The Authority: Relentless

For those of us who grew up on Marvel comics and switched to Vertigo when we hit adulthood, the Authority is a great compromise between the joy of a good fight scene and the subtlety and themes more often found in Sandman or Transmetropolitan. The characters are almost frighteningly powerful and unrepentant, there is no angst and few if any thought bubbles, though the brilliant, cutting dialogue more than makes up for the lack of introspection. An earlier reviewer complained that not enough was made of the gay couple, but I think the portrayal was just right: there were no endless defenses of gay lifestyle, no questioning, no "I say I'm gay but really I'm just confused and waiting for the right heterosexual partner". Instead, a couple of tough guys, clearly in love, are shown in the same matter-of-fact light as any heterosexual comic book couple. About bloody time.

This volume is made up of two stories, "the Outer Dark" representing the end of the Warren Ellis/Bryan Hitch first year run of the book, and "the Nativity" the start of the controversial Mark Millar/Frank Quitely run on the title.While it isn't quite the breathless trip that the first two Authority story arcs were (collected in the see "the Authority: Relentless" trade paperback), it represents a fine ending to the Ellis/Hitch run and features the last bow of a memorable character, one after my own ex-leftie heart. (By the way, they take on God, but not the diety you're thinking of,...) "The Nativity" starts off with the Authority lashing out against the government of Indonesia, which had hired "irregulars" to brutalize East Timorese into sanctioning their abusive regime in an upcoming election, and sending a message to the governments of the world: "we will not tolerate the human rights abuses by anyone, be they invaders from other worlds, "supervillains" or even, soveriegn states",... and this triggers the first of a series of counter strikes, this one launched by the ultimate cold warrior, a creative genius with his own plans for humanity. Both a satire of the conventions of the comic book superhero genre; the culture of celebrity in the this country; and an indirect indictment of abusive governments everywhere; "The Nativity" made both Mark Millar and Frank Quitely's careers in the US, and both rapidly moved onward and upward to far more lucrative assignments; but to date this remains some of thier finest work for American publishers, and its well worth a read.

Make no mistake about it, boys and girls: The Authority is the promise of superhero comics fulfilled at long last. "Relentless" collects the first eight issues of Warren Ellis' run on The Authority, along with the efforts of his visual collaborators Bryan Hitch (who has come a long way since his uuuugly fill-in days on Uncanny X-Men), Paul Neary and Laura DePuy. Warren said it: "for twelve issues, we were the f***ing Beatles". That they were. Hitch's exquisite detail in each and every splash page is simultaneously epic and romantic, but also in-your-face visceral. But it'd all amount to nothing if not for the beautiful color job by DePuy, who has turned computer coloring into an essential element of the storytelling.There are those who criticize that Authority lacks in characterization and while these arguments do carry weight, these people plainly fail to realize one thing: superhero comics are not soap operas. This is a fact that seems to have been forgotten so much over the years of superhero comics, that the original intent of the genre has been lost: these are meant to be stories of action and wonder. If you're looking for Watchmen or Dark Knight Returns or any kind of deep, subtle, literary masterpiece ... look elsewhere (like Ellis' Planetary). If you want to see a 70-foot-tall woman made of electricity destroy a fleet of fighter jets from a parallel Britain... come on in. Besides, these heroes' personalities are so potent that, when they get a good one-liner in, it counts for so much more than balloons of pedantic dialogue in another title. The words are sharp, and so are these heroes. The sarcastic, world-weary leader, Jenny Sparks; the aloof drug-addict/shaman, The Doctor; and The Engineer, a woman with nine pints of micro-robots for blood, who is awed by the things she sees in a typical work day with The Authority ("Worth giving up a life for."). There's also Apollo and The Midnighter, fast becoming comics' most famous couple; Jack Hawksmoor and Shen Li-Min of StormWatch Black."The Circle" is the story of The Authority facing their first global threat: thousands of superhumans, at the command of a mad terrorist, intent on annihilating three of Earth's major cities. The only thing that stands between them and their goal? The ex-members of StormWatch Black, two tremendously powerful rookies, and a pair of semi-retirees. "Shiftships" deals with a threat from Jenny Sparks' past that comes screaming into the skies over present-day Los Angeles. A stagnant, parallel Britain invades Earth, with a motive that is, sadly, all too realistic in this day and age. This forces The Authority to a solution that will forever change the scales of global political power if successful. Fans of intelligent, big-budget science-fiction will absolutely fall head-over-heels in love with The Authority. If you liked The Matrix, Aliens, Star Wars, The Terminator movies... heck, even Independence Day... you will not be disappoin

In the '70's comic book writers began to add greater depth of characterization and take on adult themes, and for the most part this was a welcome change. Books like Alan Moore's Miracleman and V for Vendetta; Los Bros Hernandez' Love & Rockets; Garth Ennis work on Hellblazer and Preacher; (and so many others) did more than entertain, they actually enriched my life. It was (and still is) a great time to be reading comics.Yet the attempt to add meaning can become portentious or simply pretentious. Over-complex characterization can result in intermindable soap operas that go nowhere. And sometimes, you just want to "kick it" (in both senses of the phrase). In this sense, Warren Ellis & Bryan Hitch's twelve issue run on The Authority (the first 8 of which are reprinted here) represents a breath of fresh air. Yes, it helps to have read Stormwatch, but then it helps to have read Batman before reading JLA. Ellis does introduce interesting ideas & character development; but he does so in a piecemeal fashion the better to keep the emphasis on the action. And for once it's worth it.People called The Authority, "the JLA (or the Avengers) finally done right," and I have to agree. Ellis & Hitch do it so well! Realistic cinematic art with a touch of grandeur, incredible world-shattering threats, Jenny Sparks "appallingly bad attitude," and a group willing and able to force change on a global scale, not just to neutralize the enemy but to build "a finer world" whatever the vested interests arrayed against them. It's been a wild ride and great fun to boot: the comic book equivalent of a really well made summer blockbuster action movie. Turn off your brain and give it a try. (Again) for once, it's worth it.

I have to disagree with the previous reviewer. Ellis, Hitch, and Neary (and the colorist, whose name escapes me) did a fantastic job in their 12-issue run on Authority. I picked up the issues without having read a page of Stormwatch and wasn't lost at all. Yes, several of the characters are from that series, but you DON'T need to have read Stormwatch to appreciate The Authority. This is big-screen entertainment. Very well written and the artwork will make you gasp.