashed
into a wall, hitting Dolphin Master a glancing blow as he passed.
Oblivious to what had just been attempted, Bulldog told his friend that
he needed to look where he was going or else he might have a nasty
accident.
Later in the prison showers Doctor Calculus
and Buccaneer approached Bulldog and Calculus informed Bulldog that he
was also on a secret mission for the minister, in his case to test
prison security, and asked Bulldog to help them stage a "simulated"
escape, to which the gullible Bulldog cheerfully agreed. Meanwhile
Dolphin Master slipped on a bar of soap that Bulldog had dropped, and
broke his leg. Soon after in the prison yard the two villains told
Bulldog it was time for their test, and asked him to create a diversion
while they escaped. Unfortunately for them, Bulldog's idea of
distracting the guards was to point out Buccaneer and Calculus as they
tried to scale the wall, so he "wouldn't blow their cover" as
'undercover ministry operatives', resulting in the pair getting a brutal
beat down. Angrily Buccaneer attacked Bulldog with his sword (see
comments), who dodged backwards, and thus the blade inadvertently
stabbed the prisoner Rabid in the butt. The resulting melee rapidly
escalated to full scale prison riot, while Bulldog wandered away
unscathed, leaving everyone else (including Dolphin Master, who had
simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time) to fight.
(The Olympians#2 - BTS) - Meanwhile
the council had kept to their threat of demolishing Page Tower because
the Kennel had been constructed without planning permission. Before
they got too far, Kirsty Tarrant nipped into the Kennel, donned
Rover's costume and declared (to herself) she'd do Bulldog proud and
be the best partner he'd ever had, then took the Bulldog-copter
(The
Olympians#2) - Back at the prison Calculus stopped the
brawl by pointing out they should be teaming up against the one who
had started it all, Bulldog. Confronted by all the prisoners
(including Dolphin Master) and even the guards, Bulldog suddenly
recognized the danger he was facing, especially as the only debate
among the throng was exactly how to painfully kill him. Bulldog fell
to his knees in front of Calculus and begged for his life, which
surprisingly seemed to work, since Calculus, claiming he couldn't
stand the sight of tears, promised to give him another chance.
Leaping up, Bulldog hugged Calculus pathetically, promising to be
his friend forever, the over-enthusiastic gratitude prompting
Calculus to tell him not to get carried away. And as if on cue, the
Bulldog-copter flew into the prison. Trying to find the right lever
to land, Rover accidentally fired the machine guns, shooting the
armed prison guards on the prison walls, before managing to drop a
rope ladder down. Bulldog rapidly ascended and greeted the sight of
Rover/Kirsty joyfully. Just as he was entering the cockpit Rover
tried to turn on the radio, and instead fired missiles that blew up
the prison behind them as they flew off. The pair embraced and
Kirsty told Bulldog that she loved him and wanted to be his
crimefighting partner, and they began making out. However, a few
seconds later they heard the rotors coming to a halt and the engine
stalling, and realized neither of them had switched on the automatic
pilot just before the chopper fell out the sky. It crash landed in
central London, coincidentally just besides where Athena had just
concluded a fight to the death with Virtuoso after he went
completely insane. Accompanying Athena was Kirsty's husband Max, who
was shocked to see his wife dressed as Rover, but Kirsty defiantly
declared she had found her true purpose in life. With everyone (who
was still alive) having had a hell of a day, they decided to forget
everything and just go to the Cape & Cowl for a drink.
(Southern Aurora Presents#4/1 (fb) - BTS) -
The Olympians disbanded and the Ministry of Superheroes collapsed (see
comments). Bulldog avoided prison for his drunk driving (and
prison break), but ended up losing his driving license, and so was
forced to patrol on a pedal bike.
(Southern Aurora Presents#4/1) - Pedaling through London's
Soho, an exhausted Bulldog decided he needed a drink and stopped outside
a pub called the Black Heart. A costumed prostitute calling herself
Scarlet Lady propositioned him, and when he tried to arrest her she
kneed him in the crotch. Stumbling away, Bulldog entered the pub and was
immediately punched in the face and sent reeling into the side of the
bar counter. Looking up Bulldog was surprised to see Frank Byrne, who
revealed he was doing some moonlighting and that this was Black Heart's
Crime Club night, when the cream of London's supervillains met there.
Undeterred and as ever oblivious to danger unless it smacked him in the
face, Bulldog declared that it sounded like fun and inquired whether you
had to be crooked or could anyone join? This drew the ire of Party
Animal, a massive bruiser who grabbed Bulldog by the cowl and threatened
to beat him to a pulp. Byrne quickly put on the domino mask he wore as
Brand, his sudden appearance surprising Bulldog (who didn't realize
Brand and Byrne were one and the same despite the only
difference in appearance being the tiny mask), and the vigilante tried
to defuse the situation by announcing that Bulldog was buying a round
for everyone. Surprisingly this worked, and Bulldog handed over his
Department of Superheroics credit card to pay for 83 pints to the
barmaid, Gloria. With the situation calming, the ever optimistic Bulldog
declared that he was sure all the criminals present had hearts of gold
beneath their psychopathic exteriors, but this seemed to raise Party
Animal's hackles again. As he moved menacingly on Bulldog Brand again
intervened, stating they were doing it all wrong, and should instead
make all their dream plots come true on Bulldog. When Party Animal asked
what Brand meant, the vigilante suggested a "Drinking Contest to the
Death." Since Bulldog had a reputation for not being able to hold his
drink, this idea appealed to the gathered villains, and Gloria informed
Bulldog that his tab would be wiped clean if he won. Ever overconfident,
Bulldog was sure he'd be victorious, but as everyone raised their
glasses they were all shattered by automatic fire, as Gloria had just
discovered Bulldog's card had been cancelled since the Ministry
collapsed. She demanded to see cash, and when he nervously asked if
she'd take a check Party Animal told him they didn't, but would take it
in blood money. Several of the villains began to kick Bulldog as he fell
to the floor in a fetal position, but again Brand interrupted...just
long enough to say "May the best man win." And with that the villains
formed a line to continue the beat down.
Comments: Created by Steven Jewell and Gary Chaloner.
The first two part Olympians story was
published by Epic Comics, while the short appeared in the Australian
anthology comic Southern Aurora Presents.
In case it isn't blatantly obvious, the
Olympians are parodies of DC's Justice League, with Bulldog being their
Batman.
Olympians was set in the then-future of 2009,
some eighteen years later than the year of publication, though apart
from mildly SF trapping such as flying garbage trucks and high-tech
looking police, there's pretty much nothing that wouldn't have fitted
into the modern day of either 1991 or 2026. It's definitely not set in
616, the main Marvel universe, but I don't see why it couldn't be part
of the same Cyclone Comics universe that other titles Gary Chaloner
worked on belong to, which would include Southern Squadron, The
Jackaroo, The Southern Cross, Bodyguard, and through crossovers with
non-Chaloner series such as Dark Nebula and Niteside & the Rock.
Pretty much all of those feature characters living in a superhero world
that would fit fine with the Olympians, but set in Australia, which
would explain why they and the Olympians don't interact.
In one scene John Page plays with his Bulldog
action figure and pits it against a Teenage Mutant Samurai Cockroach (a
ninja turtle by any other name...) This might mean Bulldog genuinely had
foes of that name, but it's also possible he was just pitting his own
figure, based on a real person, against a random action figure from
another toy line.
Bulldog recounts his origin story to Max
Tarrant in Olympians#1. Given how much of a fantasist he is, it could in
theory all be fabrication. However, since the images tell a different
and more mundane story compared to his dialogue, I'm ASSuming that the
images are the real events and the dialogue are his delusions. On the
slim off chance that his claim to have been chosen as Britain's champion
of justice by Merlin is actually true, then Bulldog might be a very
off-model member of the (Captain Britain) Corps.
If you are wondering where Buccaneer got hold
of a sword in prison, Pandemonium maintains the weird precedent set in
many old Marvel comics of letting superhuman prisoners keep their
costumes on while incarcerated, but being a parody pushes it up a notch
by them also being allowed to keep their weapons with them. Buccaneer
even keeps his sword with him in the showers (and no, that's not a
euphemism).
Since it might not be clear from the history,
which only focuses on stuff relevant to Bulldog, the reason the
Olympians disbanded was because they'd been both very publicly
discredited, not only by Bulldog going to prison, but also the battle
between Athena and Virtuoso demolishing a good portion of London and
Brainwave being exposed by Clown Prince as having accidentally killed
his own wife and then being murdered by said villain. So with Dolphin
Master in prison (or potentially dead thanks to the missile strike),
only Athena and Bulldog remained anyway, and Athena was planning to
return home to the Amazons' Utopia Isle. And that whole debacle also
ended the Ministry.
This profile was completed on 08/20/2026, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 25th anniversary's celebratory event to represent The Olympians.
Profile by Loki.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Bulldog has no known connections to:
|
Located beneath Page Tower with signs providing directions and a labelled button in the public elevators, the Kennel was Bulldog's "secret" headquarters, full of his memorabilia, including a memorial to his dead sidekick(s) Rover. There was a ladder in the Kennel that led to a cubicle in the ladies' toilets on floor 154 of the tower, the same floor John Page's offices were located. --Olympians#1, 2   
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images: (without ads)
>The Olympians#2, p26, pan2 (main image)
The Olympians#1, p26, pan4 (headshot)
The Olympians#1, p4, pan1 (comic)
The Olympians#1, p23, pan1 (Bulldog bike)
The Olympians#1, p34, pan7 (Bulldog mobile)
The Olympians#2, p31, pan6 (Bulldog copter)
The Olympians#1, p24, pan1 (Kennel)
The Olympians#1, p23, pan2 (Page Tower entrance)
The Olympians#1, p23, pan3 (underground car park entrance ramp)
The Olympians#1, p23, pan7 (elevator buttons)
The Olympians#1, p24, pan2 (Rover memorial)
Appearances:
The Olympians#1 (July 1991) -
Steven Jewell (writer), Gary Chaloner (pencils), Gary Martin (inks),
Marie Javins (editor)
The Olympians#2
(January 1992) - Steven Jewell (writer), Gary Chaloner
(pencils), Gary Martin (inks), Marie Javins (editor)
Southern Aurora Presents#4/1 (March 1992) - Steven Jewell (writer), Gary Chaloner (art)
First Posted: 09/11/2026
Last updated: 08/20/2026
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
Copyright
info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and © 1941-2099
Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you
should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com
Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!
Kennel