THE AUTHORITY #29
"Brave New World, Four of Four"
Recommended (7/10)
|
DC Comics/Wildstorm Productions
Writer: Mark Millar
Artist: Gary Erskine
Colors: David Baron
Letters: Tom Long & Sergio Garcia
Editor: John Layman
Price: $2.50 US/$4.25 CAN |
"Brave New World" comes to a satisfying yet oddly anticlimactic ending. Maybe it's due to the delay between issues, but the concluding pages here struck me as a little... off. Nevertheless, Millar entertains with his mad super-heroics/villainy, and Erskine does an excellent job of the art. This isn't the best that The Authority has been throughout its run, but it remains entertaining and darkly imaginative all the same.
As Apollo engages the multi-powered Seth in a savage battle, the other awakened members of the original Authority return to the Carrier to discover the Midnighter on the brink of death. Shen has learned the key to defeating Seth, but putting the failsafe to use may prove to be far more diffcult than anyone imagined. Meanwhile, a tear in the other-dimensional Bleed threatens to allow all parallel realities to collide and co-exist at once.
Erskine has clearly adapted his style to be more consistent with the overall tone of The Authority. His work here reminds me a bit of that of previous Authority artist Arthur Adams, and Frank Quitely's influence is definitely at play here as well. His vision of Seth is as chilling and intimidating as any that came before, and I thought he captured the somewhat creepy techno-organic nature of the Engineer nicely.
What I didn't get in this issue was the bleeding Bleed, and how the resolution of that subplot was glossed over. It seems as though that was Millar's intent all along, though, and the point he makes about humanity needing to deal with its own problems from time to time was a valid and thought-provoking one. The execution left me scratching my head, though. There was an odd pacing to it all.
The confrontation with Seth was exciting and entertaining. Millar's ideas for some weird and disgusting super-powers were hilarious and subtly disturbing. But the real payoff in this issue -- and at the heart of the Seth character in general -- is the phrase established as a failsafe "off" switch for the villain. If there's one thing I like better than a good punchline, it's a good political punchline.
Email Don MacPherson comments about this review, or discuss it on the Fourth Rail message board.
|
