Comic Info
Comic Name: The Authority (Volume 1)
Publisher: Wildstorm/DC Comics
Writer: Warren Ellis/Mark Millar
Artist: Bryan Hitch/Frank Quitely
# of Issues: 8
Release Date: 2000
The Authority (1) #9
Reprints The Authority (1) #9-16 (January 2000-August 2000). New Year’s Eve 1999 is rapidly approaching, and a threat has come to Earth. What could essentially be described as “God” has come to reclaim the planet and humanity is not something it wants to deal with. The only thing standing in its way is the Authority…and Jenny Sparks as the Spirit of the 20th Century must live up to her title…leading to a drastic change in the Authority and a new lease on life for the world (and not everyone will be happy about it).
Written by Warren Ellis and Mark Millar, The Authority Volume 2: Under New Management is a DC Comics-Wildstorm superhero comic book collection. Following The Authority Volume 1: Relentless, the series features art by Bryan Hitch and Frank Quitely. The issues in the collection were also featured in The Authority—Book 1, The Authority—Book 2, and The Authority Omnibus.
I loved The Authority when it was released. It was new and exciting and it made perfect sense. If you have the power to help the world…help the world. You might have to be proactive, but it is something possible. Rereading The Authority, you can see where modern comics have evolved from The Authority for better or worse.
The Authority (1) #11
This collection features a change in power (both in writing and story). Ellis hands off his writing to Millar the first part of the storyline. It involves the bigger “Spirit of the 20th Century” story that Ellis was also exploring within Planetary. The year 1999 comes and Jenny Sparks goes…it is the end of Ellis’s run. It is too bad that time ran out, but it was nice that Ellis got to realize his storyline.
Millar’s run sets out to find the new “spark” with the essence of Jenny and the Spirit of the 21st Century, but it also feels like what Ellis was building to. The Authority becomes proactive…really proactive. They make the first strike and their actions get them in conflict with the world powers including the United States. This is pre-9-11 and kind of feels like it. While I think it holds, 9-11 gave a different look at the Authority which kind of acts as their own terrorist cell even if they are acting in the best interest of the world.
The Authority changed the direction of comics. It was big and bold and was a radical idea. I loved it…but kind of hate what it did. It Is like a genie that couldn’t be put back in the bottle. Why would superheroes spend their time dealing with dorky villains when they can actually change the world? It is logical but not fun. The Authority 2: Under New Management was followed by The Authority 3: Earth Inferno and Other Stories.
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