In late 2007, a year after it had relaunched its titles in an event branded “WorldStorm,” the WildStorm Universe offered an event entitled “Armageddon.” The story was told over six one-shots, one for each of the universe’s six ongoing titles at the time. In this story, the characters learned about an apocalyptic event coming in the future. This led into the six-issue biweekly mini-series WildStorm: Revelations. This led in turn into the eight-issue biweekly mini-series Number of the Beast, which saw the return of the High (from Warren Ellis’s “Change or Die” storyline). In that mini-series’s conclusion, the Earth was devastated when its axis was tilted. The super-heroes prepared to help whom they could.
This was the set-up of “World’s End,” a remarkable event that saw the WildStorm Universe become a post-apocalyptic landscape (in continuity, no less). For the event, a new ongoing Authority title would be launched, written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning. Simultaneously, Stormwatch: P.H.D. returned, 10 months after its apparent cancellation, using its original numbering and now written by by Ian Edginton.
After going bimonthly for its final few issues, Stormwatch: P.H.D. concluded with issue #24. Meanwhile, Abnett and Lanning left The Authority Vol. 4 with issue #17.
The following issue, new writers Marc Bernardin and Adam Freeman oversaw the biggest change in the Authority’s line-up in its history, in which only Jack Hawksmoor, the Engineer, and Swift remained, now joined by several established WildStorm characters: Synergy (a.k.a. Christine Trelane), former co-leader of Stormwatch (who had also been involved in the Monarchy); Flint, a former Stormwatch member; the High, the former one-time Stormwatch villain who had returned in Name of the Beast; Grifter, a former member of Wildcats; Deathblow, a long-standing WildStorm anti-hero; Freefall, a former Gen13 member; and Rainmaker, another former Gen13 member. Writer Tom Taylor took over with issue #22. The series continued with #29, 12 issues after Abnett and Lanning’s departure.
Not long afterward, the WildStorm Universe was incorporated into the DC Universe as part of that universe’s 2011 reboot.
