Gage, Christos
AVERAGE REVIEW SCORE:
4 out of 5
(1 book)
The Authority: Prime
(Art by Darick Robertson)
When a secret bunker belonging to the long-dead insane genius Henry Bendix is unearthed both The Authority and StormWatch Prime move to secure it. However, despite being former comrades in arms, the two teams are unable to trust the other's intentions and conflict becomes inevitable.
Honestly, I'm not terribly well-versed in DC's WildStorm universe, so I was a bit wary going in to this book as to whether I'd be able to make any sense of who the characters are and what the situation was. Thankfully, the book provides just enough background information to be able to piece together the important elements and the characters themselves shine through so strongly that I didn't really need to know more about them to appreciate the story here.
Two teams of heroes fighting each other is always a little contrived in comics, usually relying on some basic and convenient misunderstanding, but it's done fairly well here. Each team feels justified in their reasons for not trusting the other (The Authority doesn't trust the US Government and StormWatch, working for the US Government, doesn't trust The Authority's self-assumed superiority over elected governments) and you get a sense that the conflict pulls in various other historical tensions too. The writer also doesn't patronisingly lead the reader by the nose to which side they should be on either, which is something that has annoyed me in other hero-vs-hero crossovers in the past.
A surprisingly good jumping-on point for someone, like myself, just beginning to explore the WildStorm universe.
4 out of 5