pencil: Aron Wiesenfeld

story: Chuck Dixon

inks: Trevor Scott

colors: Monica Bennett

Team 7, the elite squad of the I.O., is sent on some fake missions by the director, Craven.
Cole Cash begins to have suspicions about the director, but John Lynch, their team leader, continues to trust him.
During a mission in Africa they are deliberately exposed to mutagenic substances, the "Gen" factor.
Craven and his assistant Gabriel, equipped with telepathic powers, arrive soon after to pick them up.
Team members 7 (Cole Cash “Deadeye”, Michael Cray “Deathblow”, Stephen Callahan “Wraparound”, Jackson Dane “Arclight”, Stewart Chang “Bulleteer”, Richard McNamara “Boloround”, Mark Slayton “Backlash”, Alexander Fairchild “Slaphammer”, John Lynch “Topkick” and others) are brought to the IO laboratories.
Everyone begins to manifest strange powers, some uncontrollable.
McNamara, unable to control his destructive power, prefers to commit suicide.
A short time later Craven sends Team 7 on a mission again, to test their powers.
The only one who does not manifest powers of any kind is Deathblow, who nevertheless remains extremely dangerous.
During the mission another team member, Johnson, loses control and Cash kills him.
Meanwhile at IO Gabriel is losing control, tormented telepathically by the suffering inflicted on other mutated patients, locked in level 9.
Craven sends Team 7 on another desert mission, without Michael Cray.
It's another trap and this time Craven sends a nuclear missile at them.
By combining their powers they still manage to survive.
This story marks the beginning of a unique narrative cycle.
The Wildstorm universe, unlike the DC and Marvel ones, has a unique feature.
The characters age and die (almost always permanently), their every action affects all the published series (including team-ups with other publishing houses), so much so that in 2010 the entire Wildstorm universe was destroyed.
Most of the published series are violent, with the only exception of Gen 13, which offers some funny moments.
Overall, the realism of the series has made the Wildstorm universe an unexpected and unrepeatable success!