Embedded Files
THE AUTHORITY #1
Utopian
Written by GRANT MORRISON ; Art by GENE HA; Cover by GENE HA; 1:10 Variant Cover & 1:50 Sketch Cover by ART ADAMS
Wildstorm, December 2006, Color, 32pgs, $2.99
The WorldStorm rollout continues with the return of the most dangerous super-group on the planet! Grant Morrison, the universally acclaimed writer of All Star Superman, Seven Soldiers and Wildcats brings his talents to the new bimonthly series THE AUTHORITY, featuring art by Eisner Award-winner Gene Ha (TOP 10)!
Morrison & Ha deliver an unparalleled sense of drama and dynamic storytelling to The Authority that will leave readers gasping for breath. The first issue starts with a bang and goes up from there, reintroducing the team with intriguing new twists and revelations!
Commentary
The Authority created by Warren Ellis & Bryan Hitch, first appeared in 1999's The Authority #1, a unique combination of "widescreen" destruction and graphic violence utilising characters from Ellis' Stormwatch run.
Ellis left the title after twelve seminal issues, to be replaced by Morrison protege Mark Millar and Frank Quitely. Their run introduced a political slant into the equation but censorship issues and creator disagreements led to cancellation of the series with 2002's #29. A relaunch headed by Robbie Morrison and Dwayne Turner lasted a further 15 issues in 2003-2004, culminating in The Authority taking over the USA.
Ed Brubaker and Dustin Nguyen's The Authority: Revolution followed soon after, a 12 issue limited series dealing with the fallout of superheroes running the United States. Concluding in late 2005, it was announced at the beginning of 2006 that Grant Morrison and Gene Ha would be relaunching the title for a third ongoing volume, to be released bi-monthly beginning that October. Morrison cited Warren Ellis’s original run as an approach he wanted to return to, saying his new approach would allow the team to be effectual again.
The first issue of Morrison's run, part of the line-wide Worldstorm event, was delayed until December, the second until the following May. Gene Ha said in a September 2007 interview with Newsarama, "...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."
Grant Morrison chimed in soon after, "The Authority was just a disaster.", he commented. With the title already running late when the time-consuming 52 project started, after Morrison saw the reviews to first issue, "I said fuck it."
As a replacement for Morrison's abandoned Authority title, Wildstorm announced in June 2007 that Christos Gage would pen a six issue mini series entitled The Authority: Prime, originally pegged as the storyline that would have constituted issues #6-11 of the title. This implies that Morrison probably signed on for just five issues of the title, though this conflicts with Keith Giffen's subsequent comments.
In April of 2008 Wildstorm announced that Keith Giffen would complete Morrison's run as a 12 issue mini-series entitled The Authority: The Lost Year. Giffen said of his approach to continuing the story, "I stepped into a book that was in the midst of a type of storyline that is probably my least favorite in comics. And that is, heroes come to our earth"
“The story that Grant started wraps up in two more issues, then it moves into another adventure. This book is about the Authority having trouble with the Carrier and they're trying to find their way home. It's almost like the Odyssey, in a way, as trying to find your way home and going through various adventures. And this is what Grant had planned. This is in keeping with the basic structure that he told me over the phone. But then, I'll put in my point of view."
Annotations
Annotations
Page 1 - The HNoMS Uredd is a real submarine. Its name translates from Norwegian as 'without fear'. The current Uredd is the second sub to bear that name, the first being the only submarine ever lost by the Royal Norwegian Navy during a Nazi attack in World War II.
The prefix HNoMS, for His Norwegian Majesty's Ship, is the English translation of KMS, the acronym used by the Royal Norwegian Navy.
Page 2-3 - The orange-yellow glow in the last couple of panels is a 'door' to the Authority's ship. As will be seen at the end of this issue and the beginning of next, Midnighter is about to come aboard the Uredd and deal with the terrorist threat.
Page 5 - A photo-realistic London, home of Ken, a Special Forces frogman and our POV character for this arc.
Page 6 - The newsreader seen here is BBC News' Kate Silverton.
Page 9 - The background to the nine panel grid is more news, print and TV - terrorists, bombs, melting icecaps, Muslim unrest, Thai separatists etc.
The photo shows Ken and Joan in happier times along with their two children, presumably now grown-up and living away.
"There's nothing on telly about it" - a subtle critique of 24 hour news and its cyclical, human interest obsessed nature. This downed submarine and the circumstances surrounding it will change the world, and the TV news is reporting on a man injured whilst hugging a panda.
Joan literally and figuratively slips out of Ken's grasp
Page 10 - The X Factor is a Saturday night staple of British TV, later unleashed on you poor Americans. Essentially it is the British version of American Idol in all but name, even counting Simon Cowell amongst its judges.
Jan Mayen Island is a highly volcanic Norwegian territory located in the Arctic Circle. An Irish monk who spotted it from a ship in the 6th century mistook it for the gateway to hell. It is also a NATO radio station and is mentioned as such in Tom Clancy's The Hunt For Red October.
One of the Tomb Raider games was set in part on Jan Mayen Island, suggesting this was the site of the Norse Valhalla.
Page 11 - Submarines do indeed have catering staff, something that took me a little by surprise whilst reading up on this stuff.
Portsmouth is the headquarters of the British Royal Navy.
ROV is an acronym for Remotely Operated Vehicle. These are usually unmanned mini-submersibles piloted by remote control.
Colonel Emlyn Stafford, escape expert from Dolphin, is presumably the team's commanding officer. Its not very clear whether he and Tor make it to The Carrier or not. He makes no further appearance in the story.
Page 15 - Steven Seagal is a spurious action 'star', probably best known for Under Seige.
Liverpool and Newcastle United are football clubs in the English Premier League.
Tor and Dez round out Ken's four man team.
Page 19 - Tor finds the door from pages 2-3
Page 20 - CRF?
Page 21-22 - The Authority's ship, The Carrier. Ha's photo realistic approach up to this point really makes this double page spread pop. These pages are the first sign of The Authority in the book, the actual team make no appearance in issue 1. This slow burn approach from Morrison, used again in 2010's Joe the Barbarian, came in for a lot of negative comments at the time (see Commentary above).
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