Synergy (comics)
Encyclopedia
Christine Trelane, formerly known as Synergy is a fictional character in the Wildstorm
universe. She was created by Jim Lee
and Brandon Choi
as a member of Stormwatch
.
Christine is a highly intelligent woman with the power to turn humans into superhumans. She is very organized and is usually assigned to a position of authority in the organisations she works for.
In the Wildstorm
universe, a special comet passed the Earth during the 70s. The comet gave off special radiation that would turn many humans on Earth into Seedlings, people with (latent) superhuman powers. When the United Nations
decided to create their own superhuman team, Stormwatch
, the Seedlings were the most logical choice for recruits. Recruitment became a lot easier when Christine Trelane joined; a Seedling herself, her powers allowed her to activate the mostly latent powers of the Seedlings. As one of only a handful of Activators on Earth, Christine was invaluable and therefore she was given mostly administrative duties.
Christine did participate in several field missions as a member of Stormwatch and due to her training she performed quite well, but her powers were of little use during combat. She grew close to Stormwatch field leader Jackson King, also known as Battalion and the two had a long-term romantic relationship. When Henry Bendix
was forced to resign as Weatherman, Stormwatch's administrative director, Christine was chosen as his replacement. During her time as Weatherman, Christine was given cybernetic implants.
Henry Bendix returned later as Weatherman and Christine's implants were removed. Bendix fired many Stormwatch agents, Battalion was assigned to training duties and Synergy became a recruitment officer; Bendix thought that Christine and Jackson's relationship would hamper King's ability to command.
Christine's recruitment duties led her to confront Samuel John Fleisig, a potential recruit. He, in fact, was a serial killer, made only more dangerous by the powers someone else entirely soon activated within him. Christine ultimately defeated him by turning his powers back off, a move that stuns and disorients.
Shortly afterwards, it turned out that Bendix had gone insane. Stormwatch fought him, but he escaped. This time Jackson was assigned as Weatherman and Christine was given the assignment to investigate Bendix's secret files. She succeeded, digging up much information that benefited Stormwatch and its allies. Shortly afterward Stormwatch's base Skywatch was invaded by Aliens
and many of its members were killed. The Stormwatch base itself was destroyed. Both Christine and Jackson survived, but Stormwatch was disbanded shortly afterward.
Several members of Stormwatch went on to form the Authority, but Jackson and Christine remained with the U.N. They acted as superhuman consultants, not knowing that Stormwatch Black was still in operation, now the Authority and very, very busy. They became U.N. liaisons for the Authority for a while, but Jackson came to resent the Authority and their methods more and more, feeling that they were being used by them. During a party on the Authority's Carrier, Jackson was contacted by the Weavers who offered him and Christine a job. They both accepted, resigned from the U.N. and got married. Shortly afterward they disappeared from the public to form the Monarchy
.
After the Worldstorm event rewrote the Wildstorm universe, Christine and Jackson's destinies had changed; now, they were again in charge of a much-scaled-down Stormwatch Prime, operating exclusively out of the United States
and in a gigantic skyscraper serving as Skywatch instead of the former orbital satellite. Jackson and Christine's marriage seemed rock solid as they continued to run both Stormwatch Prime and the new, human-oriented Stormwatch: Post Human Division
task force. But when a meeting of the minds was arranged between the members of Prime and PHD at Skywatch, the heroes made a shocking discovery: Jackson King had been shot in the head, with a high-powered laser instead of a bullet. Jackson remained comatose while the members of Stormwatch PHD investigated the crime and interrogated suspects. To their shock, they eventually discovered that the culprit was none other than Christine. In her confession, Christine revealed that she and Jackson had recently risked a pregnancy, despite fearing that their altered genetics would damage the baby, and that the baby was indeed miscarried and deformed. After the miscarriage, apparently suffering from delusion and postpartum depression
, Christine became fixated on getting Jackson to take his focus off Stormwatch and onto the family they could still create, by any means necessary. She reprogrammed a Skywatch maintenance robot to attack Jackson with one of its lasers, knowing Jackson would not detect its intentions because the robot had no mind. She also programmed the robot to aim not for Jackson's cognitive faculties, but for the part of the brain that controlled Jackson's powers; as an Activator, the unbalanced Christine knew where to look, and believed that without his powers, Jackson would learn to settle down into family life. As a regretful Christine was taken into custody, Jackson awoke from his coma in full control of his faculties and his powers, and was heartbroken to learn what Christine had done. Christine expressed gratitude that Jackson had kept his powers, and as she was led away, said she should never have done it; "no one should ever be taken away from what they love."
As Christine was apparently delusional due to postpartum depression, it remains to be seen what her final fate will be. PHD team leader John Doran speculated that given her condition, she could only lose her job at Stormwatch.
She returns in World's End, as second-in-command to King in new Stormwatch: Post Human Division team.
When she was Weatherman, she received cybernetic implants that allowed her to control the movement of Skywatch, Stormwatch's orbital base. The implants also allowed her to collect and process all information that Skywatch gathered.
As a member of the Monarchy, Christine often goes on field assignments by herself. She has access to very advanced technology.
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...
universe. She was created by Jim Lee
Jim Lee
Jim Lee is a Korean-American comic book artist, writer, editor and publisher. He first broke into the industry in 1987 as an artist for Marvel Comics, illustrating titles such as Alpha Flight and Punisher War Journal, before gaining a great deal of popularity on The Uncanny X-Men...
and Brandon Choi
Brandon Choi
Brandon Choi is an American comic book writer best known as one of the co-creators of the series Gen¹³ which enjoyed high popularity in the middle and late 1990s. He also wrote several other titles for Wildstorm Comics.-Biography:...
as a member of 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...
.
Christine is a highly intelligent woman with the power to turn humans into superhumans. She is very organized and is usually assigned to a position of authority in the organisations she works for.
Character history
Little has been revealed about Christine's life before she joined Stormwatch. She does have a good relationship with her mother, who is still alive.In the Wildstorm
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...
universe, a special comet passed the Earth during the 70s. The comet gave off special radiation that would turn many humans on Earth into Seedlings, people with (latent) superhuman powers. When the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
decided to create their own superhuman team, 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...
, the Seedlings were the most logical choice for recruits. Recruitment became a lot easier when Christine Trelane joined; a Seedling herself, her powers allowed her to activate the mostly latent powers of the Seedlings. As one of only a handful of Activators on Earth, Christine was invaluable and therefore she was given mostly administrative duties.
Christine did participate in several field missions as a member of Stormwatch and due to her training she performed quite well, but her powers were of little use during combat. She grew close to Stormwatch field leader Jackson King, also known as Battalion and the two had a long-term romantic relationship. When 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:...
was forced to resign as Weatherman, Stormwatch's administrative director, Christine was chosen as his replacement. During her time as Weatherman, Christine was given cybernetic implants.
Henry Bendix returned later as Weatherman and Christine's implants were removed. Bendix fired many Stormwatch agents, Battalion was assigned to training duties and Synergy became a recruitment officer; Bendix thought that Christine and Jackson's relationship would hamper King's ability to command.
Christine's recruitment duties led her to confront Samuel John Fleisig, a potential recruit. He, in fact, was a serial killer, made only more dangerous by the powers someone else entirely soon activated within him. Christine ultimately defeated him by turning his powers back off, a move that stuns and disorients.
Shortly afterwards, it turned out that Bendix had gone insane. Stormwatch fought him, but he escaped. This time Jackson was assigned as Weatherman and Christine was given the assignment to investigate Bendix's secret files. She succeeded, digging up much information that benefited Stormwatch and its allies. Shortly afterward Stormwatch's base Skywatch was invaded by Aliens
Xenomorph (Alien)
The Alien is a fictional endoparasitoid extraterrestrial species that is the primary antagonist of the Alien film series. The species made its debut in the 1979 film Alien, and reappeared in its sequels Aliens , Alien 3 , and Alien Resurrection , two crossovers Alien vs...
and many of its members were killed. The Stormwatch base itself was destroyed. Both Christine and Jackson survived, but Stormwatch was disbanded shortly afterward.
Several members of Stormwatch went on to form the Authority, but Jackson and Christine remained with the U.N. They acted as superhuman consultants, not knowing that Stormwatch Black was still in operation, now the Authority and very, very busy. They became U.N. liaisons for the Authority for a while, but Jackson came to resent the Authority and their methods more and more, feeling that they were being used by them. During a party on the Authority's Carrier, Jackson was contacted by the Weavers who offered him and Christine a job. They both accepted, resigned from the U.N. and got married. Shortly afterward they disappeared from the public to form the Monarchy
Monarchy (comic book)
The Monarchy was an American comic book series written by Doselle Young with art by John McCrea. It was published by Wildstorm. The Monarchy lasted 12 issues and had an intro-issue in The Authority #21....
.
After the Worldstorm event rewrote the Wildstorm universe, Christine and Jackson's destinies had changed; now, they were again in charge of a much-scaled-down Stormwatch Prime, operating exclusively out of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and in a gigantic skyscraper serving as Skywatch instead of the former orbital satellite. Jackson and Christine's marriage seemed rock solid as they continued to run both Stormwatch Prime and the new, human-oriented Stormwatch: Post Human Division
Stormwatch: Post Human Division
Stormwatch: Post Human Division is an American comic book published by Wildstorm comics. It is the fourth volume to bear the name Stormwatch and was one of several comics used to reboot the Wildstorm Universe...
task force. But when a meeting of the minds was arranged between the members of Prime and PHD at Skywatch, the heroes made a shocking discovery: Jackson King had been shot in the head, with a high-powered laser instead of a bullet. Jackson remained comatose while the members of Stormwatch PHD investigated the crime and interrogated suspects. To their shock, they eventually discovered that the culprit was none other than Christine. In her confession, Christine revealed that she and Jackson had recently risked a pregnancy, despite fearing that their altered genetics would damage the baby, and that the baby was indeed miscarried and deformed. After the miscarriage, apparently suffering from delusion and postpartum depression
Postpartum depression
Postpartum depression , also called postnatal depression, is a form of clinical depression which can affect women, and less frequently men, typically after childbirth. Studies report prevalence rates among women from 5% to 25%, but methodological differences among the studies make the actual...
, Christine became fixated on getting Jackson to take his focus off Stormwatch and onto the family they could still create, by any means necessary. She reprogrammed a Skywatch maintenance robot to attack Jackson with one of its lasers, knowing Jackson would not detect its intentions because the robot had no mind. She also programmed the robot to aim not for Jackson's cognitive faculties, but for the part of the brain that controlled Jackson's powers; as an Activator, the unbalanced Christine knew where to look, and believed that without his powers, Jackson would learn to settle down into family life. As a regretful Christine was taken into custody, Jackson awoke from his coma in full control of his faculties and his powers, and was heartbroken to learn what Christine had done. Christine expressed gratitude that Jackson had kept his powers, and as she was led away, said she should never have done it; "no one should ever be taken away from what they love."
As Christine was apparently delusional due to postpartum depression, it remains to be seen what her final fate will be. PHD team leader John Doran speculated that given her condition, she could only lose her job at Stormwatch.
She returns in World's End, as second-in-command to King in new Stormwatch: Post Human Division team.
Powers and abilities
Christine has the ability to activate any latent powers of Seedlings, people whose genetics specifically reacted to a comet that passed Earth decades ago. She can "partially activate" Seedlings rather than fully, providing partial access to powers. She also has the ability to deactivate Seedlings, though only those recently activated. Synergy is one of only two known people in the Wildstorm universe with this ability.When she was Weatherman, she received cybernetic implants that allowed her to control the movement of Skywatch, Stormwatch's orbital base. The implants also allowed her to collect and process all information that Skywatch gathered.
As a member of the Monarchy, Christine often goes on field assignments by herself. She has access to very advanced technology.