So here we are, about midway through Abnett and Lanning's projected 15-issue run on The Authority. They've covered a lot of ground so far, creating a unique and convincing new dynamic for the team in a vividly dark end-times London crushed by the wreckage of the Carrier, sowing the seeds for some intriguing sub-plots and putting several members of the team through the wringer. Here in issue #8, having dealt with the series' first villain (an extra-nihilistic Eidolon) and wrapped up the refreshingly uncompetitive crossover with Stormwatch, they're ready to start having some fun.
Luckily for us their idea of fun is to keep everybody in character, give them a lot of good lines, and put them in a predicament that's half old-school Authority ass-kicking and half slyly comic 'WTF?' The idea of Midnighter trapped in an alternate reality as a rural vicar (and stoically playing out the role for a week as he waited for the others to find him!) is priceless. It's nice to see DnA keeping up the fine Authority tradition of setting up straw-man superteam parodies for the guys to knock down, too. Team Unicorn was clearly not long for this world, but it was huge fun to see the Authority (well, three of them) back to their old tricks for a few pages. The confrontation poked gentle fun at the typical Authority mayhem of old; trashing an imaginary English village isn't exactly the widescreen we're used to, but that's the point. It also says a lot for the overall grimness of the book that this episode of fighting and property damage came across as perversely cheerful. Unlike many issues, this one didn't change scene at all but stayed with Midnighter, Angie and Swift for the whole 18 pages. It was so fast-moving that I felt it ended way too soon, but that just means the writers and artist have done their job setting up the next issue.
Simon Coleby's artwork has been impressive from the start - detailed, expressive and atmospheric with a jagged, weathered quality that gives this book a visual edge over the others in the World's End stable. This issue gave him room to have fun too, offsetting the World's End gloom with a picture-book English countryside and an excellent superteam dogfight; plus, that has to be one of the best Authority covers in recent memory.
A solidly entertaining issue that didn't take itself too seriously and showed off the range of the creative team.
