(No Spoilers)

I have to admit, I’ve struggled a lot with The Authority:
The Lost Year.  It has really been hit
and miss for me.  I believe there have
been some great ideas presented in this series but I’m not really enjoying the
way they’re being presented.  However,
with J.M. DeMatteis helping with the story this time we do get some humor which
is very unusual for an Authority comic.

In visiting parallel worlds, the team has encountered
several doppelgangers of themselves, both here and in past Authority stories.  But this time, we get a more comedic take on
the parallel Authority team encountered here. 
When DeMatteis did his Justice League of America series in 1987, it was kind
of tongue-in-cheek.  It took place in DC
continuity but it was definitely very light-hearted.  Basically what we have here is a
light-hearted version of The Authority. 
This of course leads to some pretty funny moments where the characters
react to situations in a more “classic” superhero way.

The Authority of the parallel Earth act as if they were in a
sitcom rather than a comic.  You can
almost hear the laugh track appropriately placed as you read.  While it was funny, it wasn’t laugh out loud
funny.  It’s kind of like a big name
comedian that’s very popular making a movie and it receives lukewarm
ratings.  That’s what I feel here.  I get what they were trying to do but I
didn’t find it that amusing.

However, I will say David Williams and Kelsey Shannon’s art
was perfect for this story.  This is
especially true with some of the facial expressions of the characters.  At times I felt like I was reading a Mad
Magazine parody of The Authority and the pictures went along perfect with that
idea as I read. 

Fans of J.M. DeMatteis will appreciate his take on The
Authority but I think the idea fell a little short.  But we still have the second part of this
next month so we’ll see how this is all resolved.