dozens reviewed The Authority by Warren Ellis
Review of 'The Authority' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Super hero comics!
What I liked about it:
1. Apollo and Midnighter, this universe's Superman and Batman, are married and raising a daughter, and seem to be just really kind and loving to each other despite brutally murdering tons of people all the time. It may be exactly that juxtaposition that makes their moments of tenderness with each other all the more sweet.
2. The appearance--and demise of-- The Americans, a one-for-one analog of the Avengers, except they're a demented, murderous, cold war era government hit squad. Kind of an easy and obvious gag, but one I enjoyed.
3. The fact that, in addition to fighting monsters from space and stuff, the Authority also quickly turns to toppling dictators and corrupt governments with extreme prejudice. "If we're going to save the world, we're going to make sure it's worth saving." Draws into questions of where authority comes from, and …
Super hero comics!
What I liked about it:
1. Apollo and Midnighter, this universe's Superman and Batman, are married and raising a daughter, and seem to be just really kind and loving to each other despite brutally murdering tons of people all the time. It may be exactly that juxtaposition that makes their moments of tenderness with each other all the more sweet.
2. The appearance--and demise of-- The Americans, a one-for-one analog of the Avengers, except they're a demented, murderous, cold war era government hit squad. Kind of an easy and obvious gag, but one I enjoyed.
3. The fact that, in addition to fighting monsters from space and stuff, the Authority also quickly turns to toppling dictators and corrupt governments with extreme prejudice. "If we're going to save the world, we're going to make sure it's worth saving." Draws into questions of where authority comes from, and what to do with power.
To nitpick, it feels like they're mishandling the character of the Doctor. It's as though they didn't really think through the consequences of having a magic user with god-level powers on the team, and their solution was to give him a crippling drug habit to make him unreliable. Otherwise, in most cases, he'd immediately just magic the problem away, whatever it is, and there wouldn't be much story.
In all though, a really fun, refreshing, modern spin on the superhero team genre.