We’re continuing our celebration of 30 years of Image Comics with WildC.A.T.s #1, which was published in August of 1992.

WildC.A.T.s was the first book published by Homage Studios. It’s Jim Lee’s former studio, which would eventually become WildStorm. Jim Lee would go on to sell WildStorm over to DC Comics, effectively giving them all of his characters and intellectual property.

Jim Lee was the guy we wanted to be, and by we I mean aspiring comic book artists, because that’s what I was back then. He single-handedly redefined the industry with his hyper-realistic, hatching-filled illustrations.

July 29, 1980, and a Satellite in the Antarctic

The first issue of WildC.A.T.s starts out on July 29th, 1980. Scientists from the U.S. research station Zebra discover the remains of a Russian satellite that had crash-landed in the Antarctic. From the wreckage, a character we come to know later as Adrianna Tereshkova, now known as Void, appears. She speaks wildly about something called the Orb, and then she disappears into the time stream.

Moving forward in time to August 9, 1992, we’re at the International Operations crisis center, or I.O. Pay attention, because this is a place you’re going to see a lot in Image Comics in the days to come. In McLean, Virginia, Director John Lynch monitors an explosion taking place in Georgetown. His assistant, Frank Colby, suggests to him that the explosion may have been caused by two rogue covert action teams. Void appears in the middle of the room and just as quickly teleports away again. This event actually takes place between issues #1 and #2, I believe, in the pages of Image Comics #0, which featured a Gen 13 prequel story.

Jacob Marlowe Knows More Than He Can Remember

Back on August 8th, 1990, a group of New York street thugs decide to beat up on a homeless man. This man’s name is Jacob Marlowe. Marlowe pops off a blast of energy, a power we learn later that he has forgotten he has. It’s not the first time we learn Jacob knows more than he can remember. As plot devices go, this one’s actually pretty, well, 90s.

Void teleports to the scene from the time stream and informs Marlowe he is in fact an alien named Lord Emp from the planet Khera. She tells him that he is meant for a greater destiny, and decides to help him on the road to recovery.

Now we flash forward to August 8th, 1992, effectively the present. We match cut to Jacob Marlowe sleeping one off in an alley. Jacob stumbles to a building in midtown, where he’s suited up and shaved in the elevator on the way to the penthouse. Turns out Jacob Marlowe is now the CEO of Halo Incorporated, a multi-billion dollar company. Not only that, but he’s the leader of a team of alien-human hybrid agents known as the WildC.A.T.s.

They’re not actually known as the WildC.A.T.s yet. That name comes on later, because WildC.A.T.s is a military designation, we find, which stands for Wild Covert Action Teams. But the WildC.A.T.s collectively are Marlowe, Void, Spartan, Maul and Warblade.

Void informs Marlowe that they’ve got to stop the Daemonite Cabal from initiating Project Reunification. To this end, they must find a gifted one with the power of sight before the Cabal does.

Helspont, the Cabal, and a Bowl of Pasta

Later the same day we find Helspont, leader of the Cabal, and his agents Pike, Providence, Hestia and Devin. Helspont discovers that a Cabal lackey named Alberto Cassini has betrayed them by selling information on the location of the gifted ones to an information broker known as the Gnome.

The Gnome’s one of those characters where I really love the way he’s depicted, but unfortunately we only get like a split second of him.

Helspont has Pike kill Cassini. He smashes his face into a bowl of pasta, because how else do you kill an Italian guy? Because racist. No? Okay. Sorry. Wicked sense of humor. Sorry about that.

The following day, Marlowe and Void go to visit the Gnome in Iran. Again, the Gnome is a really interesting looking character, but we don’t get to see nearly enough of him. The Gnome gives Marlowe the location of the gifted one in exchange for an unconditional and undisclosed promise that Marlowe swears to honor. After receiving the information, the WildC.A.T.s fly off to Georgetown, Virginia.

Grifter, Zealot, and the Hot Spot

Meanwhile, the adventurer known as Grifter and his mentor, the Coda warrior Zealot, likewise track down the location of the gifted one. Grifter’s really cool. He’s one of those characters we’re going to see a lot of in the coming days, because he’s a big part of WildStorm later.

Grifter goes inside a strip club called the Hot Spot, because that’s what you named strip clubs in the 90s in comic books, wherein he finds Priscilla Kitaen, also known as Voodoo, dancing on stage. What she’s wearing is supposed to be like a stripper outfit, but it’s really just a glorified superhero suit, which I find really funny.

He’s about to approach her when he recognizes the Coda assassin Devin, as well as two Daemonite agents, entering the room. Voodoo has this uncanny ability, and it’s why they want her: she can see Daemonites in their true form. The Daemonites are shapeshifters. They inhabit someone’s body almost like a symbiote, almost like Venom, for lack of a better description.

Grifter springs into action and begins fighting the Daemonite agents. The WildC.A.T.s emerge out of nowhere on the scene and lend Grifter some assistance. Then Zealot likewise arrives, and when she shows up, it’s a full splash page. She helps finish off the last of the Daemonites.

Time Catches Up

The Coda assassin Devin, refusing to go down quietly, detonates a large explosion that destroys the entire club. This is the explosion that was recorded by Director Lynch in the beginning of the issue. Time’s starting to catch up now.

But Lynch isn’t the only one monitoring the affair. From his submersible ship, the Behemoth, Helspont watches the explosion with his Cabal agent B’lial. B’lial is actually a mole who’s impersonating none other than Vice President Dan Quayle. A cheeky fellow if ever there was one.

But there you go. So now you know.

If you were reading Image in 1992, tell me where WildC.A.T.s #1 sat in your stack, and which of these characters you were trying to draw. The conversation lives in the comments on the video above.