''Elementals'' is an American

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

first published in 1984 and created by

Bill Willingham William Willingham (born 1956) is an American writer and artist of comics, known for his work on the series '' Elementals'' and ''Fables''. Career William Willingham was born in Fort Belvoir, Virginia. During his father's military career the fam ...

, for which he was both writer and artist.

Publication history

The Elementals first appeared in the '' Justice Machine Annual'', published by Texas Comics in 1983. The Elementals were supposed to become a bimonthly series, alternating with the Justice Machine, but Texas Comics folded after publishing the one comic."Texas Comics Goes Under: Justice Machine Now Homeless", ''The Comics Journal'' #88 (Jan. 1984), p. 13. After Texas Comics folded, ''The Elementals'' were taken over by Comico Comics. In a variety of specials and

limited series In the field of comic books, and particularly in the United States, a limited series is a comics series with a predetermined number of issues. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is finite and determined ...

, Comico published ''Elementals'' until 1996. Comico's publisher, Andrew Rev, purchased the ''Elementals'' property from Willingham in the 1990s.

Fictional setting and characters

When a centuries-old sorcerer named Lord Saker built a machine called the Shadowspear to harness the supernatural powers of the world, he upset the natural order of the universe. In response, the

four elements The classical elements typically refer to earth, water, air, fire, and (later) aether which were proposed to explain the nature and complexity of all matter in terms of simpler substances. Ancient cultures in Greece, Angola, Tibet, India, a ...

, unimaginably powerful spirits who together formed the foundation of existence, each chose an ordinary human who had been killed by their element, and resurrected him or her. They granted each member control of that particular element, eternal youth, and the ability to heal from any wound (given sufficient time). The team consisted of: * Morningstar, aka Jeanette Crane, a

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

homicide detective who had burned to death while confronting a serial arsonist; she received various fire-related abilities, including pyrokinesis and an immunity to fire. * Vortex, aka Jeff Murphy, a

Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a Maritime Security Regimes, maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with cust ...

pilot and Vietnam veteran who was

asphyxia Asphyxia or asphyxiation is a condition of deficient supply of oxygen to the body which arises from abnormal breathing. Asphyxia causes generalized hypoxia, which affects all the tissues and organs, some more rapidly than others. There are m ...

ted in a helicopter crash; he received various air-related abilities, including flight and wind-blasts. * Fathom, aka Becky Golden, a flighty

debutante A debutante, also spelled débutante ( ; from , ), or deb is a young woman of aristocratic or upper-class family background who has reached maturity and is presented to society at a formal "debut" ( , ; ) or possibly debutante ball. Origin ...

who fell off a boat and drowned; she received various water-related abilities, as well as bright green skin and webbed fingers. She was also able to convert her body entirely into sentient water and shoot high-pressure streams. * Monolith, aka Tommy Czuchra, a brilliant if introverted teenaged boy who was crushed to death by a

landslide Landslides, also known as landslips, rockslips or rockslides, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, mudflows, shallow or deep-seated slope failures and debris flows. Landslides ...

; he received the ability to become an enormous super-strong stone/earth

golem A golem ( ; ) is an animated Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic being in Jewish folklore, which is created entirely from inanimate matter, usually clay or mud. The most famous golem narrative involves Judah Loew ben Bezalel, the late 16th-century ...

. Later, Tommy came to follow Saker's view that the supernatural beings were entitled to be in charge across earth, and he quit the Elementals and absorbed some of Saker's 'black' magic, to become one of his generals. Monolith was then re-embodied in a deceased insurance salesman (Donald Ridgeway), who neither wanted the power, nor ever understood fully how to use it or how to integrate with the other three Elementals. The four eventually defeated Saker and his minions, the Destroyers, a team of six: Shapeshifter, Annihilator, Chrysalis, Behemoth, Ratman (who later changed sides), and Electrocutioner. Shadowspear, once released from Saker's control, formed a giant malevolent thunderstorm that circled the globe, occasionally transforming animals and corpses into monsters, thus keeping the Elementals busy for many years.

Reception

Martin A. Stever reviewed ''Elementals'' in ''

Space Gamer/Fantasy Gamer ''The Space Gamer'' was a magazine dedicated to the subject of science fiction and fantasy board games and tabletop role-playing games. It quickly grew in importance and was an important and influential magazine in its subject matter from the la ...

'' No. 83. Stever commented that "Willingham's imagination must be on overdrive to come up with some of the far out ideas in ''Elementals''".

Bibliography

* '' Justice Machine Annual'', Texas Comics, 1983 (first appearance) * ''Elementals'' #1–29, 1984–88 * ''Elementals'' vol. 2, #1–26, 1989–93 * ''Elementals'' vol. 3, #1–3, 1995–96

One-shots and mini-series

* ''Elementals Special'' - 2 issues, 1986, 1989 (lead into v2) * ''Elementals: Sex Special'' - 4 issues, 1991–93 * ''Elementals: Sex Special'' vol. 2, 2 issues, 1997 * ''Elementals: Sexy Lingerie Special'' one-shot, 1993 * ''Elementals: Ghost of a Chance'' one-shot, 1995 * ''Elementals Swimsuit Spectacular 1996'' one-shot * ''Elementals: How the War was won'' - 2 issues, 1996 * ''Elementals: The Vampire's Revenge'' - 2 issues, 1996

Spin-offs

* ''Justice Machine Featuring the Elementals'' - 4 issues, 1986 * ''Fathom'' - 3 issues, 1987 * ''Morningstar Special'', 1990 * ''Monolith'' - 4 issues, 1991 * ''Vortex'' - 2 issues, 1991 * ''Strikeforce America'' - 1 issue, 1992 * ''Fathom'' vol. 2, 3 issues, 1992 * ''Oblivion'' - 3 issues, 1995–96 * ''Strikeforce America'' vol. 2, 1 issue, 1996

Trade paperback collection

* ''Elementals: The Natural Order'' (160 pages, softcover, Comico Comics, November 1988, ) - reprints ''Justice Machine Annual'' and ''Elementals'' vol. 1, #1–5

Notes

References

External links

The Elementals
at

Don Markstein's Toonopedia Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonopedi ...

Archived
from the original on June 17, 2016.
''Comics Should Be Good!''s review of Vol. 1 #1-5
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070207105908/http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2007/02/05/comics-you-should-own-elementals-1-5/, date=2007-02-07 Comico Comics titles Fantasy comics Superhero teams 1983 comics debuts