.gif)
The First (comics)
Encyclopedia
'The First' are a group of fiction
al god
s who appear in a self-titled
comic as well as other various comic book
s published by CrossGen
. Styled after the Greek gods
in many ways, the First represent very powerful, nearly immortal
beings, who are each based on a certain emotion.
The full powers of The First were never clearly defined. They could kill ordinary humans (and alien) creatures by the thousands. However, they could kill each other so they were not immortal. They could create force fields and seem to have no need to eat or breathe. They could teleport vast distances in an instant (e.g., across a galaxy) if they knew where they were going. They could change their shape and costume seemingly at will. They appear as gods on other worlds and they could transfer a bit of their own power to one (or more) ordinary mortals, making the affected mortal nearly god-like (see both Sigil
and Scion
). Even when faced with science fictional technology (e.g., starships with immensely powerful lasers) The First could use their powers to construct powerful technology of their own making them hard to defeat.
Originally, the First were a single united group, led by a god named Altwaal
(the first of their kind) on their home world of Elysia, in much the same way the Greek gods were led by Zeus
on Mount Olympus
. War broke out when some of the First decided Altwaal no longer deserved leadership. Altwaal's love, Raamia
, was killed in an assassination attempt, and he brought her back to life. Some of the First furiously stated that Altwaal violated the natural order of things; the remaining First saw an act of selfless love and praised Altwaal.
Altwaal ended the war long afterward by splitting the First into two Houses. The more selfless gods became House Dexter; the gods showing more selfish attributes became House Sinister. To keep the peace between the First, and to keep them separated until they could one day agree to be united, Altwaal created the Eidolon Rift, a vast chasm nearly uncrossable even by the gods. To reach the other side one would be completely drained of power, left in a weakened state and at the mercy of their opposing brethren. These gods settled into the lands they were matched with; House Sinister to the left of the Eidolon Rift, ruled by Ingra
; House Dexter to the right, ruled by Pyrem
.
Peace and boredom settled on Elysia. Some of The First went off to live as gods on other worlds while others were exiled. On at least one world, one of The First was imprisoned by a group of powerful (but mortal) wizards (see Mystic #7-#15).
The First are shocked out of their stalemate by a new threat, in the form of the Sigil-Bearers
. These beings, granted amazing powers by forces unseen (later revealed to be Danik
and Solusandra
), have the ability to drain the energies of the First and even kill them under rare circumstances. Since the First believe themselves the creators of the universe, and the most powerful beings in it, the unexpected presence of the Sigil-Bearers and their mysterious powers causes alarm among the First.
Various members of the First are sent to monitor, or control, the Sigil-Bearers, often (but not always) one from each house. Examples are: Mai Shen
, Bernd Rechts
, Darrow
, Rho Rhustane, The Bard, etc. Other members of The First were exiled (Animora - exiled by Ingra) or captured (Evinlea
- captured by Charon
, see Negation
for more details). Still others (Enson
and Wyture
) are not actually members of The First at all but are aspects of the ascended Atlantean, Danik.
Partly as a result of the chaos caused by the Sigil-Bearers, House Sinister falls under the control of a younger god (called a Secundae) named Seahn
. Shortly after he takes over, The First learn a shocking fact: they did not create the universe. The First discover that they are far younger than at least one other race, the Atlanteans
.
In the last year of CrossGen comics it was revealed that the First were created by Solusandra. She created Atwaal to be her playmate, then she created other, lesser "toys" for Atwaal to play with. These gods were designed to personify important emotions such as: Anger (Ingra), Determination (Trenin), etc. This revelation nearly destroys the leader of House Dexter (Pyrem) and he resigns his position as leader. A new leader is chosen at the very end of the series, the daughter of Pyrem and Ingra named Persha. In the last published issue, Altwaal returns to Elysia, and both Seahn and Persha apparently die by the Sword of Altwaal (one of the seven Weapons of Altwaal
), so bringing the story of The First to an abrupt conclusion.
Due to CrossGen's bankruptcy in 2004, the plot of The First, both in their own self-titled comic and CrossGen's other titles, was cut short. The role of the First in the Negation War
, a storyline in which the Sigil-Bearers and First were meant to defend the universe against invaders from another universe, is therefore unclear. One thing is known: The First were betrayed by one of their own. A duplicitous goddess of House Sinister named Evinlea had been kidnapped and taken to the Negation
universe to be studied by that realm's mad god, Charon
. Eventually she became his consort and top level advisor on invading our universe, leading the Lawbringers
, the children of Charon, to her own homeworld Elysia to destroy the First.
In the first few moments after Evinlea's arrival on Elysia, Altwaal's love, Raamia, was once again killed, this time by Lawbringer QZTR. With the First again united, it is unknown how they will react to Altwaal restoring Raamia to life again. The preview for the next issue showed Altwaal and his First fighting the Lawbringers.
till December 2003
.
CrossGen released three trade paperbacks
containing the first 40% of the series.
CrossGen announced the release of three additional books that were ultimately never published.
Fiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
al god
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
s who appear in a self-titled
Eponym
An eponym is the name of a person or thing, whether real or fictitious, after which a particular place, tribe, era, discovery, or other item is named or thought to be named...
comic as well as other various comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
s published by CrossGen
CrossGen
Cross Generation Entertainment, or CrossGen, was an American comic book publisher that operated from 1998 to 2004.CrossGen Comics, Inc. was founded in 1998, by Tampa, Florida-based entrepreneur Mark Alessi who sought to create a comic book universe that was uniquely varied but also connected by a...
. Styled after the Greek gods
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
in many ways, the First represent very powerful, nearly immortal
Immortality
Immortality is the ability to live forever. It is unknown whether human physical immortality is an achievable condition. Biological forms have inherent limitations which may or may not be able to be overcome through medical interventions or engineering...
beings, who are each based on a certain emotion.
The full powers of The First were never clearly defined. They could kill ordinary humans (and alien) creatures by the thousands. However, they could kill each other so they were not immortal. They could create force fields and seem to have no need to eat or breathe. They could teleport vast distances in an instant (e.g., across a galaxy) if they knew where they were going. They could change their shape and costume seemingly at will. They appear as gods on other worlds and they could transfer a bit of their own power to one (or more) ordinary mortals, making the affected mortal nearly god-like (see both Sigil
Sigil (comics)
Sigil is an American comic book series published by CrossGen Entertainment from July 2000 to December 2003, ending at issue forty-two. Sigil was one of the publisher's first four titles , a science fiction space opera, originally created by Mark Alessi and Gina M. Villa...
and Scion
Scion (comics)
Scion was an American comic book published by CrossGen Entertainment from July 2000 to April 2004. It was cancelled due to the bankruptcy of Crossgen Comics Inc in 2004.-Plot synopsis:...
). Even when faced with science fictional technology (e.g., starships with immensely powerful lasers) The First could use their powers to construct powerful technology of their own making them hard to defeat.
Originally, the First were a single united group, led by a god named Altwaal
Altwaal
Altwaal is a character from the American comic book The First published by CrossGen Entertainment. He was the first god and was the most powerful of all The First. He is shown as a blue-eyed super-human with a commanding face.-Character details:...
(the first of their kind) on their home world of Elysia, in much the same way the Greek gods were led by Zeus
Zeus
In the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus...
on Mount Olympus
Mount Olympus
Mount Olympus is the highest mountain in Greece, located on the border between Thessaly and Macedonia, about 100 kilometres away from Thessaloniki, Greece's second largest city. Mount Olympus has 52 peaks. The highest peak Mytikas, meaning "nose", rises to 2,917 metres...
. War broke out when some of the First decided Altwaal no longer deserved leadership. Altwaal's love, Raamia
Raamia
Raamia is a character from CrossGen Entertainment's Sigilverse. She appeared in The First. She was, for some time, the consort of the original god Altwaal and was killed in a failed assassination attempt on Altwaal...
, was killed in an assassination attempt, and he brought her back to life. Some of the First furiously stated that Altwaal violated the natural order of things; the remaining First saw an act of selfless love and praised Altwaal.
Altwaal ended the war long afterward by splitting the First into two Houses. The more selfless gods became House Dexter; the gods showing more selfish attributes became House Sinister. To keep the peace between the First, and to keep them separated until they could one day agree to be united, Altwaal created the Eidolon Rift, a vast chasm nearly uncrossable even by the gods. To reach the other side one would be completely drained of power, left in a weakened state and at the mercy of their opposing brethren. These gods settled into the lands they were matched with; House Sinister to the left of the Eidolon Rift, ruled by Ingra
Ingra
Ingra is a character from CrossGen Entertainment's Sigilverse. She appeared in a several series, mostly The First. She was shown as a dominating female, usually wearing revealing outfits....
; House Dexter to the right, ruled by Pyrem
Pyrem
Pyrem is a character from CrossGen Entertainment's Sigilverse. He appeared almost entirely in The First. He appears to be a perfect superman wearing yellow and grey.-Character details:...
.
Peace and boredom settled on Elysia. Some of The First went off to live as gods on other worlds while others were exiled. On at least one world, one of The First was imprisoned by a group of powerful (but mortal) wizards (see Mystic #7-#15).
The First are shocked out of their stalemate by a new threat, in the form of the Sigil-Bearers
Sigil-Bearers
The Sigil-Bearers are characters in CrossGen Comics' fictional universe, the Sigilverse. The metaplot strung across all of CrossGen's titles centered on the Sigil-Bearers, and many of the titles' main characters were Sigil-Bearers, especially in the company's early days.-Overview:The Sigil is a...
. These beings, granted amazing powers by forces unseen (later revealed to be Danik
Danik
Danik is a character in the Crossgen universe. Found in the books The First, Crux, Sigil, Solus, and Negation: War, Danik is a Transitioned Atlantean who has split off from himself Avatars to watch over and mentor several sentient beings throughout our universe and others.-Origins:Danik of...
and Solusandra
Solusandra
Solusandra is a character created by CrossGen Entertainment. She is perhaps the most essential character to the "Big Picture" storyline, as she is the orange eyed being who created the Sigil-Bearers. She was exclusively found in the comic Solus and appeared in every Crossgen Comic that concerned...
), have the ability to drain the energies of the First and even kill them under rare circumstances. Since the First believe themselves the creators of the universe, and the most powerful beings in it, the unexpected presence of the Sigil-Bearers and their mysterious powers causes alarm among the First.
Various members of the First are sent to monitor, or control, the Sigil-Bearers, often (but not always) one from each house. Examples are: Mai Shen
Mai Shen
Mai Shen is a character from CrossGen Entertainment's Sigilverse. She appeared in Scion as a major enemy of the hero Prince Ethan. Mai Shen is one of the self-styled gods called The First; she is sent to monitor the Ethan, the Sigil-Bearer...
, Bernd Rechts
Bernd Rechts
Bernd Rechts is a fictional character from CrossGen Entertainment's Sigilverse. He appeared in several issues of the Scion series as a military advisor to the Heron Dynasty. Rechts is one of the self-styled gods called The First, and was sent to monitor Prince Ethan, the Sigil-Bearer.-Character...
, Darrow
Darrow (Mystic)
Darrow is a character from CrossGen Entertainment's Sigilverse. He appeared in the Mystic series as first a friend, then an enemy of the heroine Giselle Villard. Darrow is one of the self-styled gods called The First, he was sent to seduce the only Sigil-Bearer on the planet of Ciress...
, Rho Rhustane, The Bard, etc. Other members of The First were exiled (Animora - exiled by Ingra) or captured (Evinlea
Evinlea
Evinlea is a character from CrossGen Entertainment's Sigilverse. She appeared in the Negation series as one of the main characters. Evinlea is one of The First, self-proclaimed gods who are nearly immortal and wield great powers. Whether Evinlea was one of the original gods or a Secundae was never...
- captured by Charon
Charon (CrossGen)
Charon is the main antagonist in the comic book universe known as CrossGen or the Sigilverse. He appears most often in Negation but has also had his own limited series Mark of Charon and is mentioned throughout many CrossGen titles...
, see Negation
Negation (comics)
Negation was a comic book series published from CrossGen. Tony Bedard was the writer for the entire run. Paul Pelletier was the artist for most of the issues, with an occasional fill-in artist taking an issue here and there.-Overview:...
for more details). Still others (Enson
Enson
Enson is a character from CrossGen Entertainment's Sigilverse. He is a guide character in the Sigil comic series. His charge is Seahn, the most powerful and ambitious of the secundea in the House Dexter. Enson appears as a huge grey-skin Golem-like figure with strange horns around his mouth. He is...
and Wyture
Wyture
Wyture is a character from CrossGen Entertainment's Sigilverse. She is the guide character in the Sigil comic series. Her charge is Persha, the daughter of Ingra and Pyrem. Wyture appears as a mysterious female who is always at Persha's side. She offers suggestions to Persha.-Character...
) are not actually members of The First at all but are aspects of the ascended Atlantean, Danik.
Partly as a result of the chaos caused by the Sigil-Bearers, House Sinister falls under the control of a younger god (called a Secundae) named Seahn
Seahn
Seahn is a character from CrossGen Entertainment's Sigilverse. He appeared in The First as one of the main characters. Seahn was not one of the original gods but instead was the child of two of the gods: Tulity and Braag; as a result he were called Secundae.-Character Details:Seahn is the...
. Shortly after he takes over, The First learn a shocking fact: they did not create the universe. The First discover that they are far younger than at least one other race, the Atlanteans
Atlantis (CrossGen Comics)
In CrossGen Comics Atlantis is set as the primary point of origin for the narrative events that unfold in the Sigilverse. Many of the popular ideas and beliefs that are associated with Atlantis are used in this iteration such as being an advanced culture and sinking beneath the sea. In the...
.
In the last year of CrossGen comics it was revealed that the First were created by Solusandra. She created Atwaal to be her playmate, then she created other, lesser "toys" for Atwaal to play with. These gods were designed to personify important emotions such as: Anger (Ingra), Determination (Trenin), etc. This revelation nearly destroys the leader of House Dexter (Pyrem) and he resigns his position as leader. A new leader is chosen at the very end of the series, the daughter of Pyrem and Ingra named Persha. In the last published issue, Altwaal returns to Elysia, and both Seahn and Persha apparently die by the Sword of Altwaal (one of the seven Weapons of Altwaal
Altwaals Weapons
The Seven Weapons of Altwaal are a set of weapons and armor which are featured in the Sigilverse. The weapons are found in the books The First, Sojourn, Solus and The Path...
), so bringing the story of The First to an abrupt conclusion.
Due to CrossGen's bankruptcy in 2004, the plot of The First, both in their own self-titled comic and CrossGen's other titles, was cut short. The role of the First in the Negation War
Negation War (comics)
Negation War was a comic book series published by CrossGen Comics, and serving as a culmination of the metaplots of nearly all of CrossGen's other titles. It only ran for two issues, in Spring 2004, before the company declared bankruptcy and ended production on all their titles...
, a storyline in which the Sigil-Bearers and First were meant to defend the universe against invaders from another universe, is therefore unclear. One thing is known: The First were betrayed by one of their own. A duplicitous goddess of House Sinister named Evinlea had been kidnapped and taken to the Negation
Negation (comics)
Negation was a comic book series published from CrossGen. Tony Bedard was the writer for the entire run. Paul Pelletier was the artist for most of the issues, with an occasional fill-in artist taking an issue here and there.-Overview:...
universe to be studied by that realm's mad god, Charon
Charon (CrossGen)
Charon is the main antagonist in the comic book universe known as CrossGen or the Sigilverse. He appears most often in Negation but has also had his own limited series Mark of Charon and is mentioned throughout many CrossGen titles...
. Eventually she became his consort and top level advisor on invading our universe, leading the Lawbringers
Lawbringers
The Lawbringers are a race of beings created for the CrossGen comic Negation.The Lawbringers are the twisted, mis-shapen gods of the Negation universe and have abilities on par with the beautiful, perfectly formed First, those considered gods in other universes...
, the children of Charon, to her own homeworld Elysia to destroy the First.
In the first few moments after Evinlea's arrival on Elysia, Altwaal's love, Raamia, was once again killed, this time by Lawbringer QZTR. With the First again united, it is unknown how they will react to Altwaal restoring Raamia to life again. The preview for the next issue showed Altwaal and his First fighting the Lawbringers.
Publications
The First ran for 37 issues from November 20002000 in comics
-February:*Strange Adventures vol. 2, #4, final issue cover-dated February - January :* January 5: Goseki Kojima, co-creator of Lone Wolf and Cub, dies at age 71.* January 6: Mad magazine fixture Don Martin dies at age 68....
till December 2003
2003 in comics
-January:* January 2: Kid Colt artist Jack Keller dies at age 80.- April :* Action Comics #800: Double-sized anniversary issue, "A Hero's Journey," by Joe Kelly, Pascual Ferry, and Duncan Rouleau...
.
CrossGen released three trade paperbacks
Trade paperback (comics)
In comics, a trade paperback is a collection of stories originally published in comic books, reprinted in book format, usually capturing one story arc from a single title or a series of stories with a connected story arc or common theme from one or more titles...
containing the first 40% of the series.
- The First Volume 1: Two Houses Divided
- The First Volume 2: Magnificent Tension
- The First Volume 3: Sinister Motives
CrossGen announced the release of three additional books that were ultimately never published.
- The First Volume 4: Futile Endeavors
- The First Volume 5: Liquid Alliances
- The First Volume 6: Ragnarok