The Authority: Earth Inferno and Other Stories

After Warren Ellis left "The Authority", Mark Millar arrived on the scene. Millar was the batman of his friend Grant Morrison throughout the 90s, working with him on such properties as Marvel's cult "Skrull Kill Krew" and DC's "JLA" and "Aztek: The Ultimate Man"; being exposed to Morrison's brand of high-octane weirdness is certainly a winning apprenticeship for following Ellis, and Millar gets his shot at the big-time here. For fans of his future Marvel work, the political themes and satirical characterization that would later mark "The Ultimates" and the like can clearly be seen. Ellis mostly left the characters' politics unsaid, but Millar puts it centre-stage through the course of his run (though this is the story arc where it is least-apparent). Millar's first arc on "The Authority" dealt with the fallout of the death of Jenny Sparks in Ellis' final arc, leaving the team to be led by Jack Hawksmoor (the "god of cities", a man modified by aliens to exist in an urban environment), the rest of the team being Swift (basically DC's Hawkgirl, though Asian), Apollo (Superman analogue), and Midnighter (Batman analogue) (the two are also gay, which is handled as a background detail), members of previous groups, return; they are joined by two new characters, the Doctor (an incredibly powerful magician) and the Engineer (a woman with nine pints of nanotechnology in lieu of blood, which she extends over her nude body to form a metal skin and weaponry in battle); the gap in the roster was filled, in a sense, by the discovery of baby Jenny Quantum, the Spirit of the 21st Century, although it will be some time until she's old enough to take part in the group's adventures. Millar's second arc, "Earth Inferno", is also follow-up to Ellis' final arc, using "God"'s attempt to remake the Earth as its starting point: the Earth was frightened by this, and a rogue former Doctor who used his powers for evil takes advantage of this to convince the Earth to try and exterminate humanity. All this is part of his design to get out of prison, where, restored to his old powerset (which allows him to do essentially anything he can think of, including uncreating the universe), he faces off with the Authority in battle. The Evil Doctor is one of the series' best villains, a dry-humoured fat Englishman with a small penis who is aroused by destruction. There's nothing deep here, but then, if you're reading "The Authority", that isn't what you're looking for. Bundled in this collection (the "Other Stories" of the title) are some random Authority-related material from a couple of one-shots released around the same time, by different authors; the most substantial is a Joe Casey-written segment from "Authority Annual 2000" that is part of their participation in Wildstorm's "Devil's Night" crossover; without context, it's a decent, though unexplained (the characters even call attention to this), action story about the Authority fighting some undead warriors from the Cold War

There are some amusing parts to this, for sure. The best part of the trade is clearly when the old now psychotic Earth shaman cuts a deal with the Authority to help them out, in return for being released and returned to power. Running interference, they allow the Doctor time to show the poor old bloke how to destroy himself.

Mark Millar's middlegame for the Authority. Nothing short of spectacular work here, and it was nice to see a more consistent use of Frank Quietly's art. This volume is perfect for any fan of Millar's work. Of course, the three stand-alone issues that are included here are nothing great, though the solo-adventure of the Engineer will definitely raise eyebrows. Not for kids.

What can I say about this book? I think that it's great to see super-heroes buck the "status-quo" and that The Authority are like no other super-heroes out there. Also, I like how The Authority solved problems with methods that no other super-hero would even consider and that they would take risks that no one else would.I think that the story and art are excellent, the fight scenes are among the best in comic-book history and that the characters are great(especially Apollo and The Midnighter).I definitely recommend this book for anyone who is a fan of comic books.

Just when I thought that fighting God and changing the world was the furthest any super hero could go, they go a bit further. Now the very earth we live in is trying to kill us. But thanks to the heroic efforts of the Authority who is now lead by Jack Hawksmoore, humanity has a chance to survive. This book brings the ultimate superhero team together one more time to shocking twist and new turns. This coupled with the last chapter coming in October finish off one of the best superhero stories of all time. Get it and you will not be disappointed.