Well, it’s September, and I’m feeling… eh. The kids are back in school, so you know that “Down with the Sickness” is going to be played a lot in many homes. Lately, it’s been hitting us with Liz and Andy being a little down for the count. Even though I’m not around here as much anymore, I got to talk about some Superman comics. I might even throw in a certain show that’s recently made it to Max. Today’s pick is Superman and the Authority, a miniseries that was starting just as Andy was being born. In fact, I got the first issue the day I closed my pick list at the Great Escape in Nashville. If there was one thing that was gonna get me to come out and get the whole trade, it would be Grant Morrison.
Now, the story behind this mini is a weird one that involves a defunct idea called 5G… no, not that 5G on your phone or in the airwaves. I don’t know everything about it, but it was another reboot that Dan Didio wanted to do. The key word is “wanted” because that whole idea blew up in smoke and Didio was let go from DC afterwards. The ideas (That whole DC Future event after Dark Knights Death Metal) kind of made their way into the comics, but things remained the same. I did hear that one idea was to take an older Superman down an authoritative route, but Morrison said “I say thee nay” or something and instead wrote about a lower-powered Superman forming a team of lesser-knowns, villains and sometimes killers. Yeah, that also sounds weird, but this is Morrison we’re talking about.
On the creative side, we got Grant Morrison writing all four issues. His story was retooled to fit into Phillip Kennedy Johnson’s current run with Superman. By the way, it’s a good one. The artwork is mainly handled by Mikel Janin with Travel Foreman, Evan Cagle and Fico Ossio help out with other artwork. The colorists are Jordan Bellaire, Alex Sinclair, Dave Stewart, and Sebastian Cheng. So, what happens as Superman forms a team of villains, lesser-known heroes, and killer vigilantes? Not too much actually, but it is fun!
SYNOPSIS
In the story (which does take place in continuity), a lower-powered Superman has decided to form a team that’s a little different from the Justice Leagues of the world. Just don’t worry about him chatting around with JFK in the 60’s. It’ll make sense soon. Anyway, this team will basically take care of some hard tasks but done with Superman in the lead. First, he recruits and helps out villain Manchester Black… yeah, you read that right. After he helps out Manchester with some issues, they basically go on a recruitment drive to find ones suited for this team.
As I said above, it’s a motley crew of characters. We got Apollo
and Midnighter, two lovers and holdovers from the original Authority…or was it
Stormwatch? I get those two teams confused. Next, we get a familiar Super
character in Natasha Irons as Steel. Next, we got June Moone, aka “The Enchantress”
who’s a bit of a wild card. Finally, we have another couple of lesser knowns.
First up is Lightray, a speedster from another universe. Last to the party is a
new version of O.M.A.C (One Man Army Corp). As the team’s being formed, they
end up going up against different but familiar foes.
This was a pretty interesting read for the most part. While we
are used to Morrison being out of continuity with their Superman stories (the
Action Comics run kinda counts there), you really don’t see them do Superman much
in continuity. When you do get it, it tends to be some good stuff like Final
Crisis, the 90’s JLA run, and this too. We also got Morrison doing another sort
of Supes too. Instead of one at the beginning of his career or his end, we got
one who is lower powered but still fighting the good fight. This time, he just needs
some help to accomplish a big feat which gets touched on in Phillip Kennedy
Johnson’s Action Comics run.
As usual, Morrison writes a good Superman. Yeah, Clark may be lower-powered, sporting a new suit (cool suit by the way), and getting a little grey, he’s still Superman. He also handles the Authority pretty well too. Manchester Black and Enchantress get some good glow-ups here. I also liked the World’s Finest wannabes in Apollo and Midnighter too. Natasha Irons also gets a chance to shine. The only two I wasn’t too keen on were Lightray and OMAC, though that may be because they’re literally new characters. I will say that after reading Johnson’s Warworld arc, those two grew on me a bit.
The artwork is pretty solid all around. Mikel Janin does the
main brunt of the work, and everyone looks pretty solid. I especially liked
Superman’s new look. It kinda sucks that it might just be limited to this book,
but something tells me that it could return someday. Heck, I think I got an
idea for Halloween. The rest of the artists do a good enough job here. They all
are able to take what Morrison comes up in that head and bring it to page well.
As for any negatives, I did think that the villains were a
little lackluster. It’s like Morrison drew some randoms out of a hat or
something, but some of them make sense. We really also don’t get them until the
last half of the book which I guess is fine. The main aspect of the book was
seeing Superman put this team together and get into verbal spats with
Manchester. I did like the reappearance of a couple of Superman’s villains
especially one that folks tend to forget that he was one of Supes’ first
villains from the early days. Also, “ Morrison’s gonna Morrison,” which means
that stuff’s going to get weird for little reason. You just have to roll with
it. Other than those things and the fact that this feels weird in continuity
(just an effect of 5G), this was good.
………………………………………….
In the end, this was a good one from Morrison and company.
While it isn’t a major event in the life of Superman, it is a good one. While you
kind of need it for Johnson’s Action Comics run, it can be read as a bit of a
standalone too. Well, that’s all I got for today. It is mine and Liz’s first wedding
anniversary… and “La Corona” is in the house. Hey, we are still gonna make it
good though the traveling will have to wait a couple weeks. Anyway, Peace, God Bless,
and be careful out there.
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