Jenny Sparks
Jenny Sparks (Jennifer Sparks) is an Image Comics character from Wildstorm Universe, first appearing in Stormwatch #37, created by Warren Ellis; Tom Raney.
Overview
Jenny Sparks, born Jennifer Sparks, is a British metahuman created by Warren Ellis and Tom Raney who debuted in Stormwatch #37 as part of Ellis's reinvention of the Wildstorm Universe. Known as the Spirit of the 20th Century, she was born on the first day of 1900 and embodied the century itself, aging little while absorbing its cynicism, style and hard-won wisdom. She is best remembered as the hard-drinking, chain-smoking founder and first leader of The Authority, the team whose aggressive, geopolitical approach to superheroics helped define widescreen comics.
Powers & Abilities
Sparks can generate, absorb and direct electricity, and is able to transform her body into living current, allowing her to travel through wiring and electrical systems. As a "century baby" she ages extremely slowly and is highly durable, having survived a hundred years of conflict. Her greatest asset, however, is strategic: decades of military intelligence work, black-operations command and political manoeuvring made her a formidable tactician and manipulator.
History
Born in England at the dawn of the twentieth century, Sparks spent its decades moving through wars, espionage and counterculture, serving as a colonel in British Army Intelligence and working with the British space programme before joining the United Nations crisis team Stormwatch. There she led the covert unit Stormwatch Black alongside Jack Hawksmoor and Rose Tattoo, and after Stormwatch's violent collapse she assembled its survivors and new recruits into The Authority. Her tenure ended with the century that had defined her, and leadership of the team passed on while her role as a spirit of the age was inherited by a new century baby.
Family & Relationships
Albert Einstein served as her godfather, one of many famous figures she encountered across the century, and she was briefly married to Prince Lorenzo Slzfi of Albion. Her closest bonds were with her teammates, particularly Jack Hawksmoor, whom she groomed as her successor in command. She is also spiritually linked to Jenny Quarx, the century baby who followed her as the Spirit of the 21st Century.
Teams & Affiliations
Sparks founded and led The Authority, and previously served with Stormwatch and its covert division Stormwatch Black. Her earlier career included British Army Intelligence, where she held the rank of colonel, and work connected to the British space programme.
Notable Facts
Her public identity and blunt, sardonic voice — cigarette in hand, Union Jack shirt on her back — made her one of the most quotable characters of late-1990s superhero comics. The century-baby concept she introduced became a recurring Wildstorm idea, continued through Jenny Quantum and later reimaginings such as Jenny Mei Sparks in The Wild Storm. She has also appeared in DC continuity following Wildstorm's absorption, again in association with Stormwatch and The Authority.
Overview written by Waypoint (AI-generated).
- Real name
- Jennifer Sparks
- Reality
- Wildstorm Universe
- Gender
- Female
- Identity
- Public
- Citizenship
- British
- Place of birth
- England
- First appearance
- Stormwatch #37
- Creators
- Warren Ellis; Tom Raney
- Also known as
- The Spirit of the 20th Century
- Occupation
- British Army Intelligence Colonel
- Affiliations
- The Authority, formerly Stormwatch, Stormwatch Black, British Army Intelligence, British Space Program
- Relatives
- Jenny Quarx, Albert Einstein (godfather, deceased), Prince Lorenzo Slzfi of Albion (ex-husband, Regis Slzfi of Albion (ex-father-in-law, unnamed ex-sister-in-law, unnamed mother, unnamed father
Full details at Image Comics Database (Fandom) → · CC BY-SA. Facts + summary by Waypoint.