Superman and the Authority

[Lvenger]

I have very mixed feelings about Superman running a DC equivalent of The Authority. In many respects, The Authority represent the antithesis of what Superman is meant to stand for as a superhero. I haven't read many Authority comics, but from my understanding, the gist of The Authority is that they will use any means to get the job done, including disregarding politics and killing villains, whereas Superman adheres to his personal moral code and tends to respect international law and borders. The point of the Authority was that they were essentially a critique of the traditional superhero formula and that superheroes should act more proactively in dealing with crises. As for Clark working with Manchester Black, I really can't see how that would work.

Since Death Metal has supposedly made everything in DC's history canon, Clark would remember that Black has; tried to kill him along with the original Elite and almost convinced the public at the time that their methods were better at solving problems, revealed Superman's secret identity to the world and threatened everyone Clark cared about along with trying to get Superman to kill him by a telepathic illusion of a dead Lois. Not to mention the fact that the last time Superman encountered Black, he was in control of Hamilton County and was trying to brainwash Jon into crossing the lines that Superman wouldn't. Also, since Black's mind was stuck inside a cow's during Black Dawn, I'm not sure Black would want to work with Superman after that embarrassment.

It bums me out that I can't get excited for this series. Grant Morrison is my favourite comic writer, and they've written some of my favourite comics of all time. Manchester Black is one of my favourite Superman villains and I've been interested to see how Superman would interact with the DC versions of Apollo and Midnighter for a long time. But despite all that, I'm not sure I'll be getting this comic.

[Vordan]

SUPERMAN AND THE AUTHORITY #1

Story by Grant Morrison

Art by Mikel Janin

Covers by Mikel Jani*n, Bryan Hitch, Jen Bartel.

Sometimes even Superman finds a task almost impossible. Sometimes even the Last Son of Krypton needs to enlist help. Some tasks require methods and heroes that don't scream "Justice League." So Clark Kent, the Metropolis Marvel, seeks out Manchester Black, the most dastardly of rogues, to form an all-new Authority tasked with taking care of some business on the sly. Not only will Black know the right candidates for the team, but if Superman can make him behave himself and act in service of the greater good, then he'll prove literally anyone can be a hero! They'll have to move quickly, however, as the Ultra-Humanite forms his own team to take out the Man of Steel. This new limited series helps launch an all-new Superman status quo, setting up story elements that reverberate across both Action Comics and Superman: Son of Kal-El in the months to come.

40 pages, $4.99, available on July 20.

Don’t think the solicit has been posted so I thought I’d share it here. Was wondering if they had gotten Hitch to do a variant, would be a missed opportunity if they hadn’t, kinda surprised they didn’t have him do the art for this. That Tom Strong Superman vibe is even more obvious here. Some interesting analysis from Ritesh on Twitter (don’t always agree with the guy but I usually find his analysis of Morrison interesting) here.

I enjoy the very deliberate reversal on Kingdom Come this imagery is doing.

The white-hair, the black symbol, clearly evoking KC, but this time, rather than 'distant Old Man' who's 'given up' and is 'against' the younger generation, he's leading them, assembling them together

That he's trying to change/work with Manchester Black, who is everything that KC Superman would loathe the **** out of.

That KC evocation, done over an outfit that is also clearly evoking their previous T-Shirt era in Action, the 'youngest' Superman, resulting in...Tom Strong.

So yeah what puts you off Lvenger is exactly why I think others such as myself are interested. Why the hell is Clark working with Manchester Black of all people? Part of it I suspect is Morrison tackling the criticism of Supes “not doing enough/you’re old and outdated” and here’s he’s attempting to do more, updating his approach and team, while also trying to rehabilitate Black and work with the next generation. Like Ritesh says, having the Kingdom Come S-shield has to be a deliberate choice, given that guy would’ve 100% hated Black and the Authority and locked them up in the Gulag.

[Yoda]

Sign me up for anything that subverts Kingdom Come Superman. Would love to see that whole character get the solid criticism and reexamining it deserves. For all the complaining about Superman being stuck in some old conservative mindset, that's probably right up there with Brynes young republican Superman, but gets none of the criticism.

[Vordan]

Sign me up for anything that subverts Kingdom Come Superman. Would love to see that whole character get the solid criticism and reexamining it deserves. For all the complaining about Superman being stuck in some old conservative mindset, that's probably right up there with Brynes young republican Superman, but gets none of the criticism.

I think part of why it dodges a lot of criticism is that Supes is clearly in the wrong for the majority of the story and doesn’t really realize that until the end, so you’re not meant to support his actions. But that Waid is critiquing the excess of the 90s while also having Superman participate in said excess to a certain extent is certainly something to analyze and critique for sure. Wonder what Waid thinks of the story as a whole these days, we know he regrets his characterization of WW. Curious what he’d think of Superman & the Authority, he’d either hate the very idea of it or be fascinated by it I’d suspect.

[HsssH]

Don’t think the solicit has been posted so I thought I’d share it here. Was wondering if they had gotten Hitch to do a variant, would be a missed opportunity if they hadn’t, kinda surprised they didn’t have him do the art for this.

This is not the Authority so bringing Hitch in would kinda force the comparison. I'm sure that people will still compare it, but no need to add extra wood to the fire.

Sign me up for anything that subverts Kingdom Come Superman. Would love to see that whole character get the solid criticism and reexamining it deserves. For all the complaining about Superman being stuck in some old conservative mindset, that's probably right up there with Brynes young republican Superman, but gets none of the criticism.

At this point I'm fairly convinced that people who like Kingdom Come Superman loved the art and rewrote the entire story in their heads.

[Yoda]

I think part of why it dodges a lot of criticism is that Supes is clearly in the wrong for the majority of the story and doesn’t really realize that until the end, so you’re not meant to support his actions. But that Waid is critiquing the excess of the 90s while also having Superman participate in said excess to a certain extent is certainly something to analyze and critique for sure. Wonder what Waid thinks of the story as a whole these days, we know he regrets his characterization of WW. Curious what he’d think of Superman & the Authority, he’d either hate the very idea of it or be fascinated by it I’d suspect.

I think a lot of people just look at it as an uncritical takedown of 90's "extreme" comics and miss the fact that Superman and company are just as bad. In that sense it suffers the same problem as Watchmen in that very few people actually take away the actual point of the story. How many fans of think Rorschach is awesome because he gives a few badass sounding speeches? Missing the fact that he's a takedown of rightwing conspiracy himself? I think in part it is because they all get a "happy ending" at the end (with Batman setting up literal reeducation camps if I'm remembering correctly) despite being basically fascists throughout the story. I mean, they literally call their prison the Gulag and that I'd bet 90% of the people who have read it don't think that is a pretty big hint.

I know a while back Waid was lamenting the fact that most people seemed to miss the point that it was not supposed to be a future that was looked at fondly. So I'd imagine he's still of that mindset. I don't know what his relationship is with Morrison these days, but if Morrison is going to sort of present it as a best case future for an aging Superman who doesn't descend into fascism Waid might like it.

[HsssH]

I sometimes wonder if people in USA don't really know what exactly gulags were in Soviet union. Since I'm from Eastern Europe and had some of my relatives sent to gulags I was always a bit surprised that that part of the story was very rarely criticised.

[Vordan]

I sometimes wonder if people in USA don't really know what exactly gulags were in Soviet union. Since I'm from Eastern Europe and had some of my relatives sent to gulags I was always a bit surprised that that part of the story was very rarely criticised.

In America the gulag system is far less known than the Nazi concentration camps. The politics of it play a role as I’m sure is no surprise to you, academics are far less enthused about talking about atrocities committed under communist governments than those committed under fascist ones. We know Stalin was a monster just like Hitler but the specifics of what he did and how he governed are far less known (that’s in my experience as someone who was born and grew up after the Berlin Wall fell and the Soviet Union collapsed).

[Robanker]

In the United States, at least my corner, the gulags are mostly referred to as a political prison and usually involved in some kind of joke, such as someone getting sent to a gulag for having the wrong opinion on which pizza the group should order. They're definitely misunderstood.

I don't think most Americans understand that they were more than that.

[NaVi]

I liked Kingdom Come Superman, I think it would be incredible a similar superman in the canon universe, of course not so extreme, but if a superman who is disappointed with the human being and decides that there are other worlds that need it. We have already seen many stories in which the human being turns his back on superman and in the end superman forgives them as if nothing else, it is time for a story in which the human being has to earn forgiveness.

[Lvenger]

So yeah what puts you off Lvenger is exactly why I think others such as myself are interested. Why the hell is Clark working with Manchester Black of all people? Part of it I suspect is Morrison tackling the criticism of Supes “not doing enough/you’re old and outdated” and here’s he’s attempting to do more, updating his approach and team, while also trying to rehabilitate Black and work with the next generation. Like Ritesh says, having the Kingdom Come S-shield has to be a deliberate choice, given that guy would’ve 100% hated Black and the Authority and locked them up in the Gulag.

This may be Morrison's attempt to tackle the 'why doesn't Superman do more' criticism that is unfairly attributed against him by some people. And if things were different, I might be interested in what Morrison has to say about this issue. But tackling this question in the current Superman status quo is probably part of the reason why I'm not sold on the premise, even if it is being written by Morrison. Plus, Black was stuck in a cow when he was last used in a story and he looks younger somehow. Also, Apollo and Midnighter are almost as willing to kill as their Wildstorm counterparts, and Midnighter has been shown casually murdering people in his backup story, so I find it very perplexing that Clark is willing to allow a murderer onto this team.

And I'm certain I remember Morrison saying in an interview or something that The Green Lantern was their last major superhero work for DC after they finished Wonder Woman: Earth One. It was my understanding that Morrison was done with DC, so I'm confused to see Morrison writing this series after that statement.

[Vordan]

It was supposed to be and then they decided to come back. They’ve “quit” the Big 2 multiple times but always come back somehow. As for Manchester his last appearance was as part of Task Force XI in No Justice so presumably Waller put him back in his body somehow inbetween stories:

(He’s the second guy in the far right row)

And Supes isn’t as anal about the no-killing as say, Batman is. It’s a personal code that he follows and he wants others to follow as well, but he doesn’t hold others as strictly to it. Green Arrow has killed and he’s on the JL. However the context of this team specifically is about Clark trying to redeem “anti-heroes” rather than writing them off as a lost cause. Will he succeed? Can he trust this team to do the right thing, and stop Ultra-Humanite? That’s the story hook.

[SiegePerilous02]

They may also just be having Manchester Black show up and not paying any mind to the previous canon use of him in Rebirth.

Which, considering their New 52 Superman work got wiped out by the Rebirth stuff, turnabout is fair play.

[The Frog Bros]

I think a lot of people just look at it as an uncritical takedown of 90's "extreme" comics and miss the fact that Superman and company are just as bad. In that sense it suffers the same problem as Watchmen in that very few people actually take away the actual point of the story. How many fans of think Rorschach is awesome because he gives a few badass sounding speeches? Missing the fact that he's a takedown of rightwing conspiracy himself? I think in part it is because they all get a "happy ending" at the end (with Batman setting up literal reeducation camps if I'm remembering correctly) despite being basically fascists throughout the story. I mean, they literally call their prison the Gulag and that I'd bet 90% of the people who have read it don't think that is a pretty big hint.

I know a while back Waid was lamenting the fact that most people seemed to miss the point that it was not supposed to be a future that was looked at fondly. So I'd imagine he's still of that mindset. I don't know what his relationship is with Morrison these days, but if Morrison is going to sort of present it as a best case future for an aging Superman who doesn't descend into fascism Waid might like it.

Waid on missing the point of it being a cautionary tale, as part of a 2017 interview:

Has it been interesting to you, the way that your takes on these characters have informed what's come in the last 20 years? Obviously we now have a generation of people who are coming up who are writing for whom Kingdom Come is kind of a key piece of the comics canon.

Yeah, that terrifies me. [Laughs] Not because I'm protective of it. Not because I feel like it's our toy and nobody else should play with it. That's not it at all.

It's just the idea that I see some touches of Kingdom Come here and there that are well thought out and well executed and make me feel good, and I see other places where they just ignore the fact that it's supposed to be a cautionary fable. It's not supposed to be like this!

We weren't saying Lois should die and Superman and Wonder Woman should together for ever and ever. That wasn't the point of the story; that was unintended consequences. Every once in a while somebody will make a choice and defend it as, "Well, it's the way it was in Kingdom Come," to which you just want to go, "No! No, that was a cautionary fable!"

[Vordan]

They may also just be having Manchester Black show up and not paying any mind to the previous canon use of him in Rebirth.

Which, considering their New 52 Superman work got wiped out by the Rebirth stuff, turnabout is fair play.

Yeah I’m rooting for them to use this as a way to fold more of their stuff into canon. And since they seem to be coordinating with PKJ I hope this time the concepts they build up don’t get completely ignored as is the norm.