tanner-john-7block-coverJOHN TANNER
(please note that these stories are from Epic Illustrated, part of a more mature line and may not be appropriate for everyone)tanner-john-7block-face

Real Name: John Tanner

Identity/Class: Human mutate;
    Native American;
    active circa 1990 (and likely at least 25 years before that);

Occupation: Unrevealed;
    formerly laboratory test subject

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Dwayne Hanrahan, Jilly Martinez, Dave Williamson;
    unidentified "friend" for him he transported cocaine

Enemies: Dr. Belsen, Dr. Carbonaro, Mr. Wysocki
    Piggy and his friend (and the rest of the Aryan Brotherhood);
    unidentified policemen

Known Relatives: Unidentified adoptive family (estranged)

Aliases: Subject B;
    (Derogatory/racist nicknames/taunts) "Chief," "Chochise" (from a fellow convict), "Tonto" (from police officer)

Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
    formerly Seven Block of Ocean County Prison, New Jersey

First Appearance: Seven Block (1990)tanner-john-7block-full-tiny

Powers/Abilities: Following his mutant, Tanner possessed poorly defined superhuman abilities, including strength, durability and projection of destructive/explosive force. He sometimes glowed with power.

    His eyes were sensitive to bright light.

    Prior to his mutation, Tanner was strong and a good fighter, able to take out two large men in short order.

    He had some experience as a semi-truck driver.

Height: Unrevealed (approximately 6')
Weight: 200 lbs.
Eyes: Dark (presumably brown
Hair: Black

History:
(Seven Block (fb) - BTS) - Drs. Belsen and Carbonaro worked on developing a bio-weapon that could target certain racial strains while leaving others immune.

    An early test subject was Dwayne Hanrahan, who was monstrously transformed. Considered to be psychotic and dangerous, he was contained within a solid-walled cage.tanner-john-7block-beaten

(Seven Block (fb) - BTS) - The Native American who was named John Tanner was adopted by a family from Paterson when he was ten, but he ran away when he was twelve and never maintained communication with that family.

(Seven Block (fb) - BTS) - Despite being out on parole and doing a good job of going straight as a truck driver, John Tanner "did a favor for a friend" and carried twenty kilos of cocaine across five state boarders.

(Seven Block) <August> - Stopped by police just south of the Elizabeth exit on the Jersey Turnpike, Tanner kicked the policeman in the face and tried to flee on foot, but stopped and surrendered when he heard the other policeman cock his weapon.

(Seven Block (fb) - BTS) - After taking a beating from the police, Tanner called his parole officer, Dave Williamson.

(Seven Block) - Williamson was frustrated that John had made such a bad choice and wondered why he had called him rather than a lawyer, and Tanner told him that he didn't have anyone else to call.

(Seven Block (fb) - BTS) - Tanner was imprisoned in Ocean County Prison. tanner-john-7block-face-mutated

(Seven Block) <October> - Aryan Brotherhood member Piggy threatened Tanner to give up his cell to another Aryan, but Tanner beat up both Piggy and the guy with him.

    The warden warned Tanner that the Aryans would kill him, unless he agreed to a medical experiment in Seven Block, which would get him out general population for a month or so. Feeling that he had nothing to lose, Tanner accepted.

(Seven Block) <November> - Tanner entered cell block alongside Jilly Martinez, who had also agreed to experimentation to escape threats on her life in general population, and they both observed the sealed solid cage of previous test subject Dwayne Hanrahan.

    Assured that there would not be any surgical procedures, Tanner and Jilly signed the release forms and also provided information confirming that he had no family.

    On the second day, Tanner received a "sedative" then knocked him out for a day.

(Seven Block (fb) - BTS) - Tanner and Jilly were both injected into their lymph nodes with an artificial cancer form
tanner-john-7block-upper-glowing
(Seven Block) <Day 3> - Tanner and Jilly awakened to find a bandaged wound, and Dr. Belsen assured them that the wound was from an inoculation. He collected urine and stool samples from them, and -- when queried by Jilly -- informed them that Dwayne seemed to be psychotic and dangerous.

(Seven Block) <Day 10> - John Tanner agonizing appreciated that his body was mutating.

(Seven Block - BTS) <Day 19> - The guard Wysocki informed Dr. Belsen that the new cons hadn't moved in a couple of days. Examining the results of biopsies and blood tests, Dr. Carbonaro noted that the agent they had given them was altering them at a chromosomal level: Rather than ravaging their organs, it was mutating them and in many cases improving them.

    Dr. Belsen considered that the form Carbonaro had created was almost parasitic in nature, seemingly possessing a survival instinct. Belsen was concerned that they had been contracted to kill certain subjects, but Carbonaro assured him that military would not be disappointed when they produced a super soldier.tanner-john-7block-calvesup-glowing

(Seven Block - BTS) <Day 21> - Meeting new parolees, Dave Williamson noted Tanner's absence, and he was told of Tanner's participation in an experiment. He felt that he should have been told.

(Seven Block - BTS) <Day 22> - Drs. Belsen and Carbonaro examined Jilly, noting that despite her seeming comatose state, she demonstrated an incredible amount of cerebral activity, far out of normal ranges.

(Seven Block) <Day 27> - Seething with energy, Tanner blasted open the door of his cell. As the injured Wysocki called out to him, Tanner apparently stepped on and broke his neck.

    Tanner's freeing of Jilly drew Drs. Belsen and Carbonaro's attention, and they appreciated that their subjects had awakened and were communicating and sharing experiences without speaking.

    Tanner subsequently confronted and explosively slew Belsen and Carbonaro after noting that they had said that they wouldn't hurt them. Tanner subsequently freed Dwayne and invited him to come with them.

(Seven Block (fb) - BTS) <Day 30> - Tanner requested Dave Williamson's presence, and Dave traveled to Ocean County Prison and met with Gates, who told him that federal agents were on the way but sent him to speak with Tanner in hopes of keeping the peace.

(Seven Block) - Tanner met with Williamson, thanking him for coming and telling him that he was the only who ever cared about him. Tanner further revealed his plans to leave there with Jilly and raise a family, ignoring Williamson's insistence that they would not be allowed to leave there alive. Bidding Williamson thanks and goodbye, Tanner advised him to go far away.

    After Williamson's departure, Tanner and Jilly apparently caused a massive explosion that destroyed Seven Block, at least, and all of the SWAT or other officers present. tanner-john-7block-glasses&hat

(Seven Block) <December> - Having obtained some sort of RV, Tanner drove himself, Jilly and Dwayne to a hotel in Dinwiddie County, Virginia where he rented a room for himself, his wife and his "brother" for a few nights. He noted that they were traveling the back country. The clerk/owner asked, "See America first, uh?" and Tanner grimly replied, "Yeah...America First."

Comments: Created by Charles Dixon and Jorge Zaffino as part of the creator-owned Epic Imprint.

    The art fits the dark theme, but it is sometimes difficult to tell what was going on. And there were not any great images showing Tanner fully or clearly before or after his mutation.

    As a creator-owned character from Epic, it is unlikely that this story was intended to be part of Reality-616, but there's also nothing to exclude it...the events involved a small number of people in a localized rural area.. There's no reason it could not have taken place in 1991, which due to Marvel's sliding timescale in is over 20 years and counting before the Fantastic Four's space flight.

    This profile was completed 05/25/2025, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 25th anniversary's celebratory event.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
John Tanner should be distinguished from:


images: (without ads)
Seven Block front cover (arms raised, fired on by soldiers)
       pg. 3, panel 7 (beaten face);
       pg. 12, panel 2 (full, distant)
       pg. 17, panel 7 (face);
       pg. 41, panel 2 (mutated face);
          panel 4 (upper, glowing);
       pg. 43, panel 5 (calves up, glowing);
       pg. 47, panel 6 (in glasses and hat)
Appearances:
Seven Block (1990) - Charles Dixon (writer), Jorge Zaffino (artist), Marc McLaurin (design and editor), Carl Potts (executive editor, Epic Comics)

First posted: 09/11/2026
Last updated: 05/25/2025

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
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