Changers
Encyclopedia
The Changers are a group of super-heroes published by Wildstorm
an imprint of DC Comics
. The team first appears in Stormwatch
#48 (May 1997), and was created by Warren Ellis
and Tom Raney
.
volume 1, entitled "Change or Die
", the storyline encompassing issues #48-50.
The main goal of the group was to change the world. Knowing that Stormwatch would try to stop them, Blind chose to attack Jenny Sparks
and to torture Malcolm King (a.k.a. Strafe, a former member of Stormwatch) in order to obtain some information, without the knowledge of the other Changers and much to the outrage of John Cumberland (The High). Sparks narrowly escaped. Both teams fought and the battle came to its climax in the Changers headquarters. During this confrontation, it was revealed that both Blind and Wish had their own, private and horrific agenda. Most of the Changers died thanks to a Hammerstryke Deep Sanction Missile (a payload and tailored acid bomb) ordered by Henry Bendix
. However, High survived and, furious, went to attack Stormwatch's base, Skywatch. The Stormdoor (Skywatch's force field) was activated, and High apparently died in the collision.
As a personal penance, The High sheds every bit of his hubris, and acts as a ferryman, escorting survivors into one of the last safe havens on Earth, a place in which posthumans aren't allowed (Finland, as established in Stormwatch: Team Achilles
). He confesses to a little girl that he feels alone and guilty, but finally gains purpose and self-fulfillment by pushing himself hard to help as many people as he can.
Wildstorm
WildStorm Productions, or simply WildStorm, published American comic books. Originally an independent company established by Jim Lee and further expanded upon in subsequent years by other creators, WildStorm became a publishing imprint of DC Comics in 1999...
an imprint of DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
. The team first appears in Stormwatch
Stormwatch (comics)
Stormwatch is a fictional United Nations-sponsored superhero team that originated in the Wildstorm Universe and has since been revived as part of the DC Universe. The original version of Stormwatch first appeared in Stormwatch Stormwatch is a fictional United Nations-sponsored superhero team that...
#48 (May 1997), and was created by Warren Ellis
Warren Ellis
Warren Girard Ellis is an English author of comics, novels, and television, who is well-known for sociocultural commentary, both through his online presence and through his writing, which covers transhumanist themes...
and Tom Raney
Tom Raney
Tom Raney is an American comic book artist, known for illustrating titles as Annihilation Conquest, Alpha Flight, Ultimate X-Men and Uncanny X-Men for Marvel Comics, DV8 and Stormwatch for Image Comics, and Outsiders for DC Comics....
.
Publication history
The Changers are antagonists in the final story arc of StormwatchStormwatch (comics)
Stormwatch is a fictional United Nations-sponsored superhero team that originated in the Wildstorm Universe and has since been revived as part of the DC Universe. The original version of Stormwatch first appeared in Stormwatch Stormwatch is a fictional United Nations-sponsored superhero team that...
volume 1, entitled "Change or Die
Change or Die
"Change or Die" is story arc of Stormwatch lasting from issue 48 to 50. Written by Warren Ellis and penciled by Tom Raney, this was the last story arc of Stormwatch, Volume 1, and set the tone for Ellis' structuring of Stormwatch volume 2 as a series of four three-issue story arcs.The story was...
", the storyline encompassing issues #48-50.
Members
The team members are:- The HighHigh (comics)The High is a fictional character, a superhero in the . He first appears in Stormwatch #46and was created by Warren Ellis and Tom Raney.-Publication history:...
: "a transparent stand-in for SupermanSupermanSuperman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
/Captain MarvelCaptain Marvel (DC Comics)Captain Marvel is a fictional comic book superhero, originally published by Fawcett Comics and later by DC Comics. Created in 1939 by artist C. C. Beck and writer Bill Parker, the character first appeared in Whiz Comics #2...
." He came from an alternate reality. He fought as a superhero alongside Jenny SparksJenny SparksJenny Sparks, also known as "The Spirit of the 20th century", is a fictional character in the Wildstorm comic book universe created by Warren Ellis during his 1997 revamp of the dwindling Stormwatch series...
in the 1930s, but became frustrated and left the crime-fighting occupation long before she did. He was an utter idealist, the ultimate Boy Scout, but after years detached from society (including a decade spent seated atop a throne of stone in the Rocky Mountains, contemplating his plan) he was left with a somewhat naive apprehension of others, their motives and ability shrinking in the face of his noble plan. He was overly trusting of his cohorts, quick to mistrust anyone who stepped in their way, and eager to force the world to change and be done with it - and he ultimately learned, as Jenny Sparks said, that people only want change on their own terms. His emblem was five arrows in a circle, much like the symbol for recyclingRecyclingRecycling is processing used materials into new products to prevent waste of potentially useful materials, reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, reduce energy usage, reduce air pollution and water pollution by reducing the need for "conventional" waste disposal, and lower greenhouse...
- he wore this on his costume's belt and on a t-shirt he wore when out of costume. His powers included super strength, stamina and speed, flight and some form of ocular energy beams.
- Blind: a vigilante. Blind both literally and figuratively saw existence in black and white. He seemed to believe that everything could be divided into absolute right and wrong, if enough effort was taken to do so. He was an extremely violent individual, not above resorting to torture, but mostly hid this fact from the other Changers. He wore a black mask that covers his entire head except his mouth and chin - the slits for his eyes were so thin as to be nearly invisible. The rest of his costume consisted of a black leather jacket, pants and gloves; his belt buckle was engraved with the scales of JusticeLady JusticeLady Justice |Dike]]) is an allegorical personification of the moral force in judicial systems.-Depiction:The personification of justice balancing the scales of truth and fairness dates back to the Goddess Maat, and later Isis, of ancient Egypt. The Hellenic deities Themis and Dike were later...
. He once attempted to kill Jenny Sparks. Ironically, Blind was gunned down by a fellow Changer, Smoke.
- Wish: a seedling activator. She was also able to influence minds of men to the degree of near-total control, and because of this ability decided she was inherently better than anyone she could have power over. She chose to spend her life amusing herself by manipulating "lesser" beings. After the world was "saved", she planned to find soldiers uncomfortable with peace and others who'd rather not live without violence, and organize war games for her own pleasure. Her feelings and behavior were very much at odds with the others' ideals, and throughout the events leading up to "Change or Die" she took many actions which were later revealed to have little to do with their grand plan except amuse her and distract Stormwatch, such as activating a serial killerSerial killerA serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
. She was killed by Bendix, who gave the order for her to be teleported to space.
- Rite: She is a mystic, from a matriarchal culture which taught her that both combat and spirituality are women's work. She was sent out from her home to fix the rest of the world. Her costume consists of various pieces of armor and tough clothing, including a breastplate in the shape of two coiled snakes.
- The Eidolon: a human who was "not allowed to fully die". His mission was to teach humans about death, specifically that no god exists, that only oblivion follows death, and that religion is pointless. This causes chaos and panic when he uses his powers. The upshot of his declarations was that mankind should not be cheated out of the knowledge that we have only one chance to live our life as we want to and that anyone that kills is not worth the life one has. Privately, he longed to die again and fully become nothing. He was definitely killed (at least, apparently) by Rose Tattoo.
- Smoke: His mission was to kill those who were inherently evil and beyond rehabilitation. Privately, he regretted killing and spoke hopefully of the day when the Changers' plans would be complete and murder would no longer be necessary for anyone. Smoke was responsible for Blind's death after being revealed that Blind was mentally unstable. He was shot dead by Rose Tattoo.
- The EngineerEngineer (comics)The Engineer is the name of two fictional characters in the . The current Engineer, Angela Spica, is a member of the Authority, first appears in The Authority #1 and was created by Warren Ellis and Bryan Hitch.-The First Engineer:...
, whose successor would be part of the Authority, a group with a mission similar to the Changers'. His part of the plan was to seed the world with nanomachines of his own design, which would grow techno-organic plants which could be configured to produce almost anything, from food and medicine to basic tools to complex electronic devices. His entire body was covered with a green shell, seeming to have both rigid and flexible parts, a product of his nanotechnologyNanotechnologyNanotechnology is the study of manipulating matter on an atomic and molecular scale. Generally, nanotechnology deals with developing materials, devices, or other structures possessing at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometres...
.
- The DoctorDoctor (comics)Doctor, in comics, may refer to the following:*The Doctor , a name given to several characters in the WildStorm universe*Doctor , the main character in a number of comic adventures chiefly in Doctor Who Magazine...
: a planetary Shaman, his successor would be part of the Authority too. His mission was to educate the world about their natural resources. At one point he drugs Britain's population with the hallucinogen DMTDimethyltryptamineN,N-Dimethyltryptamine is a naturally occurring psychedelic compound of the tryptamine family. DMT is found in several plants, and also in trace amounts in humans and other mammals, where it is originally derived from the essential amino acid tryptophan, and ultimately produced by the enzyme INMT...
.
The main goal of the group was to change the world. Knowing that Stormwatch would try to stop them, Blind chose to attack Jenny Sparks
Jenny Sparks
Jenny Sparks, also known as "The Spirit of the 20th century", is a fictional character in the Wildstorm comic book universe created by Warren Ellis during his 1997 revamp of the dwindling Stormwatch series...
and to torture Malcolm King (a.k.a. Strafe, a former member of Stormwatch) in order to obtain some information, without the knowledge of the other Changers and much to the outrage of John Cumberland (The High). Sparks narrowly escaped. Both teams fought and the battle came to its climax in the Changers headquarters. During this confrontation, it was revealed that both Blind and Wish had their own, private and horrific agenda. Most of the Changers died thanks to a Hammerstryke Deep Sanction Missile (a payload and tailored acid bomb) ordered by Henry Bendix
Henry Bendix
Henry Bendix, also known as Weatherman, is a fictional character in the Wildstorm universe. He first appeared in the Stormwatch series.-Early life:...
. However, High survived and, furious, went to attack Stormwatch's base, Skywatch. The Stormdoor (Skywatch's force field) was activated, and High apparently died in the collision.
Number of the Beast
In a subsequent series, it would later be revealed that the High was still alive, despite his body being nearly completely pulverized into jelly. He was used as the base material to produce superhuman clones, all of which have so far repeated the phrases "Change or Die" and "Reap What you Sow" over and over. The Eidolon is also revealed to have returned to his state of "non-life". Due to his ability to gain more powers from surrounding death, and the widespread destruction brought on Earth by the High clones, he's in a mostly unbalanced state, likened to a drug addict continually fed new doses, and roams the Earth leading a gang of sadistic murders and fanatical followers to harness new deaths for himself.As a personal penance, The High sheds every bit of his hubris, and acts as a ferryman, escorting survivors into one of the last safe havens on Earth, a place in which posthumans aren't allowed (Finland, as established in Stormwatch: Team Achilles
Stormwatch: Team Achilles
Stormwatch: Team Achilles is an American super-hero series, the third incarnation/revision of the Image comics Stormwatch.This version was penned by Micah Ian Wright and drawn variously by Whilce Portacio, C. P. Smith, Mark Texeira, Tomm Coker, Carlos D'Anda, and Clement Sauve. The longest run for...
). He confesses to a little girl that he feels alone and guilty, but finally gains purpose and self-fulfillment by pushing himself hard to help as many people as he can.