WARNING! Spoilers ahead for Outsiders #1
In a curious move, DC Comics has just killed the powerhouse super-team the Authority right as they’re about to make their big screen debut. Appearing in the recently-released Outsiders #1, the Authority’s multidimensional ship the Carrier announces that the team it used to house is now dead.
Taking clear inspiration from the classic Wildstorm series Planetary, Outsiders #1 by Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly, Robert Carey, Valentina Taddeo, and Tom Napolitano brings together Batwing Luke Fox, Batwoman Kate Kane and a new version of Planetary hero Drummer to explore and excavate the furthest reaches of the DC Universe. After Luke explains that he’s started a new organization with his father Lucius, he recruits Batwoman on their first official mission: exploring a mysterious, fifty-mile wide spaceship that’s about to explode.
Upon entering the massive ship, it informs them that everyone from its universe is now dead, and it wants to take out its frustrations in this new universe. “I was a home to heroes,” the Carrier says, “And now everyone I know is dead.“
The Carrier Announces that the Authority Is Dead
The Authority was created by Warren Ellis and Bryan Hitch in a ground-breaking twelve-issue series published by Wildstorm/DC in 1999-2000. Consisting of Jenny Sparks, Apollo, the Midnighter, the Doctor, the Engineer, Jack Hawksmoor, and Swift, the Authority was a super-team that did what they wanted, when they wanted. If a dictator in part of the world did something reprehensible, the Authority thought nothing of crossing national borders and taking them out, repercussions be damned. After Wildstorm ceased publishing comics in 2010, several of its characters were subsumed into the main DCU, such as Apollo and the Midnighter. Otherwise, the Authority as a team has largely laid low ever since.
The Wildstorm Universe seems to be a touchstone for this new iteration of DC’s Outsiders team, given the events of this first issue. Now that it’s the Authority is dead, it will be interesting to see what happens as the new Outsiders continue their explorations. The Outsiders themselves seem to be operating as the DC Universe’s version of Planetary, which saw lead characters Elijah Snow, Jakita Wagner and the original Drummer explore and excavate the weirdest corners of the Wildstorm universe, essentially acting as chroniclers of superhero history. Other Easter eggs in Outsiders #1 hint at other Wildstorm properties that have been dormant for over a decade at this point.
Will the Authority Come Back in DC’s Outsiders?
Announcing the death of one of DC’s most prominent super-teams before their big screen debut is a strange choice, but it’s important to remember that the new Outsiders series is just getting started. Considering the other hints dropped later in the first issue, it feels as if DC might be preparing to reintroduce many of the Wildstorm characters and concepts for a whole new generation ahead of the new Authority movie. Whether the Authority will return in the pages of Outsiders remains to be seen, so fans will have to keep reading to find out.
OUTSIDERS #1 (2023) | |
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