Internal Operations (I.O., IO or I/O) is a fictional American Intelligence Agency in Wildstorm comics. I.O. first appeared in WildC.A.T.S. volume 1 #1 (August, 1992) and was created by Brandon Choi and Jim Lee. The Three Graces, here in a painting by Sandro Botticelli, were the goddesses of charm, beauty, nature, human creativity and fertility in Greek mythology. ... An intelligence agency is a governmental organization devoted to gathering of information by means of espionage (spying), communication interception, cryptanalysis, cooperation with other institutions, and evaluation of public sources. ... WildStorm WildStorm Productions, or simply WildStorm, is an American publisher of comic books. ... A comic book is a magazine or book containing the art form of comics. ... Wildcats is the name of multiple incarnations of the Wildstorm comics superhero comic book. ... Brandon Choi is an American comic book author best known as one of the co-creators of the series Gen13 which enjoyed high popularity in the middle and late 1990s. ... Lees depiction of DC Comics Batman. ...

International Operations

International Operations was founded in 1964 as a branch of the Central Intelligence Agency with the mission to safeguard the United States' interests and safety abroad. It quickly became an independent agency under the leadership of Director Miles Craven. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Miles Craven

Under Miles Craven, I.O. became a vehicle for Craven's obsession with superhumans. Craven wanted to control a group of superhumans himself and had the luck to come into contact with Dr. Simon Tsung. Tsung had found a baby with superhuman powers. This baby, Ethan McCain, was the reincarnation of Sigma, a superhero from an alternate universe. Tsung studied the baby and managed to isolate the source of its superhuman powers: the Gen-factor. Craven exposed many test-subjects to the Gen-factor, but most of them died or went insane. Others were physically mutated into monsters and Craven locked them away on Level Nine. During these tests Craven was assisted by Gabriel Newman, a telepath. When Tsung found out about Craven's experiments, he went into hiding with the help of Admiral Cray, father of Michael Cray. Superman and Batman, two of the most recognizable and iconic superheroes. ... A parallel universe, also sometimes called an alternate universe, is a hypothetical universe which exists separately from our own. ... Deathblow is a fictional character who inhabited the Wildstorm universe. ...

After many failed experiments, Craven decided to expose his best men to the Gen-factor. He sent Team 7 on a fake mission and exposed them to the Gen-factor, claiming later that it was a chemical weapon used by their enemy. Most of Team 7 started to develop superpowers, except for Michael Cray, whose powers wouldn't manifest till 20 years later. Other members went insane or commited suicide, but in the end seven members of Team 7 had developed superpowers while retaining their humanity. Craven sent them out on another bogus mission to test them, leaving Cray behind on the base. He then fired a nuclear weapon at Team 7, but Cray managed to warn them in time. Team 7 combined their powers and formed a shield, allowing them to survive the nuclear weapon. They then went into hiding except for team leader John Lynch. Team 7 is the name of a comic book team from DC Comics/Wildstorm. ... Deathblow is a fictional character who inhabited the Wildstorm universe. ... John Lynch is the name of a comic book character from DC Comics/Wildstorm. ...

Team 7's successors, Team 8 were killed on a mission. Lynch managed to get Michael Cray out of prison and together they tracked down Team 7 to fulfill Team 8's mission. Team 7 returned to work for Craven to ensure Cray's freedom, but Craven's goals hadn't changed. A couple of years later Craven tried to capture the children of Team 7, believing that they had inherited their fathers' powers. Most members of Team 7 went into hiding again, though I.O. did manage to capture the children of Team 7 member Stephen Callahan. Matthew and Nicole Callahan were raised by I.O. to be obedient soldiers. Team 7 members John Lynch, Michael Cray and Mark Slayton made a deal with Craven: they would work for I.O. and Craven would leave the rest of Team 7 and their children alone. Backlash is the name of a comic book character from DC Comics/Wildstorm. ...

Over the next few years, John Lynch worked his way up and became Director of Operations, charged with safeguarding the American people. A former KGB and CIA operative named Ivana Baiul became Director of Sci-Tech, I.O.'s Research and Development. Dominique Faust became Director of Black Arts, I.O.'s division to research occult activity and brainwashing. All three reported back to Miles Craven, Director of I.O, now known as the National Security Czar. I.O. operated from its headquarters the Black Towers in McLean, Virgina. Ivana Baiul is the name of a comic book character from DC Comics/Wildstorm. ...

With the rise of superhero team Youngblood, Craven decided to restart Project Genesis. He authorized Ivana Baiul, who had been training Matthew and Nicole Callahan as Treshold and Bliss, to fulfill this mission. Lynch, once the loyal, unquestioning soldier, had grown to distrust Craven and questioned the sanity of restarting Project Genesis. Baiul ignored his advice and nationwide tests were done on children and teenagers. If they tested positive on the Gen-factor or other genetic anomalies were found, they were taken to Project Genesis. Lynch saw an opportunity to find his own long lost son among the Project Genesis subjects and decided to interfere. He left I.O. and freed a group of children from Project Genesis. This group came to be known as Gen 13. Ivana Baiul herself went rogue as well, taking another group of superpowered children with her. They came to be known as DV8 or The Deviants. This page refers to the Image comic Youngblood. ... Gen 13 V3 #1 cover by Talent Caldwell Gen 13 is a comic book originally written by Jim Lee and Brandon Choi and illustrated by J. Scott Campbell. ... DV8 is a comic book published by Wildstorm. ...

Baiul was replaced by Alicia Turner, while Lynch's task were taken over by Ben Santini, aided by Frank Colby. Despite Lynch going rogue, many agents within I.O., including Colby, retained some loyalty towards Lynch. Faust seemed to remain loyal to Craven, but had in fact closed a pact with Cardinal Lazarus and the Coda for her own profit.

When Miles Craven was killed, Ben Santini became the interim Director of I.O. During this time, Craven was resurrected as a cloned body of Sigma. It turned out that Craven's obsession with the Gen-factor was just a way to immortality and power for him. Sigma, now a young adult, killed Craven.

Ivana Baiul

Ivana Baiul returned to I.O. shortly after Craven's death. She blackmailed a senator and became chief of I.O. Santini was demoted to Director of Operations again. Her tenure as Director of I.O. turned out to be a disaster: insane scientist Tindalos experimented on Keepers and took control over many of her resources before his death, Max Faraday dismantled 93% of I.O.'s bases worldwide and she was extremely unpopular within I.O. She was forced to leave I.O. when Ben Santini, Frank Colby and Stephen Callahan (who had faked his own death years before) blackmailed her with recordings of DV8's illegal actions. Baiul left I.O. and became head of the Civil Defense Administration. I.O. itself was shut down shortly afterwards by the U.S. government. Ben Santini applied with the United Nations to reform Stormwatch as Stormwatch: Team Achilles, taking various resources from I.O. with him. Divine Right is a comic book created by Jim Lee and published by Wildstorm. ... Stormwatch is a fictional United Nations-sponsored superhero team in the Wildstorm Universe. ...

Internal Operations

John Lynch had temporary returned as Director of Operations to I.O. just before it ended to stop the dangerous criminal Tao. When I.O. was disbanded he joined the Department of Paranormal Science Investigations (Department PSI) to continue his plans against Tao. After spending a year in a coma, Lynch awoke at the end of 2003 and convinced the US government to recreate I.O., now known as Internal Operations. He was joined by Team 7 veteran Mark Slayton as his second in command. The goal of the new I.O. was to stop superhuman crime in general and specfically Tao's Syndicate. Tao is a fictional character in the Wildstorm universe. ... Backlash is the name of a comic book character from DC Comics/Wildstorm. ...

Divisions and Projects

• Black Razors: I.O.'s fighting force, working for the Director of Operations. Usually they wear light-weight protective armor. They are among the best trained human fighters on the planet and are often sent in to deal with parahuman threats. The Black Hammers are a group of Black Razors wearing large powered armors. Formerly led by Ben Santini.
• Sci-Tech: I.O.'s Research and Development department. Sci-Tech has developed weapons and various cybernetics to be used by its agents.
• Black Arts: A smaller division within I.O., tasked with overseeing the Project: Divine Right. They also were responsible for brainwashing dangerous individuals. Disbanded after their connections to Cardinal Lazarus and the Coda were revealed.
• Keepers: Former Black Razors assigned to Sci-Tech. Wear red armours to distinguish themselves from the Black Razors.
• Black Ops: A team of special operatives, formerly working for I.O., but joined up with Department PSI later.
• Project Genesis: The I.O. project tasked with the creation of superhumans under government control.
• Project ENTRY: I.O.'s experimental teleportation project. The plans were taken by Ben Santini and put to use for Stormwatch: Team Achilles.
• The Numbskulls: A small group of dead soldiers, reanimated by I.O. technology. Unlike Zombots, the Numbskulls retained their memories and personality. The Numbskulls hated their undead existence, but were unable to end it.

It has been suggested that the section Exoskeletons in modern and near-future technology from the article Exoskeleton be merged into this article or section. ... This article is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Divine Right is a comic book created by Jim Lee and published by Wildstorm. ... It has been suggested that Materialization (science fiction) be merged into this article or section. ...

Notable members

• Miles Craven: founder and first Director of I.O., deceased.
• Gabriel Newman: telepath and former right-hand man to Miles Craven, imprisoned at Level Nine when Craven no longer needed him.
• John Lynch: Former Director of Operations, current Director of I.O.
• Ivana Baiul: Former Director of Sci-Tech, former Director of I.O., currently head of the Civil Defense Administration.
• Ben Santini: Former head of the Black Razors, former Director of Operations, former interim Director of I.O., current head of Stormwatch: Team Achilles.
• Dominique Faust: Former head of Black Arts, currently wanted for treason.
• Frank Colby: Former aide to John Lynch and Ben Santini.
• Alicia Turner: Former aide to John Lynch, former Director of Sci-Tech. Telepath.
• Mark Slayton: Current second-in-command of Internal Operations.

John Lynch is the name of a comic book character from DC Comics/Wildstorm. ... Ivana Baiul is the name of a comic book character from DC Comics/Wildstorm. ... Backlash is the name of a comic book character from DC Comics/Wildstorm. ...

Trivia

• The appearance of Youngblood was the original reason for the restart of Project Genesis, though with both Rob Liefeld's and Wildstorm's departure from Image Comics, it is unlikely that this will ever be mentioned again in Wildstorm comics.

Alternative cover of X-Force 50 (January 1996), by Liefeld. ... Image Comics is the third or fourth largest comic book publisher in the United States. ...

Links

• Wildstorm Continuum