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The Authority #5.5
Authority/StormWatch/WildCATS: Coup d'Etat
Tao has tricked the US Government into committing an interdimensional atrocity and only The Authority can save the planet. Unaware of Tao's involvement, The Authority is forced to take drastic measures to prevent this from ever happening again. But their actions send shock waves that shake the foundation of the WildStorm universe and force StormWatch: Team Achilles and The WildCATS to question their decision. Can these super teams co-exist under the new status quo?
112 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2004
92 people want to read
About the author
Ed Brubaker
1,798 books3,012 followersEd Brubaker (born November 17, 1966) is an Eisner Award-winning American cartoonist and writer. He was born at the National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland.
Brubaker is best known for his work as a comic book writer on such titles as Batman, Daredevil, Captain America, Iron Fist, Catwoman, Gotham Central and Uncanny X-Men. In more recent years, he has focused solely on creator-owned titles for Image Comics, such as Fatale, Criminal, Velvet and Kill or Be Killed.
In 2016, Brubaker ventured into television, joining the writing staff of the HBO series Westworld.
Brubaker is best known for his work as a comic book writer on such titles as Batman, Daredevil, Captain America, Iron Fist, Catwoman, Gotham Central and Uncanny X-Men. In more recent years, he has focused solely on creator-owned titles for Image Comics, such as Fatale, Criminal, Velvet and Kill or Be Killed.
In 2016, Brubaker ventured into television, joining the writing staff of the HBO series Westworld.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
February 22, 2022
Across four one-shot comic book issues four different creative teams tell the story of Tao's manipulations, the ascendancy of The Authority and the fall of the government of the United States of America. A key Wildstorm universe story that you know would have been that much better if told by a single creative team, but by now Wildstorm was deep in a place looking to to get readers having to buy as many books and serials as possible. 6 out of 12.
2017 read; 2011 read
2017 read; 2011 read
May 7, 2019
Interesante punto de giro para el supergrupo The Authority, que, obligados por la podredumbre de los dirigentes norteamericanos, deciden tomar a la fuerza el control de EE.UU. Proyecto grupal, el volumen se divide en cuatro capítulos pertenecientes a las respectivas colecciones de Sleeper, Stormwatch, Wildcats y The Authority, guionizadas y dibujadas por sus correspondientes responsables. Debido a la escasa longitud del conjunto, solo hay tiempo para la descripción de los hechos. Las implicaciones morales de un golpe de estado -por mucho que esta vez responda a un honesto deseo de hacer el bien- absolutamente antidemocrático, quedan para ser tratadas en el futuro, en la continuación natural del universo Wildstorm Una lástima.
June 15, 2008
There's a lot going on here which is worthy of comment.
First of all, it's worth noting that this isn't just an Authority comic. It's sort of pan-universe (Wildstorm universe, if you care), so there's an Authority one, a "Sleeper" one, a "WildC.A.T.s Version 3.0", and one "Stormwatch: Team Achilles". I'm unfamiliar with Sleeper and Wildcats and I have only passing familiarity with Stormwatch (I read it up to the point where it spun off the Authority). So my opinion is coloured by that. You probably need some familiarity with the Authority to understand what's going on here.
I cannot for the life of me summarize this. A bloke named Tao manipulates the US Government into blowing up an alien ship, the fallout from which destroys Florida. In return, the Authority takes over the US Government, killing the President as a "peace offering" to members of the alien race (called "The Vigil"). And then, instead of holding elections, they decide to build a better world.
In some ways, this seems clear-cut enough: the government gets a lot of people killed needlessly, so get a better government. Patrick Kent (the US President, a poorly veiled Bush[1]) is a jerk, so why not get rid of him? I'm sure no liberal could claim they'd never had this fantasy. And yet the Authority's manipulation of the general public and the Vigil (to whom they show a doctored up tape) makes them no better than those they've deposed, especially when they seem to easily defeat the Vigil when they begin their (inevitable retaliatory) attack. Instead of either drawing a clear line between good and evil, or showing both sides as equally noble and the issue as gray, Morrison, Brubaker, et al, paint everyone as corrupt, which makes the whole thing less amusing.
Additionally, I can't help but feel that taking over the US is almost too small of a task for the Authority, who at one point killed god and who have previously taken on the governments of Russia, China, and Indonesia without instituting themselves as a junta. What makes the US more important than everyone else? There's lingering tensions from the old Stormwatch days, sure (the US doesn't like superheros much), but that hardly seems to make it more important than anyone else.
Partially because of how the comic industry works, there seems to be a lot of time spent doing BIG story arcs which bring various characters together and examine their interactions. Unfortunately, these rarely develop any of the ideas to the point which the reader would like, focusing on quantity over quality. Coup D'Etat is ultimately the same: an intriguing premise, a lot of waffling in the middle, and ultimately a let-down. When Midnighter says, "Well, now what?" at the end, I'm not really temped to rush out and get the next one in the series to keep reading.
Positives: a little Midnigher/Apollo snarkage (a very little), plus Apollo gets a few lines to prove he's more than a handsome, brainless blond. A fair amount of Jack (being kind of broody, another throwback to Stormwatch). The art in 3 of the 4 books is good (Portacio, I'm looking at you. What the hell happened?)
Negatives: Plot too small for the characters. Art in the last one is terrible. A lot of the panels and dialog boxes are laid out in a way suggesting the person who laid them out had never read a comic before. Definitely in need of a tighter editorial process.
--
[1] Poorly veiled enough that using the word "veiled" seems rather ironic, honestly.
First of all, it's worth noting that this isn't just an Authority comic. It's sort of pan-universe (Wildstorm universe, if you care), so there's an Authority one, a "Sleeper" one, a "WildC.A.T.s Version 3.0", and one "Stormwatch: Team Achilles". I'm unfamiliar with Sleeper and Wildcats and I have only passing familiarity with Stormwatch (I read it up to the point where it spun off the Authority). So my opinion is coloured by that. You probably need some familiarity with the Authority to understand what's going on here.
I cannot for the life of me summarize this. A bloke named Tao manipulates the US Government into blowing up an alien ship, the fallout from which destroys Florida. In return, the Authority takes over the US Government, killing the President as a "peace offering" to members of the alien race (called "The Vigil"). And then, instead of holding elections, they decide to build a better world.
In some ways, this seems clear-cut enough: the government gets a lot of people killed needlessly, so get a better government. Patrick Kent (the US President, a poorly veiled Bush[1]) is a jerk, so why not get rid of him? I'm sure no liberal could claim they'd never had this fantasy. And yet the Authority's manipulation of the general public and the Vigil (to whom they show a doctored up tape) makes them no better than those they've deposed, especially when they seem to easily defeat the Vigil when they begin their (inevitable retaliatory) attack. Instead of either drawing a clear line between good and evil, or showing both sides as equally noble and the issue as gray, Morrison, Brubaker, et al, paint everyone as corrupt, which makes the whole thing less amusing.
Additionally, I can't help but feel that taking over the US is almost too small of a task for the Authority, who at one point killed god and who have previously taken on the governments of Russia, China, and Indonesia without instituting themselves as a junta. What makes the US more important than everyone else? There's lingering tensions from the old Stormwatch days, sure (the US doesn't like superheros much), but that hardly seems to make it more important than anyone else.
Partially because of how the comic industry works, there seems to be a lot of time spent doing BIG story arcs which bring various characters together and examine their interactions. Unfortunately, these rarely develop any of the ideas to the point which the reader would like, focusing on quantity over quality. Coup D'Etat is ultimately the same: an intriguing premise, a lot of waffling in the middle, and ultimately a let-down. When Midnighter says, "Well, now what?" at the end, I'm not really temped to rush out and get the next one in the series to keep reading.
Positives: a little Midnigher/Apollo snarkage (a very little), plus Apollo gets a few lines to prove he's more than a handsome, brainless blond. A fair amount of Jack (being kind of broody, another throwback to Stormwatch). The art in 3 of the 4 books is good (Portacio, I'm looking at you. What the hell happened?)
Negatives: Plot too small for the characters. Art in the last one is terrible. A lot of the panels and dialog boxes are laid out in a way suggesting the person who laid them out had never read a comic before. Definitely in need of a tighter editorial process.
--
[1] Poorly veiled enough that using the word "veiled" seems rather ironic, honestly.
December 26, 2012
Generally a good story, and definitely one with interesting and long-lasting repercussions for many of the people featured herein.
August 25, 2022
Tao devises a ruse against the US government to get a black hole into the Bleed. It results in a devastating blast that damages the Bleed and an alien shiftship that was nearby. The Authority try to help, but find they cannot. The Doctor's magic is useless when used on the Vigil, a race of knowledge gatherers considered sacred by other intelligent life, including the Carrier. The Authority now fear the repercussions of this event. Upon finding that the explosion was caused in part by the hubris of the US government, they decide to take over the country.
January 12, 2020
Even without the least bit of knowledge of the rest of the Wildstorm universe outside of The Authority, this was an enjoyable crossover series. An interesting political fable; can’t wait to see how it impacts The Authority.
May 15, 2012
A scientific experiment goes awry, resulting in interstellar slaughter and the destruction of Florida. The Authority, trying to prevent an invasion by vengeful aliens, investigates and discovers the culprits: That's right, it's the Republicans. Not content to simply screw up our world, they've gotta look for other planets to wreck. The Authority has had enough and finally indulges its fascist tendencies and takes over, declaring puny humans too stupid to elect their own leaders. The new law of the land: Enjoy our utopia, or we'll kick your head off. This move irritates the other superdudes, still clinging to that pesky democracy jazz. It's "the crossover that brought the Wildstorm Universe to its knees." Granted, I don't live in the Wildstorm Universe, but I was fairly unrocked. There hasn't been a really good Authority/Stormwatch run since Warren Ellis and Mark Millar left, and to my knowledge, there's NEVER been a good WildCATs run. This reads more like masturbatory fantasies of a frustrated, ineffectual liberal (Dubya stand-in Patrick Kent even gets vaporized into a pile of ashes). It's mostly passable and mildly entertaining except for Robbie Morrison's lame contribution, which is not only juvenile but insulting to American servicemembers
January 24, 2010
Attempt at a big crossover story featuring all the major players in the Wildstorm Universe is hurt by the fact that the 'heroes', the Authoritry, were at this point in their history being written as a complete bunch of dicks, so rooting for them becomes a bit difficult.
The Stormwatch section where the two teams so distrust each other, so can never get past their attitudes and trust each other was clever and the 'Wildcats' section was interesting, as one of the heroes tries to talk the Authority out of what they are doing and refuses to have the traditional super hero fight o\with them.
A nice example of comics trying to be adult that does it.
The rest is a couple of decent ideas, some uneven writing and more of the slow death of the Authority.
The Authority never recovered from Warren Ellis leaving it, and no writer that came after him could get a handle on them past having them acting like jerks and swearing a lot.
The Stormwatch section where the two teams so distrust each other, so can never get past their attitudes and trust each other was clever and the 'Wildcats' section was interesting, as one of the heroes tries to talk the Authority out of what they are doing and refuses to have the traditional super hero fight o\with them.
A nice example of comics trying to be adult that does it.
The rest is a couple of decent ideas, some uneven writing and more of the slow death of the Authority.
The Authority never recovered from Warren Ellis leaving it, and no writer that came after him could get a handle on them past having them acting like jerks and swearing a lot.
October 18, 2010
Seems like this was meant as an "event" in the Wildstorm universe. Reading it so many years later, I don't feel the same urgency I felt when reading the Marvel events like Secret Invasion or Siege. Is that because of the distance from the original release? Is it informed in part by knowing that the Wildstorm imprint has now been folded into the DC parent behemoth? Or is it because the event just didn't feel that much "bigger" than the usual, already larger-than-life Authority storylines? I like the Authority stuff well enough, but for me that's never followed any of the other Wildstorm teams' exploits and turmoil, I had an impossible time feeling sympathy or rage on their behalfs. I bet if I was already familiar with their lives and reasons why they were where they were, I'd feel more pathos, despair or haunting at their hopeless missions.
All that said, I sure want to see what comes next for the inhabitants of the Carrier.
All that said, I sure want to see what comes next for the inhabitants of the Carrier.
February 2, 2013
Not sure I can comment fairly or comprehensively on this; I came to it knowing only about The Authority (and only reading it to flesh out what had been going on in that universe) - not knowing anything about the other teams featured, their reactions to the Authority's actions didn't really make an impact on me one way or the other, other than sparking a mild interest in following up the Team Achilles content. As an Authority fan - precisely because of their faults and hubris - well, not much happens, other than explaining how they came to be running the US. Enjoyable enough but I can't say it has really made an enduring impression (although the concept of sending Midnighter to sort out [world leader of your choice] has a certain gleeful appeal to my Inner Child - as does Apollo blasting 'im to bits. Good silly popcorn fun.
November 27, 2014
Sleeper part is obviously the best in entire story - it's jsut pure Sleeper with all I lvoe about that series.
Stormwatch part is...meh. I enjoyed Doctor Doom parody and I team was interesting, but I feel like it was only waste of space here, a sidenote to real thing.
Same can be said about Wild C.A.T.S. part, but their plot carries over with much more interesting characters. I'll consider picking up main series with that team of those authors.
Authority was Authority, what I came to expect from them, if a bit rushed. A bit of auhor tract whenever Doctor speaks, sadly. But it was okay.
Afterword...yeah, gonna read second season of sleeper.
Okay book, but in Sleeper saga enteirly skippable.
Stormwatch part is...meh. I enjoyed Doctor Doom parody and I team was interesting, but I feel like it was only waste of space here, a sidenote to real thing.
Same can be said about Wild C.A.T.S. part, but their plot carries over with much more interesting characters. I'll consider picking up main series with that team of those authors.
Authority was Authority, what I came to expect from them, if a bit rushed. A bit of auhor tract whenever Doctor speaks, sadly. But it was okay.
Afterword...yeah, gonna read second season of sleeper.
Okay book, but in Sleeper saga enteirly skippable.
March 13, 2011
Enjoyable graphic novel showing what happens in the Stormwatch world when the U.S. gov't gets stupid and doesn't think ahead. Thus, their mistake allows The Authority...um...the authority to seemingly take over the U.S. gov't...and there's not a damn thing anyone can - or wants to - do to remedy the situation. Of course, had Stormwatch: Team Achilles stuck around, they'd probably have made The Authority eat it, but - sadly - SW:TA was canceled and the powers that be didn't involved SW:TA as they should have...
Oh well...great read none the less.
Oh well...great read none the less.
July 10, 2012
Leído del Absolute #3 de Norma, que ya reseñé por su lado. Por ahora, hasta que Goodreads encuentre un modo mejor de hacerlo, voy a tener que ir marcando ediciones superpuestas para tener bien en claro que estoy leyendo.
May 16, 2011
Kind of inevitable that we would end up here, at this storyline; could have been developed better, but it dovetailed with how The Authority has changed over time. Brubaker is a great writer.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews