Publisher: Wildstorm
Created by: Jim Lee and Brandon Choi
1st appearance: Stormwatch #1, March 1993
Real Name: Jackson King
Nationality: American, born in New York
Team Affiliation: Stormwatch
Legal Status: Unknown
Weight: 210 lbs Height: 6’3
Eyes:Brown Hair: Brown
Known Relatives: Isiah King/Despot (Father), Malcolm King/Strafe (Brother), Mary King (Mother)
Skills and Abilities: Excellent hand to hand combatant trained in armed and unarmed combat and various martial arts.
Powers: Battalion is a psionic seedling with powers of telekinesis and telepathy. He can use his telepathy to project realistic illusions around himself. He usually uses this to hide his many battle scars. His telekinesis can be used to move objects though he mostly uses it offensively to enhance his physical strength, block gunfire and erect powerful shields.
With his Cyber Suit all his powers are greatly enhanced. He can shoot bolts of concentrated mental energy able to destroy an opponent’s mind
Equipment: Suit is equipped with new experimental tri-Kevlar body armour as well as integrated communication systems. When he first joined Stormwatch-1 he had a unique Cyber-trans suit that amplified all his abilities. With it he was described as one of the most powerful beings on the planet. His special guns allow him to fire his telekinetic energy as beams of focused destructive concussive force beams.
Biography
Origin
Jackson is a seedling who gained his powers from his father, who had been genetically altered by the comet effect [Wildstorm Universe #1, 1997].
As a young man Jackson was offered membership in Stormwatch, the United Nations new peacekeeping force[Wildstorm Universe #1, 1997]. After being recruited into Stormwatch-1 and trained by Whiplash he was part of the trio consisting of himself, Foster McClane/Flashpoint who had optic powers and Maya Royko/Nautica who could generate lightning [Stormwatch #0]. There was considerable tension with Foster from day one as the two vied for leadership of the squad. On their first mission they faced a group of terrorists lead by Marco Garcia whose little brother Pedro Garcia’s mind was destroyed by the inexperienced Jackson. Marco was sent to jail but vowed revenge on Jackson [Stormwatch #0]. Battalion came to view Whiplash as a second father to him [Stormwatch #34].
On an unspecified mission he faced the Mercs and was apparently left dead on the battlefield but survived. One of his teammates Razer also defected and joined the Mercs [Stormwatch #1].On another mission with Stormwatch-prime during desert Storm his teammates were ambushed by Deathtrap and were seemingly killed in an explosion [Stormwatch #7].
Retirement
After years serving in Stormwatch he had a new team consisting of Fuji, Winter, Diva and Hellstrike. On a routine mission to Sarajevo which had been freed from Soviet rule. The team was to extract a seedling along with former handler Windsor. When things went south the Mercs showed up. Windsor is killed though they manage to secure the seedling. The Mercs also escape. This was also supposed to be his last mission. Battalion has nightmares after the mission. At the funeral of Windsor while Jackson and his brother attended alongside Christine/Activator/Synergy the Mercs attacked once more. With his mother’s life in danger the Mercs revealed that his brother was a seedling and they were there to collect him. Christine was forced to activate Malcolm in hopes of keeping him out of the Mercs hands [Stormwatch #1].
With his brother activated he was taken back to Stormwatch headquarters and Battalion was convinced that he should remain enrolled in the team for his brother’s sake [Stormwatch #2]. Leading the team to Chernobyl where Stormwatch-2 had been lost in battle. Regent first of the bloodline of the Directorate Throne was the enemy. They managed to defeat him and end his threat [Stormwatch #3]. When the Kerubim attacked the base Diane was possessed and freed the Warguard from cryostasis the villains escaped despite the best efforts of Stormwatch [Stormwatch #4-5].
Years later Marco Garcia would seek his revenge against Jackson as he led a new Stormwatch team. He was easily defeated and almost killed by Jackson [Stormwatch #0].
Visions and portents
On a mission to the outlaw nation of Gamorra to enforce the economic blockade he discovers that his long thought dead teammates Flashpoint, Nautika and Sunburst are discovered alive and held prisoner of Deathtrap, leader of the mercs. Battalion and his team managed to liberate the captured but Flashpoint blamed him for being abandoned and tortured for years [Stormwatch #6-7]. Tension continued to mount between both as their missions resumed [Stormwatch #8-9]. Battalion was then abducted into the future by Timespan [Stormwatch #9].
Timespan took him a year into the future where he witnesses the fall of the Skywatch interstellar ship and the arrival of the Stormwatch team from his visions. The Warguard who serve his father engages the team before he is attacked by his brother Malcolm who had fallen under the sway of his dad. He soon came face to face with his father who was now completely out of his mind as the superhuman villain Despot. Their minds touched before Timespan sent him back to the past [Stormwatch #25].
A week after returning from the dystopia laden future he knew he would die and told no one. Instead he transcribed an electronic journal/will for them to find once he had died. He also continued his relationship with Christine/Synergy [Stormwatch #10]. Finally deciding to do something about the future he sneaks into the cryostasis unit and points a gun at his comatose father but is unable to pull the trigger and save the world because it would compromise his morals [Stormwatch #14]. His conflict with Flashpoint finally erupts in battle and Jackson wins. During the mission Jackson ends up with a bomb in his hand and Timespan shows up. With Timespan’s prodding Battalion allows the bomb to detonate in his hands seemingly killing him [Stormwatch #16]. His death caused tension between his brother Malcolm and Flashpoint and caused Cannon to quit the team [Stormwatch #17].
In reality Battalion had rigged his Armour to Skywatch’s teleportation systems and had teleported away to safety when the bomb detonated. He found himself in Death Valley and trained for a year waiting for his father to arrive [Stormwatch #26].
Facing his future
Facing down the entire team of Warbound and Stormwatch under his father’s control he manages to take them all out. When his father commandeers his mind he proves his worth by doing the same to him. He manages to get through to his father briefly but Bendix send him back on the defensive when he tries to shoot him point blank in the head [Stormwatch #26].
As his father lashes out Battalion and the team teleport away so that he has no army to control with his Psionic powers. Despot tracks them down and beside Spartan the robot he makes his finale stand. By keeping Despot unfocused the two manage to turn the tides on him. Spartan sacrifices himself to electrocute Despot ending the threat once and for all but leaving Battalion another nightmare to endure, the reality of Patricide [Stormwatch #27].
New Lease on life
A newer younger Stormwatch team of recruits were soon lost behind enemy lines in Iraq and Battalion and his team had to be called in to aid them [Stormwatch #28-31]. The team accomplishes all its objectives though Battalion is forced to contain an explosion that would have leveled the Eiffel tower [Stormwatch #32-33]. Around this time he found out that his father figure Whiplash was a spy for I.O [Stromwatch #34]. On a mission Flashpoint revealed that he had been a long time double agent for Deathtrap and as a result had to be put down. The entire team attended his funeral though none of them particularly liked him [Stormwatch #35-36]. On his anniversary with Christine, Weatherman reformatted the team moving him to training officer for the team. He objected at first but with his girlfriend moved into combat duty their relationship was seen as a compromise to the safety of the mission, he reluctantly agreed [Stormwatch #37]. His first training session was with Spark, it did not go as planned as the woman could control electricity even electrical impulses in the brain [Stormwatch #38]. He new free time allowed his relationship with Christine to row more intense. Jackson also voiced the moral ambiguity of Weatherman [Stormwatch #41]. He does get through to spark eventually as his training sessions also become counseling sessions [Stormwatch #44].
Captured by terrorist who recognized him as the leader of Stormwatch on his day off he was almost blown up with a bomb but luckily he managed to survive. He tracked down his attackers and bring them to justice [Stormwatch #45]. When his brother resurfaces bloody and unconscious he dsregrads the orders of weatherman and take the fight to those responsible. He is taken out though his team does defeat their enemies and discover that weatherman had become corrupt in the process [Stromwatch #47-50].
Weatherman years
Unanimously chosen as the new weatherman after the apparent death of his predecessor Bendix he went about rebuilding the program though the United states withdrew their support [Stormwatch v2. #1]. Unable to freely operate within the US Stormwatch Black was given free reign of the area [Stormwatch v2. #2]. Bendix returned controlling a new team and some inter-dimensional hijinx ensued [Stromwatch v2 #4-9]
Most of his team are left dead after their final mission. At the mass funeral of Fahrenheit, Fuji, Hellsrike and Winter he and synergy are tasked with rebuilding Stormwatch. and the disastrous finale battle of stormwatch. The UN could no longer afford the maintain Stormwatch after the destruction of the orbital base onec more and America no longer adding their weight. Stormwatch Black saved Jackson’s brother from being killed while comatose in the hospital but they disbanded directly after [Stormwatch v2. #11].
He has also served as leader of Monarchy and in the newly relaunched Wildstorm universe he is the leader of Stormwatch: Post Human Division (PHD).
What’s up, just wanted to say, I loved his blog post. It was inspiring.
Keep on posting!