History
The Wildstorm Universe is now officially listed as Earth-50 in theDC multiverse, but Wildstorm has been through several different eras before this:
The Image Era
Wildstorm was originally part ofImage Comics which was created in 1992. It came from comic creatorsScott Williams,Whilce Portacio,Jim Lee, andJoe Chiodo. Their initial launch of books includedWildC.A.T.s: Covert Action Teams,Stormwatch,Wetworks,Deathblow, andGen 13. There were also several mini-series that helped create a rich history for Wildstorm such asThe Kindred andTeam 7.
Wildstorm's first major crossover happened during this time calledWildstorm Rising. It was the first crossover to bring all the characters of the WSU together in continuity. There were also tons of crossovers with other Image properties such asCyberforce,Youngblood,Brigade,Savage Dragon,The Maxx,Spawn, andSupreme. Several established Wildstorm characters also went on to star in their own regular series and mini-series such asSpartan,Zealot,Warblade, andGrifter. Then there were crossovers withValiant Comics with the mini-seriesDeathmate andMarvel Comics with theWorld War 3 story arc.
The WSU continued to grow as new titles came such asCybernary,Brass,DV8, andBlack Ops. Soon, Wildstorm released its second big crossover calledFire From Heaven. Once again, all the WS characters were brought together in continuity under one story arc. The company continued to have various crossovers withMarvel andDark Horse as well as other Image titles.
New Horizons
While still under the Image banner, Wildstorm released "New Horizons" which introduced several new WSU titles.Divine Right: The Adventures of Max Faraday saw Jim Lee's return to a monthly book. It also saw the debut ofSavant Garde,Stormwatch: Vol. 2, andWildcore.Voodoo got a mini-series and there were two different crossovers with Marvel:Gen 13/Generation X andWildC.A.T.s/X-men. There was even a series calledGen 12 which further explored the origins of Team 7. But one of the most notable comics to appear during this time wasWildC.A.T.s/Aliens which was solicited as any other crossover but had ramifications for the entire WSU in a way most crossovers never dare.
The DC era
In 1999, Wildstorm was bought byDC Comics. To celebrate, several new series were introduced while some mainstays ended and began with new volumes.Wildcats Vol. 2 (dropping the Cover Action Teams subtitle) was released along withThe Authority,Mr. Majestic, andPlanetary. Certain mini-series were released such asSci-Tech,Deathblow: Byblows,The Patriots, andDisavowed. Wildstorm also participated in the"Wild Times" event which saw mainstays of the WSU represented in different historical periods.
With the success of The Authority and Planetary, the two teams met in the crossoverPlanetary/The Authority: Ruling the World. Furthermore, their popularity was used to launch such titles asThe Monarchy andThe Establishment which spun directly from the pages of The Authority. The characters introduced in the Gen 13 and Team 7 series, were featured in such series asGen Active andJet: Midnight to Midnight. Gen 13 crossed over withSuperman and later withThe Fantastic Four. There was also a new Cybernary mini-series calledCybernary 2.0. In 2000, Wildstorm had its"Devil's Night" crossover which introduced the character ofJezebelle who later stared in her own series.
Eye of the Storm
In 2002, Wildstorm decided to change all their books to cater to a more mature audience. Eye of the Storm saw several Wildstorm series ended so they could be restarted under this new mature theme. So we gotWildcats: Version 3.0,The Authority Vol. 2,Stormwatch: Team Achilles,21 Down,Automatic Kafka, andGen 13 Vol. 3. Several mini-series also debuted introducing new characters to the WSU such as Kev Hawkins inThe Authority: Kev, Maggie Sun inBlack Sun, and Holden Carver inPoint Blank (later to be featured inSleeper). It also saw the return of several characters like Jackson Dane of Wetworks in theEye of the Storm Annual, The Kindred in theKindred II mini-series, andBrass in his second mini-series. Planetary crossed over with theJ.L.A. andBatman while Deathblow also crossed over withBatman. The Authority metLobo in two different crossovers and Majestic met Superman in hissecond volume which spun out of the crossover.
As mentioned earlier, Sleeper debuted and went on to receive critical success. The crossoverCoup D’état saw major changes for the WSU which continued inThe Authority: Revolution series. A new series calledThe Intimates also debuted andMajestic continued from his adventures with Superman in a third volume of his own series.
However, the seeds of Wildstorm's next big move were sown in two different series.Wildcats: Nemesis introduced the character of Nemesis who would play a big part in Wildstorm's future. But it was the mini-seriesCaptain: Atom Armageddon that would truly change the landscape of the WSU.
Worldstorm
After the events ofCaptain Atom: Armageddon, the WSU experienced what was dubbed a "soft reboot". What this did in essence was bring back several characters who had died as well as retroactively add characters to Wildstorm's history (such as the ones featured inWelcome to Tranquility). There was a slew of new series for some of Wildstorm's mainstays:Wildcats Vol. 4,The Authority Vol. 3,Gen 13 Vol. 4,Wetworks Vol. 2, andDeathblow Vol. 2. We also got a soloMidnighter series, a new incarnation of Stormwatch withStormwatch P.H.D. (Post Human Division) and the aforementioned Welcome to Tranquility.
It was during this time that Wildstorm was revealed to be Earth-50 in DC's 52 alternate Earths of theMultiverse. This led to more interaction with the DCU such as crossovers inCountdown Presents: The Search for Ray Palmer,Countdown: Arena, andDC/Wildstorm: Dreamwar. The Authority and Stormwatch P.H.D. met inThe Authority: Prime which started planting clues to Wildstorm's next big event. These clues were further expanded on inWildstorm: Armageddon, a series of one-shots for each of Wildstorm's current titles.
World's End
Wildstorm: Armageddon was the first in a trilogy withWildstorm: Revelations coming second followed byNumber of the Beast.The New Dynamix also added info to the whole story by reintroducing long forgotten Wildstorm characters and also by revealing who was the villain behind it all. Afterward, Gen 13 Vol. 4 and Stormwatch P.H.D. after being on hiatus, fell under theWorld's End banner. There were two new series,Wildcats Vol. 5 and ,The Authority Vol. 4 to coincide with this storyline.
In 2010, the World's End storyline continued with Wildcats, The Authority, and Gen 13. Several non-World's End titles were released as well. One was The Authority Vol. 3 which was continued under the title,The Authority: The Lost Year. Another wasBrian Wood andRebekah Isaac'sDv8: Gods and Monsters mini-series. The third was by Gail Simone who wrote a sequel to her Welcome to Tranquility series calledWelcome to Tranquility: One Foot in the Grave. There was also a one-shot calledWetworks: Mutations.
Closing of the Imprint
In September of 2010DC Comics announced that they would be closing the Wildstorm imprint. Though the imprint was closed (with much of the staff relocated through out their parent company) the executives assured the public that the closure of the imprint would not mean the end of all of the Wildstorm Universe's characters. However, it would be the beginning of a lengthy break for those characters and stories.
New 52
This became apparent when in 2011, DC launched it's New 52 titles and Wildstorm characters were incorporated by being given their own titles likeStormwatch,Grifter, andVoodoo as well as some characters appearing in DC books likeCaitlin Fairchild inSuperboy. In 2012, Fairchild then went on to co-star in a book that spun out from Superboy,Teen Titans, andLegion Lost calledThe Ravagers. A new version ofTeam 7 was also introduced during this year as well.
Unfortunately, low sales led to all the Wildstorm books being cancelled. However, the characters were still used in the weekly series Future's End. Today, last Wildstorm representative is Midnighter. Grayson also features Wildstorm characters as Ladytron.
Relaunch
Recently the canceled imprint has been revived near last 2017, DC went on to hire talent most intimate with the defunct publishing department and it's content;Warren Ellis being the head writer of it's new imprint with Jon-Davis Hunt being the artist for the stories produced.
Set within its own universe away from the mainstream DC continuum. The new setting established is a hard reset on the life and times within the grittier, moreso realistic comic production line; the opening title of which is dubbedThe Wild Storm. First issues going on to reintroduce a great many fan favorite characters and their colloquial cliques & factions within the new world from previous publishing.
IncludingInternational Operations featuringJohn Lynch,Miles Craven andMicheal Cray. Rival operations likeSkywatch and it's operatorsHenry Bendix,Chrstine Trelene,Lauren Pennington ending in theHalo Corperation; featuringCole,Kenesha,John Colt and Jack Marlowe. Also known asEmp.
It's first major label irons out the setting the Wild Storm universe is set in, with successive titles further establishing its independence from DC Comic Imprint. Other currently running stories include a spinoff fable featuring the eraser specialist of I.O. after his defection from said company calledThe Wild Storm: Michael Cray. This title being a standalone mini-series detailing a new take on the character Deathblow as he's suffering from an affliction that's slowly altering him from the inside out, as well as how best to apply it's morbid influence.
Sub Imprints