Under New Management finds The Authority facing two possibly dire losses: the death of their sardonic leader Jenny Sparks, and worse, the departure of the founding creative team of Warren Ellis and Bryan Hitch. Breathe a sigh of relief as the baton of Wide-Screen Pandemonium is seamlessly passed to newcomers Mark Millar and Frank Quitely. Ellis and Hitch complete their acclaimed run with the superb Outer Dark in which the team face off, to all intents and purposes, "God"- returned to Earth after aeons to reclaim its home and forcibly evict the unexpected human "infestation". God's malevolent reappearance at the dawn of 2000 also coincides with the end of Jenny Spark's role as The Spirit of the 20th century. Ellis crafts a fitting (and supremely subversive) swan-song for Jenny that sees her go out fighting as well as offing Our Maker "US Execution style". The Nativity finds the new creative team grappling with the series' two new intriguing strands: The Authority's new found celebrity and what happens when the Spirit of the 20th century moves in to the 21st. As far as a diabolical super-genius and his legions of super-soldiers are concerned, it's the chance to mould the future. Millar has retained the series' signature cynicism and humour while Quitely sensibly doesn't ape Hitch, his own action-friendly style ensuring the series' hectic pace. So, dispense with the doubts: it's still the best superhero series for quite some time and one that has managed to keep it's promise of being the comic with a $100 million budget every issue. --Danny Graydon

Meet the New Bosses The hugely acclaimed team of Warren Ellis (Transmetropolitan) and Bryan Hitch (JLA) conclude their earth-rattling run on The Authority, just in time for the super-cool team of Mark Millar (Judge Dredd/ JLA) and Frank Quitely (Batman: The Scottish Connection) to come aboard and rock your world. In the first of two, epic story-arcs our heros battle god, who is keen on wiping out the viral infestation (ie. mankind) that has colonised earth. In the second, Millar and Quitely pit the Authority against a seemingly infinite number of superheroes. Essential reading!

2006-03-16 The Authority vs Stan Lee

As noted above, this comprises two four issue arcs by two different creative teams.

Warren Ellis's Authority swansong was, I felt, always his weakest work on the book - a little too far over the top, and so sparse in terms of dialogue that it's hard to believe he was actually writing it, as opposed to sending Hitch and Neary memos with comments like 'Authority kick God in head!' Still, it's good work by normal standards, the art is as stunning as ever, and it ties up the year's run pretty well, especially for those who have been following the character of Jenny Sparks and the whole century children concept (developed further in Ellis's much superior 'Planetary'.)

But things really pick up with the fourth arc (the second here), and Millar and Quitely's arrival. Millar obviously had a hell of a lot of fun writing this, and Quitely turns the book's visual style inside out, making the Authority's world an ugly, brutal (if beautifully drawn) place. Basically the plot revolves around a struggle for the Jenny Sparks of the 21st century - a mere baby, albeit with nifty powers - between the Authority and a villian who is, to all intents and purposes, Stan Lee.

It's hilarious fun watching Apollo, Midnighter et al kick the crap out of, amongst others, the Avengers, the X-men and countless X-spin off teams. Just for the joy of character-spotting twisted versions of Stan's offspring, this is worth every penny. And the unpredictable and inspired ending does as much to question the traditional values and asumptions of the superhero genre as anything in this very revolutionary series.