The Dogs of War (comics)

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The Dogs of War
Elgatonegro4 cover.jpg
Publication information
Publisher Azteca Productions
First appearance El Gato Negro #4 (1997)
Created by Richard Dominguez
In-story information
Base(s) Corpus Christi, Texas
Member(s) Javier "Rottweiler" Briones
Jaimé "Pit-Bull" Briones

The Dogs of War, also known as The Briones Brothers, is a fictional supervillain duo created by Richard Dominguez and published by Azteca Productions. Both characters made a cameo appearance in the conclusion of El Gato Negro #3 (Sept. 1995) and made their first "full" appearance in El Gato Negro #4 (June 1997).

Supervillain variant of the villain character type possessing "supernatural or superhuman powers"

A supervillain is a variant of the villainous stock character that is commonly found in American comic books, usually possessing superhuman abilities. A supervillain is the antithesis of a superhero.

Richard Dominguez Comic artist

Richard Dominguez is an American comic book artist and freelance storyboard illustrator. Best known for creating the popular series El Gato Negro, Dominguez publishes his comics through his imprint and art studio, Azteca Productions. Dominguez also is well known for influencing other artists and creators in the pursuit of their own self-publishing ventures.>

Azteca Productions

Azteca Productions is an American comic book publisher and imprint founded by comics creator Richard Dominguez in 1993. The company's first publication was El Gato Negro #1 showcasing the debut of the eponymous character, in what is now considered the company's flagship series. Publications went on hiatus during the rise and fall of the speculative market in the late 1990s until Dominguez returned in 2004.

Contents

Javier "Rottweiler" Briones and Jaimé "Pit-Bull" Briones are brothers, nephews of South Texas drug lord Boss Ochoa, and therefore the cousins of El Graduado. Both brothers are highly trained mercenaries and assassins who take pleasure in their own brutality. [1]

South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas

South Texas is a region of the U.S. state of Texas that lies roughly south of—and sometimes including—San Antonio. The southern and western boundary is the Rio Grande, and to the east it is the Gulf of Mexico. The population of this region is about 4.96 million according to the 2017 census estimates. The southern portion of this region is often referred to as the Rio Grande Valley. The eastern portion along the Gulf of Mexico is also referred to as the Coastal Bend.

El Graduado

Armando Ochoa, also known as El Graduado, is a fictional character and comic book supervillain created by Richard Dominguez and published by Azteca Productions. The character made his first appearance in El Gato Negro #1.

Publication history

While their first published appearance is considered to be in El Gato Negro # 4 (June 1997) both characters did make a cameo appearance at the conclusion of the "Unknown Passing, Unforgettable Return" storyline from El Gato Negro #3, obscured in shadow. In their first "full" appearance it is revealed that both brothers are the owners and proprietors of Briones Entertainment Ltd. recording business, a coherent company of Ochoa Enterprises in Corpus Christi. Just prior to their introduction, Boss Ochoa placed a large contract on El Gato Negro's life, and specifically contacting his nephews to complete the job. El Gato Negro was lured in to an ambush at the Ochoa Civic Center in McAllen, Texas where the vicious Briones brothers nearly beat the hero to death. [2] The Dogs of War were to be featured in the subsequent storyline, "And now: Relampago!" but the El Gato Negro series went on hiatus soon after the fourth issue, ending the series in a cliffhanger. There are currently plans to release a graphic novel compilation which will contain the previously unpublished issue.

Contract killing is a form of murder in which one party hires another party to kill a target individual or group of people. It involves an illegal agreement between two or more parties in which one party agrees to kill the target in exchange for some form of payment, monetary or otherwise. Either party may be a person, group, or an organization. In the United States, the crime is punishable by 15 years to life in a state penitentiary. Contract killing has been associated with organized crime, government conspiracies, and vendettas. For example, in the United States, the gang Murder, Inc. committed hundreds of murders on behalf of the National Crime Syndicate during the 1930s and 1940s.

McAllen, Texas City in Texas, United States

McAllen is the largest city in Hidalgo County, Texas, United States, and the 22nd-most populous city in Texas. It is located at the southern tip of the state in the Rio Grande Valley. The city limits extend south to the Rio Grande, across from the Mexican city of Reynosa, and McAllen is about 70 mi (110 km) west of the Gulf of Mexico. As of 2017, McAllen’s population was estimated to be 142,696. It is the fifth-most populous metropolitan area in the state of Texas, and the binational Reynosa–McAllen metropolitan area counts a population of nearly 1.52 million.

Cliffhanger narratological device

A cliffhanger, or cliffhanger ending, is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma, or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode of serialized fiction. A cliffhanger is hoped to ensure the audience will return to see how the characters resolve the dilemma.

Fictional character biographies

Javier and Jaimé Briones are the sons of David "Spike" Briones and Mary Helen Ochoa. David, one of Boss Ochoa's most trusted lieutenants, met Mary Helen Ochoa at one of his many beachfront parties. Becoming inseparable, both were married with Boss Ochoa's approval. Obsessed with his sons growing up to become great fighters, David subjected them to brutal training sessions. Jaimé became the more vicious of the two, having to prove himself as the younger sibling. They later found jobs as bouncers at some of the most popular nightclubs in Corpus Christi, including the Ochoa-owned Tejano del Mar. Both attended Del Mar College where they majored in business and management, in order to maintain Briones Entertainment Ltd. They currently operate as mercenaries and Boss Ochoa's personal guards.

Del Mar College (DMC) is a community college in Corpus Christi, Texas, founded in 1935. DMC encompasses two primary campuses and one campus annex with combined physical assets of more than $99 million.

Skills, abilities, resources

While the Dogs of War possess no superhuman abilities, they more than make up for it with an arsenal of weaponry ranging from automatic and semi-automatic weapons, explosives, and combat knives. However, no amount of weaponry can compare to the rush they both feel when in unarmed combat. Both are Gulf Coast Golden Gloves Champions, and often have 5- to 10-minute workouts where they partake in Texas-style Barroom Brawls.

A semi-automatic firearm, also called self-loading firearm or autoloading firearm, is one that not only fires a bullet each time the trigger is pulled, but also performs all steps necessary to prepare it to discharge again—assuming cartridges remain in the firearm's feed device. Typically, this includes extracting and ejecting the spent cartridge case from the firing chamber, re-cocking the firing mechanism, and loading a new cartridge into the firing chamber. To fire again, the trigger is released and re-pressed.

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The Juárez Cartel, also known as the Vicente Carrillo Fuentes Organization, is a Mexican drug cartel based in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, across the Mexico—U.S. border from El Paso, Texas. The cartel is one of several drug trafficking organizations that have been known to decapitate their rivals, mutilate their corpses and dump them in public places to instill fear not only into the general public, but also into local law enforcement and their rivals, the Sinaloa Cartel. The Juárez Cartel has an armed wing known as La Línea, a Juarez street gang that usually performs the executions. It also uses the Barrio Azteca gang to attack its enemies.

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Relampago is a fictional character, a comic book superhero self-published by creator Judge Margarito C. Garza. The character made his first appearance in Relampago! #1 making him the first Mexican American superhero in the American comic book industry. The character's debut series only ran for three issues, ultimately ending with the passing of Judge Garza 1995. A planned revival series by comic creator Richard Dominguez was later scrapped as he was unable to gain the consent of the surviving Garza family.

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The Annulus is a fictional criminal organization featured in the Azteca Productions' Universe created by Richard Dominguez. The Annulus is a South American-based secret cabal of businessmen, each a notorious drug lord from a different part of the world. Its purpose is to dominate the drug trade.

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Margarito C. Garza was an American judge and comic book enthusiast. He served as the 148th District Court Judge of Corpus Christi, Texas. for 3 terms in the 1980s to the 1990s and served two terms as Judge of the Nueces County Court at Law from 1972-1976 .He also served as Assistant District Attorney in Corpus Christi in the late 1960s. Garza was the first Mexican American to be elected to a judgeship in Nueces County. He was also notable for creating the first Mexican-American comic book hero, Relampago, in 1977 and was a pioneer in the nascent industry of comic retailers. Garza died in 1995 after a lifetime of public service to his community. Judge Garza is also known to threaten to try people without council if they didn't get their own lawyer, which is a violation of the Constitution of the United States.

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