Bleed (Wildstorm)

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The Bleed is a fictional location in the Wildstorm comics multiverse. It was created by Warren Ellis in Stormwatch Volume 2 #7 (May 1998).

The Bleed is not a universe in itself, but it is defined as the space between parallel universes. In the Wildstorm Universe, the most advanced beings can travel between parallel universes through the Bleed, or, simply, an arterial duct connecting to universes. Travelling through the Bleed is not without danger though and sometimes objects or beings get lost, appearing in times and places they were never meant to go. In addition, the Bleed has mutagenic properties that alter the make-up of any sentient being that enters it directly. The effects can be beneficial or detrimental, depending on the circumstances of the exposure.

The Bleed was officially discovered by a group of scientists working for Stormwatch. They managed to look through the Bleed at a parallel universe. Later it would be revealed that the Bleed had been discovered before; Jenny Sparks had had contact with the Bleed-travellers from Sliding Albion in the early 20th century and the Planetary had catalogued numerous Bleed incursions.

When The Authority obtained the Carrier, a vessel capable of travelling through the Bleed, Bleed incursions became far more numerous. To oversee the negative effects of these incursions, the Monarchy was created.

In the series Majestic it has been shown that the Bleed also connects the Wildstorm multiverse to the DC Universe, an idea that was also presented in Planetary/Batman: Night on Earth, allowing for crossovers.

In the Authority/Planetary crossover, it was revealed that there is a hostile force operating within the Bleed that seeks out and exterminates Earths. Its first known attack on the Wildstorm Earth was in 1931 on Rhode Island, involving eggs specifically designed to spawn Lovecraftian monsters when touched by humans; a second incursion occurred in 1999 involving killer robots that could self-replicate. The leaders of this force where shown to be a hideous reptilian version of the Authority. A storyline in the Monarchy would reveal this team to be called the High Power and the world-killing force to be Chimaera, an army made up entirely of evil alternate Authorities created by the Authority's frequent travels in the Bleed; this clashes with the Rhode Island incursion, which occurred decades before the Authority was formed.