This book collects issues 1-7 of Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning's run on The Authority. Wildstorm has spent the last year or so doing something daring and/or foolhardy with its superhero universe – sending it to hell via a carefully prepared armageddon which isn't an 'event' but the ongoing status quo. So far World's End been a blast: lovingly structured and cohesive, four sharply written and drawn books supplemented by a slew of fun back-up tales. Of all the books I'd say Authority is the strongest, since this team has the greatest tragic potential in an apocalyptic landscape, tailor-made for an epic fall from grace.
When this book debuted in 1999 it was bigger, louder, more ambitious and more beautiful than any other mainstream superhero comic, with a super-ethic that hadn't been seen before: defending the world from extraordinary threats, the characters weren't squeamish about violence if they could save more people than they killed. Warren Ellis' original run raised the bar absurdly high and left subsequent writers with a challenge: how to keep an unbeatable team interesting without ever more ridiculous threats, more outrageous attitude? So the Authority devolved from cranky idealists to loudmouthed celebrities to unelected rulers of America – their progress often brilliant but ultimately directionless. Ed Brubaker, in his 'Revolutions' arc, tried stripping the team back to its roots; here DnA go one further, radically depowering them to create a mature character-driven tale of humility and recovery.
Here, the Authority's 'finer world' mission is over; the planet's wrecked by nuclear holocaust and the team's stranded in the ruins of London, their ship a lightless hulk fused with the dead city. Jenny and the Doctor are missing, and with them any hope of fixing things overnight; the others are physically or emotionally shattered, struggling to protect survivors and maintain their identity with the scraps of their old power. What makes this work is the unlikely union of the downbeat, gloomy plot with the writers' obvious affection for the Ellis series, with its strengths of character chemistry and social conscience underlying the widescreen excess. By crippling their absolute power, DnA give something back to these characters that hasn't been seen for a long time: a genuine nobility and heroism that comes from the extreme sacrifices they're now making.
The other revelation of this book is Simon Coleby's craggy, atmospheric art. His style is dark, jagged and distinctive, giving the characters a weathered, savage grace we've never seen before while rendering the landscapes in ruinous Gothic detail that perfectly suits the story. His splash pages are spectacular, but it's the character drawing – this ragged, grim Authority – that anchors the mood of the book and hooks our sympathy.
Highly recommended, and essential reading for any Authority fan.
