The title of the second volume of collected StormWatch issues, StormWatch: Lightning Strikes, is a reference to the electrical powers of Jenny Sparks, one of the members that Warren Ellis created upon his assumption of the writing chores on this book. It's a good reference to make, because although this collection spotlights several StormWatch members in turn, the issue devoted to her back story is your reason to buy this volume.

These StormWatch collections chronicle Ellis's dismantling of a superhero team that, prior to his arrival, could arguably be viewed as an example of how bad things got in mainstream comics in the Nineties. While the first volume was sort of Ellis's short sharp shock to the StormWatch status quo, this volume is his meditation on how screwed up both the world and its heroes really are.

One story details Jack Hawksmoor's hunt for a federally protected madman is disturbing and absurdist to the nth degree. Another tells how Battalion's single-handed defeat of an anti-government militia group in Jacksonville, Alabama still can't earn respect or safety for the black man in a racist society. In a different story, the very logic of the dangerous presence of superhumans amongst 'normals' is challenged while the members of StormWatch Black, Red and Prime discover on an awkward night of bar-hopping that they can barely stand to be around each other outside of a crisis.

But while these stories are interesting, the real meat is in Jenny's recounting of her previously unknown history. Turns out she's as old as the twentieth century (these stories originally appeared in 1996-97) and her 'adventures' as a superhero through the years drove her to alcoholism and retirement by the Eighties. If that sounds a bit histrionic, just wait until you find out what she witnessed along the way -- it's surprising that she stuck around at all.

All of this is calculated to lay the final groundwork in the reader's mind for the need to further alter the group's dynamic, while strengthening StormWatch's global jurisdiction. As Weatherman, the group's Machiavellian altruist says, "Our world holds too many secrets, and too many of those secrets are lethal to us". As upcoming volumes are sure to tell, uncovering the world's secrets makes you very unpopular with the wrong people.

I've been avoiding discussing the artwork in this volume because frankly, it's god-awful. Rather than rising to the challenge of Ellis's mature scripts, Tom Raney's work is visibly worse than before. A fill-in/return by series creator Jim Lee for the last installment of this volume is all full-page illustrations with Weatherman's after-the-fact report to the U.N. Special Security Council as the only narrative. The report's dry sarcasm and contempt for its audience reads like a reflection of Ellis's own contempt of the superheroic shtick he's deconstructing. I wonder if his boss knew he was being made fun of at the time? Or ever?

In short, don't buy this collection for the art, and don't read it if you like your superheroes simple and pure. Buy it if you want to witness Warren Ellis dance on the graves of your adolescent fantasies. Sound disturbing? Ask Jenny Sparks about 'disturbing'.

I love Jenny Sparks.

The 100-year-old woman made of electricity. "The Spirit of the 20th Century". Call her what you will... but I love her. I know what you're thinking, too: another comic geek with a crush on an imaginary woman. Why not just get him spayed now? Well, while there's some validity to the latter part of that statement, I'm not obsessed with Ms. Sparks because she wears tight, revealing spandex or has watermelon breasts. Quite the opposite, actually. I think she may be one of the best characters created in comics recently, simply for the fact she has none of these so-called 'attributes'. Jenny's smart, funny, beautiful and wise, and, while she's too old to come off as anything but a hardened cynic, the very reason she's joined StormWatch contradicts that outward shell: she wants to make a better world (That, and she's one of the few characters in comics history allowed a dignified ending--- see Authority #12).

So, in the midst of all this adoration, I'm tempted to say that this entire book is worth the price of admission just for the chapter focusing on Jenny. But there's more, lucky us.

Of the five issues collected in this edition, nearly all deal with an individual member of StormWatch. The first focuses on Jack Hawksmoor, the man who speaks to cities, investigating something that appears to be a politically-motivated murder, but turns out to be something else entirely. The third chapter deals with Jackson King (formerly Battalion, the angry black man with big guns... X-Men's Bishop, anyone?), who is kidnapped by American isolationist terrorists who resent StormWatch's presence in their country. Chapter Four is titled "Rose Tattoo", after the mute assassin whom Weatherman Henry Bendix recruited to the team, but keeps her under armed guard whenever she's not in action. While the bulk of the story actually deals with a group of StormWatch officers (Jenny's among them, thank god) participating in what may be the first-ever planetary bar-hop, the action surrounding Rose shows us a chilling side of Weatherman that will become more evident in the next volume. Chapter five is a collection of big, loud splash pages of pure action, no dialogue (just the odd caption), as members of StormWatch: Prime and Red battle a cave of ancient alien predators. This chapter is illustrated by SW co-creator and comics superstar Jim Lee. Hence, the story may give you headaches, but the art more than makes up for it.

Then... there's chapter two. Jenny Sparks tells her life story to Jackson King. And what a life it is. Fans of Planetary, Ellis' current WildStorm title which delves into comics' history with a wink and a nudge, will doubtless enjoy the hell out of this chapter. Jenny's life story is illustrated in the styles of comics from each respective era she describes. Siegel & Shuster. Eisner. Swan. Kirby. Robert Crumb (!). Neal Adams (er... I think, anyway). Tom Raney even does Dave Gibbons, in a particularly effective Watchmen homage. This is the history of comics in 24 pages, folks, complete with Jenny Sparks' trademark 'don't f--- with me' attitude and with an ending that's perfect in summing up who Jenny -- and the literal spirit of the twentieth century --- is.

Tom Raney really outdoes himself on the art in this edition, creating dead-on facial expressions in Ch.4, the fast-paced action of ch.3, and the evocative artist homages in Ch.2.

Don't be misled: this book DOES "count". There are definitely plot elements, in "Rose Tattoo" and "Battalion" that carry into Change or Die, and tie back to Force of Nature, respectively; and though I run the risk of beating this matter to death, Jenny Sparks' life story is not to be missed.

Although I harped on StormWatch: Force of Nature for being too episodic, this edition doesn't bother me as much, even though it's, by nature, more episodic. It's mostly the fact that these stories aren't as much 'standard superhero fare' as the stories in Force of Nature. Lightning Strikes reads like an album of fast-paced and fun pop singles, that are more action/intrigue-oriented than focusing on superhero adventure.

It's all that and a history lesson from the oldest superwoman on the planet. I ask you, what more could you want from your comics, kids?

For fans of "The Authority" (the book which "StormWatch" eventually grew into), this volume presents the first appearances of some of the team's strongest members. It is in "Lightning Strikes" that we learn the history of Jack Hawksmoor, Jenny Sparks, and Shen.

Yes, the stories in this book are more episodic than the other three tpbs, but the history laid out here is a must read for current fans.