Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Wrong author, Amazon!, 23 Aug 2001
Just to clarify - this isn't Frank Miller writing the Authority, ace though that would undoubtedly be. It's Mark Millar. Which isn't to say it's not extremely good. Though the series no longer has quite the punch it did, that's not because it's weaker. It's simply that once you've seen the principle of the Authority, namely superheroes taking on the *real* bad guys ie governments rather than spandex-clad 'supervillains', it makes such total sense. you forget that things weren't always this way, in other words. a better jumping on pointwould probably be 'Relentless', or perhaps even the pre-Authority series 'Stormwatch', but if you've enjoyed all those, this is unlikely to disappoint even if it is basically more of the same.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Surprisingly brainless for a smart comic, 4 Sep 2006
Published while the franchise was clashing with censors over the vastly controversial conclusion to author Millar's run, 'Earth Inferno' collects the fifth Authority story arc and a handful of specials. There's a lot to love here - the fights, the cityscapes, the one-liners are all up to code - but there's a lot of disappointment too. Ideas this big and bright deserve better execution.
The concept's a corker. The earth itself, turned against humanity, makes a worthy addition to the Authority rogues' gallery. And the arc starts off in punchy form: between defending Chechen civilians, contemplating corporate sponsorship, and uniting the Middle East in a joint evacuation to a parallel universe, the team get through enough politically incendiary action to satisfy any fan. But in the end the plot is weak as lemon squash, undone by a lame Big Bad and occasionally sloppy characterisation. At one point the Midnighter infilitrates a secure location to interrogate a sociopath, who wants to know how he's keeping passersby from seeing the scenes of torture in his glass-walled cell. "Wouldn't you like to know," Midnighter tells him: and wouldn't we, but we never do find out. Nor is it made clear why the Midnighter is suddenly flame-retardant, or why he's unable, in spite of those computers imbedded in his nervous system that show him the outcome of any combat scenario, to form a decent plan.
The first hurdle cleared, the real villain emerges - and it's a cracking idea again, but the execution's unimpressive. Before he wreaks bloody mayhem, the bad guy wishes to taunt our plucky heroes - stop me if you've heard this one before, but this is the Authority, right? Upending stereotypes is their stock-in-trade. Only ... that doesn't happen here. We just get page after page of the team squaring off, one-by-one, against a bad guy who does little more than stand there muhaha-ing. For a bloke with awesome genocidal power, he's happy to devote surprising amounts of it to pulping Apollo's nose. And the tactic the beleaguered Jeroen uses to defeat him is strikingly reminiscent of one the Midnighter used in 'The Nativity' - it was lame then, and time has done it no favours.
All that said, this is a more than enjoyable read. The art is good: Chris Weston, standing-in for Frank Quitely in the first two issues, draws a bold, sharp world that suits the series well. For the rest of the arc, Quitely's pencilling continues his trademark 'Authority-on-steroids' look: it'll either work for you or not. If you like your girls pneumatic and your guys of the beefcake persuasion, it's going to work. The one-liners are on fine form, the characters are still cool as hell, and this last chance to beat up NYC before 9/11 put it off-limits is rendered in fantastic style.The story also throws up a lot of juicy character detail: Jenny Quantum's nascent powers, the Doctor's real name, Apollo's preferred brand of underwear. And it foreshadows the uneasy relationship between the team and the traditional world powers, setting up nicely for events in 'Transfer of Power.'
The rest of the book collects the 2000 Annual and two short one-shots. The annual forms part of a cross-series event, and barely works as a standalone: an inexplicable band of zombie Stormwatch relics revive the Cold War, boarding the Carrier to wale on Apollo and Midnighter for no apparent reason. Wildstorm devotees willing to follow the arc across the WildC.A.T.s and Gen-13 titles will be rewarded; everyone else can expect an abiding sense of "...what now?" The first summer special, in a poor piece of continuity, features Angie bitching about her implausibly nonexistent sex life, while Midnighter does some ironing. It doesn't make a scrap of sense. The second has Jack monologuing about the fates of various cities on the Authority's watch: nicely done, and Cully Hamner's good-looking stylised art is worthwhile.
Buy this thing for the banter, which is flawless, and because you need to see Midnighter in civvies. Big ideas and plenty of humour, but leave your brain at the door - not usually an Authority requirement.
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by Warren Ellis
by Warren Ellis
by Ed Brubaker
by Alan Moore
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