StormWatch was originally a United Nations (UN) "crisis intervention unit" founded as a successor to the Warguard: In the early 1970s, the UN's first orbital space station, Monitor One, was caught in the wake of a mysterious comet. Most of the station's staff were killed by radiation that penetrated Monitor One's shields, but a few survived and were altered by the event, changing form and gaining superhuman abilities. These survivors, including the telepath Isaiah King (formerly of Team One) and a ruthless female scientist named Dr. Nychus, became the powerful but uncontrollable Warguard, who later had to be defeated by heroes (including Team One veterans Backlash and Henry Bendix) and placed in stasis for the safety of all mankind.