Sergeant Simon Strong

Real Name: Simon Strong

Identity/Class: Human mutate

Occupation: Astronaut, secret agent

Affiliations: Unknown

Enemies: Unknown

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: U.K.

First Appearance: Valiant (IPC, 29th March 1975)

Powers/Abilities: Simon's density had been increased ten-fold, so that normal buildings and vehicles often could not support his weight. With the increased density comes heightened strength - he is strong enough to stop a truck in its tracks, or to dig through solid rock at tremendous speed. His skin is tough enough to do both of the above without damage, or to bend a six-inch nail when someone tries to drive it through the back of his hand.

History: It was the year 1985 (ten years in the future at the time of this strip), and for the first time in history Britain was about to send a man into outer space. From a launching pad in East Anglia, astronaut Simon Strong was blasting skywards in the one-man spacecraft known as Solarium Arrow. His mission was to explore the fringes of space on the dark side of the moon.

But only just clear of Earth's gravity, the ship was engulfed by "a roving nebula" full of "uncharted galactic material". His instruments went crazy, registering sky-high levels of radiation, and Simon was rendered unconscious.Four days later he awoke, feeling fitter than he ever had before in his life. He was five thousand miles off course and re-entering the Earth's atmosphere. Nonetheless he managed to adjust his trajectory to make a soft landing in the U.K., although well West of the designated site. It was as he left the capsule and went looking for a phone to call the authorities that he began to realise something was wrong - first his feet sank into the soft earth with every step, then when he found a phone box, he accidentally ripped the door off and crushed the receiver with his hand. Even the tarmac cracked beneath his feet as he ran along it.

Eventually he managed to get in contact with his employers, and upon returning to the space laboratory the doctors examined him. They concluded that the cloud he passed through must have affected his body's chemistry. He now weighed ten times more than normal, his strength had likewise increased ten fold, and his skin was now as tough as armour plating. With his new weight, he could no longer continue as an astronaut. Instead he was recruited to become a special agent fighting strange crimes around the world.

Comments: Typical isn't it? Britain finally gets it together enough to get a man into space, plans an ambitious mission - and then, probably due to budget cutbacks, can only afford to build a one man capsule! How stupid is it to send a man round the other side of the moon, a trip which should take days, and then send him on his own so that he can't risk going to sleep?

Also, very few countries send civilians into space - even today the vast majority of astronauts are taken from the military. Most, if not all of them, are officers, and if it's an enlisted man, to be entrusted with a one-man mission he's got to have reached the rank of sergeant at least. So at the end of his origin story, the man who recruits him to his new agency decides to give him the rank of Sergeant! Oh yeah, very generous! He's either already got that rank, or you've just demoted him to the ranks.

CLARIFICATIONS: Not to be confused with

Any Additions/Corrections? Please let me know.

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