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Fund It!: The Authority – Rebirth

By | March 17th, 2011
Posted in Columns | % Comments


On the one hand, I appreciate that Wildstorm tried to do something that truly couldn’t be done in your standard Marvel or DC superhero franchise. On the other, the current post-apocalyptic setting – while a good enough idea story-wise – really doesn’t fit in all that well with certain characters of the Wildstorm Universe. The most hamstrung – in my opinion – were The Authority, whose characters thrive in a more cosmopolitan, politically charged landscape. How can they make a return without it seeming too forced? Check out my suggestion after the cut.

I’m sorry to all the Wildcats/WildC.A.T.s (whichever is currently correct, as it seems to change every other day) fans out there, but let’s be honest: from their debut and on, The Authority have been the number one thing to come to mind upon hearing the title “Wildstorm.” That’s not to discredit the creators attached to the other Wildstorm titles at the time, it’s just that Warren Ellis’s flashy, widescreen comic featuring the most morally ambiguous superhero team one could ever think of makes for tough competition. As such, I find it odd that Wildstorm threw them under the bus after during whole World’s End affair. Mixing The Authority with the Wildcats wasn’t a bad idea in and of itself, but keeping it under The Authority title was.

Not canceling the title is understandable, though; sure, the team was no longer quite The Authority, but would you cancel a title with such a monumental name were you in charge at DC? Wildstorm has since folded, and all of their titles have been canceled. However, due to 2006’s weekly 52, the Wildstorm Universe is officially part of the DC Multiverse – a fact that has been sadly underutilized. So, where do we go from here? True, it would be nice to have the book simply shut on their story, but as Ellis’s original run was a landmark for the industry and the team are now a part of an endlessly serialized setting, I highly doubt DC will let them die off with dignity.

Here’s how I see it: The current, post-apocalyptic world of the Wildstorm universe is an interesting setting for, say, the Wildcats. Hell, it’s a pretty neat environment for Stormwatch as well. Now, while it isn’t necessarily bad to see how certain characters, such as Hawksmoor, have to deal with the environment, many other characters got shafted (poor Apollo). Even with the end of the lengthy Wildcats/Authority crossover, the team is in a state where they don’t quite belong: one of patient renewal. Sure, The Authority has always been about making a better world, but they’re also been about doing that now. The Authority really can’t be The Authority in the current Wildstorm U, so how can they continue? Simple: remove them from the Wildstorm Universe.

People, please. Put down your pitchforks and listen to me for a second. I’m not suggesting something as ridiculous as transporting The Authority into DC’s New Earth or anything like that. That would be disrespectful to characters. Nor do I want to hit some sort of reset button MacGuffin. That would be disrespectful to the creators (and has already been done in the past). What I want is for The Authority to embark on a multiverse-spanning journey searching for a way to fix their world. The team is certainly no stranger to cross-universe travel, and – as stated earlier – I see most of team as being more inclined to finding something that will help their world increase by leaps and bounds, rather than gradually making progress. This sort of lengthy odyssey would be a story that The Authority could shine in, as they run into opposition from characters such as, say, the JLA, that might disagree with their methods (I didn’t lie about transplanting them, they’re just passing through). It could also be a great way to further examine the Wildstorm U’s position in DC’s 52, and address cross-universe issues such as the existence of Planetary‘s snowflake within the 52. And, most importantly, it would be a direction to go in that wouldn’t necessarily “undo” the work of the title’s previous writers.

Okay, so this has turned into more of me making an unsolicited pitch rather than my standard “This writer and this artist should write this,” but my point still stands. While DC has no immediate plans for the former Wildstorm titles, you can be damn sure that The Authority will be making their way back eventually, and I only hope that DC thinks it through whenever the title relaunches. At its best, The Authority can be one of the most exciting and interesting superhero comics; at its worst, it’s slightly pathetic


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Walt Richardson

Walt is a former editor for Multiversity Comics and current podcaster/ne'er-do-well. Follow him on Twitter @goodbyetoashoe... if you dare!

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