''Global Frequency'' is an
American comic book
An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'' ...
limited series Limited series may refer to:
*Limited series, individual storylines within an anthology series
*Limited series, a particular run of collectables, usually individually numbered
*Limited series (comics), a comics series with a predetermined number of ...
created and written by
Warren Ellis
Warren Girard Ellis (born 16 February 1968) is a British comic book writer, novelist, and screenwriter. He is best known as the co-creator of several original comics series, including ''Transmetropolitan'' (1997–2002), ''Global Frequency'' ( ...
and published by
Wildstorm Productions
Wildstorm Productions, (stylized as WildStorm), is an American comic book imprint. Originally founded as an independent company established by Jim Lee under the name "Aegis Entertainment" and expanded in subsequent years by other creators, Wildst ...
, an imprint of
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery.
DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...
.
It is a
science-fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel univers ...
series set in the present day, consisting of single-issue, standalone stories. The series of 12 issues was published between October
2002
File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...
and June
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...
. Each issue was drawn by a different artist, with uniform covers by
Brian Wood, and interior artwork colored by
David Baron.
Overview
The Global Frequency is an independent, covert intelligence organization headed by a former intelligence agent who uses the alias of Miranda Zero. Reportedly, 1,001 people are on the Global Frequency, forming an active
smart mob communicating by specially modified video
mobile phone
A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whil ...
s through a central dispatch system coordinated by a young woman code-named
Aleph
Aleph (or alef or alif, transliterated ʾ) is the first letter of the Semitic abjads, including Phoenician , Hebrew , Aramaic , Syriac , Arabic ʾ and North Arabian 𐪑. It also appears as South Arabian 𐩱 and Ge'ez .
These letter ...
.
The purpose of the organization is to protect and rescue the world from the consequences of the various secret projects that the governments or individuals of the world have established, which are unknown to the public at large. The people on the Global Frequency are chosen and called on for their specialized skills in a variety of areas, and include military personnel, intelligence agents, police detectives, scientific researchers, academics, athletes, former criminals and assassins. The threats addressed by the organization are equally varied and usually world-threatening, including rogue military operations, paranormal phenomena, terrorist attacks and religious cults.
The existence of the organization is an open secret, but its membership list is anonymous, the identities of its field agents unknown to even each other before they meet on a mission. Often, the only way to tell a member of the Global Frequency is by the phones that they carry or the Global Frequency symbol—a circle with four points on its perimeter 90°s apart that they sport somewhere on their person.
Who exactly funds the Global Frequency is not known. Zero has said that at least some of the money comes from the
G8 governments that pay the Frequency for not revealing the various secret horrors that they combat. Although the presence of an independent, unaccountable agency with strike capability makes some authorities nervous, they also recognize the fact that the Frequency has the skills, the reach, and more importantly, the will to act where governments cannot. As a result, the organization gets tacit approval for its activities, and is sometimes called on by governments to deal with extraordinary crises. Mostly, the organization acts proactively as it discovers such threats.
Ellis designed the comic series like a television series with standalone "episodes", allowing the reader to begin with any issue and be able to understand what was going on. As a result, the only regular characters in the series are Miranda Zero and Aleph, with only a few other characters making a reappearance in the 12th issue of the series. This also heightened the suspense for the reader, as the survival of these characters was not guaranteed.
Collected editions
The series has been collected into two
trade paperbacks
A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, and often held together with glue rather than stitches or staples. In contrast, hardcover (hardback) books are bound with cardboard covered with cloth, ...
. After the WildStorm imprint was discontinued, the entire series was collected under the
Vertigo
Vertigo is a condition where a person has the sensation of movement or of surrounding objects moving when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. This may be associated with nausea, vomiting, sweating, or difficulties w ...
label in 2013, with a Deluxe Edition under the DC Comics label in 2018.
*''Global Frequency Volume 1: Planet Ablaze'' (collects ''Global Frequency'' #1–6, )
*''Global Frequency Volume 2: Detonation Radio'' (collects ''Global Frequency'' #7–12, )
*''Global Frequency'' (collects ''Global Frequency'' #1–12, )
*''Global Frequency, The Deluxe Edition'' (collects ''Global Frequency'' #1–12, )
Awards
* 2004: Nominated for "Best Limited Series"
Eisner Award
The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books, sometimes referred to as the comics industry's equivalent of the Academy Awards. They are named in ...
In other media
Mark Burnett
Mark Burnett (born 17 July 1960) is a television producer who is the former Chairman of MGM Television, MGM Worldwide Television Group. He is best known for creating and producing the reality shows The Apprentice (American TV series), ''The Ap ...
prepared a ''Global Frequency'' television series for 2005 with
Michelle Forbes
Michelle Renee Forbes Guajardo (born January 8, 1965) is an American actress who has appeared on television and in independent films. Forbes gained attention for her dual role in daytime soap opera ''Guiding Light'', for which she received a D ...
as Miranda Zero,
Josh Hopkins
William Joshua Hopkins (born September 12, 1970) is an American actor. Some of his best known roles include Raymond Millbury on '' Ally McBeal'' (2001–2002), Grayson Ellis on ''Cougar Town'' (2009–2015), and Liam O'Connor on '' Quantico'' (2 ...
as Sean Flynn,
Jenni Baird
Jenni Baird (born 29 April 1976) is an Australian actress. Baird was educated at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts from which she graduated in 1999. Upon graduation Baird appeared in the Australian short film ''I Promise''. Bair ...
as Dr. Katrina Finch and
Aimee Garcia
Aimee Sandimés Garcia López de Ordóñez (born November 28, 1978) is an American actress and writer. She is known for her television roles as Veronica Palmero on the ABC sitcom ''George Lopez'', Yvonne Sanchez on the CBS period drama ''Veg ...
as Aleph. The characters of Sean Flynn, an ex-policeman who accidentally stumbled on a Global Frequency mission, and Katrina Finch, a brilliant scientist with expertise in multiple fields, were created especially for the series.
Unlike the comic book, which had an ever-changing cast of field agents, Flynn and Finch were to be regulars along with Zero and Aleph, with other Frequency members coming in as and when necessary in supporting roles. This would allow for the character continuity expected of a television series and yet allow other characters to be killed off as in the comic book.
A
pilot episode
A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other distri ...
, based heavily on the first issue of the comic book, was produced, but
The WB
The WB Television Network (for Warner Bros., or the "Frog Network", for its former mascot, Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network launched on broadcast television on January 11, 1995, as a joint venture between the Warner Bros. ...
(the original intended network) did not commission the series.
John Rogers was the principal creative force behind the television incarnation, writing the pilot episode, with Ellis credited as producer and creator. Other writers waiting to come on board included
David Slack
David Slack is an American animation and television writer and producer. He has written and/or produced on such shows as ''Law & Order'', ''Lie to Me'', ''In Plain Sight'', ''Teen Titans'', ''Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi'', '' Jackie Chan Adventures'', ''Ge ...
,
Ben Edlund
Ben Edlund (born September 20, 1968) is an American cartoonist, screenwriter, television producer, and television director. He is best known as the creator of the satirical superhero character The Tick.
Background
Edlund was born and raised in Pe ...
and Diego Gutierrez. The pilot was directed by Nelson McCormick.
The unaired pilot was leaked onto the Internet in June 2005 and continues to be downloaded and shared, primarily via
BitTorrent and other
P2P
P2P may refer to:
* Pay to play, where money is exchanged for services
* Peer-to-peer, a distributed application architecture in computing or networking
** List of P2P protocols
* Phenylacetone, an organic compound commonly known as P2P
* Poin ...
networks. Although it was popular and critically acclaimed, according to Ellis himself the leaking of the pilot annoyed Warner Brothers to the extent that they killed the project.
In November 2009, ''Production Weeklys
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
feed revealed that a new television adaptation of ''Global Frequency'' was being worked on by
The CW Television Network
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
and writer Scott Nimerfro, while a new pilot by
Jerry Bruckheimer
Jerome Leon Bruckheimer (born September 21, 1943) is an American film and television Film producer, producer. He has been active in the genres of Action film, action, Drama film, drama, Fantasy film, fantasy, and Science fiction film, science fi ...
and written by
Rockne S. O'Bannon
Rockne S. O'Bannon is an American television writer, screenwriter and producer, working primarily in the science fiction genre. O'Bannon has created five original television series (''Farscape'', ''seaQuest DSV'', ''Defiance'', ''Cult'', and '' ...
was reportedly being produced by Fox in November 2014, but by February 2015, Fox did not order the pilot due to problems with the script.
Notes
References
*
*
External links
Mania.com's main page for Global Frequency(Comics2Film now at Mania.com)
badmouth.net page on comic and pilotfrequencysite.com page on original pilot, including images and plot details*
{{Warren Ellis
Comics by Warren Ellis
Television pilots not picked up as a series
Fictional organizations
Unaired television pilots