Coup d'Etat #1

[history79]

Comments

[zachbeacon]

I feel like this'd have had more of an impact if this wasn't, like, the tenth time the Authority went to war with the establishment.

[filthysize]

There was a hint of western centralization there, because The Authority had been depicted as a group willing to dismantle the governments of "developing" countries, but all of a sudden when they decide to do it to the US government, it's a company-wide crossover Big Deal event. I guess it was always leading that way, though, given their name and attitude. I did think it was interesting at the time to have a line of comics set in a universe where the premiere superhero team are the dictators.

[zachbeacon]

It's been a long time since I read it but I feel like large chunks of the early runs had the US government going after the Authority because their heavy handed authoritarianism went too far. Or not far enough. I think it was mostly a coin toss.

[mrstatham]

It was a big point of Millar's last story (the one that got him removed or had him leave the title, as I recall). Prior to that, I don't think the Authority under Ellis were exactly authoritarian, they were more just responding to the latest disasters quickly and without oversight, as something like Stormwatch tended to have.

[super_fly]

The establishment which, as the comic is fond of reminding us, are simply figureheads working for the interests of the rich and powerful pulling their strings from the shadows