| abstract
| - Comic Book series written by Warren Ellis and drawn (mostly) by John Cassaday, focusing on a team of "mystery archaeologists" employed by the eponymous "Planetary" organisation, who were on a quest to expose the secret history of the Wildstorm comic book universe and harness the fantastic technologies and advances that had been hidden by various malevolent forces. The main characters were:
* Elijah Snow -- A reclusive and grumpy "Century Baby"; a super-human born at 0 Midnight on the 1st of January 1900 which, as with others sharing that birthday, had granted him virtual immortality and special abilities -- in his case, the ability to freeze things with his mind.
* Jakita Wagner -- A beautiful and easily-bored superstrong speedster who worked with the organisation primarily because it stopped her from getting bored (by, among other things, giving her the opportunity to beat up various monsters, aliens and giant ants).
* The Drummer -- A mad technophile who had the ability to visualise any and all forms of information and to communicate with computer systems and other forms of technology.
* The Fourth Man -- A major mystery in the comic. He funds Planetary and hand picked the field team, but remains behind the scenes. In their exploits, they were opposed by The Four, a quartet of super-powered ex-astronauts who were at the centre of a deep under-government conspiracy to keep the various wonders and marvels of the universe hidden from the population, and who bore a disconcerting resemblance to a certain family of superheroes who can be found in the Marvel Universe. The series is essentially Ellis' exploration of popular culture, and the "real-world" ramifications of many of the more far-out concepts that could be found within a century's worth of Speculative Fiction, comic books and popular culture, as seen through the distorting-mirror lens of the Wildstorm Universe. As such, as well as the alternate versions of the Four, an entire back history is composed linking the pulp fiction heroes of the 1920s and 1930s (including versions of Doc Savage and The Shadow) with The Silver Age of Comic Books and, eventually, The Modern Age of Comic Books, with tangents into 1950s sci-fi movies, 1960s spy movies, Japanese monster movies, the Vertigo Comics of the 1980s (including versions of The Sandman and John Constantine) and countless more besides. In fact, pretty much the only appearing characters who aren't based in some way on existing characters are the main characters themselves (except for a special issue which featured different versions of Batman, and a League of Extraordinary Gentlemen homage which, wittily, used the actual Sherlock Holmes, Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, and so on). The final issue was released 2009-10-14, and ties up the series' run. In addition to the main series, there were three crossover one-shots: Planetary / The Authority: Ruling the World (2000), Planetary / JLA: Terra Occulta (2002), and Planetary / Batman: Night on Earth. (Alternate universes were involved for the two DC Universe crossovers.)
- Planetary was published by DC Comics under the WildStorm imprint. Price per issue was $2.99
- Mario Collazo (better known by his stage name Planetary) is an underground rapper from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Collazo is one half of the rap duo OuterSpace and is a member of Army of the Pharaohs. Planetary is also the brother-in-law of Crypt the Warchild & King Syze, who is also a member of Army of the Pharaohs.
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