The Boys Vol. 1: The Name of the Game [Paperback]

Garth Ennis (Author), Darick Robertson (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 8, 2008

This is going to hurt! In a world where costumed heroes soar through the sky and masked vigilantes prowl the night, someone's got to make sure the "supes" don't get out of line. And someone will! Billy Butcher, Wee Hughie, Mother's Milk, The Frenchman, and The Female are The Boys: A CIA-backed team of very dangerous people, each one dedicated to the struggle against the most dangerous force on Earth - superpower! Some superheores have to be watched. Some have to be controlled. And some of them - sometimes - need to be taken out of the picture. That's when you call in The Boys! Collecting the first volume in the hit series The Boys by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson!

Product Details

• Paperback: 152 pages
• Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment (April 8, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933305738
• ISBN-13: 978-1933305738
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 6.7 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #46,772 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Open Season on all superheroes, July 7, 2007

By 

HJ Louw "Hermgerm" (South Africa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Boys Vol. 1: The Name of the Game (Paperback)

With The Boys Garth Ennis is doing what he loves best: violently satirizing a traditional and well loved concept, in this case superheroes. For those readers and comic fans not in the know, The Boys was cancelled after issue #6 by DC's Wildstorm imprint in January of 2006 because (it is speculated) it portrays superheroes in a negative light, especially the Justice League and other DC superteams like the Titans. I understand this completely, since the two superteams we see in this first trade paperback contain amalgams of DC characters (The Homelander based on Superman, Black Noir based on Batman, Queen Maeve on Wonderwoman, etc.) and all are either alcoholics or sexual predators, definitely NOT in character with DC's "top three." That being said, I thank whatever higher power there is that Dynamite Entertainment picked up the publishing rights, and as of this writing The Boys #7 & 8 are already on the shelves. Incredibly violent and sexually shocking, The Boys takes a hit at supers in a big way, showing the reader how corrupt and irresponsible these beings might be, since they possess god-like power and therefore see themselves as more than human. Humans are their playthings, and when things get out of hand, the CIA calls in their own special black ops team to deal with the problem: The Boys. Consisting of an insane frenchman, a psychopathic asian girl, a hulking African American man, a newly recruited scotsman based on director Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead), and the meanest backstabbing sociopath with a bulldog ever, this team operates on the periphery of society and keeps the supes in line. Often resorting to blackmail and assasination, the Boys keep pace with the supes thanks to Compound V, or Blue, a drug that serves as a genetic modifier that was invented by Germans in WWII. This explains all the superpowers out there, since the current 'heroes' are the offspring of the first generation of supermen and women. In the first three issues we see Billy Butcher (the sociopath with the dog, described as the single most dangerous individual ever encountered by the CIA) going after Wee Hughie as a new recruit, while the last three issues deal with their first assignment. Hughie recently lost his girlfriend horrifically due to the actions of the speedster A-Train (based on the Flash) of the Seven, the world's elite superteam. Ennis also gives us an inside view of what goes on behind the superhero facade when Starlight, an innocent young Christian supergirl, joins the Seven and discovers their true natures the hard way. Thanks to the brillliant art of Darick Robertson (Transmetropolitan) and the twisted mind of Ennis The Boys is chock full of laugh-out-loud dialogue, action and bloody encounters as well as shocking sexual imagery. Not for people with delicate sensibilities, but for those who loved Ennis' Preacher and Punisher MAX series, strap yourself in for an unforgettable ride with The Boys. You won't regret it.

23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spectacular, July 2, 2007

By 

N. Durham "Big Evil" (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Boys Vol. 1: The Name of the Game (Paperback)

It's no secret that legendary Preacher creator and Punisher scribe Garth Ennis loathes the way superheroes dominate the comics medium, and with his new ongoing series The Boys, Ennis strikes back. This first TPB of The Boys revolves around Billy Butcher; a man with a vendetta against said superheroes who organizes a group of mentally shattered and slightly insane people who have all have been negatively impacted by the wreckless actions of the heroes who are supposedly here to protect and serve normal humans. Among them is new recruit Wee Hughie (modeled after Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz star Simon Pegg), whose girlfriend was caught in the crossfire of a speedster hero's pursuit of a villain. What really makes The Boys stand out is Ennis' sick satire of a Justice League and Teen Titans-esque super teams who The Boys have run-in's with, the former of which have their sights set on Butcher and his plans, and vice versa. Darick Robertson, who worked with Ennis on his Marvel books Fury and Born, provides excellent artwork as usual; but it's Ennis' scathing, hilarious, and incredibly vulgar take on super heroes that really makes The Boys a force to be reckoned with. All in all, if you're an Ennis fan or just like seeing the super hero community get what they deserve, you should definitely make an appointment with The Boys.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun book, crude humor, hints of of fun to come, February 3, 2008

By 

DJ Joe Sixpack (...in Middle America) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Boys Vol. 1: The Name of the Game (Paperback)

Modern stories demythologizing long-underwear sooper-heros have been around for a while... "Marvelman," "The Watchmen," DC's Vertigo imprint, and more recently "Powers" and Marvel's "Ultimates" timeline. But few books have approached the topic with such sheer venom as Garth Ennis's "The Boys," in which a mysterious, steroidal hardcase named Billy Butcher assembles an anti-supergroup whose aim is to take the stuffing out of the supergroups that have run rampant over the world. Butcher gets government backing, and puts his Scooby gang together, then sets his sights on some relative small fry: a teen supergroup filled with sex-crazed ultra-brat packers called the Kix. Ennis has a parallel plotline involving an, a-list elite superhero group called The Seven, who are this world's version of the Justice League or the Avengers -- and they are equally crass and unlikeable, and by the end of this first book, we're ready to see them get taken down a few pegs. Looks like Butcher and his headstompers are just the folks to do it. The characters are generally pretty thinly portrayed (which I often find true in Ennis's work) but the plot and the mood are compelling. It's a fun, though rather dark-toned, grisly book, with themes that may seem familiar to folks who have read Ennis, Alan Moore, et. al., over the years. I'm looking forward to Book Two. (ReadThatAgain)