Transfer of Power

The money that runs the world builds a killing machine superhuman out of a hillbilly and a ridiculous amount of money. This guy has more superpowers than he can even name. Anyway, the rich and powerful cabal that is unhappy that The Authority is more powerful than they are, now, sends him out to take them down, and puts into place a puppet Authority that they can control, including a male version of Jenny Sparks who is a Beckham sendup. Highly entertaining.

Mark Millar never disappoints. If Warren Ellis invented the concept of widescreen comics, then Millar perfected it. This entire volume is in your face, never pulls its punches, and makes you glad you got into comics in the first place. You have to keep in mind that when the source material was published back around 2001, the world lost its sense of humor, and in way, its tolerance for edgy work. It's no small wonder that this volume marks Millar's last work for DC, and the end of The Authority (for a little while), given the offensive content. But man, it's one hell of a fun ride. It must be said that Millar did not write the entire volume, but it's hardly noticeable. The whole thing has the same tone, the same irreverence, throughout. My only gripe with this work was the deus ex machina used to wrap up a hanging plot thread at the end, but since it was such a fun read, I can let it slide.

THE FACTS: the book reprints issues # 22-29 (last 8 issues) of the original "The Authority" series, originally published in 2001 and 2002; writers: Mark Millar (#22,27-29) and Tom Peyer (#23-26); artists: Frank Quitely (#22), Dustin Nguyen (#23-26), Art Adams (# 27,28) and Gary Erskine (#29).THE REVIEW: Man, reading "The Authority" can be both very entertaining and very disturbing at the same time... THE GOOD: You always get an interesting story, which is fresh and original, not just a new version of what you had read a thousand times in other comic-books. Millar and Peyer both have great imagination. They take important social, political and philosophical issues and mix them with hardcore sci-fi/superhero action to create something that cannot be ignored. The effect is attractive to both basic groups of readers: those who seek only entertainment and those who like comics to be something more than that. The characterization is also great (in fact the villians or the "New Authority" are more fun than so-called heroes). In my opinion the artwork is at least fine althought it's a shame that Quitely didn't stayed to finish the job he started with # 22.THE BAD: Millar tries really hard to portray The Authority as heroes or at least likeable charactrs. He puts so much effort in creating a moral justification for their actions, yet fails completely if you give it just some thinking. Members of the Authority are faithful followers to the leftist anti-globalistic ideology, the ideology which they accept without question, leaving absolutely no room for other beliefs or discussion. The Authority is in fact so full of self-rightousness that they do not hesitate to use force to build the world in their image. Their beliefs that "the deeds justify the means" makes them soldiers of a new leftist totalitarian myth built where Lenin, Stalin, Mao and Castro has failed. They are also great hipocrits. They call themselves fighters for freedom yet they do not accept other people's right to be a conservatist, a patriot or to believe in free market. They say they want peace yet they want to rule the Earth with force. They stand for people's rights yet they not hesitate to kill first and ask question later. Millar is not even able to hide their real face: the Midnighter for example crashes the Carrier trying to destroy the evil cyborg killing thousand of refugees that the Authority kept onboard, after that he shows absolutely no signs of regret. All he cares about is his lover. The other example is Jenny Sparks' wish to eliminate all weapons in the world which the biggest hipocrysy in the world since the superhumans don't need weapons to be extremaly dangerous, which leaves ordinary people helpless against them. In fact members of The Authority are confused, lost, hate-driven, ignorant people who desperatelly look for some moral justification of their actions, and the only real justification Millar gives them is: "we have right to be this way becouse the governments are

It is true that the ups and downs of the last 8 issues of the authority were tumultuous, both in context and in waiting to see the stories get published. Those of us who loved The Authority in its initial run definitely remember waiting months, even half a year, for the next installment, but I think overall it was worth the wait. The story is so bleak at points that you feel the characters will never recover. For anyone who has read The Authority, you know what you are in for: Life or Death struggles to the unfathomable power. Unbeatable odds. Authority taking on Authority. A genetically altered mountain man called Seth with 2,012 powers!!! Politics with attitude. At times the violence is outrageous, and the plot twists even more so, but that is all part of the fun. This book reprints the last 8 issues of the series from #22 - 29, and it is a hell of a ride. Join Jack Hawksmoor, Apollo, The Midnighter, The Engineer, Swift, and The Doctor for the battle of their lifetimes! It is to comics what the Dead Kennedys were to punk.Seriously.