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The Authority #K2
The Authority: The Magnificent Kevin
Down-on-his-luck Special Air Service Corporal Kev Hawkins's life has been an interesting mix of surprises and disappointments. When the death of a close friend is revealed, Kev begins to entertain ideas of the futility and horror of the life he leads--until he gets a call from his boss. She's got another lethal mission for him that involves his least-favorite allies, The Authority, a super hero team dedicated to protecting Earth against threats of a global scale. This mission will lead Kev down the darkest path of his life and the outcome will have unexpected consequences!
112 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2006
1 person is currently reading
117 people want to read
About the author
Garth Ennis
2,627 books3,175 followersEnnis 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
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
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
February 27, 2022
In this volume, the best of the three Kev mini serials / volumes from the first season of The Authority - The Authority Omnibus, Kev's latest mission sees him getting involved with The Authority again! Garth Ennis's tongue-in-cheek 'Kev' books are a great, albeit unlikely, companion for The Authority series, with their semi-comedic satire on the military, and daring to a darkly comedic, but critical look at Northern Ireland and the Troubles.
2011 read, 2017 read
2011 read, 2017 read
February 15, 2022
Garth Ennis & Glenn Fabry are back for another hilarious Kev adventure, with The Authority, mainly Apollo & Midnighter, playing a big role as they team up with Kev for shenanigans. While these books have all been pretty funny, Ennis does have this one end on a more serious note. I really enjoy these Kev books though, they just work perfectly in this world with The Authority.
March 29, 2020
While a bit less engaging that the previous stories, this one further details Kev's not-so-fun past and features a team-up with the Authority member that hates him most.
The Authority needs Kev again. They were attacked by a devil-looking creature that has already taken down all but Midnighter. With pies to the face, no less, while screaming 'I'm a vagina!' In the flashbacks Kev recounts his young days when he enrolled in the army, then chose the SAS to get away from a commanding officer that made his life a living hell after catching Kev with his wife, and lastly his time during the IRA crisis.
The Authority needs Kev again. They were attacked by a devil-looking creature that has already taken down all but Midnighter. With pies to the face, no less, while screaming 'I'm a vagina!' In the flashbacks Kev recounts his young days when he enrolled in the army, then chose the SAS to get away from a commanding officer that made his life a living hell after catching Kev with his wife, and lastly his time during the IRA crisis.
Read
January 28, 2025I enjoyed the actual story, kev finally stops taking orders from the government after learning of their experiments on children. but I’m pretty sure half the reason kev exists as a character is that the writer thought it was funny to pair up a homophobe with a gay superhero and that shtick got old fast
August 26, 2014
A flying red genii infiltrates the Authority's sentient space fortress and takes out the team one by one with custard pies while claiming to be a vagina. For real. I could not make that up. Kev is brought in to recover the critically injured Midnighter. Cue the homosexual-vs-homophobe rivalry banter.
Volume 2 in the Kev Hawkins/Authority series is utterly schizoid. The flashbacks to Kev's early days in the SAS are interesting, and relatively serious. The "current" storyline on the other hand is demented, all custard pies and brain-damaged superheroes and homicidal vagina-genies. It's juvenile even by Ennis's standards.
And yet. The back-and-forth between the Midnighter and Kev is sharp and amusing (Abbot and Costello as produced by Quentin Tarantino); the flashback story was really well done; and it's satisfying to watch man-child Kev try to break out of his lifelong rut. Somehow Ennis cobbled together a pretty good book out of these warped, puerile pieces.
Volume 2 in the Kev Hawkins/Authority series is utterly schizoid. The flashbacks to Kev's early days in the SAS are interesting, and relatively serious. The "current" storyline on the other hand is demented, all custard pies and brain-damaged superheroes and homicidal vagina-genies. It's juvenile even by Ennis's standards.
And yet. The back-and-forth between the Midnighter and Kev is sharp and amusing (Abbot and Costello as produced by Quentin Tarantino); the flashback story was really well done; and it's satisfying to watch man-child Kev try to break out of his lifelong rut. Somehow Ennis cobbled together a pretty good book out of these warped, puerile pieces.
March 1, 2022
Garth Ennis has a very dark sense of humor. I mean pitch black dark. It is the kind of humor that you find yourself laughing at, then glancing about guiltily to make sure no one saw you. I believe the term for it is "Adult," but "Warped," may do just as well. And yet, I read him and enjoy him so what does that say about me? Hmmm... Anyway, his talents are on fine display here in a book that I had zero preconceptions about. Never having heard about "The Authority," much less Kevin, I was in for a treat.
The Authority, if you did not already know, is a group of Super Heroes that definitely have their own issues, who have an orbiting satellite which serves as a base of operations. It is infiltrated by an entity that disables them by smushing them in the face with cream pies. (No, I am not making that up). One of their group manages an escape and enlists the aid of a broken former SAS operative and our story goes on from there. This is a who-dunnit, unravel the conspiracy, type of book with plenty of action thrown in. (The violence is very graphic by the way, but then so is everything else in the book!)
This was quirky fun with a cast of definitely anti-heroes and I had a blast reading it. If you liked "The Boys," you will find plenty to enjoy here. Without a background in "The Authority," you may find, like me, it takes a while to find your footing, but definitely worth the effort. Now, I have to go collect the rest of the back issues.
The Authority, if you did not already know, is a group of Super Heroes that definitely have their own issues, who have an orbiting satellite which serves as a base of operations. It is infiltrated by an entity that disables them by smushing them in the face with cream pies. (No, I am not making that up). One of their group manages an escape and enlists the aid of a broken former SAS operative and our story goes on from there. This is a who-dunnit, unravel the conspiracy, type of book with plenty of action thrown in. (The violence is very graphic by the way, but then so is everything else in the book!)
This was quirky fun with a cast of definitely anti-heroes and I had a blast reading it. If you liked "The Boys," you will find plenty to enjoy here. Without a background in "The Authority," you may find, like me, it takes a while to find your footing, but definitely worth the effort. Now, I have to go collect the rest of the back issues.
June 18, 2017
what's the point , Garth Ennis pattern all over again in a story that is not at all interesting.
December 5, 2021
Hahahahahaha
December 31, 2021
Hands down, the best The Authority book.
August 12, 2024
A larger insight into the world of Kev and how he came to be involved in his shenanigans. More back story means better character work, as well as the usual silliness.
Read
June 9, 2015Kevin is basically an excuse for Garth Ennis to use the filthiest language I've ever seen in a comic (and the most profanities ever written in pig latin, I would bet). His over-the-top antics with Midnighter (and to a small extent the rest of the Authority) gel around Kevin, a regular military agent who gets thrust into some extraordinary situations. This book is full of gross-out humor, excessive violence, and epithets and insults. It shouldn't work for me at all, but it does. Something about Garth Ennis manages to bypass the filters and just enjoy the insanity. It is relatively grounded (this volume also includes a lot of Ennis' fascination with regular soldiers and their lives before and after conflict), even with all of the outrageous action and imaginary sequences. It's not for the easily offended. Carlos Ezquerra's art is in line with his other works - workmanlike and perfectly supporting the story without getting in the way of it. If you like Ennis' other works, this is worth the read, but it's not nearly as memorable as many others, and not something to go out of your way to pick up.
July 11, 2008
A former SAS soldier is called into action to help the stricken members of The Authority, and along the way we see into his past. The tone is very similar to Hitman, a previous comic by Garth Ennis, in that it mixes very broad comedy with fairly serious stuff, in this case what it means to be a soldier, to take orders, in particular ones that you know are wrong.
This isn't the kind of thing that is really going to stretch Garth Ennis, but it's very entertaining, and he comes up with some very funny dialogue, especially between Kevin and the Midnighter.
As for the artwork, this is some of the best work I've seen by Carlos Ezquerra for American comics. In previous stuff I've felt his artwork would have looked better in black and white (I'm thinking of the Preacher specials and the later 2000AD work) - it seemed very flat, with a glaze of colour over the top, whereas here there seems to be more detail and depth. Maybe it's just that he has a more compatible colourist for this one.
Overall, not quite magificent, but well worth an hour of your time.
This isn't the kind of thing that is really going to stretch Garth Ennis, but it's very entertaining, and he comes up with some very funny dialogue, especially between Kevin and the Midnighter.
As for the artwork, this is some of the best work I've seen by Carlos Ezquerra for American comics. In previous stuff I've felt his artwork would have looked better in black and white (I'm thinking of the Preacher specials and the later 2000AD work) - it seemed very flat, with a glaze of colour over the top, whereas here there seems to be more detail and depth. Maybe it's just that he has a more compatible colourist for this one.
Overall, not quite magificent, but well worth an hour of your time.
June 27, 2014
I'm kinda sad this is the last one. These Authority/Kev graphic novels are disgustingly hilarious. Way over the top with the cursing, sex and violence (which is okay for me). Once again this one doesn't really involve the Authority all that much but that's okay because by this time Kev has really grown on you (if you've read the other books).
Lots of brilliantly funny stuff going on here but don't want to spoil it for anyone. Basically if you like the Authority and you're not turned off by gore, crude (and sometimes graphic) sexual references, and continuous profanity definitely give it a read.
Lots of brilliantly funny stuff going on here but don't want to spoil it for anyone. Basically if you like the Authority and you're not turned off by gore, crude (and sometimes graphic) sexual references, and continuous profanity definitely give it a read.
May 29, 2009
This was not only hilarious (in all the ways combining Garth Ennis with The Authority can be hilarious), it was also one of the best commentaries on the appealing and abhorrent features entailed by military enlistment.
We learn more of Kev's history with the British Army and Intelligence, and see to what extent the commitment to following orders will go for different soldiers. We also see some of the secret desires and not-so-secret homophobia of average people manifest themselves in humourous, yet profound ways.
We learn more of Kev's history with the British Army and Intelligence, and see to what extent the commitment to following orders will go for different soldiers. We also see some of the secret desires and not-so-secret homophobia of average people manifest themselves in humourous, yet profound ways.
October 31, 2010
Hilarious, sombre, irreverent, bizarre. Everything I've come to love about Garth Ennis. More serious in places - like the treatises that showed up in The Preacher, when he had time to kill sitting around drinking - but welcome for it's originality and authenticity. The interplay between Kev and Midnighter is brilliant. And after reading some other reviews, I have to say the art *is* some of Ezquerra's most impressive.
March 1, 2010
knowing nothing about the authority, i've no real scale to judge this by. standard garth ennis. enjoyable but not groundbreaking, though i do see some seeds of The Boys.
December 5, 2011
Solid Authority and Kev fun. Again, funny but now a bit too wordy.
But the art is by ever so brilliant Esquerra. He truly is one of the most underrated artist.... like..... ever.
But the art is by ever so brilliant Esquerra. He truly is one of the most underrated artist.... like..... ever.
May 6, 2012
Almost gave up in the first ten pages, but decided too see it through. Found an interesting story with good art develops afterward. Overall a good read and with good art.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews