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Friday Recommendation: The Authority

By | February 26th, 2010
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There are certain things that I feel like everyone reading comics should have read during their lives. There are the things that the casual reader comes in to read (like anything with the name Alan Moore on the cover, except maybe Tom Strong – no disrespect for Tom Strong), and then there are the things that us as diehard comic book fans HAVE to read. Well, a wiser man than me once said that if we had never had the Authority, we wouldn’t have books like the Ultimates by Mark Millar, and I believe this is inherently true. The Authority helped to define the widescreen team action book that most of us have grown to love, and you have Warren Ellis and Bryan Hitch to thank for that.

I think first and foremost, I should just mention that I haven’t read Stormwatch. I gravitated to the Authority due to my love of Planetary (and the two have crossed over) and started with the first trade, Relentless. I’ve since been trying to find the Stormwatch trades, but two (including the last one) are out of print, so it’s not the easiest task. That being said, you can enjoy Authority without reading Stormwatch.

Moving on.

The Authority is arguably Wildstorm’s most profitable franchise that still exists. I could be saying this due to a general lack of knowledge of how long certain Wildstorm titles have existed, but the fact that the Authority is still on stands, with two on-going titles (the main one well into it’s fifth volume), says to me that the Authority has done pretty well for Wildstorm. Plus, when you have a title that’s so rich with crossovers and spin-offs by all-star creators like Garth Ennis, and the main title has seen such talent as Grant Morrison, Ed Brubaker, Frank Quitely, the two Nguyens, and Marvel’s Cosmic powerteam Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, you have to at least give Warren Ellis and Bryan Hitch a big kudos for some of the biggest characters not in a major universe.

So where did it all begin? Well, in the aforementioned Stormwatch, of course! Wildstorm used to be owned by Image back in the day, and was being pioneered by one Jim Lee. Well, when DC Executives came along and bought up Wildstorm, they also got Warren Ellis to take over the title. And take over he did! Bringing in a brand new team of characters and (to my knowledge) basically changing most things to fit his vision, Ellis brought the first volume to it’s knees. In fact, one of the most important villains Ellis introduced was the old director of Stormwatch, Henry Bendix (who David claims is one of the greatest villains ever and, with Ellis writing, I’d be inclined to agree). Stormwatch is also where Ellis introduced the concept of the Bleed, heavily used in Planetary and all of Wildstorm after that, which allowed for multiversal travel. After two trades worth of issues, the title relaunched as volume 2 with even more characters, and soon Ellis destroyed the Stormwatch corporation, allowing for a complete character reboot. How did he do this? Well, with Aliens! And by Aliens, I of course do mean the horrific monsters that have been the bane of Sigourney Weaver’s life (or four films). So with every character Warren Ellis didn’t create/care for dead, it was time to relaunch the title with a new motto and creed.

Enter: The Authority!

Jenny Sparks, Jack Hawksmoor, Swift, The Engineer, The Doctor, Midnighter and Apollo. Seven characters who are absolutely fed up with working in the system and who have decided that it’s time they run their own show. It’s time for someone new to make the tough calls that no one else seems to want to. The Authority may not be the heroes you want, but they are the heroes you need (sorry, Batman).

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As the first volume of the Authority begins, we are treated (that might be an odd word to use) to the destruction of Moscow at the hands of an absolutely maniac. Cue two surviving Stormwatch operatives, now in desk jobs, struggling to deal with the news and knowing that if Stormwatch still existed they’d be able to do something about it. I guess then that it’s a good thing that Jenny Sparks magically (scientifically, really) appears out of nowhere to gather some information from them and their computers! Why? Because she’s going to solve it. See, Jenny has formed the aforementioned team (without public knowledge or consent) to take over in Stormwatch’s place. When disaster strikes, you’ve got to bring in the big guns, and there is no bigger gun than Jenny Sparks and her team of misfit superheroes. And when the same terrorist again attacks in Jenny’s hometown of London, England, it’s time to whip out the Authority and kick some ass.

What makes the Authority so great is that, in a world of Justice League and Avengers analogues, this is a group of characters that are almost entirely original while at the same time being obvious analogues. Take Apollo and Midnighter, for example. Right off the bat there are obvious parallels to Superman and Batman, respectively. Apollo’s powers are fueled by the sun, and the Midnighter’s dark dress and demeanor, as well as martial arts expertise, is an obvious comment on Batman. But then when you start looking at the character BEYOND this point, you have a fully three dimensional character who exists perfectly in his own world, which can’t be said for a lot of analogues beyond their original point. Aside from the fact that Apollo and Midnight are lovers, each character distinctly represents the ambiguity present in the existence of the Authority. Midnighter has abilities someone like Batman will never have, and Apollo feels no qualms against crossing the boundaries Superman refuses to. The further and further you get into the story, the more complex the characters become, and they are arguably one of the coolest super-couples in all of comics. And, not to be a spoiler jerk, but that first arc ends with the Midnighter flying the Authority’s ship (the Carrier) straight into the tower of the villain, killing him and his hold over his minions as he screams about how he just wanted to have fun. Yeah. Let’s see Batman do that one.

On a related note, I defy anyone to read the first twelve issues of the Authority and not fall in love with Jenny Sparks on some level. Jenny is the spirit of the twentieth century, a character who has been alive for the past hundred years in order to help fuel some of the most important events in history, as well as guarantee the planet’s survival. She’s also Warren Ellis’ favorite character I’m guessing, judging on the intense focus he gives to the character, as well as the fact she is definitely the best written character in the entire book (oh, and how he doesn’t let anyone else write her by killing her off at the end of his terribly short run). Jenny is a tacticle wiz, a flirt, and an incredibly bad ass character when she needs to be, and she most definitely defines the role of a strong female leader character in a comic book without a revealing costume or a bust size ten times too large for Barbie.

When you enter into that first volume, you are going to get exactly what one would expect from Warren Ellis in a super-team book. The Authority is a sharp book written with lots of dark humor, high octane action, and in-depth commentary of society all in one. I think, based on what we’ve previously discussed, that if you combined the action and humor of Nextwave with the intense amazingness of Planetary, then you’d get something like the Authority. When I got my trades of Warren Ellis’ run on the book (just 12 issues), I immediately devoured them within the span of about a day. The quick pace of the book makes for a read you never want to put down, and when it’s over you’re wondering how you got through it so fast. You got through it so fast because it’s so damn good you didn’t want to put it down, that’s how!

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And oh, sweet lord, the artwork by Bryan Hitch… I’m not trying to say he peaked, but this book is beautiful. I’ve seen Hitch do some AMAZING pieces, and anyone who read the last issue of Ultimates 2 knows what I’m talking about. Even despite that amazing spread, I have to point out every page of the Authority, because it just looks absolutely amazing. One of the main things you will hear about the Authority is that it was a pioneer of the “widescreen” format of comics, and what people mean by that is that the book regularly features two page spreads of scenes that are too incredible to exist. If you remember Hitch’s run with Millar on the Fantastic Four book, I would say take all the two page spreads he did in that, as amazing as they were, and multiple it by a thousand. That’s where the Authority is at. I could re-read my books for days just because the art is so well done, and it helps match Ellis’ verbal pace perfectly. Besides, when your writer tells you that your superteam is going to go fight God, how else can you draw it except with every full page you’re given?

As a note – I do know a lot of people have commentary when it comes to gratuitous use of full page spreads as well as splashes. The thing to realize is that was half the point of the Authority, in a sense. It was this big and grandiose tale of super heroics in an angle that hadn’t really been covered before, and in many cases this meant absolute destruction and disregard for human life. That’s why, right off the bat in the second issue, you have the Authority looking at an attack on London while standing in the middle of it in a gorgeous splash by Hitch. It feels entirely appropriate and is usually only used in the “big smash” scenes.

(As a closing point on that, I would like to state that for me to try and find all the cool moments in the Authority and post them as pictures here would be impossible because to do so I would have to flat out pirate the comic books and put them online, and we are all aware on my thoughts on this now, right?)

So where does the Authority go? Well, past the first arc, the story becomes less about simple super heroics with a mild undertone of social commentary then it does obvious social commentary on us as a society within the context of super heroics. The reason the Authority exists is because we and our governments are too selfish and greedy to be allowed to run on our own as the Justice League might have you believe (all cosmic threats aside and attacks from God aside). While Ellis and Hitch mainly focused on the presentation of this brand new super team within the context of this new world, it was actually Mark Millar and Frank Quitely that really started to dissect the characters and bring about some of the intense influence that the Authority has had. After a 12 issue run with Ellis and Hitch, Millar and Quitely started off with a bang right where they left off (with the birth of Jenny Quantum, the spirit of the 21st century), and brought the social commentary to the forefront of the tale with scenes like Apollo dropping a foreign dictator out of the sky and bringing in a group of refugees into the Authority’s ship. This, of course, upsets the “powers that be,” and the government rages against the Authority, doing their best to kill and replace the team. In this situation, obvious social commentary is clearly obvious (and as a side note, the replacement team is pretty hilarious). If you think my simple description is that obvious, wait until you read the book as the characters flat out state what is “going on.” Thankfully, this doesn’t take away from the book at all, and those who are generally weary of Mark Millar’s insane writing style will be pleased with his more streamlined pace as well tone in his run on the Authority.

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Plus, one of the things Millar does that Ellis didn’t do (but touched on) is flesh out the Authority as very broken characters. The Authority have a huge task on their shoulders, and not all of them can handle it appropriately. At first the world celebrates the Authority, and this leads to mass parties on the Carrier, as well as drug usage and orgies (no, it’s not shown in the title). The team’s resident shaman, the Doctor, even has a heroine overdose, which leads to Millar’s second big arc that puts the world in great danger. It’s a nice pace to see such damaged heroes, and not in ways akin to Garth Ennis’ the Boys. The Authority still want to protect us, but they also want to live their lives to whatever fantasy that may entail. It gives a much more human approach to the characters while at the same time – wait for it – offers obvious social commentary! See, the Authority for a brief time become as wrapped up in fame as any celebrity you read about in a tabloid, so when the Earth begins to rebel against us, what is the public supposed to do – rely on a coked out Doctor? I’m going to guess not.

The Authority go on and on throughout the history of comics, and probably always will. At one point the even get so fed up with humanity that they take over the planet by force and become the single governing force. I will admit that I have not read beyond Millar and Quitely’s run on the title, although I do own the issues of the Lost Year currently coming out (due to it being a continuation of Morrison’s aborted run). It’s not that I have anything against the future runs. Far from it. I just find that with a title like the Authority, it’s hard to get through so many years of different stories and continuity when you’re as late in the game as I was. Plus, David tells me not to, and some days I trust David.

My initial recommendation is to check out the first volume as a whole (Ellis/Hitch and Millar/Quitely), all of which are available in trade now. I can’t see anyway you’d possibly regret it.

Unless you hate good comics. Then you might hate this.


//TAGS | Friday Recommendation

Matthew Meylikhov

Once upon a time, Matthew Meylikhov became the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Multiversity Comics, where he was known for his beard and fondness for cats. Then he became only one of those things. Now, if you listen really carefully at night, you may still hear from whispers on the wind a faint voice saying, "X-Men Origins: Wolverine is not as bad as everyone says it issss."

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