Lou Godder

LOU GODDARD

Real Name: Lou Godder

Class: Human

Occupation: Reporter

Group Affiliation: None

Known Relatives: Lynette (wife, deceased), Steph (daughter)

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Quad Cities

First Appearance: Wild Dog #1 (September, 1987)

Powers: Godder was a skilled reporter.

History: (Wild Dog #1) - Reporter Susan King was covering the opening of the River City Center, meant to revitalize the Quad Cities when she was taken hostage by the Committee for Social Change. They bombed the center, and dragged her into the nearby Addler Theatre, demanding to give their manifesto. Reporter Lou Godder showed immediate interest in the case. Wild Dog made his debut, ramming a car through the theatre, and gunning down members of the Committee. Committee leader Raymond E. Newell put a gun to Susan's head, but Wild Dog kicked him in the neck, snapping it and killing him. He took Susan outside, but S.W.A.T. were waiting to arrest the vigilante, so he took her hostage and drove her to the countryside before dropping her off and fleeing. Susan determined that she could make her career with the Wild Dog story.

(Wild Dog #2) - Lou's daughter Steph was going to be honored at the Mark Twain Junior High celebration of the Honor Students' Congress, and he said he was proud, and her late mother would be as well. The ceremony was interrupted by committee member Sidney, who'd impersonated their guest speaker Dr. Mensa Sidney, who was strapped with a bomb, promised to release the students after giving a speech about the evils of society and urging them to fight for his cause. Andy entered the gymnasium to negotiate, but Committee members knocked him out and locked him in a broom closet. As Sidney decided to only release half the students before blowing up the hall so they could serve as martyrs Wild Dog broke in through a skylight. He used a tranq dart to knock out Sidney before killing the other Committee members present. With the students safe he drove Sidney to a farmhouse, tied him up, and used his cell to call his committee contacts. when they came to rescue him Wild Dog detonated the bomb, killing them.

(Wild Dog #3) - Graham invited Jack, Lou and Andy on a riverboat cruise, again reminiscing about their football days. Graham gave them presents containing components of Wild Dog's outfit, and he said he knew one of them was Wild Dog. He suspected Lou because his wife died in a terrorist airport bombing. He said he didn't expect any of them to out themselves, but the I.S.A. would welcome Wild Dog's continued help in tackling terrorist organizations. Susan King was shadowing them, and Graham easily spotted her. He told her to stop trying to uncover Wild Dog's identity, because the longer he was in the limelight the longer she could share it with him. The ship brought them to Arsenal Island, an AMCOMM facility filled with government weaponry. They watched a rocket launcher test, and Graham revealed that he thought the Committee for Social Change would be targeting the island. The Committee arrived in speedboats, and the friends got separated. Jack slipped away to change into his Wild dog gear, and using weaponry from the Arsenal Island museum he killed most of the terrorists. Two remained who tried to blow up an ammunition storage, but Wild dog took them down as well.

(Wild Dog #4) - Susan King covered the Arsenal Island story, and told Andy Flint she knew who Wild Dog was, but wouldn't tell him. Flint and Lou talked, and they both suspected Jack because of his tragic history and the death of his beloved Claire at the hands of the Vespucci mob family. Andy confront Jack, and he admitted that he was Wild dog, but said what he did was necessary, and asked Andy if he'd be his inside man on the force.

(Wild Dog Special #1) - Andy visited Jack at his shop, saying he hadn't seen him at the Bull Pen bar for awhile. Jack was still furious that Andy and Lou had blackmailed him into retiring Wild Dog, and told Andy he wasn't his friend. Graham invited Jack for a round of target shooting, and bemoaned the fact that Wild Dog was gone. Graham compared his bullets to those used by Wild Dog, and finally realized his friend's secret identity. He confronted Jack, and said he'd keep Lou and Andy off his tail if he handled a gang of brutal bank robbers operating in the Quad Cities. The leader was a former I.A.S. agent, and his crimes would be an embarrassment to the government. Jack suited up, and as Wild Dog caught the robbers after their latest job and gunned them down. Jack met Graham, Lou and Andy at the Bull Pen, and Andy and Lou told him they'd be forced to expose him if he ever operated as a vigilante again. Graham assured them Jack was operating with the government's permission, and they both expressed their displeasure with Graham's shady tactics. Wild Dog's mafia massacre made Don Lupo the new capo, but he couldn't allow the attack to go unpunished, so he hired procurement specialist the Catcher to get Wild Dog. The Catcher seduced Susan King, and using her notes, figured out Jack's identity. He kidnapped Andy, drawing out Wild Dog, and knocked him out with gas before delivering them both to Lupo's men in a cage. Wild Dog escaped and killed the gangsters. He told Andy Wild Dog was there to stay, and Andy reluctantly agreed there was a need for him.

Comments: Created by Max Allan Collins & Terry Beatty.