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"or Why I'm Afraid that the Planetary Team, and Elijah Snow in Particular, will Meet with Some Manner of Grisly Death "

Very cool essay / summary. Warning: contains spoilers for The Authority, Planetary and probably various other series...

http://home.earthlink.net/~rkkman/frame ... htm#Change

Ellis seems to believe that creating lasting, positive change on a grand scale is an ultimately fatal endeavor. But, to his credit, his writings consistently argue that this is a risk that is not only worth taking, but in fact must be taken by men and women of good conscience. To bring about positive change is a duty, and it doesn't matter if the issue at stake is your comic buying habits, your column in CBR (or The Word!), or saving the world.

Very nice.

Planetary will end with issue 25. I read this somewhere, could be Wizard, don't remember...

If all the main characters haven't died by the end of that issue then I'll be extremely surprised.

I really, really like these trends towards authors scripting books rather than ongoing series which lose focus and tend to get cancelled rather than wrapped up. The art of the serial novel is one which is best placed to be continued as comics...

Oooooh, must read that when I'm less drunk

Ellis does kill lots of his most idealistic heroes, though - there's Nikolas, Jenny and Pete for a start. Though to be honest, there have been other reasons given... Stormwatch were killed because Ellis was fed up with them and wanted a more dramatic background [and the idea of SW] cleared from the decks for The Authority; Pete was killed because he was downright aghast at what Ben Raab had done to the character and never wanted it to happen again [see http://katryn.future.easyspace.com/warren.htm]. And even though he hand-picked Millar, I'll bet as well as aiding the drama of his last Authority arc and tying in with the Spirit of the 20th Century thing, he didn't want anyone else playing with Jenny.

The last two of which are ironic, as Edginton just resurrected Pete for no reason [undermining the only three decent plot arcs in X-Force's history in the process], and Millar raped Ms Sparks in order to get some cheap laughs.

Originally posted by Cliffjumper
Oooooh, must read that when I'm less drunk

The rest of the site's really good too... script previews, other essays, etc.

Fingers crossed (ie, nothing going astray in shipping) should have scored the four Authority books for about £21, so I shall get to check out some of this for myself in a while...

Originally posted by Cliffjumper
Millar raped Ms Sparks in order to get some cheap laughs.

Well, almost. And I don't think laughs were quite what were being aimed for... personally, I reckon graphic suggestion of necrophilia is what's required to startle most of the comics-buying public these days...

Unless you mean in a more figurative sense, since I'm still pretty hazy on the story arcs.

Speaking of Ellis, I just finished X-Man.

Much better than the other two Counter X books. Of course having the benefit of Steven Grant taking over and not some schmuck after Ellis' departure helps.

Oh and Cliffy, Nate was powerful but I didn't see anything to suggest he was more powerful than Jean as the Pheonix.

I mean the Pheonix has devoured a star, that's gotta count for something...

Jean wasn't able to walk between the spiral of Earths, though, AFAIR.

Originally posted by Denyer
Jean wasn't able to walk between the spiral of Earths, though, AFAIR.

I think Rachel did a bit of dimensional travel, though. Which suggests it was within the Pheonix's capability.

There's at least one instance of Nate admitiing he was up against something that was beyond his means to combat.

More than one, I think. In terms of raw power he's outmatched not that infrequently... it's perspective and intelligence which tend to give him the edge.

The issues I've read have been fairly interesting, but have tended to be more about playing with logic puzzles than about personalities.

Originally posted by Denyer
Well, almost. And I don't think laughs were quite what were being aimed for... personally, I reckon graphic suggestion of necrophilia is what's required to startle most of the comics-buying public these days...

Unless you mean in a more figurative sense, since I'm still pretty hazy on the story arcs.

Ah, I'm more on about the Secret Life mini, which I hate more the more I read/think about it...

As for Nate, he talks down someone from a near-perfect world, for God's sake!

Counter-X X-Man has some superb ideas ringing around, and I love Ariel's art. Oh, and the Protectorate [:D] rock!

Got the "Relentless" TPB yesterday, and a couple of new Vol. 2 issues today. The first is excellent, and the others pretty good fun. The ongoing has the "reading to find out what happens next" factor missing in a lot of other stuff I tend to go through (Sandman, most novels, various books I'm re-reading.)

I've finally totally given up on Vol 2 and am ebaying the remainder... But Relentless is an amazing TPB... Probably equal best with Under New Management. The first arc has to be the best start to any comic ever... there's about four pages of "this is what happened before" and the rest is "Well, I hope you all picked up what's going on..."...

Slight irritation: Anyone notice how Jack Hawksmoor turns up in The Ultimates as Iron Man?

Question, as I forgot to add it to the PM I just sent... what's the "Kev" one-shot?

Silly, briefly amusing one-off where an SAS soldier from Hereford [yay!] manages to kill the Authority. Much hilarity ensues. It's actually funny the first time.

Cliffy, Ed Brubaker will take over Authority V2 as a writer in July or August. He's a multiple nominee for several Eisners ( Oscars in comics ) this year and was also mutiple nominee last year too.

He's one of the most underrated writers and currently one of my favorites, because of his work with Sleeper,Gotham Central and Catwoman ( Even Grant Morrison wonders why many people aren't reading his Catwoman run).

Just give him atleast a small chance in Authority V2 when he gets to start.

Hmmm, my problem is that the concept just seems burnt-out. Authority is kind of the punk rock of comics, in that it was never really designed to run and run, just make one hell of an impact. To be honest, the concept was probably on its last legs before the end of Millar's run. Plus, while I don't like Robbie Morrison's writing [turning Apollo into Jack off Will & Grace wasn't clever, and I seriously think Jenny's going to turn up again, which is bad], the biggest problem is DC's editorial hold on the title, which means they're stuck fighting lameness [Reality Inc] and corporate-controversial ridiculously broad concepts like the Church of Transcendence.

Bearing in mind I've read patchily, the second volume seems to be driven more by character interplay than by situations. On the one hand, there's knowing when to stop... if you keep any story going long enough, it ends in death.

On the other, I dislike 'hollywood closure' style endings in which we're supposed to assume good things and characters frozen in a perfect moment. That doesn't seem to be what Ellis meant when he set out... somebody has to make a difference and, at least as importantly, to be seen to be making that difference. Because the situations never all go away.

Doesn't mean I'm necessarily going to read it, but it has its place.

Yeh, I do think Vol 1 has a rather icky ending, especially the last page of #29, which seems much to self-congratulatory... there was a review of "Transfer of Power" somewhere which suggested that maybe the series should have ended with the last Quitely issue [#21], before most of DC's crap set in, with the team swiftly killed off by Seth, the representative of the G7 countries, and in some ways I agree.

My problem with the second series is that, sure, it's character driven... But the characters aren't right. Apollo and the Midnighter are a comedy gay duo, the Doctor's just a prick, Shen's more faceless than ever...

It's difficult to pin down exactly why I don't like Volume 2. I think the phrase is "going through the motions", but the stark fact that it's DC squeezing money out of a franchise they helped to kill really doesn't help. It's not just the fantastical element - Ellis' stories pitched the team against a left-over Stormwatch villain, a parallel Britain and God, it was only really when Millar came onboard that the political stuff came in.

A big problem is the style too - I can claim the politics are great and the realistic angle of "God, there are seven people up there who can wipe out the planet in a heartbeat, so we'd better be scared", but lots of the Authority's appeal is in iconic heroes tearing the crap out of villains above cities.

Mmm... I'm even more inclined to avoid regular DC titles now, to be sure. There's a large feeling of "what's the point" ... Batman has gone nowhere in years, and Superman ... never went anywhere, really. They aren't prepared to surprise me as a reader.

Vertigo don't surprise much either, but at least the sense of scale is palpable.

Originally posted by Cliffjumper
the characters aren't right. Apollo and the Midnighter are a comedy gay duo, the Doctor's just a prick, Shen's more faceless than ever...

I wouldn't say comedy, although again I haven't read all of it. The Doctor... has always been rather a prick. His coping strategies for dealing with his position and tending to be in abstract realities aren't really very social. Shen? 2 #6?

Originally posted by Cliffjumper
lots of the Authority's appeal is in iconic heroes tearing the crap out of villains above cities.

Mmm... when I think 'icon', though, I think Bats or Supes, and it isn't a compliment. It's almost the inverse of 'character'. In a sense, readers are doing the same thing the populations of the Authority's reality are doing: holding opinion polls on each action.

This is why alt-realities within a fictional world are so dangerous. Readers lose their connection with the characters... dimension-hopping was part of what ruined Red Dwarf; time-travelling can have the same effect. If writers swap out a character for one approximately the same, it has a deleterious effect on interest. Most people appreciate a measure of continuity, and can't relate to anything in which actions don't seem to matter.

It can get a little tricky when you consider the scope of changes taking superheroes to their logical conclusion engenders... Angie solving environmental problems and finding cures for diseases being an example. The team redirecting many conflicts with a simple threat. As you say, the G7 countries creating Seth can come across as a little far-fetched. Personally, though, what I found unbelievable was that human science could repair the Bleed. That, left to their own devices, collective humanity could save themselves.

Originally posted by Denyer
Mmm... I'm even more inclined to avoid regular DC titles now, to be sure. There's a large feeling of "what's the point" ... Batman has gone nowhere in years, and Superman ... never went anywhere, really. They aren't prepared to surprise me as a reader.

Vertigo don't surprise much either, but at least the sense of scale is palpable.

To some level I understand DC's problems... they're owned by TimeWarner, and 9/11 did screw a lot of things up [for example, I'm not angry at the non-appearance of Authority: Widescreen], but it's just considering their rep it's very disappointing...

I wouldn't say comedy, although again I haven't read all of it. The Doctor... has always been rather a prick. His coping strategies for dealing with his position and tending to be in abstract realities aren't really very social. Shen? 2 #6?

Well, okay, "comedy" would imply "funny", so maybe it's not the word. But the pair can barely feature in the same frame of Vol 2 without making jokes about erections and Doris Day. I did actually prefer the way they were handled by Ellis, with the "are they/aren't they" thing, but in a very tiny way... that said, I did love the way it was confirmed by Millar [a tiny background pic of the pair kissing] rather than a full-on soap... that came later, and making pretty much everyone they fight a homophobe from that point on is rather a cheap shot. While I remember, while most of #29 was too smug by half, the minor role reversal at the wedding of Midnighter as the "bride" in white leather did raise a smile...

The Doctor... trust me, the character gets screwed with in Vol. 2. He starts his own religion, despite everything previously pointing to him being reluctant to do, well, anything.

Mmm... when I think 'icon', though, I think Bats or Supes, and it isn't a compliment. It's almost the inverse of 'character'. In a sense, readers are doing the same thing the populations of the Authority's reality are doing: holding opinion polls on each action.

"Icon" probably wasn't the right choice of phrase; "larger than life" is more what I meant. It's also another problem with the concept - considering the combined powers of the team, there's only so many times you can do stories without it getting dull, or illogical [the amount of times from late Vol. 1 onwards that Midnighter gets taken by surprise, for example]... there's only so many times you can use "well, the Doctor's stoned out of his skull, let's do this the hard way" style excuses.

This is why alt-realities within a fictional world are so dangerous. Readers lose their connection with the characters... dimension-hopping was part of what ruined Red Dwarf; time-travelling can have the same effect. If writers swap out a character for one approximately the same, it has a deleterious effect on interest. Most people appreciate a measure of continuity, and can't relate to anything in which actions don't seem to matter.

Something I totally agree with, and something which is a big problem in comics. DW G1 is probably the offender we're all most familiar with. They could string together the most beautiful, heroic death for someone I love, like Skids, together, and it wouldn't make an emotional impact on me, because he could be back with a glib comment the next plot arc none the worse for wear. It's a problem in a lot of Marvel comics now as well. On one hand, ignoring chunks of backstory allows new readers to get on board more easily, but on the other wedging characters into ill-fitting roles for some trendy Wizard-embraced cock like Geoff Johns [no, I'm still not over it. It was the best damn super-hero comic on the shelves until this pig-sodomiser got his hands on it] really makes them, well, new characters, which means whenever something's drawn on it feels, well, wrong.

It can get a little tricky when you consider the scope of changes taking superheroes to their logical conclusion engenders... Angie solving environmental problems and finding cures for diseases being an example. The team redirecting many conflicts with a simple threat. As you say, the G7 countries creating Seth can come across as a little far-fetched. Personally, though, what I found unbelievable was that human science could repair the Bleed. That, left to their own devices, collective humanity could save themselves.

Yeh, some of it is a bit, well, difficult to write for. There's no reason the Authority can't end famine, disease and war world-wide, really. The central premise of the Vol 2 "Wildstorm event" Coup D'Etat is basically that they take over America, though it hasn't been handled too well IMHO.

Oh, and I hate that bit at the end of #29. It's Millar trying soooo hard to be smug and clever, and it makes me want to punch him, basically. Seth I can kinda handle, because he's utterly, utterly ludicrous, but when you think about it not much moreso than a man who can control cities. He's the ultimate Dirty Harry script device. But that ending was just "wow, look at how clever we are, how alternative is having the world saved off-screen?"...

Incidentally, it's the sort of attitude that permeates the Jenny Sparks series... if you are intrigued by it, I'd try and get the sets of original issues that tend to be on ebay for a fiver, rather than forking out for the TPB.