Wildstorm ‘hero’ Comics

StormWatch and The Authority overview

Testament to Warren Ellis' personal mission to change comics, the storylines collected in these volumes offer some of the first and hardest-hitting 'real-world' takes on superhero comics in a mainstream line. They're also hugely fun.

Force of Nature lays out for us the new politics of the situation: StormWatch is an international crisis response team, sponsored by the United Nations. Lightning Strikes adds personal stories of the team, building to Change or Die, the definitive StormWatch tale. A Finer World deals with its aftermath, and Final Orbit is the group's swansong. This leads directly into Relentless, the first of Ellis' The Authority books.

The Authority is a team as dedicated to changing as saving the world. Books one and two are the Jenny Sparks -guided group, fighting for a better world in widescreen. Then the reins pass to Mark Millar, whose stories tend to focus on the political impact the group have. Transfer of Power in particular is heavily satirical.

At about this time a Jenny Sparks five issue series—The Secret History of The Authority—was released, offering a light-hearted retrospective on the history of the team along with some great art. Additionally, Ruling the World (reprinted in Crossing Worlds) saw Ellis return as writer for a crossover with his current project in the WildStorm universe: Planetary. Neither book is essential, but the Jenny Sparks volume is fun and evokes a satisfying this-is-just-the-tip-of-an-iceberg feeling.

Volume two of The Authority saw another switch in writers, the tone becoming vapid (if mildly entertaining) soap opera, and is eminently skippable. Coup D'Etat didn't really improve things, with the team coerced into taking over the America of the WildStorm universe. This arc was followed through by other titles from WS in the collection Fractured Worlds and the sincerely awful Ennis fuckarounds, Kev and More Kev. Other "related" titles such as The Monarchy and The Establishment were launched during this period, to decidedly lukewarm response. Much of this upheaval resulted from the sale of WildStorm Comics to DC, and attempts to cash-in on The Authority whilst censoring content.

On a brighter note, Team Achilles (also produced at around this time) is a different take on the StormWatch crisis response concept: a militarised team of mostly human operatives combating rogue superhumans... including The Authority. Darkly cynical, but funny with it. Unfortunately a subsequent reprint (and the ongoing series) were cancelled by DC, but what's collected in books one and two can still be enjoyed.

Meanwhile, The Authority has continued in Human on the Inside, a straight-to-hardcover release, and a twelve issue story arc, Revolution. The first looks nice but has wildly out-of-character writing; the second tries hard to reverse the long pattern of decline and is worth a look.

My recommendations would be to stick with the excellent early material: Relentless, Under New Management, Jenny Sparks: The Secret History of the Authority and Change or Die, in about that order. Other SW volumes (especially Lightning Strikes and Final Orbit) fill in gaps, and can be picked up as spotted at acceptable prices... though I should warn you, Final Orbit will seem more tragic the more you grow to like the cast of StormWatch.

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