WildC.A.T.s: Covert Action Teams #1

History

The book was conceived while Lee was still finishing his record-breaking run on Marvel's X-Men; his final issue of that title and WildC.A.T.s #1 both appeared on shelves in August 1992 — the same month, per multiple sources. Lee developed the covert-ops concept partly as a reaction to Rob Liefeld's Youngblood, deliberately designing a team that shunned public celebrity in favor of shadow work, working with childhood friend Brandon Choi on scripting duties. Lee's studio group within Image was initially called Aegis Entertainment before being rechristened WildStorm Productions, and WildC.A.T.s was its flagship. The indicia of issue #1 identified the project as a three-issue limited series, but audience response was strong enough that Lee and Choi expanded the story to four parts before continuing with an ongoing series from issue #5 onward.

Trivia · 8 facts

• First appearance of the entire founding WildC.A.T.s roster: Grifter (Cole Cash), Spartan (Yohn Kohl/"Hadrian 7"), Zealot (Zannah), Void (Adrianna Tereshkova), Voodoo (Priscilla Kitaen), Maul (Jeremy Stone), and WarBlade (Reno Bryce), along with team patron Lord Emp (Jacob Marlowe).
• First appearance of primary villain Helspont and supporting character Pike; the issue also introduces government antagonist organization International Operations (I.O.) and its director John Lynch.
• Written by Brandon Choi and Jim Lee; pencilled and co-written by Jim Lee; inked by Scott Williams; colored by Joe Rosas; lettered by Mike Heisler.
• Published August 1992 by Image Comics (with Malibu Comics as the indicia publisher); it was the first creator-owned work by Jim Lee and the debut publication of what became WildStorm Productions.
• The direct edition shipped with two bound-in trading cards (Spartan and Voodoo); the newsstand edition did not include them. A variant Gold cover edition also exists.
• Story title is "Resurrection Day" Part 1 of 4; the indicia listed the project as a 3-issue mini-series, though it was expanded to four issues, with the ongoing series then continuing from issue #5 rather than restarting at a new volume #1.
• The issue establishes the centuries-long Kherubim vs. Daemonite war as the series' mythological backbone, and contains a notable plot point positing that then-U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle is being impersonated/possessed by a Daemonite agent named B'lial.
• The issue has been reprinted at least seven times, including in the 1993 WildC.A.T.s Compendium, a DC Millennium Edition (2000), WildStorm Fine Arts: Spotlight on Jim Lee (2007), Wildstorm: A Celebration of 25 Years (2017, in black-and-white line art), the Absolute WildC.A.T.s by Jim Lee hardcover (2018), and DC Comics: The Art of Jim Lee (2020). The characters debuting here also inspired a CBS animated series (1994–1995, co-produced with Nelvana) and a Playmates toy line.

Cast · 18 characters

Full credits

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