(No Spoilers)

Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning took The Authority, stripped them of everything, and then repeatedly kicked them in the stomach while they were down.  That is the best way to describe DnA’s run on The Authority.  Mix that with Simon Coleby’s dark and dreary artwork and you’ve got Wildstorm’s best World’s End title.  I personally grew to dislike The Authority.  When Warrne Ellis did his Stormwatch run, I heard rumblings about it but I had never cared for Stormwatch and doubted that I would regardless of how good the writer was.  Then Ellis created The Authority from the remnants of Stormwatch and all of sudden people are talking about how Eillis created “widescreen comics” and how violent and controversial The Authority was.  So I finally caved in and gave The Authority a try.  And I was hooked.  I even backtrack to Ellis’ Stormwatch.  Then Mark Millar took over and it seemed like the theme was, let’s see how controversial I can be in order to top Ellis.  That’s where Millar lost me.  I don’t mind controversy as long as it doesn’t seem forced.  Add to the fact The Authority were becoming way too powerful.  It was boring to read about them.  When they took over the U.S. in Coup d’etat it was the first story I thought went along with The Authority perfectly.  Having them taking control was not a matter of if, but when.  And under the pen of Ed Brubaker it was great.  Then Worldstorm happened and everyone was mad at Grant Morrison for not finishing his Authority run.  Which I didn’t follow at the time because I could care less about the team during that time.

Fast-forward to World’s End and it is DnA’s deconstruction of the team made me like them again.  With most of the members depowered or missing, they actually made me feel sorry for the most powerful team in the Wildstorm Universe.  And that is what makes DnA’s run so great.  First off, they wisely begin the story through the eyes of Swift, a character who is usually in the background.  Through her, new readers are introduced to the members of the team (those that are still around), making the story very accessible.  The plight of Midnighter and Apollo is very sad and shows us a different side of Midnighter, once called the most dangerous man in the world.  But rest assured, DnA do not forget this aspect of Midnigther and we still get to see him lay some beat-downs.  We also get to see how some of the team members deal with not having their powers anymore.  Needless to say, some deal with it better than others.  One of the things introduced in these issues are the creatures called Incubites.  They are infected with what has been dubbed “Warhol Fever” because people infected become these huge monstrosities with super strength for 15 minutes but then they literally explode, spreading the virus.  At first, it seemed like it was just a cool idea for post-apocalyptic monsters.  But as those following the series know, there is a lot more to it than that.  The latter part of this arc has a crossover with Stormwatch P.H.D (Post Human Division).  Overall, I just thought the crossover was ok, but I did feel that The Authority issues of the crossover collected here were much stronger.  Lastly, I think it’s noteworthy that DnA really respect Ellis’ run because there a lots of call-backs to it in their run.

Overall, if you were like me and grew tired of how powerful The Authority had become, then this story will intrigue you.  And it may even cause you to not only come back, but also actually like The Authority again.

Solicitation:

http://www.dccomics.com/wildstorm/comics/?cm=12115