The Authority Vol. 1 Paperback – May 20, 2014

Warren Ellis creates a magnificent new super team in the wake of the end of Stormwatch. With the latter team ended, the Wildstorm universe takes the next step forward with a new team put together by Jenny Sparks: the Authority. This sci-fi influenced super team features fan favorites Midnighter and Apollo (the gay couple that are a riff on Batman and Superman), Swift (the former Stormwatch member who seems to be a riff on Hawkgirl), the Engineer (Angie, the woman with nano machines in place of her blood that allow her to create a super suit), the Doctor (a mystic in touch with generations of previous mages and former Doctors), and Jack Hawksmoor (the Stormwatch member who can interface with entire cities). This new team uses their base of operations (a massive technologically advanced carrier ship that can shift between dimensions) to confront any and all threats to the Earth. In Ellis' first volume the team confronts a series of threats in three major arcs. The first sees the team confronting an island full of terrorists hell bent on decimating major cities for the sake of it, the second sees them fending off an incursion from a parallel Earth where medieval England interbred with alien visitors, and the third sees the team fending off an alien invasion from a massive organic life form that may have been the original terraformer of Earth. The violence is big in scale and like many Image comics (before the Wildstorm universe was sold to DC) the Authority are a team willing to kill in order to protect their Earth. With many of the members serving as riffs of major DC heroes, the Authority provides an intriguing mirror to the mainstream DC characters. Even if you haven't read other Wildstorm books before this one, Ellis does a great job of introducing the world of the Authority to new readers. If you're interested in Ellis' recent work for DC to reboot the entire Wildstorm universe in the DC Rebirth era, then returning to one of his best works here is a great choice.

Warren Ellis is a talented fellow, this is known. Before he did The Authority, he was already making a name for himself with his work, including his run on Stormwatch in which not only did he re-shape the team and the book itself, but he was re-shaping the way modern superhero stories could be told. Out of the ashes of Stormwatch comes The Authority, in which surviving members of Stormwatch unite to form a new superhero group that takes the grittiness Ellis introduced in the previous title and accelerates it to new and exciting levels. This collection is made all the better by the stellar artwork of a pre-Ultimates Bryan Hitch, whose lush illustrations and set-pieces helped coin the term "widescreen comics". If you squint well enough at the panels, you may actually convince yourself that they're moving; the artwork is just that good. While this first collected volume of The Authority is wonderful enough, it's Mark Millar's run (which will be released in the future) where things go from amazing to mind-blowing. Do yourself a favor: if you missed out on The Authority in its hey-dey, pick this up. You won't regret it.

The Authority follows a new no nonsense super team as they face the worlds greatest threats. The teams home base is a dimension jumping shiftship that can teleport them anywhere on Earth. Bryan Hitch does a fantastic job bringing Warren Ellis's tales to life, everything from large action shots to character close ups are fantastic.The teams first enemy is The Mandarin from Marvel with a different name (this will be a common theme in the series, another example being the Authority's two most dangerous members being a gay couple representing Batman & Superman). After the Mandarin they face down an invading force from a parallel alien inhabited Earth, a reality our Earth had been in contact with for a long time before communication ceased nearly 50 years ago. The final conflict is with God, yes the creator is back and not happy with what has happened to his planet.Each of these battles shows new and interesting way the team uses their powers. The alien story was the best of the 3 for me as the team really finds its footing at that point.

Someone, somewhere, decided to give Warren Ellis some of the most powerful characters in the Wildstorm universe to play around with. And Warren Ellis, being Warren Ellis, unleashes them on some of the biggest threats to the world imaginable. Welcome to the authority, where threats that would be full scale events in regular DC and Marvel comics are just another Tuesday.The Authority team consists of Jennifer Sparks, the Engineer, Midnighter, Apollo, The Doctor, Jack Hawksmoor, and Swift. Running a military style team, they fight against World destruction tier threats, from alien invasion to a terrorist cell with the population of Delaware. While the book doesn't have much time for small scale character building moments, it has all the time in the world for action, action, black comedy and more action. Definitely a good title to pick up if you need an adrenaline rush.

I know there are 5 other glowing reviews. But I for me, it was a bit too simple for these heros. They just seem to beat up the villains a bit too easily. They do get beaten up a little bit but they always have an easy out. There's no challenge. I also had an issue with the way the characters were portrayed. It was so tongue-in-cheek that there was no real creativity as they draw pages from the quickest stereotypes they can get. I also got the feeling that life is cheap. The heros try to justify the all their killings with cliches that just did not work for me. Aside from that, the book itself is put together really well. I don't know why they have a sleeve for this book as the art on the hard cover is good and the binding is solid.

It's the introduction story to The Authority universe. BEWARE: this is not your typical superhero story. The Authority does not deal with bank robbers. They work on a global scale. They act against governments, corruption, famine and drought. They deal in force and practical solutions. They work for the betterment of the human condition on this universe and across the multiverse. They die and they kill.

Excellent characters with mind-bending, thrillingly original and bold concepts and gorgeous art. This book is an absolute must-read and I’m utterly hooked.

Ellis logra crear una gran historia de los retos globales que afronta este equipo, The Authority. Aún a pesar que son los "sucesores" de Stormwatch se habla poco de ellos y de los cambios que generaron. Las historias se suceden sorpresa tras sorpresa y llevan un ritmo vertiginoso. El arte de Hitch está sin duda a la altura de la historia que se cuenta. Muy recomendable.

After the sludge-fest of the 90's and some early draft of the concept in Stormwatch, Ellis & HItch bring their idea in full stride with The Authority: A mature superhero team with a very human & "realistic" behavior strongly contrasted with their demi-god capacities. A must read. The edition is on top of it beautiful bound, looks fantastic; its size making it a pleasure to re-read again & again.

Cette réédition de "The Authority" propose avec ce premier "DeLuxe" les 12 premiers numéros de 1999-2000 d'une série initialement rattachée à la défunte maison "WildStorm" de Jim LEE, désormais intégrée au DC-verse.The Authority est un groupe de sept super-héros aux pouvoirs presque incommensurables, qui habitent un énorme vaisseau cosmique, "The Carrier". Ils rencontrent des menaces à leur mesure.Cette première saison regroupe 3 arcs de 4 chapitres chacun. Le premier oppose L'Autorité à un type qui a les traits classiques du méchant asiatique pour nos amis britanniques (1), Fu Manchu. En beaucoup plus puissant. Beaucoup plus. Le deuxième voit nos héros s'affronter au leader de la Terre d'une autre dimension, Regis, qui ressemble au méchant de ' Legend [Blu-ray ]' mais en couleur bleue et qui a jeté son dévolu sur la Terre de notre dimension pour en faire un lupanar géant. Le 3è et dernier arc, à la charnière du nouveau millénaire, met The Authority en présence d'une entité divine qui en veut à notre engeance...A juste quelques coudées pour eux de ' Ultimates: Ultimate Collection ', Bryan HITCH et Paul LEARY progressent de page en page et, tout du long, avec le talent qui est le leur, nous en mettent plein la vue pour toutes les "bastons", méga-destructions et autres explorations de l'espace qui leur sont données à dessiner. Quant à Warren ELLIS, il livre une version "super-strong" des Avengers avec comme leader une femme de tête et une vraie personnalité (découverte au fur et à mesure des épisodes) pour chaque protagoniste. Les couleurs, qui restent signées Laura DEPUY, sont moins affirmées que pour ' Authority, The: Relentless ' (qui reprenait, en TPB, les 8 premiers épisodes) mais restent très très belles.Cette réédition contient un minimum de suppléments : une couverture alternative de Frank QUITELY et le lever d'un coin du voile concernant une technique de B. HITCH pour ses panels qui prennent une page entière.**** et 1/2(1) Les deux principaux auteurs sont britanniques. Legend [Blu-rayUltimates: Ultimate CollectionAuthority, The: Relentless

Adquirí este cómic en inglés por la imposibilidad de obtenerlo en castellano, pero no es un problema para mí, todo lo contrario.Poco más que decir, que está en inglés, que tiene tapas blandas, que es un grandísimo cómic (sobretodo a nivel de guión, aunque el dibujo es también espectacular).