WLG #243: Punishingly Authoritative!

By Michael A. Diaz

Hey all!

I am going to be in Toronto all of next week so I won't be writing new WLG for next week. It's OK, though, because even though I will be gone I've found someone to jump in and do this column justice for a week. Who is it? Well, I think I'll just let that be a surprise, but I'm not too worried. The column is in some very good hands.

Now, for any of my Canadian readers out there, what good comic book shops are there in Toronto that I should be hitting? I love to go to comic book shops when I'm in a different town. I've hit them in Portland (Oregon), Vero Beach (Florida), Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania), Denver (Colorado), Chicago (Illinois), Lansing (Michigan - which isn't that far away), Orange Beach (Alabama), and wherever else I go. Though, I don't think I've ever hit one in another country, so I am looking for some good suggestions if you have them.

Speaking of comics, let's see What Looks Good...

DC

AUTHORITY #6 $2.99 (Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning / Simon Coleby)

The Authority and StormWatch have never really gotten along, but then again, the two haven't really coexisted all that long together. You see, StormWatch was created by the United Nations to deal with super powered beings and the threats that they might pose. In effect, StormWatch was protecting the status quo, something that is fully realized if you look back at Warren Ellis's run on StormWatch and how the team handled The High and his team.

That said, without StormWatch, The Authority may never have existed. For example, their original leader, Jenny Sparks, was a member of the StormWatch black ops team, StormWatch Black, along with Swift and Jack Hawskmoor. As the StormWatch proper team was imploding StormWatch Black quietly slipped into the shadows and began taking on a new form and plan that would put them at odds with the status quo.

During his tenure as Weatherman Henry Bendix created a secret StormWatch team, even more covert than the StormWatch Black group. The members of that team were all killed, save two members: Apollo and Midnighter. They tried to make the world a better place while working as a duo, in secret, but they didn't have the resources to take up the fight all by themselves. Enter Jenny Sparks and her group.

So while StormWatch was on the surface all about defending the status quo, the black ops team was secretly subverting it to Henry Bendix's whim, and once he was gone the team decided to throw all of the reins and do things their way; and thus The Authority was born, a group to disturb, maybe even destroy, the status quo. They were going to save the world by hitting people very hard.

The Authority filled a void left by StormWatch, who after losing two Skywatch space stations suddenly found itself without government backing and no home. Sure, the UN went another route for a while with StormWatch: Team Achilles, but they were more about special operations that would use highly trained humans to take out super powered targets as deemed necessary. Meanwhile The Authority had their day in the sun, and they tried to force the world to see things their way. They removed despotic rulers in Asia, and later, installed themselves as rulers of the United States. Instead of fighting the status quo the Authority became the status quo.

And it didn't work.

Eventually StormWatch came back during a soft reboot of the WildStorm Universe, but The Authority were there as well. Could these two groups coexist in a world when their basic philosophies were so diametrically opposed?

We never got the chance to find out because soon after the world ended (again) and Armageddon was upon the WildStorm Universe.

Yet, still both groups exist, and both are picking up the pieces, trying to save a world that is long past saving. There isn't much for them to fight over any more, yet could there be a StormWatch spy hiding in the midst of the Authority?

Can The Authority save what is left of the world by continuing to hit people? Will StormWatch let them? Can they stop them?

I, for one, and loving the stories coming out of World's End and cant' wait to see what happens next.

Good stuff!


MARVEL

PUNISHER #1 $3.99 (Rick Remember / Jerome Opena)

Stupid Marvel!

I see that $3.99 price tag and I immediately want to say "I'm not buying that book."

But, it's a Punisher #1 issue and I am drawn to it, yet, not as fully as one might think.

Why is that?

OK, I understand that when Ennis and Dillon brought bank Frank Castle back he was in the Marvel Universe. We saw him go up against Spider-Man, Wolverine, etc. That was when the Punisher was under the Marvel Knights banner, so it was kind of canonical, but on the periphery, so kind of not. I was OK with that. I mean, let's face it, as much as I love the Punisher he works much better in a world devoid of superheroes. That's not to say great stories can't be written about the Punisher in the Marvel Universe, they can, just look at some of the times Frank and Daredevil have crossed paths, but ultimately the Punisher works better in a world that is much more like our own. Ennis knew this and he limited the number of times superheroes showed up, and when they did it was usually to make fun of them.

Eventually the title moved over to the MAX line and it was the right choice. A vigilante that goes around shooting lots and lots of criminals? Not really the same kind of comic that Power Pack is, now is it? It made sense to move him out of the Marvel Universe proper and give a more real world setting.

Still, I see the appeal in writing stories with the Punisher in the Marvel Universe. That's why to me it made sense for Marvel to bring back The Punisher: War Journal with Frank Castle existing in the Marvel Universe with the MAX version still existing outside of it. They were both the same guy with the same origin, just seen through different lenses. It made sense, they launched the title around the time of Civil War, so there were new criminals for Frank to take on: unregistered villains.

But do we need a second Punisher title in the Marvel Universe?

I'm not so sure, but my love (OK, obsession, with the character dictates that I have to at least check it out).

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What comics did you get geeked out about this week? Just stop by the WLG message boards (see link below) and share!

See you next week!

-Diaz

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Were Diaz's picks on the mark?
Have your say on What Looks Good at the Looking Good message board.

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