Quote: Prometheus said: I don't think any of them except for Apollo and Midnighter are supposed to be specifically represenative of any pre-existing character. The fact that Swift has wings is just that....she has wings. Jack Hawksmoor is one of the most original characters I've ever seen in a comic. You simply can't compare his abilties (to communicate and talk to cities/suburban natural habitat) to any other character in comics.
If nothing else, I imagine Ellis was trying to go for an archetypical approach with the rest of the team. The Doctor, a mega-powerful modern shaman, would represent all the magic users (i.e. Doctor Fate, Doctor Strange, etc.). Engineer is Iron Man mixed with Green Lantern and taken to the next level. Hawksmoor and Jenny seem to be wholly original concepts...
Jenny Sparks is an analogy for the comic medium as a whole. The story of comics is her story. She begins her career as an Alex Raymond like space adventurer and goes through the entire history of the medium before dying and being reborn as Jenny Quantum. It's significant that her new incarnation is asian, as many people consider manga the future of the medium. (I don't agree, but it works as a metaphor).
You should really read Ellis' Stormwatch runs. Good stuff and a lot of fun watching his ideas begin to develop into what ultimately (heh) became The Authority.
