DC Comics's First Full WTF-Certified Gatefold Cover Revealed

Legendary comics writer/artist Jim Starlin has revealed (on his Facebook page) the full, gatefold cover to Stormwatch #19, his first issue on the series as writer and one that signals a major change of direction for the title. And there's quite a surprise there, for sure. On the cover, a mysterious villain stands over the fallen members of Stormwatch, and Starlin teases, "This is the one and only time I'll be drawing these particular characters." The second half of the cover reveals what looks to be an all-new Stormwatch team, consisting of what appears to be a more "classic" looking Apollo and Midnighter, joined by The Weird, the mysterious, helmeted person teased by Starlin very early on, the robed girl who appeared on his Facebook page shortly after that and others not easily identified. While one of the characters appears to be a reworking of Hellstrike, the helmeted stranger now looks as though it could be a New 52 version of Henry Bendix (looka t the logo on his left breast). Update: Nevermind; we'll give the task of identifying these characters over to Jim Starlin, who responded within minutes of publication of our original story! "From the upper left hand corner and going clockwise, shown on the cover is Hellstrike, the Forecaster, Midnighter, the Engineer, Apollo, Jenny Soul, the Weird and Storm Control," wrote Starlin.

Stormwatch, one of the teams that's very aware of the multiverse and the ever-expanding nature of the DC Universe in general, seems primed to accept some members of another universe into their fold--but if that's the case here, how much history will these alternate versions of Apollo and Midnighter bring with them? And are the rest of the Stormwatch team they're working with also from another world, or just along for the ride? Lest there be any confusion, Starlin also posted the cover to #20, which features (again) a long-haired Apollo and a coat-wearing Midnighter; with their more traditional look restored, will we see the pair married again?