Gen-Active
Encyclopedia
Gen-Active is a comic book
anthology
-series from Wildstorm
. It was published from 2000
to 2001
and ran for six issues.
It is also the term used to describe a form of superhuman
beings in the Wildstorm Universe, those who possess the Gen-Factor.
.
Though often converging, there were three main storylines, each with their own writer:
There also were a few short stories:
for national defense purposes, but Tsung left when he found out that I.O.-leader Miles Craven had his own plans for the use of the Gen-factor. Tsung's work was continued by his protege Gabriel Newman and after many failures, the first truly successful application of the Gen-factor was the exposure of Team 7 to the substance.
Miles Craven later contacted Kaizen Gamorra
and had him create a synthesized version of the Gen-factor. Ivana Baiul
, an I.O.-operative and scientist was charged with the creation of activator and booster drugs that would activate and enhance the powers of people who had the Gen-factor, turning them Gen-Active. After Team 7, other experiments were done on humans of their generation; Team 7 and the other successful experiments were all labelled as Gen 12
. Kaizen also started selling his synthesized Gen-factor to everyone who could afford it. This led to Gen-active humans worldwide, but many of them were highly unstable and none were as powerful as Team 7.
Project: Genesis restarted 15–20 years later and the subjects this time were the children of Gen 12. Craven hoped that the younger subjects were easier to control and that being born with the Gen-factor made their powers more stable. Apart from children of Gen 12, other children exposed to the Gen-factor in various ways were recruited as well. This time the subjects were labelled as Gen¹³
, though this name was taken by a small group of Gen¹³ Gen-Actives. Another group took the name DV8
(also known as the Deviants). Many other Gen-Active teenagers have been seen over the years, mostly the result of various I.O.-experiments; like Nate, Tommy, Sadie (Voodoo Doll) and Leslie (Trauma Queen), four Gen-Actives that befriended Gen¹³ and jokingly called themselves "The Mongolian Barbecue Avengers".
The powers that individual Gen-Actives receive, seem to be completely random; most of Team 7 gained strong telepathic and telekinetic powers and some gained a healing factor
. Their children though have displayed very different and unique abilities.
In addition to humans, at least one human/Kherubim
hybrid (Backlash) has also been affected by the Gen-Factor. It has also affected animals, and was used in creating the Kindred
.
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...
anthology
Anthology
An anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler. It may be a collection of poems, short stories, plays, songs, or excerpts...
-series from 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...
. It was published from 2000
2000 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....
to 2001
2001 in comics
-Year overall:* Marvel Comics withdraws from the Comics Code Authority and established its own rating system for its publications.- January :* January 23: Fred Ray, Superman's primary cover artist of the 1940s, passes away at age 80.- September :...
and ran for six issues.
It is also the term used to describe a form of superhuman
Superhuman
Superhuman can mean an improved human, for example, by genetic modification, cybernetic implants, or as what humans might evolve into, in the near or distant future...
beings in the Wildstorm Universe, those who possess the Gen-Factor.
Gen-Active, the comic
Gen-Active featured several ongoing storylines, usually starring Gen-Active superheroes and villains in each issue. Many of the stories dealt with the former members of DV8DV8
DV8 is a comic book published by Wildstorm. The series revolves around the lives of a group of Gen-Active people , initially living in New York under the supervision of Ivana Baiul, who sends them on life-threatening black ops assignments.-Publication history:The series lasted 32 issues, and was a...
.
Though often converging, there were three main storylines, each with their own writer:
- Writer Ben RaabBen RaabBenjamin "Ben" Raab is a comic book writer and editor. He has written stories for Marvel Comics, DC Comics, WildStorm, Moonstone Books, Malibu Comics, Harris Publications and Ludovico Technique LLC.-Biography:...
with the help of various artists revealed what happened to EvoEvo (Wildstorm)Evo is a comic book character from DC Comics/Wildstorm Comics. Real name, Michael Heller, was a member of the super human team DV8.-History:Michael Heller was one of the few young men and women selected to be part of Ivana Baiul's Gen¹³ project at International Operations...
and BlissBliss (Wildstorm)Bliss, also known as Nicole Callahan, is a supervillainess in the Wildstorm Universe of American comic books. She was created by Jim Lee and Brandon Choi and drawn by J. Scott Campbell in her first regular appearance...
after they left DV8. The two join up and go to New York, where Bliss tries to form her own crime-syndicate. Bliss sacrifices Evo, who is arrested by the police and sent to Purgatory Max, a special prison. A group of Nazi supervillains break into the prison and cause a riot and superhero-group WildcoreWildcoreWildcore was an American comic book series created and co-written by writer Sean Ruffner and artist Brett Booth that debuted in 1997. Focusing on a team of superheroes of the same name, it was published by Wildstorm comics, then still a part of Image Comics, as a continuation of the series Backlash...
is sent to end the riot. This mission would mean the end for most of Wildcore, but Evo redeems himself by saving Wildcore-leader Backlash. Bliss meanwhile increases her power within New York. (Issues #1-4 and 6) - Writer Jay Faeber with the help of various artists told various stories about FrostbiteFrostbite (Wildstorm)Frostbite, is a character from the DV8 comic book series, published by Wildstorm.-History:Leon grew up with his mother in West Memphis, Arkansas. The identity and fate of his father is so far unknown. Leon went to Howard University in Washington, D.C., but quickly found himself in finacinal trouble...
, CopycatCopycat (Wildstorm)Copycat is a comic book character from DC Comics/Wildstorm Comics. She is a member of the super human team DV8.-History:Gem Antonelli, a native of Los Angeles, was part of a series of experiments carried out by International Operations under the control of the director of the Department of Science...
and SublimeSublime (Wildstorm)Sublime is a comic book character from DC Comics/Wildstorm Comics. Her real name is Rachel Goldman, and she is a member of the super human team DV8.-History:...
, former members of DV8. They meet and fight with their old enemies Gen¹³Gen¹³Gen¹³ is a fictional superhero team and comic book series originally written by Jim Lee and Brandon Choi and illustrated by J. Scott Campbell. It was originally published by Image Comics under the banner Wildstorm, which went on to become an imprint for DC Comics, who continued publishing the Gen¹³...
, mostly due to misunderstandings. At the end of issue 2 the two groups sit down, talk and decide that they no longer have any reasons to be enemies. In issue #3 Faeber interrupts DV8's storyline for a story about DeathblowDeathblowDeathblow is a fictional character in the . He first appears in Darker Image #1 was created by Jim Lee and Brandon Choi.-Fictional character biography:...
, but this story connects to DV8 by revealing that Deathblow is Sublime's father. In the following 3 issues, Sublime finds out about her father, meets with Genevieve CrayDeathblowDeathblow is a fictional character in the . He first appears in Darker Image #1 was created by Jim Lee and Brandon Choi.-Fictional character biography:...
and with the help of Genevieve Cray the group fights Trance. (Issues #1-6) - Dan AbnettDan AbnettDan Abnett is a British comic book writer and novelist. He is a frequent collaborator with fellow writer Andy Lanning, and is known for his work on books for both Marvel Comics, and their UK imprint, Marvel UK, since the 1990s, including 2000 AD...
and Andy LanningAndy LanningAndy Lanning is a British comic book writer and inker, known for his work for Marvel Comics and DC Comics, and for his collaboration with Dan Abnett.-Career:Lanning works primarily at Marvel Comics and DC Comics as an inker...
(writers) and Dustin NguyenDustin Nguyen (artist)Dustin Nguyen is a comic book artist who has worked for DC Comics and WildStorm since 2000.Outside of comics, Dustin is also known as a conceptual artist for toys, games, and animation.-Career:...
(artist) told two solo-stories about JetJet (Wildstorm)Backlash , formerly known as Crimson and Jet, is a fictional character of the Wildstorm universe. She first appeared in Backlash #9 and was created by Sean Ruffner and Brett Booth....
in issues #1 and 2. In issue #6 Jet goes to avenge her father, Backlash, by trying to arrest all the escaped Purgatory Max criminals (with a little help of the MidnighterMidnighterMidnighter 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...
). This storyline followed up on Ben Raab's story about the Purgatory Max-riot.
There also were a few short stories:
- In issue #3, Eric DeSantis and Brian StelfreezeBrian StelfreezeBrian Stelfreeze is an American comic book artist. Stelfreeze, an accomplished painter, penciller, inker and colorist, has worked for nearly every major American comic book publisher and is one of the original members of Atlanta's Gaijin Studios, a prominent breeding ground for some of comics' most...
told what happened to FreestyleFreestyle (Wildstorm)Jocelyn Davis also known as Freestyle is a character from the comic book series DV8. She first had a background appearance in Gen¹³ #7, by Brandon Choi, Jim Lee and J...
after the end of DV8DV8DV8 is a comic book published by Wildstorm. The series revolves around the lives of a group of Gen-Active people , initially living in New York under the supervision of Ivana Baiul, who sends them on life-threatening black ops assignments.-Publication history:The series lasted 32 issues, and was a...
: she went back to Las Vegas where she ran into Threshold who was building his own army of Gen-Actives. - Jai Nitz and Jim MahfoodJim MahfoodJim Mahfood , a.k.a. Food One, is an American comic book creator.Apart from his creator-owned comic book series Grrl Scouts and his comic strip Stupid Comics he also did work for Marvel Comics on various Spider-Man titles, including Ultimate Marvel Team-Up and Spectacular...
created dark comical story about LadytronLadytron (comics)Ladytron is a fictional character in the Wildstorm universe. In addition to her character appearances, Ladytron's likeness was used in-universe by Jack Marlowe's Halo Corporation as a mascot in various commercials.-History:...
and Sideways BobSideways BobSideways Bob is a comic book character from Wildstorm Comics.-History:Sideways Bob is a formidable "security expert" , attached to Ivana’s operation to keep the penthouse secure from enemy attack - and, if necessary, to keep DV8 in.Bob’s pushing fifty, a grizzled horrible...
in issue #5. - Eric DeSantis and Trevor Scott connected Ben Raab's storyline about the Purgatory Max prison break to Jay Faeber's DV8 storyline by having the criminal Trance escape from Purgatory Max and rebuild his group of Freaks in issue #5.
Origin
In the Wildstorm Universe, one of the sources of superhuman powers is the Gen-factor. The Gen-factor was discovered by Dr. Simon Tsung, who found it in the body of young Ethan McCain, a reincarnation of the extradimensional hero, Sigma. Tsung worked for Project: Genesis, a project run by International OperationsInternational 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:...
for national defense purposes, but Tsung left when he found out that I.O.-leader Miles Craven had his own plans for the use of the Gen-factor. Tsung's work was continued by his protege Gabriel Newman and after many failures, the first truly successful application of the Gen-factor was the exposure of Team 7 to the substance.
Miles Craven later contacted Kaizen Gamorra
Kaizen Gamorra
Kaizen Gamorra is a fictional character in the Wildstorm Universe comics. Brandon Choi and Jim Lee had referred to him many times as an important character within the Wildstorm Universe, but their Kaizen Gamorra turned out to be an imposter called John Colt and the true Kaizen Gamorra appeared for...
and had him create a synthesized version of the Gen-factor. Ivana Baiul
Ivana Baiul
Ivana Baiul is a comic book character from DC Comics/Wildstorm. She has starred in Gen¹³ and DV8.-History:Ivana Baiul was the head of Sci-Tech, the scientific division of I.O. There she worked on creating a group of genetically enhanced soldiers for the government, a task previously done 12 times...
, an I.O.-operative and scientist was charged with the creation of activator and booster drugs that would activate and enhance the powers of people who had the Gen-factor, turning them Gen-Active. After Team 7, other experiments were done on humans of their generation; Team 7 and the other successful experiments were all labelled as Gen 12
Gen 12
Gen12 is a comic book series from Wildstorm by Brandon Choi with art by Michael Ryan. It was a 5-issue mini-series published in 1998. It featured characters from the series Team 7...
. Kaizen also started selling his synthesized Gen-factor to everyone who could afford it. This led to Gen-active humans worldwide, but many of them were highly unstable and none were as powerful as Team 7.
Project: Genesis restarted 15–20 years later and the subjects this time were the children of Gen 12. Craven hoped that the younger subjects were easier to control and that being born with the Gen-factor made their powers more stable. Apart from children of Gen 12, other children exposed to the Gen-factor in various ways were recruited as well. This time the subjects were labelled as Gen¹³
Gen¹³
Gen¹³ is a fictional superhero team and comic book series originally written by Jim Lee and Brandon Choi and illustrated by J. Scott Campbell. It was originally published by Image Comics under the banner Wildstorm, which went on to become an imprint for DC Comics, who continued publishing the Gen¹³...
, though this name was taken by a small group of Gen¹³ Gen-Actives. Another group took the name DV8
DV8
DV8 is a comic book published by Wildstorm. The series revolves around the lives of a group of Gen-Active people , initially living in New York under the supervision of Ivana Baiul, who sends them on life-threatening black ops assignments.-Publication history:The series lasted 32 issues, and was a...
(also known as the Deviants). Many other Gen-Active teenagers have been seen over the years, mostly the result of various I.O.-experiments; like Nate, Tommy, Sadie (Voodoo Doll) and Leslie (Trauma Queen), four Gen-Actives that befriended Gen¹³ and jokingly called themselves "The Mongolian Barbecue Avengers".
Powers
All Gen-Active humans have a telepathic link to each other. This link usually is very weak, even unnoticeable to most, but stronger between relatives (they sometimes can feel when a relative is in extreme pain). The link also allows sensitive Gen-Actives to notice the presence of other Gen-Actives. In case of Team 7, the link also made the sum of their powers greater than each member's individual powers.The powers that individual Gen-Actives receive, seem to be completely random; most of Team 7 gained strong telepathic and telekinetic powers and some gained a healing factor
Healing factor
A healing factor is a term used to describe the ability of some characters in fiction to recover from bodily injuries or disease at a superhuman rate...
. Their children though have displayed very different and unique abilities.
In addition to humans, at least one human/Kherubim
Kherubim
The Kherubim or Kherans are an alien race in the fictional Wildstorm Universe. They were created by Jim Lee and first appeared in WildC.A.Ts #1 .-Biology:...
hybrid (Backlash) has also been affected by the Gen-Factor. It has also affected animals, and was used in creating the Kindred
Kindred (comics)
The Kindred is a group of humanoid animals. They were introduced in a four-issue comic book mini-series published by Image Comics in 1994. Its writers were Jim Lee, Brandon Choi, Sean Ruffner and Brett Booth, who was also the artist. A second mini-series was published in 2002 under the Wildstorm...
.
List of notable Gen-Active characters
- Copycat (Gem Antonelli)Copycat (Wildstorm)Copycat is a comic book character from DC Comics/Wildstorm Comics. She is a member of the super human team DV8.-History:Gem Antonelli, a native of Los Angeles, was part of a series of experiments carried out by International Operations under the control of the director of the Department of Science...
- Threshold (Matthew Callahan)
- Bliss (Nicole Callahan)Bliss (Wildstorm)Bliss, also known as Nicole Callahan, is a supervillainess in the Wildstorm Universe of American comic books. She was created by Jim Lee and Brandon Choi and drawn by J. Scott Campbell in her first regular appearance...
- Stephen Callahan
- Frostbite (Leon Carver)Frostbite (Wildstorm)Frostbite, is a character from the DV8 comic book series, published by Wildstorm.-History:Leon grew up with his mother in West Memphis, Arkansas. The identity and fate of his father is so far unknown. Leon went to Howard University in Washington, D.C., but quickly found himself in finacinal trouble...
- Grifter (Cole Cash)
- Grunge (Percival Edmund Chang)Grunge (comics)Grunge is the codename of Percival Edmund Chang, a fictional comic book character from DC Comics/Wildstorm, and is a member of the superhero team Gen¹³.-Character history:Philip Chang sent his son into hiding while he was still an infant...
- Absolom Chang
- Philip Chang
- Deathblow (Michael Cray)DeathblowDeathblow is a fictional character in the . He first appears in Darker Image #1 was created by Jim Lee and Brandon Choi.-Fictional character biography:...
- 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...
- Freestyle (Jocelyn Davis)Freestyle (Wildstorm)Jocelyn Davis also known as Freestyle is a character from the comic book series DV8. She first had a background appearance in Gen¹³ #7, by Brandon Choi, Jim Lee and J...
- Alex Fairchild
- Caitlin FairchildCaitlin FairchildCaitlin Fairchild is a fictional comic book superhero, who appears in the Wildstorm series Gen¹³. She was created by writers Jim Lee and Brandon Choi, and artist J. Scott Campbell.-Early life:Fairchild is the daughter of Alex Fairchild of Team 7...
- Sublime (Rachel Goldman)Sublime (Wildstorm)Sublime is a comic book character from DC Comics/Wildstorm Comics. Her real name is Rachel Goldman, and she is a member of the super human team DV8.-History:...
- Evo (Michael Heller)Evo (Wildstorm)Evo is a comic book character from DC Comics/Wildstorm Comics. Real name, Michael Heller, was a member of the super human team DV8.-History:Michael Heller was one of the few young men and women selected to be part of Ivana Baiul's Gen¹³ project at International Operations...
- Burnout (Bobby Lane)
- John Lynch
- Sigma (Ethan McCain)
- Powerhaus (Hector Morales)PowerhausPowerhaus a.k.a. Hector Morales was a members of the superhuman team DV8 in the Wildstorm Universe. He was created by Brandon Choi and J. Scott Campbell.-History:Hector was adopted, raised by an Argentinian farmer as father and mother of German ancestry...
- Jet/Crimson (Jodie Morinaka Slayton)Jet (Wildstorm)Backlash , formerly known as Crimson and Jet, is a fictional character of the Wildstorm universe. She first appeared in Backlash #9 and was created by Sean Ruffner and Brett Booth....
- Sarah RainmakerSarah RainmakerSarah Rainmaker is a fictional superhero from the comic book series Gen¹³ created by Jim Lee and Brandon Choi and illustrated by J. Scott Campbell.-Character biography:...
- Backlash (Mark Slayton)
- Freefall (Roxy Spaulding)
- Damocles (Simon Tsung)