What goes around comes around
(SPOILERS)
"They think there's no-one left to save the world..." Ten years ago, Warren Ellis used this line to introduce the Authority – an aggressively idealistic bunch who were going to build a finer world by any means necessary. We all know what the road to hell is paved with. I've been consistently impressed and entertained by the way Abnett and Lanning have woven aspects of the Ellis series into this very different book, from the nod to that first line in their own issue #1 to their loyalty to Ellis' character concepts and the team's dogged adherence to its 'finer world' mission in the face of catastrophic failure. It's an odd combination given the dissonance between Ellis' pyrotechnics and the grassroots struggles of the World's End team, but it works.
Starting the final arc of their run, DnA bring their deconstructed super-team full circle by pitting them against their first adversary, retro arch-villain Kaizen Gamorra. The artwork in the opening pages is an affectionate homage, deliberately repeating images from Bryan Hitch's Authority #1. Kaizen was last defeated when Midnighter dropped the Carrier on his island HQ. Now the island is airborne (comic book science!), the Carrier is landlocked, and it's payback time. On one level this is an unabashedly old-fashioned Authority issue, full of widescreen mayhem and ballistics, as the team fights back with all the firepower they've got. Angie is especially good, spouting geek-speak as she rustles up a brace of superguns and articulating the team's outrage in classic Authority style: "Bite me." I've always enjoyed the decisive, leading roles she and Swift have played in the World's End story and this battle is no exception – "Yee-Haah!" indeed. Jack gets the cliffhanger ending, cornered by a striking Cybernary as he tries to get civilians to safety.
So where's the team's headkicker-in-chief while all this is happening? Via a flashback, we see Midnighter get a cryptic message from Doctors Habib and Jeroen via his tortured subconscious, which prompts him to leave the Carrier (on a motorbike, naturally) to find a cure for the virus that's keeping his husband in deep-freeze. His unquestioning obedience to his dream seemed out of character – you'd think after living through "Authority: Revolutions" he'd be leery of strange visions telling him to go it alone – but it fits with the air of subtle disintegration DnA have been building up for him over the last few issues; Midnighter's version of the World's End theme of depowerment is that he's technically undamaged but emotionally walking wounded. It'll be interesting to see if he's interpreted the message accurately, or been manipulated via his affections (again), and what he finds on his journey north.
Simon Coleby's art is excellent as ever, dark, ragged and dynamic. Drew Johnson again supplies some fill-in pages including the fine opening sequence. There's also an Engineer design by Al Barrionuevo, who'll be taking over art from #16.
