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Engineer (comics)
Encyclopedia
The Engineer is the name of two fictional character
s 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
.
volume 1, ("Change or Die" - Stormwatch issues #48-50), by Warren Ellis
and Tom Raney
. He was part of a superpowered group called the Changers
, led by The High, who wanted to change the world by removing the structure of society itself. There would be no more laws, no authoritarian structures, no crime and no war. The Engineer's role in this plan was to seed nanotechnological
oases across the planet. These oases would serve as "horns of plenty
" providing every imaginable food, product and tool anybody needed. This first Engineer died with the rest of the Changers in issue #50 when Stormwatch, under the command of an increasingly maverick Henry Bendix
, destroyed their base with Hammerstrike Deep Sanction missiles consisting of biowar payload and tailored acid
bombs.
A later Stormwatch arc, collected as the trade paperback A Finer World (Stormwatch vol. 2 issues #2-4) explored this Engineer's legacy: the Nevada Garden, his first and sole surviving nanotech oasis, was secretly commandeered by the United States military and used for weapon creation. Apollo
and The Midnighter
destroyed the site on behalf of Stormwatch, and brought most of its nanotech 'trees' into Stormwatch custody.
notes and started linking it to her work in human-machine fusion. She distilled an incalculable number of intelligent devices into nine pints of liquid machinery, which she used to replace her blood
. This nanotechnology gave her extensive mechanical abilities: she can cover her body with liquid metal at will, fly, communicate with machinery, and create devices - including radio-telepathy bugs, weaponry, rocket engines, replacement lungs to cope with unfamiliar atmospheres and even additional copies of herself. Jenny Sparks
recruited her as a founding member of The Authority.
In 2001 Mark Millar, Ellis's successor as writer on The Authority, wrote a five-issue Secret History of the Authority exploring the team's lives before their joining up. Angie appeared in the fifth issue, describing to Jenny Sparks how her desire to be a scientist - and later a hero - arose from a childhood diet of comic books.
In the "Transfer of Power" storyline, Spica was replaced by "Machine", a woman from Japan
who received the nanotechnology extracted from the Engineer's body. Spica's blood was temporarily replaced with that of a heroin addict
. She was given memory implants and forced into the life of a minimum wage worker in a Seven-Eleven, with an abusive husband and six children (all of them actors paid by the hostile government that had sanctioned the Authority's overthrow), until she was saved by Swift
. Spica's deep desire for revenge on Machine was thwarted when it was learned she had been killed by fellow teammate Apollo
.
Spica has an open on/off relationship with Jack Hawksmoor
, but she also slept with The Doctor
on one occasion. She also had a brief fling with a squat, hairy Mexican (a type she is very attracted to) she picks up in a bar. It ends badly.
She also had a deep, even if somewhat short, relation with Captain Atom
, a universe-travelling hero hailing from the main DC Universe of New Earth. At first tasked from Jack himself to keep an eye over Captain Atom, using her charms if needed to keep him close and devise a plan to bring him back home, or kill him should he become a menace for the Wildstorm Universe. Spica, unable to find his proper universe, uses her nanotechnology to apparently disable the fragment of the Void
lodged in Captain Atom's body, defusing the threat posed by his survival in the Wildstorm Universe, and starts a relationship with him, sharing some intimate moments and trying to mold him into the proactive hero needed by her world. However, upon discovering that the Mark of Void was never purged by his system, and upon finding Captain Atom embracing Nikola Hanssen, the current host for the Void entity, Angela turns against him, and mixing jealousy to anger and self-righteousness, attempts to slay him. Captain Atom, still deeply in love with her, disables her powers, until Void is able to reboot the universe, leaving Angela no memories of the events surrounding the destruction and recreation of her world, and possibly, no memories about Nathaniel Adam.
Spica was apparently sexually assaulted during her school-age years by a renegade Doctor who travelled back in time while they were fighting.
s that disabled technology on Earth, lost her powers. She remains in the ruins of the crashed Carrier, jury-rigging and scavenging the last technology left, and caring for a crippled Jack, until discovering a small fighter craft having the same origin as the carrier which restarts and upgrades her abilities.
event, with Angela Spica's Engineer as part of the team. In the new Stormwatch, the Engineer is responsible for maintaining communications between members of the secretive organization as well as maintaining the Eye of the Storm, the Stormwatch space station headquarters that is described as existing in "Hyperspace".
: "Steel Rain", a character Ellis created with artist Gary Erskine
. Steel Rain's first and only appearance was in Marvel Comics
' 2099 Unlimited #9 (July, 1995).
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
s 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
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 Bryan Hitch
Bryan Hitch
Bryan Hitch is a British comic book artist. Hitch began his career in the United Kingdom for Marvel UK, working on titles such as Action Force and Death's Head, before gaining prominence on American titles such as Wildstorm's Stormwatch and The Authority, DC Comics titles such as JLA, and Marvel...
.
The First Engineer
The Engineer first appeared in the 1997 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, ("Change or Die" - Stormwatch issues #48-50), 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....
. He was part of a superpowered group called the Changers
Changers
The Changers are a group of super-heroes published by Wildstorm an imprint of DC Comics. The team first appears in Stormwatch #48 , and was created by Warren Ellis and Tom Raney.-Publication history:...
, led by The High, who wanted to change the world by removing the structure of society itself. There would be no more laws, no authoritarian structures, no crime and no war. The Engineer's role in this plan was to seed nanotechnological
Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology 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...
oases across the planet. These oases would serve as "horns of plenty
Cornucopia
The cornucopia or horn of plenty is a symbol of abundance and nourishment, commonly a large horn-shaped container overflowing with produce, flowers, nuts, other edibles, or wealth in some form...
" providing every imaginable food, product and tool anybody needed. This first Engineer died with the rest of the Changers in issue #50 when Stormwatch, under the command of an increasingly maverick 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:...
, destroyed their base with Hammerstrike Deep Sanction missiles consisting of biowar payload and tailored acid
Acid
An acid is a substance which reacts with a base. Commonly, acids can be identified as tasting sour, reacting with metals such as calcium, and bases like sodium carbonate. Aqueous acids have a pH of less than 7, where an acid of lower pH is typically stronger, and turn blue litmus paper red...
bombs.
A later Stormwatch arc, collected as the trade paperback A Finer World (Stormwatch vol. 2 issues #2-4) explored this Engineer's legacy: the Nevada Garden, his first and sole surviving nanotech oasis, was secretly commandeered by the United States military and used for weapon creation. Apollo
Apollo (comics)
Apollo is a fictional character, a comic book superhero who first appeared in the Stormwatch series, but is best known for his role in The Authority. While visually distinct, Apollo is cast in the mold of the Superman archetype....
and The Midnighter
Midnighter
Midnighter is a fictional comic book superhero, best known as a member of the rogue superhero team The Authority. Created by writer Warren Ellis and artist Bryan Hitch, he first appeared in Stormwatch #4, before appearing in various Authority books and series and his own eponymous ongoing series...
destroyed the site on behalf of Stormwatch, and brought most of its nanotech 'trees' into Stormwatch custody.
Angela Spica
In 1998 writer Warren Ellis brought the Stormwatch ongoing series to an end with the destruction of the team, retaining several Stormwatch characters for his new Wildstorm series, The Authority. The roster of the eponymous team in his new book also included successors to two members of the Changers, a new Doctor and a new Engineer. The latter was introduced in issue 1 as Angela Spica, a Brooklyn-born scientist. Though she had known the first Engineer, she had not known about his involvement in the Changers until his death, when her home computer filled up with his nanotechnologyNanotechnology
Nanotechnology 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...
notes and started linking it to her work in human-machine fusion. She distilled an incalculable number of intelligent devices into nine pints of liquid machinery, which she used to replace her blood
Blood
Blood is a specialized bodily fluid in animals that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells....
. This nanotechnology gave her extensive mechanical abilities: she can cover her body with liquid metal at will, fly, communicate with machinery, and create devices - including radio-telepathy bugs, weaponry, rocket engines, replacement lungs to cope with unfamiliar atmospheres and even additional copies of herself. 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...
recruited her as a founding member of The Authority.
In 2001 Mark Millar, Ellis's successor as writer on The Authority, wrote a five-issue Secret History of the Authority exploring the team's lives before their joining up. Angie appeared in the fifth issue, describing to Jenny Sparks how her desire to be a scientist - and later a hero - arose from a childhood diet of comic books.
In the "Transfer of Power" storyline, Spica was replaced by "Machine", a woman from Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
who received the nanotechnology extracted from the Engineer's body. Spica's blood was temporarily replaced with that of a heroin addict
Substance dependence
The section about substance dependence in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders does not use the word addiction at all. It explains:...
. She was given memory implants and forced into the life of a minimum wage worker in a Seven-Eleven, with an abusive husband and six children (all of them actors paid by the hostile government that had sanctioned the Authority's overthrow), until she was saved by Swift
Swift (comics)
Swift is a fictional comic book superhero in the Wildstorm universe, published by DC Comics. Swift first appeared in Stormwatch #28 and was created by Jeff Mariotte and Ron Lim...
. Spica's deep desire for revenge on Machine was thwarted when it was learned she had been killed by fellow teammate Apollo
Apollo (comics)
Apollo is a fictional character, a comic book superhero who first appeared in the Stormwatch series, but is best known for his role in The Authority. While visually distinct, Apollo is cast in the mold of the Superman archetype....
.
Spica has an open on/off relationship with Jack Hawksmoor
Jack Hawksmoor (comics)
Jack Hawksmoor is a fictional character, a superhero and member of The Authority in the Wildstorm Universe and of Stormwatch in the DC Universe...
, but she also slept with The Doctor
Doctor (Wildstorm)
The Doctor is a name of several fictional characters in the Wildstorm universe.There is always only one Doctor at any given time, who is the latest in a long line of shamans protecting the entire planet...
on one occasion. She also had a brief fling with a squat, hairy Mexican (a type she is very attracted to) she picks up in a bar. It ends badly.
She also had a deep, even if somewhat short, relation with Captain Atom
Captain Atom
Captain Atom is a fictional comic book superhero that has existed in three basic incarnations. Created by writer Joe Gill and artist/co-writer Steve Ditko, he first appeared in Space Adventures #33 . Captain Atom was created for Charlton Comics but was later acquired by DC Comics and revised for...
, a universe-travelling hero hailing from the main DC Universe of New Earth. At first tasked from Jack himself to keep an eye over Captain Atom, using her charms if needed to keep him close and devise a plan to bring him back home, or kill him should he become a menace for the Wildstorm Universe. Spica, unable to find his proper universe, uses her nanotechnology to apparently disable the fragment of the Void
Void (comics)
Void is a fictional character in the Wildstorm Universe.-Fictional character biography:Adrianna was born in Arkhangelsk, Russia. Adrianna and her sister Svetlana were raised by their father after the death of their mother. Her father loved Adrianna and her ambition to become a cosmonaut and...
lodged in Captain Atom's body, defusing the threat posed by his survival in the Wildstorm Universe, and starts a relationship with him, sharing some intimate moments and trying to mold him into the proactive hero needed by her world. However, upon discovering that the Mark of Void was never purged by his system, and upon finding Captain Atom embracing Nikola Hanssen, the current host for the Void entity, Angela turns against him, and mixing jealousy to anger and self-righteousness, attempts to slay him. Captain Atom, still deeply in love with her, disables her powers, until Void is able to reboot the universe, leaving Angela no memories of the events surrounding the destruction and recreation of her world, and possibly, no memories about Nathaniel Adam.
Spica was apparently sexually assaulted during her school-age years by a renegade Doctor who travelled back in time while they were fighting.
World's End
The 2008 Number of the Beast Wildstorm miniseries described the devastation of Earth, and set the scene for a new Authority ongoing series, World's End, by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning. In this series the Engineer, hit by the same electromagnetic pulseElectromagnetic pulse
An electromagnetic pulse is a burst of electromagnetic radiation. The abrupt pulse of electromagnetic radiation usually results from certain types of high energy explosions, especially a nuclear explosion, or from a suddenly fluctuating magnetic field...
s that disabled technology on Earth, lost her powers. She remains in the ruins of the crashed Carrier, jury-rigging and scavenging the last technology left, and caring for a crippled Jack, until discovering a small fighter craft having the same origin as the carrier which restarts and upgrades her abilities.
DC Universe
A new version of Stormwatch was introduced as part of the DC Universe's The New 52The New 52
The New 52 is a 2011 revamp and relaunch by DC Comics of its entire line of ongoing monthly superhero books, in which all of its existing titles were cancelled, and 52 new series debuted in September 2011 with new #1 issues. Among the series being renumbered are Action Comics and Detective Comics,...
event, with Angela Spica's Engineer as part of the team. In the new Stormwatch, the Engineer is responsible for maintaining communications between members of the secretive organization as well as maintaining the Eye of the Storm, the Stormwatch space station headquarters that is described as existing in "Hyperspace".
Background
The second Engineer is based on a previous creation of Warren EllisWarren 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...
: "Steel Rain", a character Ellis created with artist Gary Erskine
Gary Erskine
Gary Erskine is a Scottish comic book artist born in Paisley, near Glasgow in 1968.-Biography:Erskine started drawing work for fanzines while at art college and aspired to be a comic book artist. After sending samples of his work to Marvel UK he was eventually given Knights of Pendragon to draw on...
. Steel Rain's first and only appearance was in Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
' 2099 Unlimited #9 (July, 1995).