Elementals was a dark superhero comic book first published in 1984 and created by Bill Willingham, for which he was both writer and artist. It was a reasonably long lived comic series, and was published by Comico. Comico's publisher Andrew Rev purchased the Elementals property from Willingham in the 1990s. The last Elementals comic published was the Elementals Sex Special in 1997.
Core Concept
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. The four elements, unimaginably powerful spirits who together formed the foundation of existence, each raised an ordinary human from the dead, granting him or her control of that particular element, as well as eternal youth and the ability to heal nearly any wound. These four superheroes were the Elementals, sent to oppose Saker.
The team consisted of Morningstar, a.k.a. Jeanette Crane, a Los Angeles homicide detective; Vortex, a.k.a. Jeff Murphy, former helicopter pilot and Navy Seal; Fathom, a.k.a. Becky Golden, a flighty debutante; and Monolith, a.k.a. Tommy Czuchra, a brilliant teenager.
The four eventually defeated Saker and his minions, the Destroyers, a team of six: Shapeshifter, Annihilator, Chrysalis, Behemoth, Ratman, and Electrocutioner. (The Destroyers originally appeared in Death Duel with the Destroyers and The Island of Dr. Apocalypse , two Willingham-written supplements for the superhero game Villains and Vigilantes.) Unfortunately, Shadowspear was released, forming a giant malevolent thunderstorm that circled the globe, occasionally transforming animals and corpses into monsters, thus keeping the Elementals busy for many years.
Major Themes
- Fame. After the Elementals dealt with Saker and his cronies, they were the only super-powered humans walking free on the planet. The four quickly became the world's most famous celebrities; according to Tommy, this wasn't due to their super-powers, but the fact they were dead. The Elementals were, at least until other paranormals began to appear, the ultimate pop icons.
- Government. The Elementals had a love-hate relationship with the United States government, which sought to control them. At first, a single agent, Porter Scott, was assigned to tag along with them, wherever they went. Later, an entire government agency, F.I.S.H. (Federal Intelligence Security Headquarters) was assigned to monitor paranormal activity. Later still, the Elementals began to wonder if they and their fellow super-beings shouldn't simply govern themselves.
- Violence. The series had a gruesome flair, as Willingham disapproved of exposing anyone, especially younger readers, to dangerous combat without serious consequences. The protagonists' ability to heal wounds meant that they were perpetually suffering all manner of horrifying damage. Vortex, in particular, managed to get badly mauled with alarming regularity.
- Sexuality. Peekaboo nudity was a staple of Elementals, as Willingham tried to push the limits of acceptability. Also controversial was the issue in which Morningstar discovered that her fiance was actually the sadistic villainess Shapeshifter, toying with her emotions.
- Religion. A few thousand years ago, a false messiah whose mother had borne him of a demon was in danger of being stoned by an angry mob for his lecherous behavior. Seeking to placate them with a show of power, he raised a man from the dead, plucking an innocent soul from the Promised Land. Unable to die and return to paradise, that resurrected man grew vengeful and evil, and became a powerful sorcerer named...Lord Saker. The Elementals' patrons, the elements themselves, openly proclaimed that God opposed Saker. The recurring theological imagery led many readers to believe that Elementals was essentially, despite the sex and violence, a Christian comic book. That was changed when Willingham introduced Reverend Skagg, a televangelist based on Jimmy Swaggart. Skagg was visited by a glowing angel, who commanded him to torture a thousand of his followers to death, promising that some would be sent back to him. The Shadowspear, attracted to the violence, did precisely what the angel predicted, and resurrected six people with Biblical-based superpowers, thus creating the group The Rapture. This pack of intolerant fundamentalist Christians--Genesis 6:4, Exodus 10:21, Judges 15:14, Leviticus 26:22, Matthew 27:51 and Isaiah 6:2--became yet another enemy of the "secularist" Elementals, and the "angel" was quickly revealed to be none other than the deceitful Shapeshifter, again. (Despite the fact that her mentor Saker believed in God, Shapeshifter herself was a die-hard atheist.)
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