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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 title. The comic features a loosely organized team of super-powered beings composed of five teens and their mentor.

Publication history[link]

The series takes place in Jim Lee's Wildstorm Universe, and Gen¹³'s stories and history intertwine with those from his own works, such as Wildcats and Team 7 (in fact, each of the main characters in Gen¹³ was the child of a Team 7 member).

The teens were originally invited to take part in a government project, but when they learned that the project was actually a prison-like testing ground on "gen-active" teens, they made their escape, but not before they "manifested" superhuman powers, and they were labelled dangerous fugitives. Their only hope was to rely on each other to fight their foes and unveil the personal secrets that linked them to Team 7 and International Operations.

After a very successful run, co-creator and illustrator J. Scott Campbell handed the reins of Gen¹³ over to other creative teams, and moved onto his own new series, Danger Girl.

Following the run of Choi and Campbell were John Arcudi and Gary Frank. Their realistic style, both in writing and art, was a drastic change from the title's more fantastic elements. Following their run, Scott Lobdell returned the title to its less serious, more sexual roots, but still the title was not received well by fans.

After Lobdell's run, Adam Warren was assigned to the title. He had previously proven himself writing two stories using Gen¹³ characters ("Grunge: The Movie", published in Gen¹³ Bootleg, and the stand-alone mini-series Magical Drama Queen Roxy), as well as a two-issue fill-in piece featuring a pop idol who threatened to take over the world with a catchy song. Warren's run was well-received by fans and critics, but sales did not support the title.

Despite outrageous story arcs and many artist collaborations, the popularity of the book dwindled to the point where Wildstorm decided to blow up the entire team with a 6-megaton bomb (Gen¹³ vol. 2, #76, June 2002). This served as the catalyst to revamp the series with a new first issue written by Chris Claremont with pencils by Ale Garza. This title featured an all new team mentored by Caitlin Fairchild, and spawned a spin-off series titled 21 Down. However, this title was cancelled after barely a year. The final issue of the series revealed that the original team was, in fact, still alive, and that the new series had taken place in an alternate dimension which had in some fashion crossed over with the known continuity.

During the height of its popularity, Gen¹³ spawned two spin-off books, DV8 and Gen¹³ Bootleg, as well as a number of specials and mini-series. The team also starred in crossovers with other comic book characters such as Superman, Spider-Man, the Maxx, Monkeyman and O'Brien, two crossovers with the Marvel Comics teen hero team Generation X, and a crossover with the Fantastic Four. At one point in the early years, Wildstorm and DC were planning a teamup between the team and Batman. However, due to creative differences between creator J. Scott Campbell and DC, the crossover never happened; though Campbell did create artwork showing Fairchild, Grunge, Roxy, and Batman in a promotional image.^{[citation needed]}

The title was "rebooted" in October 2006, initially written by Gail Simone^[1] with art from Talent Caldwell.^[2] At first, the title had no continuity with earlier series. The series was involved in the "Armageddon" crossover event and then taken over in 2008 with a new creative team, Scott Beatty and Mike Huddleston, as part of "World's End".^[3]

Fictional team history[link]

The original Gen¹³[link]

International Operations started "government internship" for gifted youths, taking place in an isolated training facility. Following the manifestation of Caitlin Fairchild's powers, she fled the complex with Roxy Spaulding, Grunge, Burnout, and Threshold in disguise. They were later joined by Sarah Rainmaker. The project was revealed to be a gathering of the gen-active progeny of Team 7.

Threshold tricked the group, sans Fairchild, to return to base to help free the other kids, but upon their return they were apprehended for further testing. With the help of Pitt and John Lynch, the kids finally escaped. The group retreated to La Jolla, California, and officially formed as the group Gen¹³. They opposed I.O. and their violent counterpart, DV8. (Gen¹³ loosely refers to the 13th generation of Americans. Team 7 had been part of a project called Gen12.)

The team spent a lot of time delving into the past of Team 7 to learn more about themselves. Fairchild and Freefall learned they were half-sisters and Lynch was revealed to be Burnout's father. Also during this time, Freefall and Grunge began to date, while Rainmaker revealed herself to be bisexual.

The team was caught in an explosion of a 6-megaton bomb and believed to be dead. Fairchild was the only survivor and mentored a new Gen¹³ team, effectively taking Lynch's role. However, this team existed in what is later revealed to be an alternate reality which was similar to the mainstream Wildstorm universe except for its point of divergence, the last issue of Gen¹³ volume 2. At the end of volume 3, the rest of the original Gen¹³ team was revealed to be alive and, after a little time-travel to avoid the detonation that "killed" them, the reunited group returned to the mainstream Wildstorm universe.

Worldstorm[link]

In early 2006, Wildstorm brought all its in-continuity comics since WildC.A.T.s #1 to an end. The universe's finale came in the form of the crossover miniseries Captain Atom: Armageddon. Following the conclusion of this limited series, the entire Wildstorm line was relaunched with "Worldstorm". A new Gen¹³ series began. The entire world had a "soft reset"; the surroundings were mostly familiar, but there were changes throughout.

In the first arc, the future Gen¹³ are taken away from their home lives. It is revealed that their parents have been assigned to raise the children to encourage the emergence of specific personality traits. In different areas of the country, Caitlin Fairchild, Roxy Spaulding, Grunge, Bobby Lane, and Sarah Rainmaker wake up, each wearing a uniform recognized by their parents. Strike teams immediately attempt to capture the kids; many of their foster parents are terminated.

In the course of the series, it is eventually revealed that (in contrast to the previous iterations) these Gen¹³s were manipulated and formulated from birth by an unscrupulous biogenetics firm from I.O. called Tabula Rasa. Furthermore, the "souls" of the previous iterations of the Gen¹³s, previously collected by the Authority's Doctor, have settled into these bodies and when the five of them are together, they cause people to forget their previous history, even those who knew them.

As a result of these new origins, the personalities, histories, and abilities of each character have displayed mild to massive differences from previous canon. For instance, Burnout is now a former juvenile hall resident turned reggae loving pacifist, and John Lynch is a young grunt in I.O.'s employ. Rainmaker is firmly established as a lesbian, Fairchild is suspicious and unhappy about her excessive beauty, and Grunge is portrayed as being secretly more intelligent than even Caitlin. Outside of her newfound origins, the character of Freefall remains mostly consistent to previous iterations, save for a slightly greater level of confidence and self-reliance.

World's End[link]

The series resumes following Number of the Beast, as part of the "World's End" storyline, with the group coming out of a teleportation system in which they had been held (due to power loss) into a devastated New York approximately 6 months following the events of Number of the Beast.^[3][4][5]

Once they reach the surface from the underground lair, the group is shocked to see what has happened in New York (aside from Burnout, who is blind at this point). While Grunge is quick to claim that an asteroid, global warming, and other natural disasters were responsible for the destruction, Rainmaker blames terrorists. After a confrontation with several crazed metahuman-hunters, the group finally manages to escape New York.

Once outside of New York, the group finds themselves trapped in a mall with several mutated monsters, one of which seemingly infects Fairchild. While the group is holding together, tensions have begun to rise between Fairchild and Rainmaker, with the latter being attracted to the first. Burnout, while still blind, gains some semblance of vision with the ability to sense heat patterns.

During their stay at a skater park run by teens, Grunge is crowned king. He is originally thrilled about it, but later finds out that his predecessor is to be eaten in a soup. Rainmaker, having witnessed Caitlin and Bobby kiss in a tent, grabs her gear and leaves the group without saying goodbye to anyone.

The other teens are confronted by the cloned scientist Dr. Cross, who created them after their original deaths; however, he and his assistant Megan are both stuck at ages 5 and 9, respectively, due to the loss of electricity caused by the cataclysm, while retaining their memories and intellects. They manage to save Grunge and to overpower the heavily armed children-scientists due to the intervention of Goo, a Gen14. As they flee, it is revealed that Caitlin's power has failed, most probably due to the infection, and she suffers a serious knife injury.

Having nowhere else to go, they join the children-scientists, who promise to heal Caitlin. They arrive in a small town that is under the "protection" of a World War II supervillain team, the Fearsmiths (the imprisoned villains from Number of the Beast). The two groups clash, with Gen¹³ being easily beaten. Following another defeat, they are separated from Fairchild and the scientists as they are abducted by the Paladins, who offer to train them.

Unknown to any them, Goo was sent by the remnants of the U.S. military — specifically a branch who specialized in fighting metahumans. The squad was designed to apprehend Gen¹³ and have accordingly been practicing on a small group of Gen14s, of which Goo is a member. Naturally, their practice sessions ended with the Gen14s being killed, cloned, and their minds transferred and later modified so that they do not remember their ordeal. Oddly enough, Goo seems to be regaining some of her memories.

Currently on orders from the general in charge of the military squad, Gen14 have invaded the Paladins' headquarters and are ready to confront Gen¹³, who currently consist only of Burnout, Grunge, and Freefall.

The fight between the gen-actives and the military branch is over quickly with the Gen14 and military winning. Once they have been captured, Gen¹³ are offered an ultimatum: either join the military and serve them or be executed. In order to prove his point, the general shoots and kills Gen14's Windsprint. His plans, however, are crossed by Roxy, who levitates the Paladin base into space, knocking them all out due to oxygen deprivation.

In the meantime, Caitlin has fully mutated due to the Warhol virus she was exposed to, and is rampaging across town in a Hulk-like fashion. Her rampage is cut short as the Paladin base crash lands next to her. The gen-actives band together and take on Caitlin, hoping to calm her down, but they do not succeed. Seeing no alternative, Goo sacrifices herself in order to short-circuit the virus, thus reverting Caitlin to her former self.

Three weeks later, Bobby, Roxy, Grunge, Caitlin, and the surviving Gen14s Runt and Ditto arrive at Tranquility (a town of retired super-heroes) only to find a crater where the town had been. The group decides not to despair and to go on even if it means that are heading into trouble.

Characters[link]

The original line up of Gen¹³ was:

• Caitlin Fairchild: Once an ordinary girl, Caitlin's muscles spontaneously increased in density, granting her superhuman strength, agility, speed, and endurance. The manifestation of her "Gen-active" status caused her body mass and size to increase from a petite young woman into that of a statuesque Amazon, shredding her clothing at the time. Fairchild is by far the most intelligent of the group. She is also Freefall's half-sister. Often, she is portrayed as being either naively unaware of or mildly uncomfortable with her newly curvaceous figure.
• Bobby "Burnout" Lane: Son of John Lynch (Gen¹³'s mentor), Bobby manifested the ability to generate and manipulate high-energy coherent plasma, which ignites on exposure to oxygen. He later developed the ability to fly, as well as certain psionic abilities.
• Roxanne "Freefall" Spaulding: "Roxy" is the youngest gen-active teen, with the ability to control the effects of gravity on herself and on others. She can nullify gravity (and float) or multiply it (making objects ultraheavy). It is also suggested by some other characters, that if she thought about it and used her powers to their fullest advantage she could manipulate spacetime as this is related to gravity. She has a crush on Grunge and is jealous of Fairchild's physique. Keeps Queelocke as a "pet". It was later revealed that Spaulding and Fairchild were half-sisters, both the daughters of Alex Fairchild from Team 7.
• Sarah Rainmaker: Rainmaker can influence local weather systems, manipulating air currents to grant herself flight and direct water with a gesture. Amplifier bands on her wrists augment her ability to project lightning. Rainmaker is Apache, and was bisexual in her earliest incarnations, although in recent series she is confirmed as a lesbian. She is Stephen Callahan's daughter, and Threshold and Bliss's half sister.
• Percival Edmund "Grunge" Chang: Able to mimic the molecular structure of any material he touches (and partially bestow this effect on others), Grunge is a surf rat who enjoys sleeping late. He possesses brown belts in five martial arts styles, and has few if any redeeming characteristics - though he does possess a photographic memory that allowed him to take the same classes as Fairchild does (much to her surprise) during the period that the team went to college. His father is Team 7 member Phillip Chang.
• John Lynch: The team's mentor and father of Robert "Burnout" Lane. Lynch was the leader of Team 7 and close friend of the children's parents. His eye has been replaced after he gouged it out as a result of a mental attack. Like all surviving members of Team 7, Lynch was granted powerful telepathic and telekinetic abilities that are highly unstable and dangerous. Because of this he avoids using his powers if at all possible.
• Anna: a heavily-armed covert-assassination android programmed to serve Gen¹³ as a maid, and to love them as her own children.

The team recently added newcomers:

• Holly "Breakdown" Denton: Occasionally known as Goo, Holly has the ability to disassemble molecules, seemingly causing objects to melt into goo. She was formerly a member of Gen14. As of Gen¹³ vol. 4, #32, Holly has sacrificed her life to save Caitlin, and was once more seen as an incubating clone.
• Amber "Ditto" LeRoux: Not much is known about Amber, only that Holly refers to her as a typical airhead. A former Gen 14. Her power is infinite multiplicity which allows her to make an unlimited number of copies of herself.
• Guillermo "Runt" Sandoval: Not much is known about Guillermo. A former Gen 14. His powers allow him to grow and shrink.
• Lance "Hardbody" Wieder: The second-in-command of the former Gen14. Not much is known about him at this point; during a fight between him and Gen¹³ his face was scarred by Holly who was defending herself. He along with Windsprint was left behind in order to recover. His powers include augmented strength/stamina, increased dermal density which makes him super-strong and near-invulnerable. Doctor Cross (the maker of the current Gen program) expressed interest in potential offspring between him and Caitlin Fairchild.
• Shaqira "Windsprint" Johnson: The speedster of Gen14. She was shot in the head by a crazed general and believed to be dead. However it is revealed that her enhanced physiology also included a heightened metabolism allowing her to survive the gunshot. She and Hardbody had been originally left behind in order to recuperate.

Influences[link]

Gen¹³'s most obvious influence is Marvel Comics’ X-Men, which originally featured five young friends who were trained in secret by an older man, who tried to protect them from a dangerous world. Many of the more social aspects of the team were inspired by the second generation X-Men spin-off series: New Mutants. In fact, the original title of the book was to be Gen X, as seen in an early advertisement for the series in the second issue of StormWatch, but was later changed due to Marvel having an X-Men spin-off titled Generation X in development.^[6]

The character of Rainmaker highly resembled the X-Men’s Storm in that both characters had weather controlling powers. Marvel's Spider-Man notes this similarity in a crossover issue.

Also, the character of Freefall had her direct parallel in the character of Jubilee, both of whom had similar attitudes and physical attributes, including being the youngest in their respective teams. Freefall also had an unearthly pet, Qeelocke, which parallels the baby dragon Lockheed belonging to Kitty Pryde of the X-Men. Conceptual similarities among the pyrokinetic Burnout and the Fantastic Four's Human Torch are also quite evident.

John Lynch was inspired by Clint Eastwood, both in appearance and personality. Another influence is Marvel's character Nick Fury, who is also a one-eyed secret agent.

Many of the early Gen¹³ adventures also paralleled the X-Men. In issue #2 of the ongoing series, the team fought Helmut, a practically unbeatable armored opponent with a vendetta against the team’s mentor, similar to the X-Men’s Juggernaut. In the next five issues, the team went on an inadvertent world tour, similar to early adventures of the "All-New, All Different" X-Men of the 1970s. After their mansion was destroyed (a recurring element of the X-Men comics), the team went to a prehistoric island (similar to the X-Men’s Savage Land), before going into outer space (X-Men’s "The Dark Phoenix Saga"), and returning to a dark future (X-Men’s "Days of Future Past"). Most of the X-Men parallels faded after this point when Brandon Choi was replaced by John Arcudi as writer on the series. However, it is worth noting that when WildStorm decided to revamp the series, they hired perennial X-Men writer Chris Claremont to do the job.

Another similar comic series that preceded Gen¹³ is the Valiant Comics title Harbinger, written by Valiant mastermind Jim Shooter. In the Harbinger series, a group of teenage superhumans rebel against the largest and most powerful organization of superhumans. The premise of the series resembles Gen¹³ in both the age and temperament of the main characters, with villain Toyo Harada's Harbinger Institute taking the place of WildStorm's I.O.

Gen¹³ also highly embraced the MTV Generation and built its sense of style on what was the contemporary fashion at the time, including the name Grunge (which was a quickly dated reference), references to popular bands such as Soundgarden, and a youthful drama inspired by MTV’s The Real World. Not coincidentally, Gen¹³'s editor was Sarah Becker, a cast member on The Real World: Miami.

Collected editions[link]

There have been a number of trade paperbacks collecting the Gen¹³ comic books, spin-off series, limited series, and specials.

In other media[link]

Animation[link]

Kevin Altieri (Batman: Mask of the Phantasm) directed a Gen¹³ animated feature for Buena Vista Pictures, a Disney company. It was shelved by Disney soon after Wildstorm was bought by DC Comics, a Time Warner company, and never released in the U.S., but it has seen a limited video release in Europe and Australia. Grunge was voiced by Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers; and Lynch was voiced by John de Lancie.

Novels[link]

Three Gen¹³ paperback novels were released:

• Time and Chance, by Jeff Mariotte and Scott Ciencin, features a criminal mastermind who enjoys gambling. He captures the formula for creating superpowered beings and plans to use it to increase his power.
• Netherwar, written by Jeff Marriote and Christopher Golden, begins with an old ally of Lynch meeting with the group. International Operations has apparently made contact with the realm of Hell itself underneath a casino it secretly owns. Gen¹³ must infiltrate the already-affected building and close down the portal before all of humanity is doomed.
• Version_2.0, written by Sholly Fisch, focuses on the diabolic plan of the team's old International Operations nemesis Ivana Baiul, who has fallen from the good graces of the government.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Gen¹³ at the Comic Book DB
• Gen¹³ at the International Catalogue of Superheroes
• Gen¹³ at the Internet Movie Database
• Gen¹³ Complete Cover Gallery
• Wildstorm Productions

Jim Lee
Jim Lee at the CBLDF Drink and Draw at San Diego Comic Con 2007.
Born	(1964-08-11) August 11, 1964 (age 47) Seoul, South Korea
Nationality	Korean-American
Area(s)	Writer, Artist, Publisher
Notable works	All Star Batman and Robin Batman: Hush Superman: For Tomorrow WildC.A.T.s X-Men vol. 2
Awards	Harvey Award, 1990 Inkpot Award, 1992 Wizard Fan Award, 1996, 2002, 2003

Jim Lee (Korean 이용철; born August 11, 1964) 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. X-Men #1, the 1991 spinoff series premiere that Lee penciled and co-wrote with Chris Claremont, remains the best-selling comic book of all time, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.

In 1992 Lee and several other artists formed their own publishing company, Image Comics, to publish their creator-owned titles, with Lee publishing his titles through his studio, Wildstorm Productions, such as WildC.A.T.s and Gen¹³. Eschewing the role of publisher in order to return to illustration, Lee sold Wildstorm in 1998 to DC Comics, where he continued to run Wildstorm as a DC imprint until DC ended Wildstorm in 2010, as well as illustrating successful books set in DC's main fictional universe, such as the year-long "Batman: Hush" and "Superman: For Tomorrow" storylines. On February 18, 2010, Jim Lee was announced as the new Co-Publisher of DC Comics with Dan DiDio, both replacing Paul Levitz.

He has received a Harvey Award, Inkpot Award and three Wizard Fan Awards in recognition for his work.

Early life[link]

Lee was born in Seoul, South Korea, on August 11, 1964. At the age of four he and his family emigrated to the United States, and grew up in St. Louis, Missouri,^[1][2] where he lived a typical middle-class childhood.^[2] Lee's St. Louis Country Day School classmates predicted in his senior yearbook that he would found his own comic book company.^[1][2] Despite this, Lee seemed resigned to following his father's career in medicine, attending Princeton University to study psychology, with the intention of becoming a medical doctor.^[2][3]

Career[link]

Rise to fame at Marvel Comics[link]

In 1986, as he was preparing to graduate, Lee took an art class that reignited his love of drawing, and led to his rediscovery of comics at a time when seminal works such as Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns and Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen spurred a renaissance within the American comics industry.^[2] After obtaining his psychology degree,^[3] he decided to postpone his medical degree, and earned the reluctant blessing of his parents by allotting himself one year to succeed, vowing that he would attend medical school if he did not break into the comic book industry in that time. He submitted samples to various publishers, but did not find success until he met editor Archie Goodwin at a New York comic book convention. Goodwin invited Lee to Marvel Comics, where the aspiring artist received his first assignment by editor Carl Potts, who hired him to pencil the mid-list series Alpha Flight, seguéing from that title in 1989 to Punisher: War Journal.^[2][4] Lee's work on the Punisher: War Journal was inspired by artists like Frank Miller, David Ross, Kevin Nowlan, and Whilce Portacio, as well as Japanese manga.^[4]

In 1989, Lee filled in for regular illustrator Marc Silvestri on Uncanny X-Men #248 and did another guest stint on issues #256 through #258 as part of the "Acts of Vengeance" storyline, eventually becoming the series' ongoing artist with issue #267, following Silvestri's departure. During his stint on Uncanny Lee first worked with inker Scott Williams, who would become a long-time collaborator. During his run on the title, Lee co-created the character Gambit with long-time X-Men writer Chris Claremont.

Lee's artwork quickly gained popularity in the eyes of enthusiastic fans, which allowed him to gain greater creative control of the franchise. In 1991, Lee helped launch a second X-Men series simply called X-Men (volume 2), not only as the artist, but also as co-writer with Claremont. X-Men #1 (vol 2) is still the best-selling comic book of all-time with sales of over 8.1 million copies (and nearly $7 million), according to a public proclamation by the Guinness Book of World Records at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con.^[5][6] The sales figures were generated in part by publishing the issue with five different variant covers, four of which showed different characters from the book that formed a single image when laid side by side, and a fifth, gatefold cover of that combined image, large numbers of which were purchased by retailers, who anticipated fans and speculators who would buy multiple copies in order to acquire a complete collection of the covers.^[7] Lee designed new character uniforms for the series, including those worn by Cyclops, Jean Grey, Rogue, Psylocke and Storm. He also created the villain Omega Red.

Stan Lee interviewed Jim Lee in the documentary series The Comic Book Greats.

Image Comics and WildStorm, return to Marvel[link]

Enticed by the idea of being able to exert more control over his own work, in 1992, Lee accepted the invitation to join six other artists who broke away from Marvel to form Image Comics, which would publish their creator-owned titles.^[3] Lee's group of titles was initially called Aegis Entertainment before being christened Wildstorm Productions, and published Lee's initial title WildC.A.T.s, which Lee pencilled and co-wrote, and other series created by Lee in the same shared universe. The other major series of the initial years of Wildstorm, for which Lee either created characters, co-plotted or provided art for, included Stormwatch, Deathblow and Gen¹³.

In 1993, Lee and his close friend, Valiant Comics publisher Steve Massarsky, arranged a Valiant-Image Comics crossover miniseries called Deathmate, in which the Valiant characters would interact with those of Wildstorm, and of Lee's fellow Image partner, Rob Liefeld. The miniseries would consist of four "center books", (each one denoted by a color rather than an issue number), two each produced by the respective companies, plus a prologue and epilogue book. Wildstorm produced Deathmate Black, with Lee himself contributing to the writing. He also illustrated the covers for that book, the Deathmate Tourbook and the prologue book, as well as contributing to the prologue's interior inks. The assignment was given to Valiant creators against their better judgment, in particular Editor-in-chief Bob Layton, who complained about Image's inability to meet their deadlines. Deathmate Black, in particular, came out a few months after Valiant's Blue and Yellow installments, which had come out on time, and Liefeld's Deathmate Red was so late that Layton flew to California to procure that chapter personally, and ink it himself in an Anaheim hotel room. Layton sees Deathmate's lateness as one of Valiant's "unmitigated disasters", and views that project as the beginning of the speculator collapse of the 1990s.^[8]

Wildstorm would expand its line to include other ongoing titles whose creative work was handled by other writers and artists, some of which were spinoffs of the earlier titles, or properties owned by other creators, such as Whilce Portacio's Wetworks. As publisher, Lee later also expanded his comics line creating two publishing imprints of Wildstorm, Homage and Cliffhanger (that years later merged and were replaced by a single Wildstorm Signature imprint), to publish creator-owned comics by some selected creators of the US comics industry.

Lee and Rob Liefeld, another Marvel-illustrator-turned-Image-founder, returned to Marvel in 1996 to participate in a reboot of several classic characters; the project was known as Heroes Reborn. While Liefeld reworked Captain America and The Avengers, Lee plotted Iron Man and wrote and illustrated The Fantastic Four. Halfway through the project, Lee's studio took over Liefeld's two titles, finishing all four series.

Lee returned to Wildstorm, where he would publish series such as The Authority and Planetary, as well as Alan Moore's imprint, America's Best Comics. Lee himself wrote and illustrated a 12-issue series called Divine Right: The Adventures of Max Faraday, in which an internet slacker inadvertently manages to download the secrets of the universe, and is thrown into a wild fantasy world.

Move to DC Comics[link]

Because he felt his role as publisher interfered with his role as an artist, Lee left Image Comics and sold Wildstorm to DC Comics in late 1998, enabling him to focus once again on art.^[2][3] In 2003 he collaborated on a 12-issue run on Batman with writer Jeph Loeb.^[9] "Hush" became a runaway sales success. He followed this up in 2004 by illustrating "For Tomorrow", a 12-issue story in Superman by writer Brian Azzarello, although this did not replicate the earlier success. In 2005, Lee teamed with Frank Miller on the new series All Star Batman and Robin, the Boy Wonder, a series plagued by delays. Lee himself took full responsibility for the delays, explaining that his involvement with the DC Universe Online video game were the cause, and not Miller's scripts, which had been completed for some time.^[10][11][12]

Lee continued to run Wildstorm as Editorial Director, sometimes working on both DC and Wildstorm properties simultaneously. In September 2006, Jim Lee returned to WildC.A.T.s with Grant Morrison as the writer, pencilling both WildC.A.T.s and All Star Batman and Robin, both of which were characterized by publication delays. The gap between All-Star Batman and Robin #4 and #5 was one year, and to date, only one issue of WildC.A.T.s (Vol. 4) has been published. Lee drew alternative cover art for the Infinite Crisis series.

In February 2006 it was announced that Lee would be involved with the concept art for the upcoming DC Comics MMORPG, DC Universe Online.^[3] In 2008, Lee was named the Executive Creative Director of the forthcoming game, which at that time was expected to be released in 2009.^[13]

In 2009 Lee provided artwork for the album booklet for Daughtry's 2009 album Leave This Town.

In February 2010 Lee was named alongside Dan DiDio as Co-Publisher of DC Comics.^[14][15][16] According to Lee, this does not indicate another move away from the creative side of comics, as he will not only have greater creative involvement in the entire DC line, but was to be illustrating a new monthly title, Dark Knight: Boy Wonder, a re-branded conclusion to the story he and Frank Miller began in All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder.^[2][17] He also was to supply the painted art over Giuseppe Camuncoli's layouts in Batman: Europa #1, a 2011 miniseries^[18] inspired by Lee's time living in Italy,^[19] though as of June 2011, neither of these projects have materialized. DC announced they were ending the Wildstorm imprint in September 2010.^[20]

In September 2011, DC Comics instituted a program called The New 52, in which the publisher cancelled all of its superhero titles and relaunched 52 new series with #1 issues, wiping out most of the then-current continuity. Lee and writer Geoff Johns, DC Comics' Chief Creative Officer, are the architects of the relaunch, which was initiated with a new Justice League series, written and illustrated by Johns and Lee, respectively. The series' first story arc was a new origin of the Justice League, which depicted the return of DC's primary superheroes to the team.^[21]

Technique and materials[link]

Lee is known to use F lead for his pencil work.^[22][23] While inking his own pencils on Punisher: War Journal, Lee began using a crowquill nib for the first time.^[4]

In talking about the artist's work ethic, Lee has said, "Sometimes I wonder if we ever really improve as artists or if the nirvana derived from completing a piece blinds us enough to love what we have created and move on to the next piece. If we could see the work as it is, with years of reflection in the here and now, how many images would end up in the trash rather than on the racks?"^[24]

Awards[link]

• 1990 Harvey Award for Best New Talent^[25]
• 1992 Inkpot Award^[26]
• 1996 Wizard Fan Award for Favorite Penciller^[27]
• 2002 Wizard Fan Award for Favorite Penciller (For Batman)^[28]
• 2003 Wizard Fan Award for Favorite Penciller^[29]

Bibliography[link]

Lee at San Diego Comic Con 2009

Comics work (interior pencil art) includes:

DC[link]

• All-Star Batman and Robin #1-10 (2005–08)
• Coup d'état: Sleeper (Authority) (2004)
• Batman #608-619 (2002–03)
• Batman: Gotham Knights (Batman Black and White) #1 (2000)
• Flinch #1 (1999)
• Justice League #1-6, 9- (2011–Present)
• Justice League of America, vol. 4, #0 -one page only- (2006)
• Just Imagine Stan Lee with Jim Lee creating Wonder Woman (2001)
• New 52 (Free Comic Book Day) #1 (among other artists, 2012)
• 100 Bullets #26 (among other artists) (2001)
• Orion (Tales of the New Gods) #12 (2001)
• Robotech #0 (2002)
• Superman, vol. 2, #204–215 (2004–05)
• Superman/Batman #26 (2-pages, among other artists) (2006)
• Weird War Tales, one-shot (2000)

Image[link]

• Darker Image (Deathblow) #1-2 (1993)
• Deathblow (full pencils): #1-3; (along with Trevor Scott): #0 (1993–96)
• Deathmate #Black (among other artists) (1993)
• Divine Right #1–12 (1997–99)
• Gen¹³ #0, 4-7 (1994)
• Grifter/Shi, 2-part miniseries, #1 (along with Travis Charest) (1996)
• Cover to Invincible#51
• Moonlight and Ashes: Fire From Heaven, 2-part miniseries, #2 (1996)
• Savage Dragon #13 (1994)
• StormWatch #47 (1997)
• WildC.A.T.s (full pencils): #1-13; (among other artists): #32, 50 (1992–98)

Marvel[link]

• Alpha Flight #51, 53, 55-62, 64 (1987–88)
• Daredevil Annual #5 (1989)
• Fantastic Four, vol. 2, #1–6 (1996–97)
• Iron Man, vol. 2, #6 (among other artists) (1997)
• Marvel Comics Presents (Namor) #33 (1989)
• Punisher Annual #2 (1989)
• Punisher: War Journal #1–13, 17-19 (1988–89)
• Solo Avengers (Mockingbird) #1 (1987)
• Stryfe's Strike File #1 (among other artists) (1993)
• Uncanny X-Men #248, 256–258, 267–277 (1990–91)
• X-Men, vol. 2, #1–11 (1991–92)

Marvel/Image[link]

• WildC.A.T.s/X-Men: The Silver Age (1997)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jim Lee

• Jim Lee at the Comic Book DB
• Jim Lee on deviantART
• Jim Lee on Myspace
• Jim Lee on Twitter
• Jim Lee's channel on YouTube
• Sun of Gelatometti - A blog of multiple artists, including Jim Lee
• Audio Interview - Comic Geek Speak - April 27, 2007

Ed Benes
Born	1972 Limoeiro do Norte, Ceara Brazil
Nationality	Brazilian
Area(s)	Penciller, Inker
Notable works	Birds of Prey Justice League of America, vol. 2 Supergirl, vol. 3 Superman, vol. 2 WildC.A.T.S.
Official website

José Edilbenes Bezerra (born 1972 in Alto Santo, Ceara Brazil) is a Brazilian comic book artist, better known by his pen name of Ed Benes. He was highly regarded since his work at DC Comics on such titles as Birds of Prey, Supergirl, Superman, and Justice League of America where he was the artist named to take over the series relaunch.

Early life[link]

José Edilbenes Bezerra was born November 20, 1972, in Alto Santo, a small area in Ceará, Brazil, though he has lived in Limoeiro since he was 14 years old. He began drawing on his own in 1989, referencing the artwork from his brother's comic books. He also took a correspondence art course, though he did not finish it.^[1]

Career[link]

Benes' got his first professional work in 1993, after he mailed out sample art, and was discovered by Neal Adams, who gave him the job of illustrating Samuree for Continuity Comics in 1993.^[1] In the 1990s Benes began to work for Marvel where he did art for multiple comic book titles, including a Captain Marvel 6-part miniseries.

He became known for his drawings of superhero pin-up girls,^{[citation needed]} and later moved to DC Comics, where continued penciling more work for titles such as Gen¹³, Birds of Prey, Supergirl (vol. 3), and Superman (vol. 2). In 2006 Benes was assigned to provide art to for writer Brad Meltzer's run on Justice League of America series,^[2] which he drew until 2009. He subsequently contributed to Batman and Birds of Prey (vol. 2) titles, and Steel.

Studio and teaching[link]

Ed Benes began the Ed Benes Studio for aspiring comic book artists, which currently offers several courses on illustration and techniques in sequential storytelling, and hosts lectures and workshops.^{[dead link][3][dead link]}

Bibliography[link]

DC[link]

• Action Comics #836 (among other artists), Annual #13 (2006–10)
• Artemis: Requiem, miniseries, #1-6 (1996)
• Batman #687 (2009)
• Batman: The Dark Knight, vol. 2, #8 (2012)
• Birds of Prey #56-65, 67, 70, 72, 75, 79-80 (2003–05)
• Birds of Prey, vol. 2, #1-4 (2010)
• Blackest Night: Titans, miniseries, #1-3 (2009)
• Codename: Knockout #15-18 (2002)
• Countdown to Infinite Crisis #1 (among other artists) (2005)
• DC Universe #0 (among other artists) (2008)
• Deathstroke, the Terminator Annual #3 (1994)
• Flash, vol. 2, Annual #7 (1994)
• Gen 13 #45-49, 52, 55-57, 59, 61-65 (2000)
• Green Lantern, vol. 4, #49 (2010)
• Gunfire #0, 6-7, 10-13 (1994–95)
• Justice League of America, vol. 2, #0-7, 9-10, 12, 14-15, 17-19, 22-23, 25-27 (2006–09)
• Justice League Task Force #24 (1995)
• Red Lanterns #1-6 (2011-12)
• Steel #1 (one-shot) (2011)
• Supergirl, vol. 3, #75-80 (2002–03)
• Supergirl, vol. 4, #6 (2006)
• Superman #649 (among other artists) (2006)
• Superman, vol. 2, #217-219, 221-223, 225-226 (2005–06)
• Superman/Batman #50, 78 (2008–10)
• Teen Titans, vol. 3, Annual #1 (among other artists) (2006), #68 (2009)
• Thundercats: The Return, miniseries, #1-5 (2003)
• Untold Tales of Blackest Night #1 (among other artists) (2010)
• Wonder Woman, vol. 2, (Artemis) Annual #6 (1997)

Marvel[link]

• Captain America, vol. 2, #12 (along with Joe Bennett) (1997)
• Captain Marvel, miniseries, #1-4, 6 (1995–96)
• Gladiator/Supreme (along with Carlos Mota) (1997)
• Iron Man, vol. 2, #12 (among other artists) (1997)
• Silver Surfer, vol. 2, #124 (1997)
• Uncanny X-Men #351 (1998)
• What If?, vol. 2, (Hulk) #80 (along with Kerry Gammill) (1995)

Other publishers[link]

• WildC.A.T.S. #44-50 (1998) (Image)
• Samuree, vol. 2, #4 (Continuity)

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Ed Benes at the Grand Comics Database

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ed Benes

• Official website
• Ed Benes at the Comic Book DB
• Ed Benes on deviantART

Alicia Roanne Witt (born August 21, 1975) is an American film, stage, television actress and singer.

Early life[link]

Witt was born in Worcester, Massachusetts. Her mother, Diane (née Pietro), is a junior high school reading teacher, and her father, Robert Witt, is a science teacher and photographer.^[1][2] She has a brother, Ian. A child prodigy, "Alicia, possibly started reading at the age of six-and-a-half, seven months"^[3]. At two years, she was reading college text books.^[4] Witt was discovered by David Lynch when she appeared on the television show That's Incredible! in 1980 where she had recited Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. He cast her in the movie Dune (1984), where she played Paul Atreides' young sister Alia. She turned eight during filming.^[5] Afterwards, she left Hollywood to concentrate on her studies and music. She was home schooled by her parents. She won several national and international classical piano competitions, including the "Bartok-Kabalevsky International Piano Competition".

At age 14, Witt earned her high school diploma. Shortly thereafter, she moved to Hollywood with her mother to pursue a career as a full-time actress. In September 1990, she competed on Wheel of Fortune.^[6] Soon, Lynch, to whom she refers as a mentor, created the role of Gersten Hayward especially for her in his successful series Twin Peaks. He cast her again in Blackout, a segment in his short-lived HBO series Hotel Room.

Career[link]

During this time, Witt supported herself by playing piano at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel. She went on to play small parts in Mike Figgis' Liebestraum (in which her brother Ian also appears), the Gen-X drama Bodies, Rest & Motion and the TV movie The Disappearance of Vonnie. In 1994, the red-haired Witt landed her first lead role in a film, playing a disturbed teenager in Fun. She received the Special Jury Recognition Award at the Sundance Festival and was nominated for Best Actress at the Independent Spirit Awards. This performance inspired Madonna to recommend Witt to be cast as her daughter in the first segment, "The Missing Ingredient" of Four Rooms.

Witt was introduced to a larger audience playing the role of Zoey Woodbine, daughter of actress Cybill Shepherd's character in the sitcom Cybill from 1995 to 1998. Between seasons she starred in films: Mr. Holland's Opus, Alexander Payne's abortion comedy Citizen Ruth, Passion's Way and Bongwater. After Cybill was cancelled, Witt received a leading role in the horror film Urban Legend and the animated feature Gen¹³ which was never released because the studio stopped funding before the completion of the movie.

In 2000, Witt had starring roles on the television shows Ally McBeal and The Sopranos; the lead role in the comedy Playing Mona Lisa, a supporting part in John Waters' Cecil B. Demented, and her stage debut in Robbie Fox's musical The Gift at the now-closed Tiffany Theater in Los Angeles, in which she played a high-priced stripper with a disease.

In the years following, Witt's acting career slowed. She had a small part in Cameron Crowe's Vanilla Sky, which was intended as a reference to her roles in Dune and Liebestraum. She also played a college graduate who discussed losing her virginity in the experimental Ten Tiny Love Stories and the trailer-trash "Barbie" in American Girl, which was released to video in 2005.

She appeared in the 2002 romantic comedy Two Weeks Notice starring Hugh Grant and Sandra Bullock. In 2003-2004, she lived primarily in the UK, filming The Upside of Anger opposite Kevin Costner; and she starred as Evelyn in a stage-production of Neil LaBute's The Shape of Things. Between these two projects, she went to South Africa to shoot the German TV movie Kingdom in Twilight which also goes by the names The Sword of Xanten and The Ring of the Nibelungs. She played Kriemhild in this film interpretation of the epic poem Das Nibelungenlied, which was released in the US as Dark Kingdom: The Dragon King. On June 14, 2004, Witt modeled what is believed to be the most expensive hat ever made, for Christie's auction house in London. The Chapeau d'Amour, designed by Louis Mariette, is valued at $2.7 million (US) and is encrusted in diamonds.^[7] In September 2006 she returned to the London stage, portraying the piano-playing Abigail, a role in which she demonstrated herself an "outstanding pianist" of "formidable skill", in Piano/Forte at the Royal Court Theatre.^[8][9]

Witt joined the cast of Law & Order: Criminal Intent for the 2007-08 season as Det. Nola Falacci, a character who is a temporary replacement for Megan Wheeler, played by Julianne Nicholson who was away on maternity leave.^[10] She is a recurring character in Friday Night Lights for the 2009-10 season. As of May 2011, Witt was in talks with Law & Order: Special Victims Unit producers to possibly reprise her Criminal Intent role as Falacci after current female lead Mariska Hargitay departs the series. Hargitay chose to stay with the series. In March 2012, Witt retweeted a link on her official Twitter page in hope of getting Law & Order: CI back an 11th season on NBC.^[11]

Witt currently resides in Los Angeles and New York.

Beside her work as an actress, she is working on her music career. Her self-titled EP with four songs was released on iTunes in July 2009.

Filmography[link]

References[link]

Notes

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Alicia Witt

• Official website
• Alicia Witt on Myspace
• Alicia Witt at the Internet Movie Database
• Alicia Witt at AllRovi

Cloris Leachman
Leachman as the Grand Marshal for the 2009 Rose Parade.
Born	(1926-04-30) April 30, 1926 (age 86) Des Moines, Iowa
Occupation	Actress, comedienne
Years active	1947–present
Spouse	George Englund (m. 1953-1979; 5 children)

Cloris Leachman (born April 30, 1926) is an American actress of stage, film and television. She has won eight Primetime Emmy Awards—more than any other performer—and one Daytime Emmy Award. She co-starred in the 1971 film The Last Picture Show. Leachman's longest running role was the nosy, self-centered and manipulative landlady Phyllis Lindstrom on the 1970s TV series Mary Tyler Moore, and later on the spinoff series, Phyllis. She also appeared in three Mel Brooks films, including Young Frankenstein. She had a regular role on the last two seasons of The Facts of Life portraying the character Beverly Ann Stickle. In recent years, she had a recurring role as Lois's mother Ida Gorski on Malcolm in the Middle. She also starred in the roast of Bob Saget in 2008. Leachman was a contestant on Season 7 (2008) of Dancing with the Stars, paired with Corky Ballas. At the age of 82, she was the oldest contestant to dance on the series.^[1]

Leachman was the grand marshal for the 2009 New Year's Day Tournament of Roses Parade and Rose Bowl Game in Pasadena, California.^[2] She presided over the 120th parade, the theme being "Hats Off to Entertainment", and the 95th Rose Bowl game. Leachman plays a supporting role in Raising Hope, a sitcom that premiered in the fall of 2010 on Fox. She will star with Tara Reid in The Fields,^[3] and with Colin Firth and Cameron Diaz in Gambit, a remake of a 1966 film.

Early life[link]

Leachman at the June 2009 premiere for The Proposal

Leachman was born in Des Moines, Iowa, where she attended Roosevelt High School. She is the eldest of three daughters of Cloris (née Wallace) and Berkeley Claiborne "Buck" Leachman, who worked at the family-owned Leachman Lumber Company.^[4][5][6][7] Her youngest sister, Claiborne Cary (1932–2010), was an actress and singer.^[8] Leachman's maternal grandmother was of Bohemian (Czech) descent.^[9]

Leachman majored in drama at Illinois State University and Northwestern University, where she was a member of Gamma Phi Beta and a classmate of future comic actor Paul Lynde. Leachman began appearing on television and in films shortly after competing in Miss America as Miss Chicago 1946. Before that she was very active at the Des Moines Playhouse, starring in many productions.

Career[link]

Early career[link]

After winning a scholarship in the beauty pageant, Leachman studied acting in New York City at the Actors Studio with Elia Kazan. It was there that she met the first love of her life, Andrew Morgan. Leachman was a replacement for character Nellie Forbush during the original run of Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific. A few years later, she appeared in the Broadway-bound production of William Inge's Come Back, Little Sheba, but left the show before it reached Broadway when Katharine Hepburn asked her to co-star in a production of William Shakespeare's As You Like It.^[10]

Leachman appeared in many live television broadcasts in the 1950s, including such programs as Suspense and Studio One. She was also one of the Raisonette Girls in the 1960s. She made her feature film debut as an extra in the 1947 film Carnegie Hall, but had her first real role in Robert Aldrich's film noir classic Kiss Me Deadly,^[11] released in 1955. Leachman was several months pregnant during the filming, and appears in one scene running down a darkened highway wearing only a trenchcoat. A year later she appeared opposite Paul Newman and Lee Marvin in The Rack (1956). She appeared with Newman again, in a brief role as a prostitute in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969).

She continued to work mainly in television, with appearances in Rawhide and in The Twilight Zone episode It's a Good Life. During this period, Leachman notably appeared on the popular anthology Alfred Hitchcock Presents in an engaging episode entitled "Premonition" opposite John Forsythe. Later in the decade, Leachman appeared as Ruth Martin, Timmy's adoptive mom, in the last half of season four (1957) of Lassie. Jon Provost ("Timmy Martin") said, "Cloris did not feel particularly challenged by the role. Basically, when she realized that all she'd be doing was baking cookies, she wanted out."^[12] She was replaced by June Lockhart in 1959. In 1959, she appeared in an episode of One Step Beyond titled "The Dark Room", where she portrayed an American photographer living in Paris. In 1960 she played Marilyn Parker, the roommate of Janice Rule's character, Elena Nardos, in the Checkmate episode The Mask of Vengeance.

Recognition and acclaim[link]

Leachman has won numerous awards during her career. She won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in The Last Picture Show (1971), based on the bestselling book by Larry McMurtry. She played the high school gym teacher's wife, with whom Timothy Bottoms' character has an affair. Director Peter Bogdanovich had predicted to Leachman during production that she would win an Academy Award for her performance. The part was originally offered to Ellen Burstyn, who wanted another role in the film.^[13]

Leachman has also won a record-setting eight primetime and one daytime Emmy Awards and been nominated more than 20 times for her work in television over the years, most notably as the character of neighbor/landlady/nosy friend Phyllis Lindstrom on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. The character was a recurring character on the program for five years and was subsequently featured in a spinoff series, Phyllis (1975–1977), for which Leachman garnered a Golden Globe award. The series ran for two seasons. Its cancellation was partly due to the deaths of three regular or recurring cast members during its brief run: Barbara Colby, Judith Lowry and Burt Mustin.

Cloris Leachman as Phyllis Lindstrom, 1974.

In 1977, she guest starred on The Muppet Show, episode 2.24 (48th episode). In 1978, she won the Sarah Siddons Award for her work in Chicago theatre. In 1987 she hosted the VHS releases of Schoolhouse Rock.^[14] In 1986, Leachman returned to television, replacing Charlotte Rae's character Edna Garrett as the den mother on The Facts of Life. Leachman's role, as Edna's sister, Beverly Ann Stickle, could not save the long-running series, and it was canceled two years later.

She has voice-acted in numerous animated films, including My Little Pony: The Movie as the evil witch mother from the Volcano of Gloom, The Iron Giant, and most notably as the voice of the cantankerous sky pirate Dola in Hayao Miyazaki's 1986 feature Castle in the Sky. Dubbed by Disney in 1998, Leachman's performance in this film received nearly unanimous praise. Leachman played embittered, greedy, Slavic Canadian “Grandma Ida” on the Fox sitcom Malcolm in the Middle, for which she won two Emmy Awards, both for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series (once in 2002, then again in 2006). She was nominated for playing that same character for six consecutive years.

Later television credits include the successful Lifetime Television miniseries Beach Girls with Rob Lowe and Julia Ormond. Leachman was nominated for a SAG Award for her role as the wine-soaked, former jazz singer and grandmother Evelyn in the Sony feature Spanglish opposite Adam Sandler and Tea Leoni. She had replaced an ailing Anne Bancroft in the role. The film reunited her with her The Mary Tyler Moore Show writer-producer-director James L. Brooks. That same year she appeared with Sandler again, in the remake of The Longest Yard. She also appeared in Kurt Russell comedy Sky High as the school nurse with X-ray vision. In 2005, she guest starred as Charlie Harper's neighbor Norma in an episode (#3.9 "Madame and Her Special Friend") of Two and a Half Men.

In 2006, Leachman's performance alongside Sir Ben Kingsley and Annette Bening in the HBO special Mrs. Harris earned her an Emmy nomination for outstanding supporting actress in a miniseries or TV movie as well as an SAG Award nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries. On May 14, 2006, she was awarded an honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts from Drake University.^{[citation needed]}