Authority, The: Transfer of Power

Rating:
Summary: A Spotty Send-Off For The World's Meanest Super-Team.
Review: In it's original incarnation as a monthly comic, the "Transfer of Power" story arc was one of the most troubled comics in recent history. In it's collected edition, it's a spotty mess, with a few glimpses of brilliance.

Writer Mark Millar had already decided Transfer of Power would be his last story arc, but after completing one issue, Artist Frank Quitely jumped ship to illustrate Marvel's New X-Men. (I consider Quitely's abrupt departure from the book that made him famous at best unprofessional. At worst, downright $h!tty...) This left DC/Wildstorm with a big problem: Since the artist they tapped to finish off the story, Art Adams, is notoriously slow, how could they keep the book coming out in a relatively timely fashion? Answer: Since The Authority are killed and replaced by an even MORE vicious team in the first chapter, Tom Peyer and Dustin Nguyen would create a 4-issue fill-in that would detail the new team's adventures. Adams STILL wasn't able to get his three issues done, so Gary Erskine needed to do the art chores on the final issue. And in the midst of all of this, September 11th made the suits at DC rethink their stance on publishing such a violent book....So this simple 4-issue story became an 8-issue mess that dragged on for almost two years, and also became the swan-song for The Authority. (After all the hubbub, DC is quietly getting ready to lauch a new version of The Authority, with an unknown creative team....yay.)

The story starts off strong, as a Government sanctioned Hillbilly/Billion Dollar Cyborg is sent to kill The Authority, and seemingly succeeds. The team is replaced with a bunch of brutal look-alikes, who waste no time in putting the entire Universe in deadly peril. Only The Midnighter (with little Jenny Quantum in tow) has any hope of putting things right. The DRASTIC differences in artistic styles really make the book seem schizophrenic; Nguyen's style just doesn't mesh with Quitely & Adams' cartoony artistry, and the realistic renderings of Gary Erskine aren't a good fit to follow two chapters of Art Adams. All of the artists involved are very talented, but read as a whole, the book has no artistic flow. Peyer's fill-in arc is okay, but nothing special. It could have easily been skipped entirely, and nothing would have been lost, story-wise. I did enjoy the hillbilly killer, Seth, but the final fate he suffers is taken whole cloth from Garth Ennis' excellent Preacher. I was hoping for something a little worse. I also enjoyed the realistic relationship between The Authority's Batman/Superman duo, The Midnighter & Apollo. Maybe one of the best romantic relationships in comics today.

While FAR from the best Authority tale (See Warren Ellis' issues for those), Transfer of Power has it's share of powerful moments, and is worth a look for fans of the team. I just wish they could have gotten a better send-off.....

Rating:
Summary: Over a year to complete the series....
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Over a year to complete the series....
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating stories about evil hipocritic [people]. Enjoy !
Review: 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 worse". On the other hand, the way the world's governments are portrayed is simply way out of a good taste. Mark Millar's visions are simply grotesque: the politicians are so evil that they are not believeable anymore and all story begins to seem like a narcotic vision of an obsessed madman.
Don't get me wrong, it is very good that the comic-book characters are allowed to have strong political views, let them be conroversial and let us argue about them, even let their beliefs be criminal and make them fascist or commie hypocritic [people] and I'd still love reading their adventures, becouse stories about villians also have great value. What I can't stand is that Millar is trying to make theese [people] look like they are right.
Still I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book as a great fun, more interesting that most other graphic novels. This book is also a perfect exaple that comics cam be much more than fun. And, yeah, if You are a leftist radical, you will simply love it.
ENJOY !