Morrison's Wildcats and The Authority

[hector]

These two babies needed their own thread.

First, Wildcats. That one was everything I expected. Big, bold, colorful superheroes fighting for the existance of all mankind. The kinetic art by Jim Lee was the cherry on top.

I have spent countless hours and words discussing garbage like Civil War or the Ultimates, and Grant Morrison perfectly sums up their idiocy in just a few word ballons:

"But all those widescreen battles and public displays of stupidity; it's vulgar and frightening. Adolescent. How would truly adult superheroes behave?"

Awesome. Morrison is just brilliant. This issue was just the introduction and I'm sure it will just keep getting better and better. I'm having the same vibe from this title that I'm getting from Batman, just kick ass superhero action.

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On the other hand, The Authority wasn't what I was expecting at all. But then again, I wasn't sure what I was expecting. The Authority, as a concept, is shallow and unsustainable in the long run. That's why even with some competent work by Brubaker, the only Authority worth reading was Ellis, by his departure, the freshness wore off and his cliche ridden nature showed off. The Authority needed something radical and earth-shattering, a complete reinvention, something precisely like this.

Wildcats excited me, The Authority intrigued me. I really loved both books.

[Elliot Kane]

Not reading Wildcats (At least not yet), but I did check out Authority because from what I'd heard it would be very different and, well, Morrison is on a roll. I'm getting stuff I wouldn't normally simply because he's writing, and I have yet to be disappointed.

As with Authority. It's a great establishing issue, to me, because it sets the world up perfectly. All those radio & TV quotes in the background are straight out of the headlines, and really hint that Morrison is about to hit those issues dead on, which is very brave of him. And something I really want to see.

We have 'our world' through the eyes of a pretty normal guy. I'm intrigued and interested by what might follow.

It's a heck of a premise, and easy to do wrong, but like I say - Morrison is on a roll...

[hector]

You have all of four months to catch up with Wildcats until the second issue. ;D

[Elliot Kane]

...So it's a slow roll with Wildcats?!? ;D Thanks, Hec

[hector]

It's on a "it will come out when it comes out" schedule.

[Gray Lensman]

Wildcats got off to a great start so far, I think. This book has generally been blessed with some great writers in the past. If all continues to build from this issue, then Morrison's run should hold up well with the rest of them.

That having been said, I haven't read any of Wildcats Vol. 2-3, so I can't say how effectively that stuff has been dealt with. I do, however, like what Morrison is doing with the concept so far. It's like he's cramming as much as he can in one issue without overdoing it. It's also faithful to past runs (or at least those I've read) without slavishly copying them.

Authority... too soon to tell for me yet if this is any good or not. It's like Morrison is deliberately going completely in the opposite direction from Wildcats in tone and approach. Which certainly isn't bad in itself, but the pacing here is slow and ponderous, and I suspect with deliberate precision. I think the idea is essentially to show how normal and mundane the world is, so the Authority then turns everything upside down. Still, as an opening issue, I'm not sure how well it really works for me. I'd need probably a couple more issues at least to reach an informed opinion about it. Authority is interesting on a technical level, but as a story, I'm withholding judgment until I have more to go on.

All in all, what Morrison is doing is at least interesting, and the two books are clearly defined and distinct from each other. I've seen much worse starts, all in all.