Number of the Beast Vol 1 3

"Verse Three: Angels From on High": On the City's waterfront, the seas have turned to blood, causing consternation for the heroine known as Seafarer. Her lover, the Midnight Rider, is waiting for her on the dock, and they worry that God is punishing them. All of this is ancillary to Captain

Number of the Beast #3 is an issue of the series Number of the Beast (Volume 1) with a cover date of July, 2008.

Synopsis for "Verse Three: Angels From on High"

On the City's waterfront, the seas have turned to blood, causing consternation for the heroine known as Seafarer. Her lover, the Midnight Rider, is waiting for her on the dock, and they worry that God is punishing them. All of this is ancillary to Captain Rosado, the officer assigned to monitor the City from outside. Down below him, there is a problem: the Eidolon will wake up soon. They can't put him back into the system, where he will alert the other subjects, but they can't leave him walking around either. Rosado decides to put him back in and hope for the best, but Sergeant Stringer thinks they should alert "CentCom" in which Rosado replies that they already do.

In a special ops-room in the Pentagon, the word reaches General William Somerset who is informed the High has woken up.

On Palatine Hill, Doctor Sin has found the High, but the hero is amnesiac, and in no fit state to deal with the pending stages of the Apocalypse - especially when his hands briefly disappear in a cloud of polygons. Doctor Sin offers to tell him everything, and the High carries him away.

Down in the City, looters are hitting most shops, much to the annoyance of the Paladins. The heroes try to talk sense into the heroes, but the Redeemer has been struck silent by the sight of a baby carriage with a hole punched clean through it. He remarks that heroes always show up the imperfections in their peers, but as Black Anvil tries to cheer him up, Hotfoot arrives, carrying a baby. The news of the Apocalypse has convinced the villain to turn his life around, and so far today he has saved 225 civilians from various accidents.

In the courtyard of the Paladins' headquarters, the High slowly begins to regain his memories - memories of his death, memories of his fights with Doctor Sin. Doctor Sin remarks that the High should "unburden" himself, and the High concurs, throwing Sin into the sky, before almost crushing the Mite, who was eavesdropping on the two men. This is a problem for Rosado and Stringer, since if Sin thinks he's dead, he'll wake up and be walking around. They decide to cheat, knock Sin unconscious so he wakes up afterward and assumes he had a "soft landing".

Down in the City, someone throws a rock at Neandra, causing her to briefly drop her "cave-woman" persona - much to the surprise of her fellow heroes. Engine Joe & Black Anvil use their incredible strength to shake the road like a carpet, knocking the rioters off their feet, just before the High flies over them. He tries to leave the City, but keeps popping back in the center of the City. Frustrated, he is met by the Eidolon, whom he recognizes from the Changers, and who tells him that the City is fake. The Eidolon then kills the High, telling him to "sleep... then wake... then know... and then get us all out of this hell."

In the bunker, the High wakes up in a tube. Half his skin is missing, and he does not look happy...

Appearing in "Verse Three: Angels From on High"

Featured Characters:

• The High (Flashback and main story)
• The Paladins
  • Seafarer
  • Midnight Rider
  • Black Anvil
  • Neandra
  • Engine Joe
  • Mago the Magician
  • Redeemer
  • Mite
  • Wallflower

Supporting Characters:

• The Eidolon
• Hotfoot

Antagonists:

• Doctor Sin (Flashback and main story)

Other Characters:

• Captain Rosado
• Sergeant Timothy Stringer
• Lieutenant Welles (First appearance)
• General William Somerset (First appearance)
• Jenny Sparks (Flashback only)
• Sophie Sterling (Flashback only)

Locations:

• Wildstorm Universe
  • Number of the Beast Bunker #1
    • The City
      • Palatine Hill
  • Skywatch (Flashback only)
  • Washington, D.C.
    • The Pentagon

Items:

Vehicles:

Notes

• At the end of the issue is a misframed quote from John Milton's Paradise Lost: "The mind is its own place, and in itself/Can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven."
• This comic included some ancillary notes on the Aeronaut, the Mite, Tumbleweed & Wallflower.
• The High remembers his death from colliding into Skywatch's forcefield depicted in StormWatch #50. Jenny Sparks, Cumberland's friend, is seen on the station as she watches the astronauts collecting the High's remains.

Trivia

• The sea of blood is a reference to Revelation 8:8 from the Book of Revelation: Then the second angel blew his trumpet, and a great mountain of fire was thrown into the sea. One-third of the water in the sea became blood.
• Midnight Rider quotes the fifth line ("The blood-dimmed tide is loosed...") from W. B. Yeats' "The Second Coming" as she describes the sea of blood.
• The archrivalry between the High and Dr. Sin mirrors the iconic rivalry between Superman and Lex Luthor. Even Dr. Sin menaced a Lois Lane analogue (Sophie Sterling) whom Cumberland must save.
• Neandra comments on the High resembling Gary Cooper, an American actor whose career sustained a screen persona that represented the ideal American hero.

See Also

• Cover gallery for the Number of the Beast series
• Images from Number of the Beast Vol 1 3

Recommended Reading

• StormWatch #48
• StormWatch #49
• StormWatch #50

Links and References

• wildstormresource