Authority, The: Kev

The Authority #K1

by Garth Ennis

To date, the life of down on his-luck S.A.S. Corporal Kev Hawkins has been an interesting mix of surprises and disappointments--but nothing could have prepared him for his repeated run-ins with the super-hero team knows as "The Authority"! After committing a debacle in his early career with the S.A.S, Kev was reassigned to a shadowy British intelligence agency as their "cleaner," taking care of the worst problems imaginable. No wonder he spends every night at the pub with his mates! His latest He must kill the most powerful super-human group on the planet -- armed only with a gun!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Comic Book, Superheroes, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Science Fiction

144 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2005

About the author

Ennis began his comic-writing career in 1989 with the series Troubled Souls. Appearing in the short-lived but critically-acclaimed British anthology Crisis and illustrated by McCrea, it told the story of a young, apolitical Protestant man caught up by fate in the violence of the Irish 'Troubles'. It spawned a sequel, For a Few Troubles More, a broad Belfast-based comedy featuring two supporting characters from Troubled Souls, Dougie and Ivor, who would later get their own American comics series, Dicks, from Caliber in 1997, and several follow-ups from Avatar.

Another series for Crisis was True Faith, a religious satire inspired by his schooldays, this time drawn by Warren Pleece. Ennis shortly after began to write for Crisis' parent publication, 2000 AD. He quickly graduated on to the title's flagship character, Judge Dredd, taking over from original creator John Wagner for a period of several years.

Ennis' first work on an American comic came in 1991 when he took over DC Comics's horror title Hellblazer, which he wrote until 1994, and for which he currently holds the title for most issues written. Steve Dillon became the regular artist during the second half of Ennis's run.

Ennis' landmark work to date is the 66-issue epic Preacher, which he co-created with artist Steve Dillon. Running from 1995 to 2000, it was a tale of a preacher with supernatural powers, searching (literally) for God who has abandoned his creation.

While Preacher was running, Ennis began a series set in the DC universe called Hitman. Despite being lower profile than Preacher, Hitman ran for 60 issues (plus specials) from 1996 to 2001, veering wildly from violent action to humour to an examination of male friendship under fire.

Other comic projects Ennis wrote during this time period include Goddess, Bloody Mary, Unknown Soldier, and Pride & Joy, all for DC/Vertigo, as well as origin stories for The Darkness for Image Comics and Shadowman for Valiant Comics.

After the end of Hitman, Ennis was lured to Marvel Comics with the promise from Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada that he could write The Punisher as long as he cared to. Instead of largely comical tone of these issues, he decided to make a much more serious series, re-launched under Marvel's MAX imprint.

In 2001 he briefly returned to UK comics to write the epic Helter Skelter for Judge Dredd.

Other comics Ennis has written include War Story (with various artists) for DC; The Pro for Image Comics; The Authority for Wildstorm; Just a Pilgrim for Black Bull Press, and 303, Chronicles of Wormwood (a six issue mini-series about the Antichrist), and a western comic book, Streets of Glory for Avatar Press.

In 2008 Ennis ended his five-year run on Punisher MAX to debut a new Marvel title, War Is Hell: The First Flight of the Phantom Eagle.

In June 2008, at Wizard World, Philadelphia, Ennis announced several new projects, including a metaseries of war comics called Battlefields from Dynamite made up of mini-series including Night Witches, Dear Billy and Tankies, another Chronicles of Wormwood mini-series and Crossed both at Avatar, a six-issue miniseries about Butcher (from The Boys) and a Punisher project reuniting him with artist Steve Dillon (subsequently specified to be a weekly mini-series entitled Punisher: War Zone, to be released concurrently with the film of the same name).

Taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garth_Ennis

Reviews

[Baba · Rating 3 out of 5]

What even is this comedic shitty assassin Kev doing in the Wildstorm The Authority universe? I have no idea, but it brings much needed light relief and now, here living in the future, it gives comic book readers a chance to sample some great vintage in yer face Garth Ennis. Kev's mission, is to take down The Authority armed with a gun! This tongue-in-cheek offering is an unlikely companion for The Authority, Vol. 1: Relentless series with its semi-comedic satire on the military, and daring to look closely at Northern Ireland and the Troubles 7 out of 12

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's best to see this as a loosely connected spinoff from the Authority series rather than a continuation of it.

Ennis has a... distinctive style. A style that I very much enjoy from time to time, but it's bleak and gratuitously brutal. And while the Authority is violent and occasionally angry, that's not really the same thing.

Gratuitously brutal *does* fit the Midnighter character pretty well though. So I can see why the story focuses on that character and Kevin (for the most part.) So while the story works, these books felt to be about 75% Ennis with only about 25% Authority in them. So that was a little disappointing, as I was more interested in the latter.

Is it worth you time? Well, if like Ennis, you'll like this book. But if you're not a fan of his, you'll probably be better taking a pass on this one.

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

This stand alone story about Kev (ex-SAS Soldier) will bring a grim smile to your face! I am still amazed at the ability Garth Ennis (GE) has to place desperate characters in situations that I would call 'sacrificial' - in order to achieve a goal GE often has the character have to give up something dear. This story is one such tale.

[Zedsdead · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heh. Vintage Ennis.

My only exposure to The Authority before this was a cameo appearance by the Midnighter in Sleeper, so I may be missing some of the story's nuances. Apparently it's a team of foul-mouthed, telepathic superheroes with a magical time-traveling interdimensional space station. The Authority's job is to repeatedly repel hostile extraterrestrial war fleets bent on subjugating and/or vaporizing the planet Earth.

Kev is a loser SAS hitman whose only superpower is "world's biggest shit-magnet". His first bodyguard detail ends with the protectee getting eaten by a tiger....in a nice quiet suburban house. IRA hit squads keep tracking him down, but only when he's in flagrante delicto or on the can. He unwittingly makes poofster jokes in front of gay superheroes with zero tolerance for homophobic asshats. (Okay, he kind of asked for that particular bodycast.) He's Gilligan, if Gilligan were a broke trained killer.

The Authority: Kev is short, and good, and doesn't take itself seriously. It feels like an experiment by the publisher; if so it worked. As is usual for an Ennis tale I found myself simultaneously laughing and WTFing. Also as usual I found it to be weirdly insightful when it wasn't going for shocks or laughs.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Irreverence and no fear of bodily functions or ridiculous violence: that is the Garth Ennis I know and love. Something about Ennis never takes any of this shit seriously (unlike Mark Millar, who wasn't as good a read on The Authority the second time around), and it's a relief seeing these characters for just as ridiculous as they really are. Plus Ennis comes up with some of the most twisted ways to see humans do weird shit to each other. Love the amount of creative energy Ennis puts into making me go "wow, i would never think of doing that to him with those".

[Timo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice fun.

[Sonic · Rating 4 out of 5]

We groan at Ennis's Trademark take on superheroes, yet we love it all the same.

Warped and funny, with Fabry's art, this was excellent!

[Mel · Rating 4 out of 5]

So hilarious and subversive of the comic book genre. I'd never heard of Kev or The Authority before reading this, so I may have lost out on some serious inside jokes but it was still hilarious. Not for weak stomachs though... the art is grisly and unsparing, but perfect for the style of the writing. I laugh just thinking about it.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good. Amusing, anarchic, violent and critical. Focuses largely on Kev having to deal with the ridiculous group of libertarians that are The Authority and deal with being the small cog that gets all the crap jobs in the big machine.

Poor place to start with The Authority, great piece for people who already love it. The story about the tiger was totally worth waiting for...

[Jedhua · Rating 4 out of 5]

ABSOLUTE RATING: {3.5/5 stars} (Rounded Down)

STANDARDIZED RATING: <4/5 stars>

[47Time · Rating 5 out of 5]

Garth Ennis knows humour. The story is just the right amount of dark and bloody to make me laugh. Kev Hawkins lives at number 46. It's practically 47, so I'll let it slide. He is a former SAS corporal now tasked with killing the Authority, a team of superheroes who have angered the world leaders.

He kills them surprisingly easily right as the world is being invaded by aliens named the Conquernauts of Yoke. Ken realises too late that he was duped into killing the only thing that stood in the aliens' path and thus doomed the planet. Fortunately, the now-sentient Carrier turns back time to before the Authority is killed. The world is swiftly saved and Kev is a hero. Actually, he gets beaten up and hospitalized for calling Apollo and Midnighter poofs.

Kev doesn't get awayfrom the Authority that easily. As fate would have it, he is the best man to help them with some aliens from another dimension. A failed job from years before, the one that ruined Kev's career as a bodyguard, was for an alien in human guise named B'Eeef. He is now wanted by the Rakulai to be judged for his crimes. Or else they blow up the Earth.

Apollo, Midnighter, Kev and his mates visit the place where their cleaner dumps the bodies. They find B'Eeef soon enough, but he has developed psychic powers that disable Apollo and resurrect the other dead bodies. Midnighter takes B'Eeef to the Carrier, but not before the latter builds a nuke that Kev unknowingly thows through a portal, right into the Carrier. The Authority survive and the Carrier phases into another dimension to prevent being destroyed. B'Eeef is sent to be tried, so the mission is a success.

In their downtime, Midnighter joins Kev meet in a pub. They argue about Kev's mistakes in life, one of which being not giving up the mercenary life when he was given the chance to do so. The scene does away with any laughs in favor of showcasing Kev's regret about his decision.

[Shane · Rating 5 out of 5]

So this is the first thing I've read by Garth Ennis. He's obviously been around for quite a while and I've been tempted in the past but it was really the "Authority" name on the cover (and the discounted price) that got me to purchase this.

Obviously if you look up just a bit you'll notice I gave it 5 stars. This means a couple of things. 1) Garth Ennis is an author I will be reading more of, in fact I already have The Authority: The Magnificent Kevin so I'll be reading that next. 2) The Authority totally freakin rocks! (but you already knew that) and finally 3) Did I mention how awesome the combination of Ennis and Authority was?

I just kept laughing and saying, "OMG that's great! Yes!". You could read this if you didn't have any history on The Authority and it would still be pretty damn great, but it's so much better when you have read the other Authority comics. I'm assuming Warren Ellis is very proud of these additions to his mythology.

[Cale]

This actually collects two short series starring Kev - the Two issue introduction, then a second story that recounts... the Tiger incident. The first section is more Authority focused, with Kev actually being sent to assassinate them. Things end up... strange... The second half is more in keeping with the later Kev stories, with him recounting the incident that made him the recipient of the SAS' worst assignments. Both stories are very much in Ennis' style, with over-the-top language and violence, and a strong pathos for military and ex-military, while still being funny and somewhat relatable. Kev is a very strange character for a super hero comic, but it really does work well, probably even better here than in the later stories.

[A.J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Garth Ennis writes a pretty hilarious spinoff of the Authority. This included both a one shot and mini series that are worth reading. You can see this is how Ennis came to write Midnighter down the line.

[Tyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is full of good laughs and at the end it hits harder than what you'd expect. I made sure to notice the shitty women characters and that's a sour note and not needed at all. One gets to make a joke at the end(a tasteless joke)-progress. It's a guy's read, there's no way around that. That's what makes it so unapologetically fun and full of such real characters and dialogue(mostly, I never laughed at any of the gay jokes and there were still plenty of laughs). I don't see a macho type book being mutually exclusive with good or at least non-trashy/f'ed up women. I guess all the men are kind of f'ed up too and trash as well though. just one woman doing something heroic(killing/beating someone in the Ennisverse)would help this more palatable.

[Santiago L. Moreno · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enésima gamberrada de Garth Ennis, esta vez a costa del supergrupo que sus compañeros británicos pusieron en el candelero. Buen dibujo de Fabry y un par de chistes irresistibles para un comic book pasarratos.

[Neil Carey · Rating 4 out of 5]

wrong, hilarious filth with an actual human soul

[Cole Albinder · Rating 3 out of 5]

Closer to 3.6/3.7.

[Oli Jacobs · Rating 3 out of 5]

An amusing intro to the character of Kev. Not too memorable a tale, but fun enough.

[Marcos_e.e · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nota 6.
Ok até, tem umas piadas boas aqui e ali

[Jbpg · Rating 1 out of 5]

The plot seemed non-organic and lacking in subtlety. It was as if, instead of events unraveling naturally, plot points were forced in order to drive home particular points (ex. the story needs to show that the Authority is valuable, so suddenly such-and-such a thing happens). The book has a high level of gore, crude sexual elements, and strong swearing that felt gratuitous rather than important.

I ended up skimming, so maybe I just skipped over the part that would prove me wrong about this book.

[Kalysto]

ça se lit, mais c'est pas vraiment du Authority (ça me rappelle un certain histoire bizarre de Hellboy : ça a la bonne couverture, mais pas le bon contenu, mais bon, ça reste beaucoup plus lisible que le dit Hellboy, juste qu'il faut pas s'attendre à quoi que ce soit d'épique)

[Tracey Sinclair · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable take on the Authority, though the art wasn't t my personal taste

[Theo · Rating 1 out of 5]

Trash. Swift makes an offensive rape joke. Kev tosses pointless homophobic slurs at Apollo and Midnighter. Boring and obvious Ennis.

[Mer Mayhem · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5