CAPTAIN PYPAR

Real Name: Pypar

Class: Parallel Earth (Earth-AD) dog mutant

Occupation: Soldier

Group Affiliation: Brittaneks

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Dominion of the Devils, Quebec, Canada, Earth-AD

First Appearance: Kamandi #26 (February, 1975)

Powers: Captain Pypar was a mutated bulldog that possessed human intelligence and fierce fangs. He was a skilled military commander and strategist, if a bit dogmatic. He was armed with firearms and explosives.

History: (Kamandi #26-28) - In the aftermath of the nuclear Great Disaster most of humanity perished, and the majority of survivors devolved into feral savages, while animals evolved intelligence. Captain Pypar was a member of the Horse Marines, and a commander in the Brittaneks, a group of bulldogs that modeled themselves after colonial British troops. Mutated ant Aborigine was his right hand man. Sacker’s Leopard-Men came to the rainforests of the Dominion of the Devils in Quebec, looting and despoiling everything in their path, and raising the ire of Pypar. Kamandi and Ben Boxer, Sacker’s old enemies, found their way into the Dominion, and were soon in combat with the Leopard-Men. Pypar stampeded insects towards them, forcing everyone to flee before introducing himself and Aborigine to Ben and Kamandi. Pypar explained that he was in conflict with the Leopard-Men because they’d violated the Horse Marines Atlantic Testament. He volunteered Kamandi and Ben Boxer as the latest recruits into the Marines, and gave them their marching orders, leading them to Aborigine’s ant-hill. Aborigine used his “look-see” power to locate Leopard-Men outside the ant-hill, so Pypar set dynamite and told his troops to march away from danger. Kamandi said they should be running, but Pypar replied that there was no breaking of ranks in his army. Outside the ant-hill they found the surviving Leopard-Men, who were occupying a well-armed citadel, running to find the source of the explosion. Pypar discovered their vast weapons cache, but some Leopard-Men guards caught them. Kamandi, Ben and Pypar were saved when Aborigine burrowed under the guards, causing a cave-in that swallowed them. Kamandi panicked, saying they were trapped, but Pypar had Aborigine use his “look-see” power to transmit images of the Brittaneks,  riding to the rescue. They snuck through the citadel, observing more Leopard-Men gassing giant insects and processing their corpses in a power plant. Kamandi was disgusted to see a virtual Eden ruined, but Captain Pypar reminded him the cavalry was on the way, and pointed to the Brittaneks arriving. Other armies arrived and Pypar met with his commanding officer in the Brittaneks. Kamandi kept piping up, which was not appreciated by the CO, so Pypar sent him and Ben away. Kamandi and Ben explored the newly set-up army barracks, with Kamandi wishing they could extricate themselves. Aborigine’s presence annoyed Kamandi, who compared him to Gunga Din. In the barracks Kamandi red up on the Brittaneks, Germaneks, Napoleoneks, Garibaldeks, Spandars, Greks, and Torks, who formed the Band of Brothers or Nations of the Atlantic Testament Orders. They were divided by animal species, with each army having modeled themselves on a different pre-Disaster national army, and Kamandi realized they’d drawn their inspiration from a garbled version of world history. NATO laid claim to the Dominion of the Devils, and put it under their protection, explaining their conflict with Sacker’s Company. Pypar kicked them out of the barracks for snooping, and Kamandi got increasingly frustrated, saying the Great Disaster changed nothing, and that animals had adopted all the bad behaviors of man. Ben and Kamandi admired the parts of the rain forest not ruined by the Leopard-Men when they spied the Leopard-Men building up their defenses in preparation for war with NATO. Ben started ripping up their artillery, and he told Kamandi to flee. NATO approached, but were being butchered by the Leopard-Men. Unable to watch anymore senseless carnage, Kamandi stole a Leopard Man’s gun and aimed it at their ammo, acting like the animal they all thought of him as, and threatening to blow it sky-high. The panicked Leopard-Men broke ranks, and Captain Pypar chided Kamandi for not following command, but commended him for leaving the Leopard-Men vulnerable. NATO rode on the fleeing Leopard-Men, gaining the advantage. Ben and Kamandi were pleased with themselves, but decided to walk away from the whole mess.

Comments: Created by Jack Kirby.