Number of the Beast (comics)
Encyclopedia
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.
flying saucer
in Nevada
's Black Rock Desert
. The recovery of the saucer was deliberately buried where it was and turned into a bunker facility. McCandless looked upon the saucer's teleportation, virtual reality and suspended animation technology, and an impossible idea occurred to him. He began drafting a plan to capture this era's heroes and villains, in which some contributed their services in World War II
, and train them to fight off the End of Days
under the "Number of the Beast" program. McCandless have America's hero team, the Paladins who also known the general very well, sent to observe the Hiroshima bombing, but were teleported into the facility built around the saucer, known as Number of the Beast Bunker #1 (NOTB #1). Eventually the Paladin's allies and enemies were similarly captured and placed in suspended animation, without ever aging, for more than sixty years, in which the Paladins protected "the City" (the name of the simulation) from the portents of Christian eschatology
.
By 2008, this all changed when the remains of The High, who was actually alive since colliding with Skywatch due to his self-generating cells, was transported into the NOTB bunker and placed into the simulation. It is during this simulation that the Paladins and their enemies, the Crime Corps, endure the End of Times and have encountered The High's former ally, the Eidolon, a former member of the High's Changers who was also placed into the simulation, had tried and failed to tell the simulation's prisoners of their unbeknown imprisonment. After entering into the simulation, The High encountered his then wounded archenemy Doctor Sin. After helping Dr. Sin and remembering his death during the events of "Change or Die" and his past encounter with Sin, The High 'kills' Dr. Sin and knew that there is something wrong in which he tried to leave The City and realized his situation from The Eidolon. After being 'kill' by The Eidolon, The High wakes up from the simulation with his body fully healed and formed.
The High forced his way out and confronted the bunker's wardens. However, Dr. Sin, who was also awake from suspension and fully armed, blast The High into unconsciousness. At the same time in Washington D.C., the Joint Chiefs headed by General William Somerset, the current overseer of the NOTB Program, were previously alerted to the happening in the NOTB bunker and had sent a special strike team to sort the situation. When the strike team arrived at the bunker, Dr. Sin had The High placed back into the simulation along with a single warden, Sergeant Stringer. Alerted of the strike team's arrival, Dr. Sin killed the team with the bunker's defense system, leaving only the team's leader Lieutenant Welles to survive and enter the bunker.
In the NOTB simulation, The High met and tells two heroes, Johnny Ray-Gun and speedster
Hotfoot of their imprisonment with support from Sgt. Stringer, who then reveals to The High that the only way to be free from the simulation was for the prisoners to be 'kill' or 'die'. In the real world, Dr. Sin plans on escaping from the bunker and have fake his death by bringing one of the Paladins, Aeronaut who bears a strong facial resemblance to the villain, in his place and killed by Lt. Welles. In the simulation, The High brought Hotfoot and Johnny Ray-Gun to the Paladins' headquarters where he subsequently 'killed' and freed the said team after they were tricked by The Eidolon's amusement into believing that The High was the "Antichrist
" who was responsible for the events of Armageddon. After killing the Paladins and leaving only Hotfoot the only one alive, The High is then contacted by Welles who states to him that she will end the lives of everyone inside the simulation as per order from the American government. Before 'killing' Hotfoot, The High tells him to find Welles as fast as he can once he is awake, while he tries to reason with her. Hotfoot immediately searches through the bunker and finally stops Welles from initializing the 'kill button' by vibro-phasing his hand through her head, inducing brain damage
. After this The High then proceeded to destroy the simulation and everyone in it by speeding down into the city from the sky, causing a nuclear explosion.
Once awakening in the real world, many of the awakened heroes and villains are confused of what has happened in which at first few of the Paladins believed that it is still The High's fault until he is awakened and clearly informed them, with coercion from an awakened Sgt. Stringer, of their sixty-year long term imprisonment much to everyone's shock. After the prisoners recovered their belongings and costumes and regroup with Engine Joe, who reports that he saw Dr. Sin having already escape from the bunker, The High questioned Stringer as to why they, the government, kept their belongings. Stringer state that the military have been expecting on using the heroes and villains as "military assets" if a major threat ever happens. The prisoners then leave the bunker. The High decides to find more answers and flies to the rebuilt StormWatch satellite base Skywatch III where he settles a truce between him and Jackson King.
The High and King mentally explore The High's mind to learn what has happened to him after he was supposedly killed from crashing into Skywatch I and why he was placed in the NOTB program. It is revealed that The High's remains were gathered by the American government and used his cells to clone super soldiers. Initially the early clones of The High were "unsuccessful", and eventually the American military succeed in mass-creating imperfect High clones, and weaponized them as superpowered payloads known as the "Reaper Ballistic Missile Arsenal", shorten as Reapers. And after this, The High's remain were purposely contained in the NOTB program as nuclear waste. At this moment The High sensed that the Reapers are being launched by the Pentagon at the order of General Somerset to kill the NOTB's prisoners.
The Authority were first to arrive at the NOTB bunker after having scanned the superhumans' presence and came into a misunderstanding battle with the Paladins who mistaken The Authority as government assassins.
The High immediately speeds away from Skywatch towards the airborne clones in an attempt to destroy the Reapers, but realized from a telepathic communication with Jackson King that the only way to stop all of his clones is by finding the "shooter". As the fight between The Authority and the NOTB's prisoners continues, Authority members, Jenny Quarx and the Doctor learned of the Reapers and have everyone teleported back to the Authority's The Carrier
residing in The Bleed just before they arrive. However, the Reapers managed to reach to the Carrier by having one of the Reapers turn into a dimensional gateway. A battle ensues between the Reapers, The Authority, and the Paladins in which one of the Reapers breached into the Carrier's engine core and causing its miniature universe on the brink of destroying the universe. This forces Jenny Quarx to shunt the miniature into her body in saving the universe right before kissing the Doctor goodbye. As a result the Carrier "dies" and crashes into London, England. Despite the efforts of the Doctor from preventing the Carrier's crash landing, he teleports away the Reapers and the Paladins across the globe from causing any further damages to the vessel, but allowing the Reapers to bring their destruction across the world.
The High arrive at the Pentagon where he confronted General Somerset and demanded him to stop the Reapers. Unfortunately, Somerset explains to him that the Reapers are totally compromised from their original programming and are out of their control due from entering into the realm of The Bleed and posing a threat to the world. Once learning albeit from Somerset that he could do nothing to stop the Reapers, he is approach by Slyxx, a Daemonite scientist who was the sole survivor of the crash in 1945 and giving "amenity" in working with the Americans in the NOTB program, implicitly informs him that the Reapers are programmed to kill and destroy all posthumans, and that if they couldn't kill them all then they will "take them all with [them]". Having heard enough of the Daemonite's information and swearing to Somerset that he and the others involved in the Number of the Beast program will pay for their crimes, The High leaves to fight his clones as they are prepared to destroy the world. Somerset tries to rally his people of the situation but find them murdered by Slyxx, who then informs the general that he had just contact his (Daemonite) high-command with the words, "mission accomplished."
In space StormWatch
witnessed the Reapers encircling the Earth and one of the clones is attacked by The High (in the process shattering Earth's moon
). Despite this The High is too late in saving the Earth as the Reapers explodes and causing to tilting Earth's axis and turning the planet into a post-apocalyptic wasteland (the World's End
).
Following this great catastrophe, the superhero teams Stormwatch and the Wildcats
prepare to save what is left of their devastated world. In Iowa, Paladin members Engine Joe, Mago, and Tumbleweed traces the retired Zebulon McCandless informing him that he and those involved with the Number of the Beast will be held accountable for the world's devastation. Meanwhile, The High watches a burning New York City engulf by the sea from on top of the Statue of Liberty
. He is then met by The Eidolon which the two talk. High ponders if his actions with the Changers actually brought the World's End from the beginning. The Eidolon alludes that despite the Earth's doomed condition, its heroes and villains will still continue to influence the world. The miniseries ends with The High, after hearing enough of The Eidolon, throws him across the horizon.
:
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...
limited series
Limited series
A limited series is a comic book series with a set number of installments. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is determined before production and it differs from a one shot in that it is composed of multiple issues....
, written by Scott Beatty
Scott Beatty
Scott Beatty is an American author who has written comic books and encyclopaedias based on DC Comics characters.-Biography:Beatty has worked extensively for the popular comic book publisher DC Comics since the mid '90s...
, with art by Chris Sprouse
Chris Sprouse
Chris Sprouse is an American comic book artist.-Biography:Chris Sprouse was born in Charlottesville, Virginia. At the age of 3 he moved with his family to New Delhi, India where he first discovered comics as he was unable to play outside due to the dangerous amount of snakes in the house yard...
.
Number of the Beast was the second of a number bi-weekly series, it was preceded by Wildstorm: Revelations
Wildstorm: Revelations
Wildstorm: Revelations is a comic book limited series, written by Scott Beatty and Christos Gage with art by Wes Craig.After "Wildcats: Armageddon", Nemesis recruits Savant and Backlash to help her try to stop the end of the world....
, which resulted in the relaunch
World's End (comics)
"World's End" is a 2008-2009 comic book crossover storyline published by Wildstorm and taking place in the Wildstorm Universe. The event takes place in the issues of all of Wildstorm's Wildstorm Universe ongoing series.-Publication history:...
of a number of 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...
titles.
Characters
As well as regular Wildstorm characters the series introduced a new team, The Paladins, comprising:- Aeronaut , a jetpack-user and womanizer.
- Black Anvil , an Afro-American former football-player made of living iron. Considered indestructible.
- Engine Joe , real name Joseph Rotkowski, is a cyborg made from car parts. He is a friend of Mago and Tumbleweed.
- Thrush , an analogue to DC Comics' HawkgirlHawkgirlHawkgirl is the name of several female fictional superhero characters, all owned by DC Comics and existing in that company's universe. The character is one of the first costumed female superheroes...
. - Falconette , daughter-sidekick of Thrush.
- Mago , a magician. Gained magical knowledge by 'renting his soul' to various occult powers.
- Midnight Rider , a female motorcycle-riding urban vigilante. She is a lesbian, and an analogue 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...
. - Neandra, a vigilante who acts like a cavewoman.
- Redeemer, evidently millennia old and eternally young, the leader of the Paladins.
- Tumbleweed, a former US Army lieutenant, turned into a being made of desert flora by radiation testing from the Trinity Site.
- The HighHigh (comics)The High is a fictional character, a superhero in the . He first appears in Stormwatch #46and was created by Warren Ellis and Tom Raney.-Publication history:...
, the main antagonist from Warren EllisWarren EllisWarren 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...
' "Change or DieChange or Die"Change or Die" is story arc of Stormwatch lasting from issue 48 to 50. Written by Warren Ellis and penciled by Tom Raney, this was the last story arc of Stormwatch, Volume 1, and set the tone for Ellis' structuring of Stormwatch volume 2 as a series of four three-issue story arcs.The story was...
" 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...
, was revived for the series.
Synopsis
The story chronologically happened that in 1945, General Zebulon McCandless, a very pious and dogmatic person, oversaw the American recovery of a crashed DaemoniteDaemonite
The Daemonites are a fictional alien race in the . They were created by Jim Lee and first appeared in WildC.A.T.s. #1 .-Biology:Daemonites are reptilian aliens from the planet Daemon, who are capable of possessing host bodies...
flying saucer
Flying saucer
A flying saucer is a type of unidentified flying object sometimes believed to be of alien origin with a disc or saucer-shaped body, usually described as silver or metallic, occasionally reported as covered with running lights or surrounded with a glowing light, hovering or moving rapidly either...
in Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
's Black Rock Desert
Black Rock Desert
The Black Rock Desert is an arid region in the northern Nevada section of the Great Basin with a lakebed that is a dry remnant of Pleistocene Lake Lahontan...
. The recovery of the saucer was deliberately buried where it was and turned into a bunker facility. McCandless looked upon the saucer's teleportation, virtual reality and suspended animation technology, and an impossible idea occurred to him. He began drafting a plan to capture this era's heroes and villains, in which some contributed their services in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and train them to fight off the End of Days
End of Days
End of Days is a 1999 American action horror thriller film directed by Peter Hyams starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Robin Tunney, Rod Steiger, Kevin Pollak, CCH Pounder, Udo Kier and Gabriel Byrne as Satan...
under the "Number of the Beast" program. McCandless have America's hero team, the Paladins who also known the general very well, sent to observe the Hiroshima bombing, but were teleported into the facility built around the saucer, known as Number of the Beast Bunker #1 (NOTB #1). Eventually the Paladin's allies and enemies were similarly captured and placed in suspended animation, without ever aging, for more than sixty years, in which the Paladins protected "the City" (the name of the simulation) from the portents of Christian eschatology
Christian eschatology
Christian eschatology is a major branch of study within Christian theology. Eschatology, from two Greek words meaning last and study , is the study of the end of things, whether the end of an individual life, the end of the age, or the end of the world...
.
By 2008, this all changed when the remains of The High, who was actually alive since colliding with Skywatch due to his self-generating cells, was transported into the NOTB bunker and placed into the simulation. It is during this simulation that the Paladins and their enemies, the Crime Corps, endure the End of Times and have encountered The High's former ally, the Eidolon, a former member of the High's Changers who was also placed into the simulation, had tried and failed to tell the simulation's prisoners of their unbeknown imprisonment. After entering into the simulation, The High encountered his then wounded archenemy Doctor Sin. After helping Dr. Sin and remembering his death during the events of "Change or Die" and his past encounter with Sin, The High 'kills' Dr. Sin and knew that there is something wrong in which he tried to leave The City and realized his situation from The Eidolon. After being 'kill' by The Eidolon, The High wakes up from the simulation with his body fully healed and formed.
The High forced his way out and confronted the bunker's wardens. However, Dr. Sin, who was also awake from suspension and fully armed, blast The High into unconsciousness. At the same time in Washington D.C., the Joint Chiefs headed by General William Somerset, the current overseer of the NOTB Program, were previously alerted to the happening in the NOTB bunker and had sent a special strike team to sort the situation. When the strike team arrived at the bunker, Dr. Sin had The High placed back into the simulation along with a single warden, Sergeant Stringer. Alerted of the strike team's arrival, Dr. Sin killed the team with the bunker's defense system, leaving only the team's leader Lieutenant Welles to survive and enter the bunker.
In the NOTB simulation, The High met and tells two heroes, Johnny Ray-Gun and speedster
Speedster
Speedster may refer to:In automotive:* Opel Speedster* Plymouth Speedster* Porsche Speedster* Studebaker Speedster* Speedster AutomobilesIn fiction:* Speedster , a type of superhero whose primary power is superspeed....
Hotfoot of their imprisonment with support from Sgt. Stringer, who then reveals to The High that the only way to be free from the simulation was for the prisoners to be 'kill' or 'die'. In the real world, Dr. Sin plans on escaping from the bunker and have fake his death by bringing one of the Paladins, Aeronaut who bears a strong facial resemblance to the villain, in his place and killed by Lt. Welles. In the simulation, The High brought Hotfoot and Johnny Ray-Gun to the Paladins' headquarters where he subsequently 'killed' and freed the said team after they were tricked by The Eidolon's amusement into believing that The High was the "Antichrist
Antichrist
The term or title antichrist, in Christian theology, refers to a leader who fulfills Biblical prophecies concerning an adversary of Christ, while resembling him in a deceptive manner...
" who was responsible for the events of Armageddon. After killing the Paladins and leaving only Hotfoot the only one alive, The High is then contacted by Welles who states to him that she will end the lives of everyone inside the simulation as per order from the American government. Before 'killing' Hotfoot, The High tells him to find Welles as fast as he can once he is awake, while he tries to reason with her. Hotfoot immediately searches through the bunker and finally stops Welles from initializing the 'kill button' by vibro-phasing his hand through her head, inducing brain damage
Brain damage
"Brain damage" or "brain injury" is the destruction or degeneration of brain cells. Brain injuries occur due to a wide range of internal and external factors...
. After this The High then proceeded to destroy the simulation and everyone in it by speeding down into the city from the sky, causing a nuclear explosion.
Once awakening in the real world, many of the awakened heroes and villains are confused of what has happened in which at first few of the Paladins believed that it is still The High's fault until he is awakened and clearly informed them, with coercion from an awakened Sgt. Stringer, of their sixty-year long term imprisonment much to everyone's shock. After the prisoners recovered their belongings and costumes and regroup with Engine Joe, who reports that he saw Dr. Sin having already escape from the bunker, The High questioned Stringer as to why they, the government, kept their belongings. Stringer state that the military have been expecting on using the heroes and villains as "military assets" if a major threat ever happens. The prisoners then leave the bunker. The High decides to find more answers and flies to the rebuilt StormWatch satellite base Skywatch III where he settles a truce between him and Jackson King.
The High and King mentally explore The High's mind to learn what has happened to him after he was supposedly killed from crashing into Skywatch I and why he was placed in the NOTB program. It is revealed that The High's remains were gathered by the American government and used his cells to clone super soldiers. Initially the early clones of The High were "unsuccessful", and eventually the American military succeed in mass-creating imperfect High clones, and weaponized them as superpowered payloads known as the "Reaper Ballistic Missile Arsenal", shorten as Reapers. And after this, The High's remain were purposely contained in the NOTB program as nuclear waste. At this moment The High sensed that the Reapers are being launched by the Pentagon at the order of General Somerset to kill the NOTB's prisoners.
The Authority were first to arrive at the NOTB bunker after having scanned the superhumans' presence and came into a misunderstanding battle with the Paladins who mistaken The Authority as government assassins.
The High immediately speeds away from Skywatch towards the airborne clones in an attempt to destroy the Reapers, but realized from a telepathic communication with Jackson King that the only way to stop all of his clones is by finding the "shooter". As the fight between The Authority and the NOTB's prisoners continues, Authority members, Jenny Quarx and the Doctor learned of the Reapers and have everyone teleported back to the Authority's The Carrier
The Carrier
The Carrier is the fictional base of operations of The Authority, a Wildstorm Comics superteam. It is a shiftship, a ship capable of moving through the Bleed, the red space which separates alternate universes in the Wildstorm multiverse. It is long, high and two miles wide. It is powered by a...
residing in The Bleed just before they arrive. However, the Reapers managed to reach to the Carrier by having one of the Reapers turn into a dimensional gateway. A battle ensues between the Reapers, The Authority, and the Paladins in which one of the Reapers breached into the Carrier's engine core and causing its miniature universe on the brink of destroying the universe. This forces Jenny Quarx to shunt the miniature into her body in saving the universe right before kissing the Doctor goodbye. As a result the Carrier "dies" and crashes into London, England. Despite the efforts of the Doctor from preventing the Carrier's crash landing, he teleports away the Reapers and the Paladins across the globe from causing any further damages to the vessel, but allowing the Reapers to bring their destruction across the world.
The High arrive at the Pentagon where he confronted General Somerset and demanded him to stop the Reapers. Unfortunately, Somerset explains to him that the Reapers are totally compromised from their original programming and are out of their control due from entering into the realm of The Bleed and posing a threat to the world. Once learning albeit from Somerset that he could do nothing to stop the Reapers, he is approach by Slyxx, a Daemonite scientist who was the sole survivor of the crash in 1945 and giving "amenity" in working with the Americans in the NOTB program, implicitly informs him that the Reapers are programmed to kill and destroy all posthumans, and that if they couldn't kill them all then they will "take them all with [them]". Having heard enough of the Daemonite's information and swearing to Somerset that he and the others involved in the Number of the Beast program will pay for their crimes, The High leaves to fight his clones as they are prepared to destroy the world. Somerset tries to rally his people of the situation but find them murdered by Slyxx, who then informs the general that he had just contact his (Daemonite) high-command with the words, "mission accomplished."
In space StormWatch
Stormwatch
Stormwatch may refer to:* Stormwatch , a 1979 album by Jethro Tull* Stormwatch , a fictional superhero team in the Wildstorm and DC Universes* Storm Watch, a 2002 American science fiction film...
witnessed the Reapers encircling the Earth and one of the clones is attacked by The High (in the process shattering Earth's moon
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
). Despite this The High is too late in saving the Earth as the Reapers explodes and causing to tilting Earth's axis and turning the planet into a post-apocalyptic wasteland (the World's End
World's End (comics)
"World's End" is a 2008-2009 comic book crossover storyline published by Wildstorm and taking place in the Wildstorm Universe. The event takes place in the issues of all of Wildstorm's Wildstorm Universe ongoing series.-Publication history:...
).
Following this great catastrophe, the superhero teams Stormwatch and the Wildcats
Wildcats (comics)
Wildcats, sometimes rendered WildCats or WildC.A.T.s, is a fictional superhero team created by the American comic book artist Jim Lee and writer Brandon Choi.-Publication history:...
prepare to save what is left of their devastated world. In Iowa, Paladin members Engine Joe, Mago, and Tumbleweed traces the retired Zebulon McCandless informing him that he and those involved with the Number of the Beast will be held accountable for the world's devastation. Meanwhile, The High watches a burning New York City engulf by the sea from on top of the Statue of Liberty
Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, designed by Frédéric Bartholdi and dedicated on October 28, 1886...
. He is then met by The Eidolon which the two talk. High ponders if his actions with the Changers actually brought the World's End from the beginning. The Eidolon alludes that despite the Earth's doomed condition, its heroes and villains will still continue to influence the world. The miniseries ends with The High, after hearing enough of The Eidolon, throws him across the horizon.
Collected editions
The series was brought together into a trade paperbackTrade 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...
:
- Number of the Beast (192 pages, September 2008, ISBN 1401219993)
External links
- Ben Abernathy on Wildstorm's: Number of the Beast , NewsaramaNewsaramaNewsarama is an American website that publishes news, interviews and essays about the American comic book industry.-History:Newsarama began in Summer 1995 as a series of Internet forum postings on the Prodigy comic-book message boards by fan Mike Doran. In these short messages. Doran shared...
, January 22, 2008 - Scott Beatty: Exploring The Wildstorm Universe, NewsaramaNewsaramaNewsarama is an American website that publishes news, interviews and essays about the American comic book industry.-History:Newsarama began in Summer 1995 as a series of Internet forum postings on the Prodigy comic-book message boards by fan Mike Doran. In these short messages. Doran shared...
, February 13, 2008
Reviews
- Number of the Beast #1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 Comics BulletinComics BulletinComics Bulletin is a website with an emphasis on the American comic book industry, updated daily with news, reviews, interviews, and editorial content. Coverage ranges from mainstream to independent/small press comic book and graphic novel publishers.-History:...