Wetworks
Encyclopedia
Wetworks is an American comic book
series
created by comic book artist
Whilce Portacio
and writer Brandon Choi
. It ran for four years before ending in 1998. A second series written by Mike Carey, with Portacio returning on art duties, was started in 2006 and ended in 2008.
The story is about a team of black operative soldiers bonded with golden symbiotes, who battle against supernatural
forces.
launch titles in 1992
, the series was put on hiatus until 1994
due to the death of Portacio's sister. After re-solicitation by Image (through Jim Lee
's Wildstorm
imprint), the original series ran for 43 issues, from 1994
-1998
. The first 3 issues were collected as a trade paperback
in 1996 from Image Comics/Wildstorm.
A relaunch of the same title began in 2006
by writer Mike Carey and creator Whilce Portacio. It follows the original team leader, Dane, as he reforms the Wetworks team minus all the previous members save Mother One, to continue combating supernatural forces. As of issue #10 the creative team changes to writer J. M. DeMatteis
and artists Joel Gomez
and Trevor Scott, with Portacio remaining on as cover artist. The new series was cancelled with issue #15.
Wetworks reappeared as one of the one-shots in Wildstorm: Armageddon
, but it is not one of the series listed as restarting following the World's End events.
, who was a member of the original Team 7. In issue #1 of the series, Team 7 was sent on a (suicide) mission by International Operations
' (I/O) Director Miles Craven. The mission was to enter a terrorist enclave on the Raanes Peninsula (Eastern Europe) and extract a biological agent the terrorists had in their possession. Once the team reached the target, they found out that someone had raided the enclave before them. While investigating, the team found several big transparent tubes containing some kind of golden fluid. At that moment, the explosives they were carrying were activated by remote control, displaying a ten-minute countdown. That was when the team knew they were double crossed.
A hidden sniper shot at one of the tubes when team member Clayton "Claymore" Maure was examining it. The tube broke and the golden fluid jumped on Claymore as if it were alive, covering his whole body. If that was not enough, they were attacked by some terrorists. The terrorists started shooting, but the bullets bounced off Claymore's gold-covered body. Time was ticking and Col. Dane decided the team should open the remaining tubes to use the golden symbiotes as protection against the detonation of the explosives.
After the detonation, the enclave was destroyed, but Team 7 emerged from the fire unharmed. That was when I/O's cleaners (three aircraft) were ordered to enter the site to kill the surviving team members. The field leader of the cleaners, Mother One, double crossed I/O and shot down two aircraft before destroying her own. Mother One also had a golden symbiote, although it was not shown how she acquired it.
Mother One explained to Team 7 they were double crossed by Craven and I/O and asked them to accompany her to her boss, industrialist Armand Waering.
Col. Dane reluctantly accepted and they started to work for Armand Waering. Waering told them that he wanted to kill the Vampire Nation because they wanted to take over the world from the humans. What he did not tell the team was that he was actually the Jaquar, leader of the Werenation.
Two members of Wetworks died early in their battles with the undead - Flattop and Crossbones. Later Pilgrim's brother, Nathaniel Blackbird joined the squad, and they learned that both he and Pilgrim (unknown to her) were both werewolves. Several members of the squad died during a major mission some time later, including Dozer and Claymore, and Wetworks broke up. Recently Dane has reactivated the team to deal with breaks in reality caused by another superteam, which have been turned into portals for forces from another dimension.
miniseries, Lynch, head of the former Team 7, tries to convince Dane and the Wetworks into rejoining the Team, in an attempt to reverse the devastation and restore Earth to its former state.
Dane refuses his proposal since he no longer believes in a simple solution, and prefers tasking the Wetworks of defending humanity from the vampires.
The new series has been collected in two trade paperbacks
:
from 1995 to 1996.
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...
series
Ongoing series
The term "ongoing series" is used in contrast to limited series , a one shot , a graphic novel, or a trade paperback...
created by comic book artist
Comic Book Artist
Comic Book Artist was an American magazine founded by Jon B. Cooke devoted to anecdotal histories of American comic books, with emphasis on comics published since the 1960s...
Whilce Portacio
Whilce Portacio
William "Whilce" Portacio is a Filipino-American comic book writer and artist. Noted for his work on such titles as The Punisher, X-Factor, and the Uncanny X-Men. Portacio was also one of the seven co-founders of Image Comics, though he did not become a partner in the company.-Early life:Portacio...
and writer 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:...
. It ran for four years before ending in 1998. A second series written by Mike Carey, with Portacio returning on art duties, was started in 2006 and ended in 2008.
The story is about a team of black operative soldiers bonded with golden symbiotes, who battle against supernatural
Supernatural
The supernatural or is that which is not subject to the laws of nature, or more figuratively, that which is said to exist above and beyond nature...
forces.
Publication history
Originally intended as one of the core Image ComicsImage Comics
Image Comics is a United States comic book publisher. It was founded in 1992 by high-profile illustrators as a venue where creators could publish their material without giving up the copyrights to the characters they created, as creator-owned properties. It was immediately successful, and remains...
launch titles in 1992
1992 in comics
-Year overall:* Image Comics explodes onto the scene, releasing eight ongoing and limited series, starting with Youngblood in April; followed by Spawn in May; Savage Dragon in July; and Brigade, Shadowhawk, and WildC.A.T.S. in August....
, the series was put on hiatus until 1994
1994 in comics
-Year overall:* Huge changes in the marketplace force many retailers and small publishers out of business...
due to the death of Portacio's sister. After re-solicitation by Image (through 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...
's 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...
imprint), the original series ran for 43 issues, from 1994
1994 in comics
-Year overall:* Huge changes in the marketplace force many retailers and small publishers out of business...
-1998
1998 in comics
-Spring:* Gay Comix , with issue #25, publishes its final issue -October:* Toy Biz buys Marvel Comics* Excalibur is canceled by Marvel with issue #125.-November:...
. The first 3 issues were collected as a trade paperback
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...
in 1996 from Image Comics/Wildstorm.
A relaunch of the same title began in 2006
2006 in comics
-January:*January 1, 2006: Newsweek offer a look back at 2005 through editorial cartoons. *January 2, 2006: The Cincinnati Enquirer cartoonist Jim Borgman starts a blog to detail his creative process...
by writer Mike Carey and creator Whilce Portacio. It follows the original team leader, Dane, as he reforms the Wetworks team minus all the previous members save Mother One, to continue combating supernatural forces. As of issue #10 the creative team changes to writer J. M. DeMatteis
J. M. DeMatteis
John Marc DeMatteis is an American writer of comic books.-Early career:Born in Brooklyn, DeMatteis graduated from Midwood High School and Empire State College. He worked as a music critic before getting his start in comic books at DC Comics in the late 1970s...
and artists Joel Gomez
Joel Gomez
Joel Gomez is an American comic book artist, known for his work on books such as WildStorm Productions' The Lost Boys: Reign of Frogs.-Career:Gomez started his career at Top Cow, working on books such as Witchblade and The Darkness...
and Trevor Scott, with Portacio remaining on as cover artist. The new series was cancelled with issue #15.
Wetworks reappeared as one of the one-shots in Wildstorm: Armageddon
Wildstorm: Armageddon
"Wildstorm: Armageddon" was a crossover event in the Wildstorm Universe, written by Christos Gage and drawn by various artists.Armageddon led into a number of bi-weekly series, Wildstorm: Revelations and Number of the Beast, which resulted in the relaunch of a number of Wildstorm titles.-Issues:The...
, but it is not one of the series listed as restarting following the World's End events.
Plot
Wetworks is a covert operations team in the Wildstorm Universe, designated Team 7, led by Colonel Jackson DaneDane (Wildstorm)
Dane is a fictional character from DC Comics/Wildstorm. Created by Whilce Portacio.-History:In the 1970s Jackson Dane was a Detachment Delta who was recruited into a special ops team known as Team-7. During one of their missions the group was deliberately exposed to a mutagenic substance known as...
, who was a member of the original Team 7. In issue #1 of the series, Team 7 was sent on a (suicide) mission by International Operations
International Operations
International Operations is a fictional American Intelligence Agency in Wildstorm comics. I.O. first appeared in WildC.A.T.S. volume 1 #1 and was created by Brandon Choi and Jim Lee.-International Operations:...
' (I/O) Director Miles Craven. The mission was to enter a terrorist enclave on the Raanes Peninsula (Eastern Europe) and extract a biological agent the terrorists had in their possession. Once the team reached the target, they found out that someone had raided the enclave before them. While investigating, the team found several big transparent tubes containing some kind of golden fluid. At that moment, the explosives they were carrying were activated by remote control, displaying a ten-minute countdown. That was when the team knew they were double crossed.
A hidden sniper shot at one of the tubes when team member Clayton "Claymore" Maure was examining it. The tube broke and the golden fluid jumped on Claymore as if it were alive, covering his whole body. If that was not enough, they were attacked by some terrorists. The terrorists started shooting, but the bullets bounced off Claymore's gold-covered body. Time was ticking and Col. Dane decided the team should open the remaining tubes to use the golden symbiotes as protection against the detonation of the explosives.
Mother One explained to Team 7 they were double crossed by Craven and I/O and asked them to accompany her to her boss, industrialist Armand Waering.
Col. Dane reluctantly accepted and they started to work for Armand Waering. Waering told them that he wanted to kill the Vampire Nation because they wanted to take over the world from the humans. What he did not tell the team was that he was actually the Jaquar, leader of the Werenation.
Two members of Wetworks died early in their battles with the undead - Flattop and Crossbones. Later Pilgrim's brother, Nathaniel Blackbird joined the squad, and they learned that both he and Pilgrim (unknown to her) were both werewolves. Several members of the squad died during a major mission some time later, including Dozer and Claymore, and Wetworks broke up. Recently Dane has reactivated the team to deal with breaks in reality caused by another superteam, which have been turned into portals for forces from another dimension.
World's End
After the massive destruction dealt to Earth in the Number of the BeastNumber of the Beast (comics)
Number of the Beast is a comic book limited series, written by Scott Beatty, with art by Chris Sprouse.Number of the Beast was the second of a number bi-weekly series, it was preceded by Wildstorm: Revelations, which resulted in the relaunch of a number of Wildstorm titles.-Characters:As well as...
miniseries, Lynch, head of the former Team 7, tries to convince Dane and the Wetworks into rejoining the Team, in an attempt to reverse the devastation and restore Earth to its former state.
Dane refuses his proposal since he no longer believes in a simple solution, and prefers tasking the Wetworks of defending humanity from the vampires.
Original series members
- Claymore (Clayton H. Maure)
- Crossbones (Nicholas A. Jones) [KIA Wetworks #3]
- DaneDane (Wildstorm)Dane is a fictional character from DC Comics/Wildstorm. Created by Whilce Portacio.-History:In the 1970s Jackson Dane was a Detachment Delta who was recruited into a special ops team known as Team-7. During one of their missions the group was deliberately exposed to a mutagenic substance known as...
(Jackson Michael Dane) Member of the original Team 7- Reactivated his Gen-Factor. Gen-Factor prevents/protects Dane from bonding with the symbiote.
- Dozer (Joseph H. Mendoza)
- Enhanced strength and size. Energy orbs provide sensory information about its surroundings.
- Flattop (Jason C. Phillips) [KIA Wetworks #3]
- GrailGrail (WildStorm)Grail is a fictional character who is published by Wildstorm Productions. He first appeared in WildC.A.T.S #2.-Character biography:...
(Salvador Joel Alonday)- Energy Being, Energy shields and projection. Can extend his form to create energy melee weapons.
- Jester (Cord Dexter Lemoyne)
- Permanent Metal Liquid Form, Shapeshift, Requires no nourishment or rest.
- Mother-OneMother-oneMother-one is a fictional character who is published by Wildstorm Productions and created by comic book artist Whilce Portacio...
(Rachel L. Rhodes)- Cyborg. Effective laser protection system.
- Pilgrim (Maritza Blackbird)
- Invisibility, limited time travel. Suppressed werewolf
- Blackbird (Nathaniel Blackbird)
- Werewolf. Enhanced senses, strength, reflexes and agility
Second series members
- Dane (Jackson Michael Dane)
- Mother-One (Rachel L. Rhodes)
- Red (Persephone)
- Dustwalker (Ab-Death)
Collected editions
One collection of the first series has been released:- Wetworks: Rebirth (collects #1-3, 96 pages, Image Comics/Wildstorm, October 1996, ISBN 1-887279-33-4)
The new series has been collected in two 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...
:
- Wetworks Book 1 (collects #1-5 plus two short stories, 136 pages, Wildstorm, October 2007, ISBN 978-1-4012-1375-6)
- Wetworks Book 2 (collects #6-9 and 13-15, 160 pages, Wildstorm, January 2008, ISBN 978-1-4012-1639-9)
In other media
Two waves of Wetworks action figures were produced by McFarlane ToysMcFarlane Toys
McFarlane Toys, a subsidiary of Todd McFarlane Productions, Inc., is a company started by Todd McFarlane that makes highly detailed models of characters from movies, comics, musicians, video games, and sport figures...
from 1995 to 1996.