The AuthorityThis is a featured page

The Authority by Dustin Nguyen
Overview
The Authority was created by Jenny Sparks as a planetary defense and rescue organization after StormWatch was destroyed. After Sparks' death, Jack Hawksmoor assumed command and the Authority became much more proactive, forcing the world to conform to their efforts to create a finer world.


Resource
SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT!
Publishing History

Volume 1: Ellis/ Hitch Era
(see also: The Authorty Vol 1)

In 1999, Warren Ellis and Bryan Hitch introduced readers to the Authority, a team of superheroes who promised to get the job done by whatever means necessary. They were: Jenny Sparks, the Spirit of the 20th Century; Jack Hawksmoor, the king of cities; Swift, a Tibetan woman with wings and sharp talons; Apollo, a bio-engineered gay Superman pastiche; The Midnighter, a Batman pastiche who was the lover of Apollo and possessed the ability to foresee his opponents' moves in combat; The Engineer, a scientist who replaced her blood with nine pints of nano-technology; and the Doctor, a Dutch junkie with the combined powers of hundreds of shamans who had come before him.

The Ellis/Hitch run of The Authority lasted 12 issues, divided in three story-arcs: The Circle, Shiftships, and The Outer Dark. They showed an increasingly dangerous enemy: an international terrorist (previously seen in Stormwatch), an invasion from an alternative Earth, and "God," the hostile alien creator of the Solar system, with corresponding high scale violence and property destruction. The usage of a narrative tool called decompression, taken mainly from manga and novel in American super-hero comic-books, was distinctive: big, panoramic panels were used to examine action in deep detail, with a slower rhythm and lighter plotting per issue.

The run was hugely successful with readers, providing a form of large scale superhero action which was (at the time) not common in comics. Ellis never obviously delved into the politics of his characters; he left that to the reader to decide. This was soon to change after Ellis and Hitch finished their run on the series.

Volume 1: Millar/Quitely era
Replacing Ellis and Hitch were Mark Millar and the pseudonymous Frank Quitely. The Millar/Quitely run kept the widescreen narrative and violence of its predecessor, and added an irreverent and somehow revolutionary attitude to the characters, who fought social injustice and, if needed, the status quo, not minding crossing some lines to pursue their own agenda of making a finer world. This interesting and polemic analysis of the role of the super-hero in society was extremely popular with fans and critics alike.

During Millar's run, the Authority, now under Jack Hawksmoor's leadership following Jenny Sparks' death at the end of the 20th Century, faced such foes as a thinly-veiled Marvel Universe, the Earth itself, and the US government, who had grown tired of the Authority's interference with the activities of the world's governments, and replaced them with a duplicate team of superheroes backed by the G7 group of nations. Also, Jenny Sparks' successor, Jenny Quantum, was adopted by a now-married Apollo and Midnighter, and the Doctor overcame his drug addiction after feeling guilty for not being around for one of the Authority's biggest challenges after suffering an overdose of heroin.

This run proved to be highly controversial and led into the title suffering from censorship by DC. The first instance of this censorship was a removal of a kiss between Apollo and Midnighter due to DC's concern that it would lead to negative media reports. The matter would come to a head after the events of the September 11 attacks during Millar's final story arc, "Brave New World". This happened in issue #22, which proved to be Quitely's last issue as artist. Issue #23 was delayed after the 9/11 attacks, and a one-shot special (written and drawn by Bryan Hitch) entitled The Authority: Widescreen was cancelled outright due to concerns about the violence in that issue.
To allow Quitely's replacement to catch up, a four issue fill-in storyline called "Transfer Of Power" written by Tom Peyer and illustrated by Dustin Nguyen, was published featuring the G7 Authority team. The final Millar arc began with issue #27, and it was in this issue where the most serious censorship of story and art would occur in the series. Scenes of necrophilia, violence set in New York, and scenes of the Authority's members being humiliated and degraded were changed from what was originally drawn by Quitely's replacement, Art Adams.

Also altered were panels clearly showing George W. Bush being portrayed as a cowardly figure. This was felt to be unpatriotic after 9/11 hence the editing of the panels, replacing Bush with a fictional president (seemingly President Merkin Muffley from Stanley Kubrick's film Dr. Strangelove). Further editing occurred in issue 28 which caused this issue to be delayed. These delays in shipping were now affecting the titles sales, causing them to drop. Millar's final issue was drawn by Gary Erskine after Adams had left the title, unhappy with how his art had been censored.

Volume 2: The R. Morrison/Turner era
(see also: The Authority Vol 2: Eye of the Storm)
The series was subsequently restarted, and was written by Robbie Morrison with art by Dwayne Turner (except for the single issue "Behemoth", which featured art by Tan Eng Huat, and "Street Life", which was pencilled by Whilce Portacio). This incarnation of the series lasted for 15 issues (numbered 0 to 14), and prior to issue 10, the series was part of the Coup d'état crossover that included The Authority, Stormwatch: Team Achilles, Sleeper, and Wildcats v3.0. This crossover revolved around the Authority taking over the United States of America.

Revolution: The Brubaker/Nguyen era
(see also: The Authority: Revolution)
The series was again restarted in October of 2004 under the title The Authority: Revolution. This series was written by Ed Brubaker with art by Dustin Nguyen and Richard Friend. It focuses on the troubles the Authority faces as the rulers of America.

WorldStorm: The G. Morrison/Ha & Giffen/Robertson/various era
(see also: The Authority: WorldStorm/The Lost Year)
In February 2006, it was announced that Grant Morrison would write The Authority, with art by Gene Ha. The series was to be published bimonthly, beginning in October 2006. Morrison has "cited Warren Ellis’s original run as an approach he wants to return to, saying his new approach will allow the team to be effectual again".

Morrison and Ha's first issue was released in December 2006. It followed a family man named Ken in his search for a downed submarine. The sub apparently encountered something massive and unexpected in the depths of the ocean that caused it to be destroyed. Careful readers will notice one of the Authority's "doors" appeared just before the interior of the sub ignited. Indeed, when Ken finds the ship, many of the crew are missing. The issue ends as Ken and his search party encounter the Authority's carrier, 50 miles long, lying on the ocean floor. Notably, no members of the Authority appear in this first issue.

Delays
The second issue eventually was out five months afterwards, and dealt with the Authority's reaction to crash-landing on an Earth far less developed than their own. Ken meets The Authority but begins to question their methodology.

In September 2007, Gene Ha was quoted at Newsarama.com as saying that he did not believe his run with Morrison would continue. "...I don't think The Authority #3 by Grant Morrison and Gene Ha is ever coming out. Grant is busy redesigning the DC Universe and I've moved onto new projects. Most importantly, it seems that editor Scott Dunbier has been forced out of Wildstorm. There is no #3 script, there may never be a #3 script."Scott Peterson announced at Wondercon 2008 that he had talked to Morrison two weeks ago about The Authority, and there is "very serious progress" and it should start shipping again toward the end of this year.

On the 19th April 2008, Wildstorm has released further information on the upcoming completion of Morrison's run, announcing the Keith Giffen will complete Grant Morrison's scripts. When asked to comment upon his inability to complete further issues of the Authority, Morrison has said that '"Authority was just a disaster." He said that they were doing it and running late when 52 started, but when he saw the reviews to first issue, "I said **** it."

Although an artist and start date for the next issue have not been announced, Hank Kanalz of WildStorm indicated that the third issue wouldn't be released until the story is finished, to avoid any more delays.

The Lost Year
On 25 July 2009, WildStorm announced The Authority: The Lost Year; written by Keith Giffen with artwork from a number of artists, beginning with Darick Robertson. The project picks up with issue #3 of the Grant Morrison/Gene Ha Authority project which fell behind schedule. Scott Peterson, editor of the project, informed the panel that Morrison had actually conferred with Giffen while he completed the project; so, technically, the book is still co-plotted by Grant Morrison.

The Authority by Drew Johnson
The Authority: Prime
(see also: The Authority: Prime)
I n July 2007, it was announced that Christos Gage and Darick Robertson would do an intended story arc as a miniseries instead. This is because of scheduling problems with the current Morrison/Ha run on the title.The Authority: Prime is a six-issue miniseries, as the intended arc would have spanned issues #6 to #11 of The Authority. It will feature the renewed Stormwatch Prime, who along with the Authority investig ate a recently-discovered secret bunker that once belonged to Henry Bendix.

World's End: The Abnett & Lanning/Coleby era
(see also: The Authority: World's End)
It has been announced that in the new World's End status quo, Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning will be take over the writing duties, accompanied by artist Simon Coleby. Senior Wildstorm editor Ben Abernathy has also stated that four issues have already been completed by the new team - "I can say honestly, based on the four issues of script and art that are already in-the-can, people will NOT be disappointed!"

Ben Abernathy on the new creative team & direction:
In planning out the creative teams for the World's End books, I had a pretty good idea going in who I'd like to see on each book writer-wise. Approaching Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning to write THE AUTHORITY seemed like a no-brainer, considering their breadth of unique and thoroughly enjoyable work over the years (to this day, they penned the only LEGION work I followed on a regular basis—quite a feat!). I'd worked with them on eight issues of THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE and they proved adept at handling the dark and macabre as easily as straightforward super-hero work. And what we wanted for THE AUTHORITY definitely fell into that category!

Incredibly, TCM was also responsible for artist Simon Coleby landing on my radar. Andy was friends with Simon and had suggested him as a potential artist for a TCM one-shot, sending me some samples and getting the two of us in contact. After an email or two—mostly my complimenting the 2000AD work that Andy had sent me—Simon agreed to do a Leatherface piece for me to show New Line. Unfortunately, I only ended up editing nine issues of the series and never had the opportunity to work on TCM with Simon. But those samples and his wicked-cool Leatherface piece (which maybe I'll try and track down to post later) convinced me he might be great for something darker and edgier on the super-hero front. Besides, Simon was such a great fellow, he'd made my "must work with" list. It was around that time (summer of 2007) that ARMAGEDDON was hatched.

While planning ARMAGEDDON, I wanted to create some synchronicity with the artists for the forthcoming World's End (hence, Coleby and Leandro Fernández—who drew the MIDNIGHTER and STORMWATCH issues respectively—are now drawing the monthlies). I thought Simon was up to the task (if you ever get a chance to see his various work for 2000AD, you'll see what I mean) and we began talking about it and he even worked up some character designs (maybe we'll include them in the tpb!). Pretty soon, he was drawing a post-apocalyptic London with a shattered Authority clawing out a meager survival—and the stars aligned, as what you're (hopefully) holding in your hand is proof that it was the right decision.
And to think I owe it all to Andy Lanning and Leatherface…

Following the announcement that they would be writing The Authority, Abnett & Lanning signed a Marvel-exclusive contract. However, they stated that they would fulfill their 15-issue commitment to The Authority.

World's End: The Bernardin/Freeman/Barrionuevo era
Marc Bernardin and Adam Freeman take over the writing duties with Authority: World's End #17 and artist Al Barrionuevo starts with #18.


Trivia:
  • The Authority was created by Warren Ellis & Bryan Hitch.

Awards:
  • 2001 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards - Nominee - Best Serialized Story: (#13-16 "The Nativity")

Reviews/Commentary:

News:
Sources:

See Also:

WildStorm Titles
Teams


WildStormResource
WildStormResource 		Latest page update: made by WildStormResource , Dec 14 2009, 2:41 PM EST (about this update About This Update WildStormResource Edited by WildStormResource

38 words added
10 words deleted

view changes
- complete history)
Keyword tags: Bryan Hitch Jenny Sparks Midnighter StormWatch Warren Ellis (edit keyword tags)
More Info: links to this page

Threads for this page

Anonymous  (Get credit for your thread)

There are no threads for this page.  Be the first to start a new thread.

Related Content

  (what's this?Related ContentThanks to keyword tags, links to related pages and threads are added to the bottom of your pages. Up to 15 links are shown, determined by matching tags and by how recently the content was updated; keeping the most current at the top. Share your feedback on Wetpaint Central.)
Swift (Shen Li-Min) Midnighter (bio) Fuji (Toshiro Misawa)
Apollo (bio) Jenny Sparks (bio) Hellstrike (Nigel Keane)
StormWatch Vol 1 #37 Authority Vol 1 #1 StormWatch Vol 2 #4
Cannon Jack Hawksmoor (bio) Midnighter by Oscar Jiminez