Stormwatch: Team Achilles is the third incarnation/revision of the Image comics Stormwatch penned by Micah Ian Wright and initially drawn by Whilce Portacio. Portacio has been the artist from Issues 1-5, and the title has had a different artist for several story arcs, one of the last being C.P. Smith. Stormwatch: Team Achilles differs from the previous Stormwatch series in that it centers on mostly 'normal' human beings from differing Special Forces/Counterterrorist organizatiosn worldwide acting as a small UN troubleshooting team.
The series was basically a satire of both politics and comic books, with segments where the team replaced a Strom Thurmond/Jesse Helms-like Senator with a shape-shifter and a storyline where a patriotic hero resembling Captain America tried to overthrow the American government. It was most notable for throwing potshots at President George W. Bush's spelling, the ineptitude of the United Nations, the mockery of a Doctor Doom-like dictator, and the defeat and subsequent humiliation of the WildStorm Superhero team The Authority, all with an almost sarcastic flair.
Some fans have happily likened Team Achilles as "G.I. Joe for Grownups". Although the enemies in the comic book have been the typical fantastic archetypes seen in comics, the weapons used by the Stormwatch team are mostly real-world weapons systems (such as the Barrett_M82A1. Realistic weapons as well as tactics are used by the non-powered Team Achilles members to take down the physically superior enemies seen in the comic.
Detractors of the comic have disliked the often overly-political potshots taken, as well as the disbelief that superhero fans have over a 'normal' human being defeating superheroes. This was notable, given that WildStorm's parent company DC comics' concern at the time to revive the 'traditional' Superhero comic over the darker characters pioneered by Image.
The series was cancelled in mid-story amid some controversy. Reasons for the cancellation are varied, primary of which are controversies pertaining to the writer (Although the less-controversial WildCats comic was also cancelled), low sales, or the (still unproven) rumor that DC was flushing out the WildStorm titles in order to force artists and writers to work on mainstream titles (Wright was slated to write Vigilante, though this deal never fell through).
Characters:
Assault Team:
Benito Santini - American of Italian Descent, Catholic. Was previously a mamber of the Black Razors and right-hand man to Miles Craven . After various events in the Wildstorm universe, Santini was later assigned to be the new "Weatherman" to the Stormwatch team, although it's later revealed he has his own agenda to the matter. Despite this, he holds his team members in high regard. Married to Flint.
Blake Coleman - Santini's second-in-command of Stormwatch, field leader and best friend since their Black Razor days, Coleman is the chief on-the-ground commander for the team's early missions, until his untimely death.
Flint - Formerly of the original Stormwatch team and of the same generation as the Authority's Swift, Flint is only the second superpowered individual on the assault team. Posessing a high level of resistance near8ign that of physical invulnerability, Flint is the team's door kicker. She later falls in love with and marries Santini.
Jukko Hamalainen - Finnish, one of the last survivors of a superhuman holocaust in that country, and initially the only superhuman-powered member on the assault team. Jukko's powers are more of a curse than a blessing--he can feel the pain of any individual within a certain radius, amplified to an almost agonizing degree. This is one of the reasons this team operative is incredibly caring towards injured hostages, while highly lethal against enemy targets. He also seems to have a profound dislike of the Authority's Midnighter. The most popular of the characters in the series.
Jaeger Weiss - German GSG-9, Weiss is an incredible handsome, suave, and more often than not sarcastic, but highly reliable team member. He is easily recognizable by the face mask he wears to protect his face when on missions. Being a member of GSG-9, Weiss is often depressed when hostages are injured during operations. While he harbors a distrust of the superpowered individuals of the team, he is nonetheless good friends with Jukko--the pair often engaging in witty banter on and off mission.
Galena Golovin - Russian sniper, one of the more aggressive team members, is a perfectionist of few, often harsh words. Shares an 'interesting' relationship with her spotter, Pickney.
Charles Cottsworth Pickney - Formerly of the British SAS, Pickney is almost stereotypically British in demeanor. As spotter to Golovin, he is He and Golovin share a an odd, often argumentative relationship with golovin either commenting on Pickney's degrading vision or less-than satisfactory manhood.
Support Team:
Khalid Tefibi - Stormwatch's resident tech geek, and the individual most often made the butt of jokes by the more masculine, hard-charging members of the team. Nonetheless, Tefibi's technological skills and wit prove vital to the teams' success and later their ultimate survival.
Avi Barak - A member of the Israeli Defense Force, Barak is a telepath first introduced in issue 5, with a rude awakening to the new Stormwatch team. Through Santini's efforts, his power level is raised to a much higher rating, although it has left the psi a little less than balanced.
