Authority: The Magnificent Kevin  #1 (of 5)

Writer: Garth Ennis
Artist: Carlos Ezquerra
Colorist: David Baron
Letterer: Phil Balsman

A malevolent force has taken out the entire Authority single-handedly. Only the Midnighter managed to escape and, after landing in Great Britain, he has called on the government to bring him in. Assigned to the task is S.A.S. corporal Kevin Hawkins, the only man the Midnighter trusts and also the only human alive to take out the Authority on not one but two separate occasions.

The Magnificent Kev is the third in the hilarious Kev/Authority series (the first two being Authority: Kev and Authority: More Kev). In this series of books the down on his luck S.A.S. corporal contends with a rather crappy life consisting of botched attempts on his life by old enemies, an overbearing boss who wants him dead and a group of friends whose numbers grow smaller almost by the day. And now, through a series of dangerous and mind-numbingly insane adventures, he’s become irrevocably tied to the Authority, a group of superhumans who hate Kev almost as much as he hates them. Garth Ennis does a brilliant tongue in cheek take on everyone’s favorite badass superhero team, dragging them through the mud and putting them through as much hell as he can. He’s the last guy you would expect to see writing a book about superheroes and that is exactly what makes his Kev books so great.

In this current mini-series Kev once again has to save the Authority and possibly the world. I really enjoyed the first issue of the series and I really hope that it can live up to the previous books. Although it’s completely possible that Ennis might just be stretching the gag a bit thin at this point. We’ll have to wait and see how the rest of the book goes to know for sure. One thing that disappoints most about The Magnificent Kev is the absence of the amazing Glen Fabry on interior art. Fabry, mostly know for his painted covers, really made the previous two books a joy to look at and as much as I like the artwork of the legendary Carlos Ezquerra I’m just not sure that it can live up to what has come before.
 

Special thanks go out to Jeremy Shorr, owner of Titan Comics for allowing us to use his advance preview books for review purposes.
 

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