Customer Reviews

The Boys, Vol. 4

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

We Gotta Go Now, the fourth collected volume of Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson's The Boys, finds Butcher and co. taking aim at some new superpowered adversaries this time around. Hughie goes undercover as a new would-be member of the supes franchise called the G-Men, and discovers some dirty and some plain old horrifying secrets in the process about their millionaire founder and leader. Naturally though, things don't go too smoothly for Hughie during his undercover time, as Ennis once again manages to pull out all the stops in an effort to disgust, shock, horrify, and tickle the funny bone of the reader. While The Boys so far has gleefully jabbed at mainstream superhero comics, Ennis' riff here on the mega-popular X-Men franchise is just too fun to pass up. Darick Robertson's artwork continues to be solid as well, which isn't much of a surprise either really. All in all, I've found The Boys to be endlessly entertaining since its inception, and with seeds being planted for some future uber-chaotic events on the horizon, here's hoping that the best is yet to come from The Boys.

I'm going to be upfront about this item, it's an enjoyable comic to have and read. As usual Garth Ennis has not tame himself down, which is the good thing. This is vol. 4 of an amazing series where we get another chapter of the flip side of super heros. I'm assuming that you have the first 3 volumes already, if not, get them for you will be asking for more if you've just read one.

This edition sort of seems to be picking on a famous group everybody knows, the G-Men. If you're wondering, What's G-Men ? Get this and find out !!!!

In the fourth volume of The Boys, Wee Hughie is sent off to investigate 'G-Force' - Ennis' analogue of the X-Men.

There are a half-dozen different G-teams, all of which operate under slightly different rules from the rest of Vought American's superhero 'franchises'. Still, they're incredibly profitable (everyone loves to buy gear supporting these 'outsider' heroes), so they're left to their own devices. However, when a founding member of 'G-force' commits suicide in a spectacular fashion, a lot of parties decide it may be time to intervene...

Wee Hughie is sent to join the junior G-Force team (think this world's New Mutants equivalent). What he finds is a LOT of seriously warped kids living in a superheroic frat house, complete with porn room.

As Hughie investigates from the inside, MM goes off on some detective work, and the rest of the Boys sit tight (mostly trying to control their psychopathic impulses).

Although another entertaining installment in the series, the Boys is starting to run out of ways to maintain its early days of shock & awe. The ridiculous fratboy antics of the G-teams are mostly just... gross. In the earlier collections, Ennis combined his dark & salty humor with surprising revelations and intriguing plot twists. 'We Gotta Go Now...' feels a little stale in comparison. Although the comedy is still there, the ultimate revelations feel a little predictable and a little forced.

This does, however, seem like a blip (a 'dip' down into a 4-star rating isn't bad!) - and this collection does set up bigger and better things for Volume 5. The Boys has been a unique take on 'superheroics' since the first issue, and continues to toe its unrelenting, no holds barred approach.

It arrived on time and it was in great condition like new. I am a huge comic fan but some I have to collect in trades cause I do not have the time or money to read all the ones I like in monthly comic form. Therefore, trades are a great way to keep up with stories. So I did not have a problem with the seller or the item.

"We Gotta Go Now" is Ennis and Robertsons' take on the X-Men and that whole brand of heroes with younger X-Men like X-Factor, etc. "Orphans" get taken in and trained by a creepy benefactor who uses them to profit off and continue the cycle. Then one of them kills themselves and another who is supposed to be dead turns up "alive" and things turn out to be not as they were. The usual debauchery, ultra-violence, and bad taste are in abundance with the added delight of Wee Hughie dressing up as a supe. I'm sure Ennis' note on that page was "make Hughie as gay as you can" and Robertson just ran with it. It's a joy.

"The Boys" is one of the most enjoyable series of recent years and making fun of superheroes is an utterly fun subject, far more enjoyable than Moore's drab and overrated "Watchmen" makes out. I loved Tek Knight (a Batman spoof) from "Get Some" and how that ended showing Ennis and Robertson at their most cheeky (what Tek Knight did to his wimpy, gay sidekick for example, and Ennis/Robertson's solution to Tek Knight's "troubles"). Similarly the brilliantly written and drawn alternate take of 9/11 in "Good for the Soul" which showed a completely overwhelmed superhero team floundering and failing. What a great counterpoint to all the comics in the aftermath of that day where people were asking the likes of Spiderman and Superman "Where were YOU?". Ennis' response is to show how idiotic they are as a creation and how ridiculous a world is that relies on a man wearing underpants on the outside flying about the place.

The whole point of "The Boys" is to make fun of the most popular characters and genre in comics through comics and counter them with a group of psychos who are perversely the heroes. Another way to look at it is to say we don't need superheroes, they're arrogant b*st*rds who cause more damage than they save. But it's mostly just good fun and they always keep that in perspective (the next book is titled "Herogasm").

It's clear Ennis and Robertson are having a ball with this series and it's a pleasure to read each book. The writing is snappy and the plot coming thick, fast and edgy. Robertson's always been a maverick artist with his work adding to much of the appeal of "Transmetropolitan" and "The Boys" continues to show his work as good as ever.

Catch these books as they come out, it shows two artists at the top of their game, never better.

Just started The Boys a month ago and can't stop reading it. Being a big fan f Captain America and Green Lantern I needed something new. I went to the store and asked for a recommendation and this is what I got. Amazing.

Garth Ennis has always pushed the envelope when it comes to his most popular work in comics. Some say he does more than that with The Boys, which is so viscerally nasty and gratuitously horrifying that you just have to love it! In this fourth volume of the series we find Billy Butcher and his gang of psychos going after a twisted nightmare version of one of Marvel's most popular superteams. The stakes in the game Butcher's been playing against The Seven and their parent corporation Vought American just got higher, and readers such as myself genuinely feel charged up with anticipation at the thought of the eventual showdown, which is hopefully still dozens of issues in the future. The storyline in this volume is entitled "We Gotta Go Now" and features Hughie going undercover as a potential recruit to the G-Men, the most lucrative superhero team and franchise in present day America. Needless to say, Hughie soon discovers some unspeakable things about said superheroes, and a terrifying secret that links each of them to their founder and mentor Godolkin (NOT a bald-headed guy in a wheelchair). Along the way we get some comic relief in the form of the Frenchman, the Female and a bloodthirsty game of scrabble. Butcher delivers a frightening warning to a very important person, while Mother's Milk does some Batman-style detective work. Homelander has to deal with Prank phone calls, possibly his greatest challenge, while Hughie has to survive the depravity of his frat roommates. My only gripe is that most of the violent superhero action takes place off panel, hence the four stars. Even so, Ennis' writing more than makes up for it.
Pick up this volume and start reading! If it doesn't hook you, nothing will.

I follow Ennis' writing and love the art in The Boys. My only hope is that he finds time to tell the backstory of The Boys effectively in the future. Their formation is still a bit of a question mark as are their characters sans Hughie. I'm on the edge of my seat wondering what'll happen to Hughie's relationship once it's uncovered.

I'll be buying the next book that's for sure.

For me The Boys has always been a frustrating read.

Garth Ennis is an excellent writer and occasionally makes good points in these books, but he also fills them with page after page of juvenile humor that does nothing for me. In this volume The Boys take on a thinly-veiled rip-off the X-Men. Readers are treated to on-screen masturbation, child-molesting and of course lots of gruesome death.

It has its high points but the low points are just too frequent and too disgusting.

I'm done with this series.