The Authority: Human on the Inside

The Authority #4.5

by John Ridley

From acclaimed novelist and screenwriter John Ridley (Three Kings, Everybody Smokes in Hell) and hot new artist Ben Oliver (Puncture) comes the WildStorm event of the year! The Authority, Earths last defense, have performed godlike acts in defense of the planet, whether defeating ancient gods or fending off interdimensional invasion forces. But these brave acts haven't always endeared them to many in power.... particularly in the United States. The President, tired of being embarrassed by what he views as a bunch of costumed freaks, sets a plan in motion that could very well destroy the Authority from the inside: a plan so cunning it'll shake the Authority to their very core. With an unexpected threat from the future on Earths doorstep, it could very well mean global extinction!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Comic Book, Dc Comics, Fiction, Fantasy, Superheroes

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

John Ridley IV (born October 1965)[2] is an American screenwriter, television director, novelist, and showrunner, known for 12 Years a Slave, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. He is also the creator and showrunner of the critically acclaimed anthology series American Crime. His most recent work is the documentary film Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982–1992.


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This profile may contain books from multiple authors of this name.

Reviews

[Radclyffe U-Haul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked out of the sale bin b/c I really love Midnighter

[Brian Rosenberger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Authority: Human on the Inside
Wildstorm

It’s been awhile since I visited The Authority, one of my favorite series, like meeting up with absent friends.

The team has issues with the US President, the presence of American warships in the Pacific Rim. The President flinches first. He confides in Dr. Ledbedder, wanting the Authority destroyed.

Something is happening in Milwaukee. Nothing to do with Laverne & Shirley. Older TV fans get the reference. Your welcome. The team arrives, finding corpses of dead heroes. They encounter three robed figures, the mythical Erinyes, maybe better known to comic fans as the Furies, Ministers of Vengeance (not to be confused with Marvel’s Spirit of Vengeance, Ghost Rider). The team engages. It does not go well for the Authority - Swift vanishes, Hawksmoor suffers a shattered back, and the Doctor is lost in a drug-addled fantasy.

Enter Danny Chan, a guy who can kick ass. And does. No code name needed. The Erinyes retreat.
Interlude with the missing Swift and her male captor, Ledbedder. He has a personal grudge.

Danny interacts with Engineer and Midnighter, kissing both and starting conflict throughout the team.

Enter Jackson King, a well-know Wildstorm character. He’s there to unite the fragmented team and save the Earth from World-wide depression. What? Depression. That’s a super-villain? I thought that was life.

“Like I was saying, you all need a leader and I voted myself it.”

The Doctor gets it together but tells the team, “I’ve seen the future. There is no future.”

France launches nukes against France. What? Danny says,” Save France? Don’t we want to think about this for a second?” Apollo and the Doctor save the day.

The team meets a guy from the future, seems he’s the cause of the worldwide despair. Danny is injured and the Engineer learns he’s a robot, designed to destroy them. The Engineer destroys Danny. So much for that plan.

Ledbetter frees Swift. Hawksmoor heals himself. Threat ended.

Nice artwork by Ben Oliver. Weak story by John Ridley.

This is a jumbled mess and probably could have benefited from extra pages of story to better explain the plot. If you are fan of the Authority, feel free to skip this one. I bought it at a discount and still feel cheated.

[47Time · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have rarely read a more mature comic. Everything has a solid base in human nature, unlike the previous volumes for this superhero group. No longer focusing on saving the world, they are forced to save themselves. And they aren't the only ones. Something is deleting the future, making every human feel depressed or destructive, even suicidal.

The new US president wants the Authority removed. Again. Original, I know. One of the president's aides named Ledbetter, who is also the father of the now-dead replacement for Swift in the new Authority, employs the three Erinyes. Their magic is more powerful than the Authority's own. The three don't just break the Authority's bodies, they also break their spirit. Danny Chan saves their hides, but who is he really?

Hawksmoor has his back shattered. The Doctor sinks back into drug addiction. Swift disappears and is thought dead - she was teleported away to be tortured by Ledbetter. Danny Chan is hardly trustworthy. Midnighter is least convinced that Danny should join the team, especially after seeing him seduce Angie. Midnighter himself gets a kiss from the guy which affects his relationship with Apollo.

With the team in shambles, King is tasked with leading them to face the threat that can destroy the world - the world-wide depression that is deleting the future. It's coming from a single man from the future. He has seen the decline of the world and would prefer its demise come sooner. Fortunately, the Authority doesn't give up that easily.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Authority is a super-powered team considered "Earth's last line of defense", and they've proved their worth by fighting inter-dimensional invasion forces. The concept that John Ridley comes up with in this story is a good one: rather than take on the incredibly powerful Authority in a fight, the President of the United States has one of his minions launch a psychological attack, preying on their very human doubts and fears. The artwork by Ben Oliver is wonderful, fully painted, and (at times) powerful.

But the execution makes little to no sense. The characters themselves learn nothing, and revert to their status quo (so much for character development). The conclusion, which should be gripping, is about punching robots. One of the women on the team is graphically tortured because....I don't know, really. So much potential wasted.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 really

[Phil Dicemechanic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Real return to form for the Authority, with a story focusing on their human weaknesses, rather than Earth-shattering powers. Main criticism? Too short!

[Bob Solanovicz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Da je Ridley bolje napravio klimaks priče, bio bi ovo skroz dobar strip album. U tom bih slučaju velikodušno prešao preko onog što Ben Oliver naziva strip-crtežom.

[Brayden Kennedy · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's got a fantastic title, but it's a failure on every other creative front

[Serene · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like some of the characters in the Authority, particularly Apollo and Midnighter and Jenny. I thought the art here was beautiful. They did an especially good job of depicting Midnighter without his mask which was refreshing sometimes he can look quite ugly. Apollo looked older than Midnighter which might be because of the size and cragginess of his face, but he was attractive enough.

The story is weak and kind of leaves you hanging. As villains go, I liked the idea of the robot seducer Danny, but they needed to take it further. Danny was just a bit too easy to take down.

My favorite scene though was when Danny defeated Midnighter in combat, and then just left him there dazed after the kiss.

I do admit to wondering what happened between Apollo/Midnighter during Lucas's clumsy explanation. The ending leaves you hanging, because nothing is resolved, and no one apologizes. It just was what it was. Engineer taking out Danny was anticlimatic.

AS art goes, it is beautiful, worth reading for that alone. As a story I felt it needed more. I would've loved to had Danny sew more discord, and for the ending to have some better indication that Apollo and Midnighter forgive each other.

[Alias K Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE the Authority and Midighter is my favorate super/anti hero! That's all you really need to know about me.
Human on the Inside, was a great Authority book. I captured the crazy in which the team lives as they battle human governments as well as bad guys. In the meantime, another government plot is afoot. The team are strained past breaking point with the stress over Swifts fate, their leader being crippled and a maniac who can see the future deciding it's not worth living...so he' goning to take out the universe. If all that wasn't enough, the team are put to the test among each other as they deal with anger, frustration, jealousy and every negative emotion you can think of, all caused by a very inhumane agent.
I really wished for more Midnighter/Apollo storytime, but it was not to be. This stand alone graphic novel is well worth the hunt for it.

[Jbpg · Rating 3 out of 5]

With such powerful characters, interpersonal conflict is what makes them most interesting, and this story does a great job of that. The dialogue feels natural and doesn’t drift into over-explaining, and the author resists any temptation to wrap everything up neatly.

Also, another cool element is that it explores the issue that the very idea of superhero vigilantes is one that borders on fascism.

The art's quite good and realistic, with an interestingly muted style. Faces are done especially well.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just like the kind of story I'd expect a novelist to write for the graphic novel form. Which is actually a high compliment, because he not only carved out a self-contained story that had some heft to it, but also the book was just about the rift length for the story - not rushed, not dragged out. Nice writerly twists & turns, good character development (and attention to their history). Art couldn't been cleaner, but stylistically it's coherent, not cluttered and tells a story on it's own.

[Stewart Tame · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a nice standalone GN. Not sure if it's good enough to justify the deluxe hardcover treatment, but it's a decent story at any rate. The future is being destroyed, a shockwave working its way back towards the present. But the Authority are too busy squabbling among themselves to do anything to stop it. They are unsuccessful, everyone dies, and that's the end of the series. Or not. You'll have to read it to find out if I'm lying or not.

[SA · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this more than I did! But I felt like I was watching a movie where one of the key emotional scenes has been edited out to insert this "really cool action sequence" the director spent a bunch of money on and couldn't justify leaving out.

This is one of the first times I've found Jack genuinely unlikeable, too. Bummer.

[Matt Piechocinski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good ... I like the Authority, but I think my favorite character in this story was the Weatherman himself, Jackson King. Anyways, nice OGN in which the team has to face their own flaws, and ego ... lest the world be destroyed. I actually think Ridley did a good job channeling Ellis ... much better than Millar, who tried to straight up emulate him to the point of plagiarism.

[Todd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bleh. I was really hoping for more of the Authority. But this feels like a bad photo copy of a improperly done carbon copy. Sure some things look right, but the whole picture is just off.

I never really laughed and The Authority was always best when being darkly comic. I don't get most of it. It feels lame.

I didn't really like the art either. The characters just weren't themselves.

[Fugo Feedback · Rating 3 out of 5]

Creo que este tomo fue lo primero que leí de Authority. Y me gustó bastante pero no tanto como los números anteriores (que descubrí después). Si no me equivoco, lo leí en la edición española de Norma. Cuando pueda la subo.

[Tracey Sinclair · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting (if not exactly groundbreaking) story with some enjoyable Midnighter/Apollo angst (jealous Apollo is ace)and stylish, clean art. If you're a fan of the books already, you'll likely enjoy it, if not it won't win anyone over.

[V · Rating 1 out of 5]

Never has there been more beautiful rubbish

The characterisation is way off. The writer seems not to know the power sets. The Authority always have been human. This in no way showed us a different side of them.

Just... don't

[Ma'Belle · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the better Authority TPBs I've read, which came as a surprise from an author I was otherwise unfamiliar with.

[Royce Rasmussen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story with amazing art.

[Shoegazer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Incoherent plotline and dodgy characterisation, unredeemed by gorgeous art.