Triad

TRIAD

Membership: Attica, H.A.R.M., Slag

Alias: Troika

Base of Operations: NYC, NY, Earth-50

First Appearance: WildC.A.T.S: Covert Action Teams (Image) #1 (August, 1992)

History: (WildC.A.T.S: Covert Action Teams (Image) #0, 2) - Gnome was a freebooter who sought the Orb of Power and sold information about Kherubim gifted ones to Jacob Marlowe, who was assembling the WildC.A.T.S., a strikeforce to combat the Daemonite invasion of Earth. He employed Coda warriors and the Triad as his hired muscle. Daemonite Helspont and the Cabal were seeking out both gifted ones and the Orb of Power. Cabal member Alberto Cassini sold out his group, revealing the location of gifted one Priscilla Kitaen to Gnome in exchange for money. Grifter and Zealot were seeking the gifted one who had “the sight,” the ability to see and exorcise Daemonites, and were on Gnome’s trail. Gnome ordered the Triad to attack them, and Zealot insisted Grifter find Kitaen while she dealt with them. Priscilla was an exotic dancer working under the stage name of Voodoo, and Grifter found her at the Hot Spot. Gnome sold the information he had on Voodoo to Jacob Marlowe, saying he didn’t want money, but a favor with no questions asked. The WildC.A.T.S. saved Voodoo from the Cabal, and later confronted the Cabal at S.D.I. Astronomics, where they were attempting to use the Orb of Power to open a gateway to the Daemonite homeworld. Vice president Dan Quayle was possessed by a Daemonite, and he sicced the government superteam Youngblood on the WildC.A.T.S. Gnome was pleased the events he orchestrated went exactly as planned, and sent the Triad to retrieve the Orb of Power for him.

(WildC.A.T.S: Covert Action Teams (Image) #3, 4) - The WildC.A.T.S. and Youngblood clashed, with Spartan trying to explain that Dan Quayle was possessed, but his pleas fell on deaf ears. Pike noticed that some of the WildC.A.T.S. were absent from the fight and took coda warrior Devin to the Astronomics control center, where Helspont and M’koi were opening the gateway to the Daemonite homeworld with the Orb. The rest of the WildC.A.T.S. appeared and attacked them. Gnome, who’d been playing the WildC.A.T.S. and Cabal against each other, broke into the Orb’s containment facility with the help of the Triad. Youngblood beat their opponents, but knew something was wrong when Dan Quayle pulled a handgun and prepared to execute Voodoo. Shaft tried to stop him, but Quayle shot him, with the bullet grazing Shaft’s head. Voodoo exorcised B’lial from Dan Quayle. The Cabal fended off the WildC.A.T.S. long enough to open a stargate with the Orb, and an armada of Daemonite warships poured forth. Youngblood and the WildC.A.T.S. fought Helspont. Spartan, willing to fight to the end, removed the relay switch, causing an explosion that blew him up but shut down the main control system, shutting the stargate. Helspont was furious that 30 years of work and planning on his part came to nothing, but vowed to snatch victory from defeat by claiming possession of the Orb. He opened the reactor core to find the Orb missing. Gnome and the Triad revealed themselves, with Gnome showing that he had control of the Orb claiming to rightfully belonged to him, and him alone. He blasted Helspont, critically injuring him. Void warned him that the Orb’s powers had become unstable, but he simply blasted her with it. Jacob Marlowe ordered him to drop the Orb, and Gnome reminded him he owed him a favor, which was to stay out of his way. Marlowe was fine with breaking his promise, shooting off the arm Gnome was holding the Orb with. The arm and Orb fell into a reactor and Gnome dove in to try to save his precious Orb. The Orb caused the reactor to go critical, and Youngblood, the Cabal and Triad all fled the facility. Marlowe lent his power to the weakened Void, allowing her to teleport the WildC.A.T.S. to safety. They celebrated with champagne, but Voodoo said she wasn’t in the mood for a victory lap because Spartan had to sacrifice himself to save the day. Marlowe showed her one of Spartan’s cyber-synthetic bodies, and said his mind and memories were currently being downloaded into it.

(WildC.A.T.S: Covert Action Teams (Image) #10-12) - Immortal sorceress Tapestry hired Triad and Providence to attack the WildC.A.T.S. Jacob Marlowe was meeting with his old friend Alabaster Wu, who’d piloted a starship across thousands of worlds trying to escape the Raksha. A Raksha had possessed Voodoo, who convinced the WildC.A.T.S that Wu was the enemy and was trying to kill Marlowe. Void warped the WildC.A.T.S to Marlowe’s side, only to be ambushed by the Triad. The WildC.A.T.S realized Voodoo had betrayed them and engaged in battle with the Triad, who’d learned from their previous encounters, making them much more formidable opponents. Providence and Void fought, with Providence reminding her they were both incarnations of the Orbs of Power, the only difference between them being who they chose to serve. The Triad were victorious, and Tapestry and her lover Soma paid them off, saying their business was concluded. Attica said they couldn’t call their victory complete until Zealot and Grifter, who were missing from the battle, were defeated, so Tapestry agreed to give them a new assignment. Zealot, Huntsman and Miranda Tai rushed to the scene, with Zealot suffering from septic shock due to her injuries she’d suffered during the fight with the Raksha. At the sight of Tapestry Zealot decided they should make a tactical retreat. She contacted Savant, calling in a favor, and in turn Savant got in contact with Soldier and Majestic. Tapestry and Soma kept the WildC.A.T.S in captivity, but Providence refused to leave Void’s side, saying they both served a higher power. Tapestry told her she didn’t understand her own power or what she was a fragment of. She melded Void and Providence together, intending to fuse them into an Orb of Power for her own use. Tapestry probed Jacob Marlowe’s memories and the formation of his WildC.A.T.S. She then changed the past, so that Zealot killed Grifter and Tapestry killed Lord Emp to protect him. She promised him that if he gave himself to her body and soul they would be unstoppable together. The Triad pursued Zealot, Miranda and Huntsman, with H.A.R.M. launching missiles that scorched whole city blocks in Brooklyn. Attica was concerned about the attention they were attracting and suggested moving in for the kill in close quarters. Tapestry continued to reweave the histories and souls of the WildC.A.T.S making them into her loyal servants. Voodoo’s Raksha demanded to be fed, so Lord Emp called his assistants Jules and Stansfield to meet them and act as a sacrifice. Voodoo rebelled against hurting her friends, fighting the Raksha on the psychic plane. Huntsman was prepared to make a final stand against the Triad, asking Zealot to guard Miranda. Zealot’s wounds she’d suffered from the Raksha grew infected and she felt herself becoming possessed., but fought off the demonic control. Huntsman fought bravely, but was seemingly incinerated by Slag, who was always pleased to inflict pain. Miranda had a violent reaction to Huntsman’s seeming passing and Zealot went into battle against the Triad, but was surprised to find Huntsman unharmed. Zealot tapped into her magical abilities, casting a spell that turned Slag back into a human being. Huntsman was impressed, but Zealot told him she’d just damned her soul. Savant, Majestic and Soldier arrived in time to take out the rest of the Triad, but Savant was distraught that they’d arrived after Zealot had been forced to cast a spell. Grifter arrived on the scene to offer his support as they prepared to confront Tapestry. Tapestry was watching them through a scrying spell and gloated that Zealot’s soul would forever belong to her.

Comments: Created by Jim Lee & Brandon Choi.

Triad was originally published by Wildstorm Comics, an imprint of Image Comics, which DC acquired the rights to in January, 1999.

Triad's appearance in WildC.A.T.S: Covert Action Teams (Image) #1 was reprinted in Millennium Edition: WildC.A.T.S: Covert Action Teams #1. Their appearance in WildC.A.T.S: Covert Action Teams (Image) #2-4, 10-12 was reprinted in Absolute WildC.A.T.S, WildC.A.T.S: Covert Action Teams (Image) #0, 2-4, 10-12 was republished by DC Comics in a digital format.