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Stormwatch is more than a bunch of do-gooding super agents who save the world. They're my family. They let me win at Monopoly. 
Stormwatch is an ancient organization that seeks to protect the Earth from alien threats. They were originally a band of adventurers under the name Demon Knights.
History
Origins
The Demon Knights were brought together in the Middle Ages by the Shadow Lords, though most of its members believed it was Merlin. The original members were Al Jabr, Etrigan, Exoristos, Horsewoman, Jason Blood, Madame Xanadu, Shining Knight and Vandal Savage. They were active into the 11th Century, when they were joined by the Arabian Princess Janeen, a Century Baby.[1]
Intermediate years
Janeen was the first of many Century Babies joining over the years, after the original members had left. Merlin stayed a member for most of the time (later under the name Adam One), and for that, many perceived him to be their founder. He actually stayed on because he suspected the Shadow Lords of betraying them. This first came out in the 13th Century, when Countess Jeanne's non-conformist nature lead to the Shadow Lords disposing of her.
The next Century Baby was the French nun Sister J, and during her tenure, Stormwatch was born. The organization had always watched the sky for perils, and in 1341 Germany, their major foe arrived: Daemonites. They beat off the invasion, and in the aftermath, watched the skies for ages, looking for a red storm like the one that had accompanied the aliens' arrival - and so they chose their name.[1]
The team existed on-and-off again for the following centuries, usually (but not exclusively) built around a Century Baby. In 1762, after much internal debate, Stormwatch broke its long-held tradition of secrecy and reveal itself to the governments of the world as their protectors. This decision became disastrous, as Stormwatch's loyalties was questioned by the ruling powers of Britain, Prussia, and France which escalated into the Seven Years' War. The Shadow Council of Stormwatch soon reversed its earlier position by quickly ending the war and spent the next thirty years working to change recorded and remembered history, through a combination of heavy editing of the written record, mass hypnosis, and engineering the fall of the House of Bourbon. Since then Stormwatch maintains itself as a secret organization and hiding the worst of existence from the general population.[2] In the 19th Century, Adam One led a team consisting of Doctor Thirteen, Jenny Freedom and Master Gunfighter. They eventually left after a fight with vampires, when they grew tired of Adam One's ways.[3]
There were multiple incarnations of the Team during the 20th Century. During World War II, it was the British Engineer (Archie Trundle), the American Big Band, Luna and the German Von Z. They were wiped out in battle against the Hidden People in 1944.[4] Some years later, the Spirit of the 20th Century, Jenny Sparks, led a team.[1]
New 52
With the arrival of the super-heroes in the 21st Century, there was need to revitalize the team. They had always been the sole authority to combat alien threats, but now had to defer that to the Justice League. Adam One saw this as a sign the team was nearing its end, doomed to be destroyed by internal conflict or the Shadow Lords. He recruited Century Baby Jenny Quantum specifically to train her to combat this threat.[1] Other members at this time included Eminence of Blades, the Engineer (Angie Spica), Jack Hawksmoor, Martian Manhunter and Projectionist, later to be joined by Apollo and Midnighter.[5]
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Infinite Frontier
Dark Crisis
In the wake of the Justice League's death, a new Stormwatch was formed at the behest of Director Bones, led by Nikolas Kamarov, alias Winter, an immortal Russian superhuman and former member of Spetnaz. Using the remains of the old Justice League Watchtower, they constructed a new base, christened Skywatch. This iteration seemingly had no connection to the Shadow Lords, instead acting as a proactive team purely under Bones' supervision, funded under the table by the DEO and nominally reporting to the United Nations.
Their first mission was a raid on the Fourth Reich, who were operating out of a base in Linden, Pennsylvania. The field team consisted of Shado, Eminence of Blades, Ravager, Core, Peacekeeper-01, and their field leader Flint. The raid was largely successful, though it resulted in the death of Harry Tanner. It also granted Director Bones access to the device the Fourth Reich had been building, a yellow sun radiation absorber, a device Stormwatch could use against Superman, should the need arise.[6]
Dawn of DC
During this period, Stormwatch used Core as a power source, siphoning energy off of the human nuclear reactor. They also sold the excess to the European Union for profit.
The Brave and the Bold
Later, Stormwatch recruited Phantom-One following his conflict with Batman Incorporated. He was not particularly well-received by his team-mates, with Shado viewing him as tactically ill-advised (being clad in head-to-toe white) and Ravager noting that as a metahuman swordfighter, she rendered any non-powered swordsman, including Phantom-One, redundant.
Stormwatch received intel that a splinter faction of Black Hole, called The Singularity, was intending to break into Iron Heights in order to spring one of their leaders, Doctor William Huskk from his imprisonment.
The strike team deployed, with orders to dispatch the Singularity operatives with extreme prejudice and to take Huskk into custody. During the mission, the Singularity deployed a device that created a a growing temporal anomaly in the middle of the prison; if not disabled, it would essentially age the prisoners to death as it swallowed the prison. Phantom-One and Ravager disobeyed orders in order to rescue prisoners; Flint captured Huskk, and Core, utilizing his apparent agelessness to his advantage, dove into the anomaly and deactivated it.
Afterwards, Bones reported on the mission to an unknown superior; while he considered it a qualified success, whoever he was reporting was less pleased in regards to the team's performance, and threatened to have the team and its members terminated should Bones prove unable to control them. [7]
Notes
- The roster of Mister Bones' team are analogs to members of the original team:
- Ravager is an analog to Zealot.
- Peacekeeper-01 is an analog to Fahrenheit.
See Also
- 43 Appearances of Stormwatch (Prime Earth)
- 12 Images that include Stormwatch (Prime Earth)
- Team Gallery: Stormwatch (Prime Earth)
Recommended Reading
Links and References
Footnotes