Team 7 is a
comic booksuperhero team that appeared in titles published by
Wildstorm Productions.[1] The team has appeared in 3 self-titled miniseries: Team 7, Team 7: Objective Hell and Team 7: Dead Reckoning. The first 5-issue
Gen13limited series also involved members of Team 7. The team's members have played a major role throughout the
Wildstorm Universe. In September 2011,
The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity, bringing in Wildstorm characters, including Team 7.
Publication history
Team 7 debuted in a self-titled four-issue limited series, published in 1994–95. Writer
Brandon Choi remarked on this mini-series that "I really enjoyed [writer]
Chuck Dixon's portrayal of the team members, especially
Cole. He really wove Cole's background into the whole Team 7 story in a very believable fashion."[2]
A new ongoing series about the group was announced by DC in June 2012.[3] It began with a "#0" issue in November, and ended with a "#8" issue in July 2013. The series was written by
Justin Jordan and illustrated by an assortment of artists. Set five years in the past during the emergence of superheroes, the group's membership consists of a combination of DCU and Wildstorm characters:
Dinah Drake,
Amanda Waller,
Kurt Lance, Summer Ramos, James Bronson, Dean Higgins,
John Lynch, Alex Fairchild,
Cole Cash, and
Slade Wilson.
Fictional biography
Team 7 was officially the seventh incarnation of a group of military specialists gathered from various government forces (a
Team Zero was later revealed, making Team 7 the group's eighth incarnation).
Team 7 took its orders from Miles Craven, director of
International Operations. Craven wanted his own army of superhumans, and therefore dropped a chemical known as the "
Gen-Factor" on the members of Team 7 during a (suicide) mission. When they awoke from their Gen-Factor induced comas, Team 7 was told that the enemy had dropped a chemical weapon on them. As a result of the Gen-Factor, Team 7 (except for Michael Cray) started to develop superhuman powers. It would be years before Cray himself would develop similar abilities. Team 7 member Cole Cash distrusted Craven and suspected that he was behind the experiment. Several members of Team 7 were unable to cope with their new powers and went mad or committed suicide. At least one had to be shot during a subsequent mission. As a test, Craven dropped a "low-yield nuke" on Team 7. The members survived through co-operation and went into hiding.[4]
Sometime later, Team 7 returned to work for I.O. and were sent to destroy a cache of nuclear weapons from
Cambodia before the
Khmer Rouge could get them. The team succeeded, but learned that a pair of
Soviet superhumans were trailing them. They battled them, but they turned out to be too strong and Jackson Dane went into a coma. The Cambodian blind girl X'ing X'iang, who had displayed superhuman mental powers before, overpowered one of the Soviet agents, while Michael Cray shot the other one. The team returned to the U.S. and took X'ing X'iang with them.[5]
Years later, the Team 7 members were ordered to bring in the Soviet scientist, Dbovchek. Cole Cash entered the Soviet Union on his own to find out more about Dbovchek while the rest of the team went on the mission. Dbovchek turned out to be one of the main scientists behind the Russian psionic program. The mission turned out to be a failure; Dbovchek was killed and Cash was captured. Cash discovers that his mental powers were waning, but John Lynch saved him.
Back in the U.S., Jackson Dane awoke from his coma under the influence of International Operations. Dane's powers turned out to be far stronger than the rest of Team 7 combined, but Cray brought in X'ing X'iang who freed Dane. She found out through Dane that Miles Craven had become interested in the children of Team 7, so most Team 7 members took their families and went into hiding. This would turn out to be the end of Team 7, though most members would stay in contact and occasionally reunite.[6]
Jackson Dane would lead a new Team 7 years later.
DC Universe
After the events of the Flashpoint limited series, the Wildstorm Universe was assimilated into the
DC Universe as seen in 2011's launch of
The New 52. In this timeline, Team 7 was assembled by
John Lynch, to prevent future metahuman threats. Members like
Black Canary,
Deathstroke, and
Grifter gained their superpowers while working in the team. The team was disbanded after a mission retrieving Pandora's Box.
Membership of Team 7
Last Wildstorm incarnation
John Lynch
Code-named Topkick, team leader
Lynch was the former head of I.O.'s Black Razors. He starred in Gen13 and Sleeper. Father of
Burnout of
Gen13. His Team 7 identification mark was a circle with a stripe upwards painted over his left eye.
Code-named Dead Eye (though later taking on the code name
Grifter), Cash has been a figurehead of the Wildstorm Universe, being an expert with a gun, holding Coda training, and having psi powers. Grifter has starred in many
Wildstorm comics such as WildC.A.T.S., Sleeper, Point Blank, and two of his own solo titles. Youngest member of the team, being only in his mid-20s. Thanks to exposure to the Gen-Factor, he hasn't physically aged since. His Team 7 identification mark was the same symbol as later appeared on his mask. The mark was over his left eye.
Michael Cray
Code-named
Deathblow, starred in his own self-titled series. Died during the Fire from Heaven event but has since returned (twice), although the reason remains a mystery. The father of
Sublime of
DV8. He was the only team member not to initially develop psionic powers as a result of exposure to the Gen-Factor, though some eventually manifested many years later. Several 'clones' of him were created as well, one 'clone' being female and African-American, among others. His Team 7 identification mark were two parallel strips over his left and right eye, going from his hairline to his chin.
Jackson Dane
Code-named Arclight,
Dane starred in the comic Wetworks, which was about a new incarnation of Team 7. His Team 7 identification mark was a lightning bolt over his left eye.
Christie Blaze
Originally chosen by Lynch to round out the first incarnation of Team 7, she was kept out of the team by I/O Director Miles Craven, who knew the only reason Lynch had chosen her was because they were lovers. Lynch recruited her for the reconstituted Team 7 post-World's End.
Former members
Philip Chang
Code-named Bulleteer. Current location unknown. Father of
Grunge of
Gen13. His Team 7 identification mark was a waxing crescent moon over his right eye.
Stephen Callahan
Code-named Wraparound. Faked his death, only to be revealed alive years later. Father of
Threshold and
Bliss of
DV8 as well as Sarah Rainmaker of
Gen13. His Team 7 identification mark was a cross over his left eye. The team's only Marine, one of the primary reasons for his agreeing to join was that he wanted his service branch to be represented.
Alex Fairchild
Code-named Slaphammer. Died in the pages of Gen13. Father of
Caitlin Fairchild and
Freefall of Gen13. His Team 7 identification mark was an Ace of Spades over his left eye.
Other members
Berckmann, first name unknown
Died from the side effects of Gen-Factor exposure.
Robert Diaz
Was abandoned on a mission and joined the
Kindred. Nicknamed Bloodmoon.
Andrew Johnson
Shot by Cole Cash for abusing his powers in sadistic ways.
Richard MacNamara
Code-named Boloround. Committed suicide after exposure to the Gen-Factor.
Lucius Morgan
Currently known as the Pirate King. Exact circumstances of his time with Team 7 are unknown, but he was not a member when the team was exposed to the Gen-Factor.
Jack Rhodes
Nicknamed Cyberjack, Rhodes was severely wounded and left the team before Team 7's exposure to the Gen-Factor.
An alternate version of Team 7, now led by
Grifter, appeared in the Flashpoint universe. This version consisted mainly of superheroes who had ties to the military in the
DC Universe, but here were simply shown to be regular soldiers, albeit with outfits that resembled their superhero costumes. Most of the team were killed during a battle against a terrorist camp, though Grifter was saved by Penny Black. This led to Grifter leaving the military and ultimately becoming the leader of the Resistance, a rebel group formed to oppose the
Amazons after they invaded the U.K.[7]
A former
West Point cadet who had been expelled from the academy after it was discovered that she was in a
lesbian relationship with a fellow student. She eventually became the vigilante Batwoman.
Team 7 is referenced in Batman: Arkham Knight. According to a conversation between the Militia, they disappeared without a trace and nobody knows what happened to them. The Militia said that they've heard the name from
the Birds of Prey.
^Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Korte, Steve; Manning, Matt; Wiacek, Win; Wilson, Sven (2016). The DC Comics Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Characters of the DC Universe. DK Publishing. p. 305.
ISBN978-1-4654-5357-0.
^Brady, Matthew (August 1997). "Character Profile: Grifter". Wizard. No. 72. pp. 124–5.