Cover by Griffo to Authorised Happiness v3, written by Jean Van Hamme
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Authorised Happiness v3

And now we bring all the stories from the first two books together, just in time for the revolution to begin.

Wait, what?

Yes: Revolution!

Credits to Change the World

Authorised Happiness v3 by Griffo and Van Hamme
Writers: Jean Van Hammer
Artist: Griffo
Letterer: Design Amorandi
Translator: Jerome Saincantin
Published by: Dargaud/Cinebook
Number of Pages: 59
Original Publication: 1989

Previously, in “Authorised Happiness”….

I reviewed the first two volumes here:

Authorised Happiness v1 by Griffo and Van Hamme
Authorised Happiness v2 by Griffo and Van Hamme

And now, we wrap up the series by bringing everything together…

What’s Going On?

We start with a clips show and an update. A near-retirement police detective has stumbled across a picture that shows several known missing people in it.

It's a cast photo with all the characters from the first two Authorised Happiness chapters

Those missing people are all from the stories in the previous two volumes. And over the first few pages, we get quick flashbacks to their stories and what the reaction was to their disappearances from those around them.

The detective doesn’t like what’s going on and wants to investigate this, even though it means going up against a government that likes to protect its secrets and control its people at all costs. His friend, a lawyer who acts as a defense attorney, doesn’t share his friend’s desire to ruin his own life to discover the truth.

Our entry point into the events of the series’ ending is the ex-husband of Michele Fields. She’s the one who opted out of the health care system in the first book before going missing with her child. He accidentally runs into his daughter on the street and gets arrested while trying to catch up with her.

Themis is a computer that does a better job of judging crimes than judges

The lawyer I mentioned a couple paragraphs back acts as his attorney. We learn that justice is blind and computerized. Judgment and sentencing is perfectly fair now because human emotions and built-in biases are no longer in the system. Court cases are procedures where the facts are input into a computer, and a piece of paper spits out the sentencing.

What could possibly go wrong? Trust the algorithm! Don’t forget; this book was written thirty years ago, long before “social media” taught everyone what an algorithm is.

That’s when things get interesting in this story. The computer system is fouled up, but the powers that be can’t afford to admit it, for the good and safety of society. This injustice under this awful system finally provokes the lawyer into action. And his police detective friend is seen by the underground as a useful tool in helping their situation and overthrowing the government.

Yup, this story radicalized the situation pretty quickly….

Revolutions

The resolution has begun

Jean Van Hamme wrote this book as a way to conclude a storyline that almost accidentally developed itself while he was writing the series.

To that end, he does a good job in making it all look like a master plan has been well executed. Even if the “clips show” nature of the opening scenes feels a bit redundant, it’s also a welcome reminder of who’s who and how we got here, sprinkled in with little updates and a progression of uneasy questions.

And, as a surprise to me, all of the missing people were not being hidden by the government to suppress them. No, they were being welcomed into the fold of a revolutionary group hoping to take down the system.

Van Hamme uses the two new characters at the start of the story as an excellent point of view to get into the Underground, alongside the returning ex-husband from volume 1. Put them all together, and you get a well-rounded look into the system and the overall storyline: fear, outrage, desperation, ideology, etc. In the end, it’s the cop who is the star of this volume.

As has happened consistently throughout this series, the end isn’t exactly what you might have expected it to be. There’s yet another twist or two to come. That’s why I’ve told you as much about this book as I have. Everyone isn’t always exactly what they seem, in ways you might not expect. (I’ve seen enough ’24’ to expect half of the characters in this book to be double agents. Van Hamme isn’t that obvious, however.)

This finale volume of the series feels different from the first two, by necessity. It’s one big story, for starters, meant to tie up all the loose ends. The third volume of “Authorised Happiness” is not showing us glimpses into this society anymore. It’s showing us the much larger picture, just in time to try toppling it.

While it has the same themes and feelings of conspiracy and total government control, the characters in this book have a much more active part to play in their own future. We get to see past the end, so to speak, and that’s what makes this left turn in the series work so well.

The Look and Feel of It All

Griffo draws a detailed and abandoned dirty train station for Authorised Happiness v3

Griffo’s art is as strong as ever. He directs the comic the way you might imagine seeing it on the television or movie screen. He establishes shots before moving in for a close-up and back out to a medium shot to keep everyone together in your mind.

He has a very precise and a very thin line. He doesn’t worry too much about solid black areas or varying his line weights. He represents the stories very literally, using interesting compositions within panels to keep your interest.

This is also the book in the series that he gets to draw the biggest action with a variety of new sets and vehicles to throw into the story. This is a series that mostly relies on mental tension and a bit of paranoia, but this book gives Griffo a chance to draw more conventional action, in several ways.

In addition to that, he has some great opportunities to draw different scenes, from large open ballrooms for a single table meeting, to disused subway cars in closed rail stations, to the inside of an unkempt judicial building.

It’s all very dramatic, and Griffo is great at drawing all the little details to add texture to a place. He doesn’t need lots of cross-hatching or fancy techniques. He just adds enough to a panel to give it that feeling.

Combine that with the relatively flat coloring style to really make the art shine. There’s a few moments of watercolor for special effect, but most of the book is flat colors, with careful attention paid to which sides of things get a slightly darker color because they’re away from the light. It all works together well.

Griffo is the perfect artist for this series. I couldn’t imagine anyone else doing it this well.

Recommended?

Authorised Happiness v3 by Griffo and Van Hamme

If you’ve read the first two, you definitely need to read this one to see where everyone wound up and what the series is all about. It’s fun to see how Van Hamme fits all his puzzle pieces together, even if in the back of my head it feels a little forced in an effort to tie otherwise unrelated stories together. Just go with it.

— 2019.046 —

Buy It Now!



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