Art by Bryan Hitch
Apollo and Midnighter were originally with Stormwatch, The Authority’s predecessor. Henry Bendix, Stormwatch’s director, recruited a number of superhumans to a covert strike team. Apollo was a field officer and Midnighter a field agent. Apollo and Midnighter were among volunteers for a black ops mission. The mission was secretive that all records of it and the team were destroyed.
The covert team was teleported into the facility to carry out its orders, a smash and grab. What they were completely unprepared to find was that this facility was guarded by Daemonites. Unknown to the team, Bendix had altered the teleporter to allow them to return only if they were in possession of the item.With nowhere to go, they fought hard against the Daemonites. Only two survived the onslaught. Apollo and Midnighter escaped due to their powers. Both Apollo and Midnighter rebelled against Bendix. For the next five years they lived on the fringes, fighting crime on the street until rescued by a new Stormwatch under the guidance of Jackson King. They were given new identities, and it seemed were ready to leave this world behind until Jenny Sparks came into play with a new team.
These two members were often speculated by gay readers to be gay. Warren Ellis wrote clues into his stories but the characters’ sexual orientation wasn’t confirmed at first. The confirmation started in earnest in a scene from issue #7. It shows Apollo collapsing in a battle with the forces of Sliding Albion, an alternate Earth which has fused its technology, culture and politics with an alien race. Midnighter cradles Apollo close to his chest as if it might be their last moment together. Ellis at first addressed their sexuality with a nonchalant “so what?” until a deluge of positive mail was sent by readers.
Mark Millar has taken over as writer after Ellis’ departure. Millar has confirmed that Apollo’s and Midnighter’s relationship will be still be seen in his stories. In issue #13, we see the cover to the tabloid HELLO? Magazine featuring Apollo and Midnighter in an article called “Apollo and Midnighter: A Look Around the Carrier With the World’s Finest Couple.”
The Authority attempt to recover the reincarnated soul of Jenny Sparks from a Singapore hospital ward. Their attempt fails when Dr. Krigstein, head of an ultra secret U.S. military command sends a band of super powered thugs to steal the baby. Storm-God and Tank Man brutally attack Apollo, and there are strong visual clues that lead readers to interpret that Apollo is raped by Commander. Millar has stated that he wrote the scene to be ambiguous, but confirms the outcome and any repercussions will be told in future issues.
In issue #28 Midnighter is attacked and from appearances murdered by Seth, a super human soldier who’s part of a team created by world government leaders to replace The Authority. The Engineer saves Midnighter’s life in issue #29. By the end of the story the real Authority are back. Apollo and Midnighter celebrate their love in a commitment ceremony.
Apollo possesses super strength, flight, near invulnerability, laser/ thermal vision. He draws energy from the sun and is able to store it within his body.
Midnighter is the ultimate fighting machine. He relies on both enhanced senses and mind to proccess all information and analyze all possible scenarios before a fight has even begun. Once he’s analyzed the best combination of moves, his super human agility, speed and strength allow him to follow through. It’s also been shown that because of his cybernetically enhanced senses, he can detect enhancements and brain wave activity in others.
Apollo and Midnighter first appeared in Stormwatch #4, volmume two and were confirmed gay in The Authority #7.
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Tags: Apollo, couple, gay, Midnighter, Wildstorm
i think these guys should get there on tv show or a movie
Hmmm. You know, maybe something on Logo or Here? If Dante’s Cove could run for a couple of seasons… Speaking of Dante’s Cove makes me wonder if it’s still showing or was replaced by The Lair. My cable company doesn’t get Here (or Logo for that matter).
Thanks for making a comment, too! Hope you check back often!
i love them two!
There needs to be more of these guys in comics.
Hi, Lee! I completely agree with your point! It was a shame that Midnighter and Apollo were kept separate for the most part in Midnighter’s solo book. Doing that sidestepped the issue that they’re a married couple and a pair that were created to work together.
And thanks for commenting!
I second that this should be a show on Logo!
“Are you sure I never mentioned to you that I was going to wear a superhero mask at our commitment ceremony?”
and not a person smiled at that wedding
Well, post the 9/11 DC-relaunch it looks like A & M have been moved into the DCU/DCnU proper and that their relationship has been rebooted back to potentially it’s very beginning.
Unfortunately I’m not reading the new Stormwatch series that currently has them (I would if I could but am seriously limited in the amount of comics I can get) but for those of you who do it should be interesting to follow what they’re doing with them and their new future.
Yes DC has decided to start their relationship from the very beginning in the New 52 Relaunch. Their reasoning was the the development of the relationship wasn’t shown. they were pretty much an established couple when we met them, so DC wanted to show them from rocky begginning to established couple.
for readers like me who never really got into the wildstorm comics I think it’s a great idea, and I totally agree with making a tv show or movie for not just these two but all of stormwatch. I’ve read all the published issues of the new stormwatch and now I wish I had read the Wildstorm comics earlier.
Hi, Bobby. Nice to hear you’re enjoying the new Stormwatch. My suggestion would be to stick with the material that Warren Ellis wrote if you decide to track down and read any Wildstorm stuff with Apollo and Midnighter. There’s a trade titled A Finer World that’s their introduction (Stormwatch vol 2 #4-9) and the issues Ellis wrote of The Authority, which came out of Stormwatch. I think there are around 16 issues he wrote. Mark Millar followed Ellis. He ramped up the violence or at least he wrote the characters as if they reveled in being violent. There was also a solo Midnighter book that lasted 20 issues. Garth Ennis wrote 1 – 6, followed by a number of writers before Keith Giffen started. The one single issue by Brian K Vaughn is quite good and the Ennis issues are as well, as long as you can get past the repeated slurs Ennis wrote for his villains to spout. Ennis made Midnighter and Apollo samurai lovers in #6 and that’s one of my favorite stories. Editorial decision stupidly made Midnighter a solo book, and kept the two guys largely separated. Don’t bother reading the Giffen issues.
Brubaker had a so so run with Authority. Most of anything that comes afterwards is (or should be imho) mostly ignorable.
Joe