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bjoernschneider1's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
ogreart's review
4.0
Not the usual type of superhero comic. The characters were well thought out. The characterization could have moved a little faster, but overall not bad. The multiverse aspects of this I like. That it takes place in the same universe as Stormwatch and Planetary was fun for me. I enjoy shared universes. I wonder what will happen in Book 2.
dantastic's review
4.0
The Authority Book One collects The Authority #1-12 plus some other stuff.
So I've had this for ages but held off on reading it because Warren Ellis turned out to be kind of a douche by many accounts. Anyway, I'm treading water and reading super hero books for the next few days and decided to knock this out.
I read a big chunk of this back in antiquity but it must have been pre-Goodreads or before I started reviewing things. It was like all new material for the most part.
The Authority's deal is that they'll actually change the world instead of perpetuating the cops and robbers cycle of most super hero comics. They face planetary scale threats on a regular basis. In this volume, they take on an army of flying super humans, an invasion from a parallel universe, and a planet sized organism that may in fact be God.
"Turning the volume up to 11" is a tremendous cliche but The Authority does just that. Everything is on a massive scale. Their ship/headquarters is a fifty mile long, thirty five mile high ship powered by a captured baby universe, FFS.
Bryan Hitch and Paul Neary manage to give everything an epic feel but still give it a human touch. The coloring is subdued compared to a lot of comics from the same time period. Warren Ellis is adept at coming up with capable threats, which is no mean feat considering The Authority has a Superman level being called Apollo on the team. Heck, most of The Authority are heavy hitters.
The weakness of the book is probably that the characters aren't super interesting. Apollo and Midnighter are interesting in a "What if Superman and Batman were definitely gay" kind of way, and The Engineer is actually likeable. I wouldn't care if any of the rest were KIA, though.
The Authority is also diminished a bit because it was so influential at the time with it's summer blockbuster scope every issue. Now a lot of books ride the Authority wave without even knowing it.
The Authority may have lost half a step in the last twenty years but it's still a crazy fun super hero book in a planet wrecking sort of way. Four out of five stars.
So I've had this for ages but held off on reading it because Warren Ellis turned out to be kind of a douche by many accounts. Anyway, I'm treading water and reading super hero books for the next few days and decided to knock this out.
I read a big chunk of this back in antiquity but it must have been pre-Goodreads or before I started reviewing things. It was like all new material for the most part.
The Authority's deal is that they'll actually change the world instead of perpetuating the cops and robbers cycle of most super hero comics. They face planetary scale threats on a regular basis. In this volume, they take on an army of flying super humans, an invasion from a parallel universe, and a planet sized organism that may in fact be God.
"Turning the volume up to 11" is a tremendous cliche but The Authority does just that. Everything is on a massive scale. Their ship/headquarters is a fifty mile long, thirty five mile high ship powered by a captured baby universe, FFS.
Bryan Hitch and Paul Neary manage to give everything an epic feel but still give it a human touch. The coloring is subdued compared to a lot of comics from the same time period. Warren Ellis is adept at coming up with capable threats, which is no mean feat considering The Authority has a Superman level being called Apollo on the team. Heck, most of The Authority are heavy hitters.
The weakness of the book is probably that the characters aren't super interesting. Apollo and Midnighter are interesting in a "What if Superman and Batman were definitely gay" kind of way, and The Engineer is actually likeable. I wouldn't care if any of the rest were KIA, though.
The Authority is also diminished a bit because it was so influential at the time with it's summer blockbuster scope every issue. Now a lot of books ride the Authority wave without even knowing it.
The Authority may have lost half a step in the last twenty years but it's still a crazy fun super hero book in a planet wrecking sort of way. Four out of five stars.
moberle's review
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
2.0
The Good: This was an incredibly entertaining read. The characters are interesting, work well as a team, and their dialogue is fun to read. The members of The Authority have that 90s "extreme grit" but it never really came off as annoying to me, probably because the world has a lot of interesting concepts and ideas. I like the way they used the parallel Earth and the lore surrounding the team's headquarters. The book also has a lot of tropes that are kind of funny which added to my enjoyment while reading (take a shot every time a city is destroyed or there's full page art of a swarm of enemies).
The Bad: Jesus Christ, why is the first villain they face off against so goddamn racist. I swear to God I do not understand why anyone thought it would be okay to drag a yellow peril caricature into this comic book from the 1990s. There is also a weird fixation on the idea of an alternate universe Britain turning all of China into a (CA: SA) "rape camp " that doesn't make the meaningful critique of imperialism that the book thinks it does.
If this comic wasn't racist and handled its subject matter better, it would easily be around a 2.75-3, but I can't in good conscience give a book with Kaizen Gamorra higher than a 2.
The Bad: Jesus Christ, why is the first villain they face off against so goddamn racist. I swear to God I do not understand why anyone thought it would be okay to drag a yellow peril caricature into this comic book from the 1990s. There is also a weird fixation on the idea of an alternate universe Britain turning all of China into a (CA: SA) "
If this comic wasn't racist and handled its subject matter better, it would easily be around a 2.75-3, but I can't in good conscience give a book with Kaizen Gamorra higher than a 2.
quinzel_14's review
adventurous
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
shadowagentzero's review
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
dchaseb's review
4.0
A fun break and diversion of a new superhero world to read about that switches things up when compared to more well known Marvel and DC storylines (or well known to me). Thought of this as a darker marrying of Avengers meets Justice League meets The Boys.
savannahacosta's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
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