Orion #13
Written by Walter Simonson
Penciled by John Byrne
Inked by Terry Austin
Published by DC Comics
It's become a cliche with Thor that every few years, Odin decides his son has become too arrogant and needs to be humbled. We've seen variations of that story many, many times.
Here in Orion, we're getting an in-depth look at the type of arrogant foolishness that would make Odin sit up and take notice. Darkseid's son, drunk with the power of the Anti-Life Equation, embarks on a Hal Jordan-like quest to "Make everything right!"
Using this awesome, unlimited power to control minds, Orion broadcasts a message throughout the Earth, declaring "Peace on Earth, good will to men." "Not that you have a choice," the New God notes, "But it's the right choice."
Of course, Orion using the Anti-Life Equation to create a peace absent of free will is no more noble than Darkseid using it to control humanity for whatever scheme he might be working on at any given time. "Do no harm," Orion commands, and humanity responds by watching the Teletubbies instead of boxing matches.
I'm really amazed at Simonson's ability to make me care about Orion; I've read many, many stories featuring the New Gods over the past three decades, but never before have I been so invested in the outcome of one of their stories. Watching Orion race toward disaster, as he surely is, I am reminded once again of a friend who you want to help steer in the right direction, but you just know they won't listen.
It looks like the friend who may get between Orion and his plans is Scott Free, the New God known as Mister Miracle. He apparently was unaffected by the broadcast, and I assume that we're in for a confrontation between the two soon.
Month after month, Simonson quietly cranks out the best DC title out there, and the best work of his considerable career. While Byrne's artwork on the main story here (Simonson pencils the back-up) does nothing to diminish the momentum that has built here over the past year, I definitely prefer to see Simonson's writing and art together on this title (or any, really), and will be glad when he's back on full duty. The best comics almost always come from single creative vision, and Orion certainly is one of the best superhero comics, ever.
The Monarchy #2
Written by Doselle Young
Penciled by John McCrea
Inked by Garry Leach
Published by DC/Wildstorm
This is the issue you've been waiting for. Young and McCrea masterfully tie together all the incomprehensible moments from the previous issue and the sneak peek Authority issue, leaving readers utterly satisfied, and caring not at all if The Authority ever even comes back. The Monarchy #2 is just that good.
Nah, I'm just fucking with you. I have no idea what the hell is going on in this series, and I suspect Young and McCrea don't either.
I've said before that the creators of this title are facing an unfair challenge in trying to satisfy Authority readers who are suffering through months unjustly robbed of their favourite title. Maybe if Frank Quitely hadn't up and quit, moving over to Marvel to illustrate Grant Morrison's New X-Men, maybe if Mark Millar and Quitely had finished up their Authority run, then maybe The Monarchy wouldn't seem like such a disappointing mess. But I have to think, at this point, that even if Ellis and Hitch or Millar and Quitely were cranking out new issues of The Authority on a weekly basis, I'd still hate this book.
The great strength of Warren Ellis's Jackson King (the only Jackson King that counts, make no mistake about it), was that he fairly sizzled with focus. All of Ellis's best characters (Jenny Sparks, Pete Wisdom, Elijah Snow, Spider Jerusalem) are focused to a laser-fine pinpoint of burning passion for, well, whatever it is they are passionate about. Young tries to imitate that focus here, but three issues (counting that Authority preview issue) into the world of The Monarchy, everything remains as fuzzy as George W. Bush's election.
Sure, Union is back from the dead. Sure, an investigation is being launched into the resignations of King and Trelane from their U.N. positions. Sure, people are tortured.
I'll even give you, Sure, Young might manage to pull this all together...eventually. The question is, will there be anyone left reading by then?
By the fuzzy conclusion of this issue, it appears this first story arc is about somehow restoring a soul to the character of Union. Since Union was an Image character (before DC bought Wildstorm), and since, to the best of my knowledge, Ellis never handled Union (make no mistake about it, this entire series is an Ellis pastiche, and so far not a very good one), the question must be asked, what soul did Union ever have that can be restored? Is there anyone read this title that ever, ever gave two shits about Union?
Did the character, in fact, kill himself in that Authority preview issue, solely to justify the uninteresting, confusing events we see here?
Look, I've read every issue of Stormwatch, even the mediocre-to-agonizingly-bad pre-Ellis issues. I hold Ellis's Stormwatch run, and the Authority run that followed it, absolutely in the same esteem that I hold Watchmen, Batman: Year One, and maybe even Daredevil: Born Again. Ellis created from the vacuous ashes of The Age of Image characters and situations as compelling and entertaining as any superhero comic books ever created.
Stormwatch is mentioned here, in The Monarchy #2. So is Skywatch, the team's fallen home. Jackson King and Christine Trelane (or at least two-dimensional ciphers bearing their names) are featured, as is an inter-dimensional shiftship reminiscent of The Authority's Carrier.
All the elements you'd want are here, to construct a book that at least evokes something of the memory of the glorious Ellis Wildstorm era. I wanted to like this book, I really did. With The Authority on hiatus, shit, I wanted to love this title.
So far, I do not love The Monarchy, and it is my sad duty to inform you, there is nothing in this issue to convince me that my feelings are going to change any time soon. But be clear: I take no delight in hating this book. I don't even bear it the irrational ill will that I feel toward the collected Spider-Man abortions of Howard Mackie. I guess, deep down, I even hope that things will get better. But three issues into this continuity, man, how long do I have to wait?
The Monarchy so far comes off as a very bad attempt at cashing in on The Authority, a far-superior title that Wildstorm disastrously dropped the ball on. Whether you're a fan of the titles that spawned this mess or not, The Monarchy is a joyless exercise in craft, crafted by a writer who doesn't know what he's doing, and by an artist who deserves better material than this.