Since the marriage of the WildStorm and DC universes in 2011, many of the alumni from the former house of Jim Lee have had their time in the spotlight. Grifter. Voodoo. Midnighter and Apollo. Even Michael Cray, in The Wild Storm. But now, through DC Black Label, it’s time for a hero out of time to get her chance—the Union Jack-clad Jenny Sparks, Spirit of the 20th Century, and most notorious of all the Century Babies of the WildStorm universe.
 

What’s a Century Baby?

In the lore of the WildStorm universe, every hundred years at the stroke of midnight, a small group of individuals across the world are born with great powers who will, either directly or indirectly, influence the direction of humanity for the next hundred years until their death at the century’s conclusion. Those powers are often determined by, or perhaps themselves determine, the nature of humanity’s progress over that century. What are they, really? We don’t know. Where do they come from? We don’t know that, either. Theories abound, but the true origin of the Century Babies has never been revealed. We only know that they exist. And they are neither our enemies or allies; they merely are.

There is one line of Century Baby which is present in every Century: a feminine figure who stops aging in the 19th year of the century and manifests great power and influence, always called “Jenny.” In the 18th century, there was a Jenny Revolution. In the 19th, a Jenny Steam, otherwise known as Jenny Freedom. And in the 20th century, with the worldwide spread of electric power, we had the birth of Jenny Sparks.
 

Early Life

We first meet Jenny Sparks—still an apparent teenager—near the end of her life cycle in 1996. For those last five years, Jenny was mainly inclined to keep her own secrets, so much of what we know about her early life before then comes from the 2000 miniseries Jenny Sparks: The Secret History of the Authority. Her biography reads like a grander, science fiction-tinged counter-cultural take on a global Forrest Gump. Born on January 1st, 1900, Jenny was orphaned when her parents died on the maiden voyage of the Titanic, and was sent to live with her Austrian godfather, Albert Einstein. There she befriended a young, disheartened Austrian painter, who she encouraged to find a new path for himself and embrace his gift for public speaking.

It was shortly after this that Jenny Sparks’ abilities to absorb, project and even transmute herself into electricity began to manifest. Jenny would use these powers against the transdimensional empire of Sliding Albion, and in the 1940s, as an agent of Allied Powers against the Nazis, led by her old childhood friend. Jenny had a number of romantic dalliances during this period as well—from Prince Lorenzo of Sliding Albion, to fellow Century Baby and Planetary protagonist Elijah Snow, to a certain bullwhip-wielding archeologist by the name of Dr. Jones.

In the post-war space race, Jenny was exploring the cosmos with the British Space Group long before the Soviets or the Americans in the 1950s, on a mission to protect the Earth once again from Sliding Albion. The rise of the superhero across the WildStorm universe began shortly after that, and Jenny decided to mainly leave the next few decades to them. That is, unless she were called upon to deal with Sliding Albion again…or for an occasional romantic affair, such as one she’d have with future teammate Swift.
 

Jenny Sparks, Superhero

In 1996, Jenny Sparks was pulled out of semi-retirement by Henry Bendix to join a black ops wing of the StormWatch superhero team. (Fans of Jon Kent may recognize that name as one belonging to one of the more prominent threats to the DC Universe of late.) When it became apparent that Bendix’s motivations for forming StormWatch Black were less than pure, it was Jenny who would apparently kill him for the good of humanity.

Recognizing StormWatch Black as a good idea formed by bad intentions, Jenny would reform the organization as a new team, the Authority, which would arguably become the most powerful and influential team of superhumans in the WildStorm universe. Unlike other super-teams, the Authority was launched with a proactive mission statement to change the world and its status quo for the better…by force, if necessary.

As de factor leader of the Authority, Jenny Sparks spent her very last year on Earth battling side by side with the Authority against Sliding Albion, Kaizen Gamorra, and finally, at the very end of her hundred years, striking down and killing God. Yes, the actual God, omnipotent creator of all life on Earth, returned after millions of years to wipe the planet clean. We promise we’re not making this up.
 

Successors

That marked the end of Jenny Sparks’ career, and she was succeeded right on schedule by a new Jenny on January 1st, 2000. Named Jenny Quantum for her powers over time and space, this Jenny would be adopted and raised by Jenny’s teammates, Apollo and Midnighter, in her predecessor’s memory. But she wouldn’t be the only Jenny to appear in the years to come. With a future constantly in flux, Jenny Quantum (or, as she sometimes calls herself, Jenny Quarx) has had to share the destiny of the 21st century with Jenny Fractal (deceased in 2004), Jenny Soul (current fate unknown), and as of this year’s Outsiders series, Jenny Crisis. How these figures will factor into the new Jenny Sparks series, if at all, is yet unknown.
 

The Return

So, here’s the big question. If Jenny Sparks is the spirit of the 20th century, why is she back in the new, modern day-set Black Label Jenny Sparks series?

Jenny Sparks’ last words to the Authority on New Year’s Eve, her parting message to her compatriots, was this: "Save the world. They deserve it. Be better. Or I'll come back and kick your heads in."

According to the new series, on September 11th, 2001, it became apparent that they failed. Now, one quarter of the way into the 21st century, Jenny Sparks must return to finish the business of the 20th.

How Jenny survived the end of the 20th century is a mystery yet unsolved. We know it’s likely related to the time and reality-traveling Captain Atom, a major figure in the new series who visited the WildStorm universe once before in Captain Atom: Armageddon. What has she been doing these past 25 years? How will she set right what has been wrong? Do Midnighter, Apollo, Swift and the Engineer have cause to fear for their heads? All will be revealed, probably, in Jenny Sparks.
 

Jenny Sparks #1 by Tom King and Jeff Spokes is now available in print and as a digital comic book.

Alex Jaffe is the author of our monthly "Ask the Question" column and writes about TV, movies, comics and superhero history for DC.com. Follow him on Bluesky at @AlexJaffe and find him in the DC Official Discord server as HubCityQuestion.