Book: The Authority
Story: Shiftships
Issue: #5-8
Credits:
Warren Ellis - writer
Bryan Hitch - artist
Paul Neary - inker
Lauren Depuy with David Baron - colorist
Ali Fuchs - letterer
Rachelle Brissenden - editor
Overview:
This story is far more complex than 'The Circle' was. 'Shiftships' tells the story of a parallel Earth, called Sliding Albion, this Earth is very unlike our own. The humans there were contacted by a techniclogically advanced alien race in the 1500s and an age of renaissance began. The humans having spent the last 400 years living with intermixing and even wedding this alien race has distinctly changed them. They live in a tyrannical dying world ruled by an alien called the Regis. They have also been to our earth before. These aliens and parallel humans have in fact been visiting our world since the 1920s yet the facts have been neatly covered up. Jenny Sparks it seems was heavily involved with these covert ops in her shadowed past. She and the Authority are called upon to defend our world when the people of Sliding Albion come to our world in force looking for new lands to conquer and exploit.
The Baddie:
The Regis
This guy is evil. Just pure and simple evil. We first meet him as he's crushing someone's skull for their ineptitude. He is very demonic looking and fits the profile well, as a dangerous and powerful bad guy. I really liked his demeanor, seething, twisted, but calculating. The Regis is intelligent, and has a very disturbing vision of our future. A truly astounding villian.
The Good Stuff:
- Helsinki being blown sky high.
- The Shaman changing a crashing shiftship into a rain of roses.
- The great splash artwork of the ariel dogfights.
- Apollo giving his all for the team and almost losing his life.
- Jack Hawksmoor and Midnighter double teaming The Regis in an awsome fight.
- The Authority stepping up to the plate and kicking ass for the humans of Sliding Albion.
- The Shaman sinks alternate Earth Italy.
- Jenny playing rank and loosing it on some low level military guy.
- The Authority actually deciding to make a difference in people's lives.
- The Engineer kicking ass and taking names.
The Not So Good:
- The Regis' henchman Yngvi wasn't used effectively.
- Too much going on in some of the arial combat scenes.
- Jenny's former husband the alien Lorenzo is pretty pathetic.
- There is some history here that isn't explained as thoroughly as it could have been
The Best Scene:
The Midnighter fighting The Regis, he basically kicks a whole heap of ass. But still the guy keeps coming. When it looks like it's all over for the Midnighter Jack Hawksmoor rips up through the floor below the Regis and literally tears him apart. Disgusting but good.
Overall:
A great storyline. Very complex but really interesting, The characters are really coming alive now and the team is feeling strong as they work together. I liked the action even if it felt a bit like an artists excuse to draw air combat. I enjoyed the nuances, and there is real depth starting to emerge in some of the players.
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