Religion: racial justice activist 
Name: Johnson Stroman
Classification:
supporting character
Publisher(s): 
First Appearance: Hardware #13 (Mar. 1994): "Weekend Getaway"
Creators: Dwayne McDuffie, Denys Cowan, Prentis Rollins
Number of Appearances: 1
Enemy of: Reprise
Ally: Barraki Young
Occupation: activist, lecturer, writer
Race: black
Gender: male
Note: killed by hitman Reprise; wrote about racial justice
A character with beliefs so strong...
...that he was willing to die for them.
Johnson Stroman was a famous African-American activist and lecturer. He finished his opus "Tribes," a book about American race relations. But before he could publish the book, he was assassinated by Reprise, an enemy of Dakota City hero Hardware who had been hired by a White Supremacist to suppress Stroman's teachings on race...
But all was not as it seems... Stroman himself had actually sent the written notes to hire Reprise. There was no white supremacist trying to quiet Stroman... Stroman took out a hit on himself, because he knew the words of a martyr would have more impact, and become more publicized, than the words of a living writer. Johnson Stroman so strongly believed in his ideas about race relations that he sacrificed his own life to spread his beliefs further.
Johnson Stroman was a famous outspoken activist and successful author on racial justice topics. Stroman believed so strongly in his beliefs about race relations that he sacrificed his own life so he could become a martyr, which he believed would bring greater fame and respect his writings.
The hitman known as "Reprise" was hired by a White Supremacist to kill Stroman. Reprise succeeded in doing so, and then proceeded to wipe out all evidence of Stroman's latest book: Tribes, a book about race relations.
Reprise killed Stroman at African American Studies conference in Jamaica, where he was lecturing.
The Dakota City super-hero Hardware was able to capture Reprise, but not before Reprise killed Stroman.
Ultimately, Reprise learned that the "White Supremacist" who had hired him to kill Stroman was not really a White Supremacist at all, but was actually Stroman himself. Stroman had wanted to become a martyr because he strongly believed that his ideas would become better publicized and popularized and respected that way.
Reprise had originally tried to suppress Stroman's book Tribes, because he thought the person who hired him did so in order to suppress Stroman's ideas. When Reprise realized that Stroman hired him in an attempt to gain greater exposure for his ideas, Reprise allowed Stroman's colleague to keep a copy of the book so it could be published.
Summary of Hardware #13 (Mar. 1994), from now-defunct webpage at http://milestone.luthor.com/comics_detail.asp?ID=145&:
Hardware captures a hitman. Curtis and Barraki have a talk and Curtis decides to travel with Barraki to Jamaica. A mysterious hitman is hired to kill author Johnson Stroman. The hitman kills Stroman and proceeds to wipe out evidence of his book. The hitman turns out to be Reprise.
Summary for Icon #14:
Curtis faces off against Reprise without the benefit of his armor. Reprise wants to destroy the last copy of Stroman's book. After the encounter Curtis returns to his lab, only to find Edwin Alva, who knows his secret.
A bit of trivia: "Johnson Stroman" is a fictional character, and his book Tribes does not actually exist. But there is a real-world basis for this character's name and the title of his book. His name is derived from of Todd Johnson and Larry Stroman, who wrote the comic book titled Tribe, which was published by Image Comics in March 1993. Johnson also penciled and inked this comic. Their last names ("Johnson Stroman") appear prominently on the cover - as large as the comic's title.
Tribe was about a predominantly black super-hero group which was based in Brooklyn, New York City.
Image only published one issue of the "Tribe" comic book series. Issue #s 2 and 3 were later published by Axis Comics. A fourth issue (#0) was later published by Good Comics.
Hardware
Suggested links for further research about this character and the character's religious affiliation:
- http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Hardware_Vol_1_13
- http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Reprise_(Dakotaverse)
- http://www.writeups.org/fiche.php?id=4166
- https://www.comics.org/issue/69333/