Customer Reviews

Preacher: All Hell's A'Coming (Preacher)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In volume 8 of Ennis and Dillon's "Preacher" series, Jesse finally gets his act together enough to come find Tulip. Tulip seeks her own inner strength, and we learn more about the past of Cassidy, everyone's favorite Irish vampire. Many characters we haven't seen in ages (and most of us have forgotten about) resurface in "All Hell's A-Coming," and fit so beautifully into the story that it is as if they couldn't possibly be anywhere else at that moment.

Ennis continues to craft one of the best long-running stories in comics, giving us characters who are both flawed and heroic, in a classical sense. No, there are no cape-wearing supermen in these books, but we get treated to people who seem to love, and hate, and _feel_ the same way as the rest of us, if perhaps a bit more intensely.

"Preacher" the comicbook series is drawing to a close, and this trade paperback collects the stories leading up to the final story arc, "Alamo." The characters meet one another again, preparing for the final act of this story, and spend most of "AHA-C" reflecting on their own pasts and learning what each other have been up to in the intervening months. The characters have to accept where they've been before they can prepare for where they're going, and it's safe to say that a vast majority of the readers will be along for the ride.

Dillon's art in this book is on par with the rest of his efforts in "Preacher" thus far. Eight big books in and he still shows no sign of slipping. Even the superficial obscenity and violence come across well from his drafting table, making "All Hell's A-Coming" one beautiful book.

Like all readers of this book, I've been following the Preacher Saga since "Gone To Texas", and for the first time I have to agree with the negative reviewers: this is not exactly the best Preacher chapter but that is not to say that is bad either,'cos it's pretty good.

Many feel that the "Salvation" storyline was just a waste of valuable time but I disagree. It was a needed pause after the "War in the Sun" fast and violent events and a cool sort of sequel to "Until the End of the World".

The problem with "All Hell's" is that it has slow plot development AFTER another kindda slow one. "Salvation" had suspense, weird enough characters and when Jesse eats the peyote and remembers his encounter with God... You are GLAD to have the trade in your possesion! "All Hell's" ties many loose ends but it lacks real movement until we see certain irish vampire again. The Starr parts are, as always, hilarious and the Jesse and Tulip "early days" story is okey. But I think we've hear enough about how they love each other and how America is so great that all hitchickers are extravagant and very American people. I found that part sort of preachy and repetitive.

Maybe the books before has been so great that we complain when they're only normal, maybe we're so anxious to read "Alamo" that everything else just doesn't seem to matter. Anyway, this is a must for any fan of the series and I bet the next book will be so shocking and memorable that we'll be talking about it from years to come.

The eighth installment in the PREACHER library departs from much of what made the book so successful in the fisrt place. Blood and gore take a back seat, as Ennis and Dillon choose to concentrate more heavily on character development, most noticeable in the characters of Tulip and Cassidy. There is just enough blood to satisfy the gore-hounds, but also enough excellent dialogue and plot development to interest those who would never imagine a mere comic book could be this thought provoking. Jesse and Tulip's relationship is put to the ultimate test, which we glimpsed in the finale of WAR IN THE SUN (my personal favorite of the PREACHER collections) and the outcome is interesting to say the least. All in all, this book is an excellent prelude of the earth shaking events that will no doubt transpose at the conclusion of the current series-ending "Alamo" storyline. One more thing: Mark my words, Arseface will be remembered as one the great tragic characters, on par with Shakespeare's Hamlet and Tarantino's Mr. Orange.

This one's still a bit more downbeat than the first three installments, seemingly to conclude the "calm before the storm" chapters that have been running since the start of the "Salvation" storylines. I would have prefered it if they'd at least started to get back into the really fun stuff before the end of this book, but it sets up for the final chapter very well, and left me looking forward to the last episode. Even though it's almost all concerned with past events (and these do answer some interesting questions), there's a highly entertaining mini-story and the standard of narrative and artwork are as high as ever. Fans will love it, which probably means everyone whose ever read any of the earlier preacher books, but for someone who hasn't this doesn't make a good jumping-in point.

Where the previous collection ("Salvation") was mostly a diversion from the main story, here it slowly gets back on track and sets things up for the big finale in the next and final trade paperback ("Alamo").

The trade starts off with a big story about Tulips youth. It clearifies a lot about how she came to be what she is today, how the average Preacher reader knows her.
When the main story itself starts to continue Tulip goes to her friend Amy and gets to hear some rather unexpected news. It drastically changes her perspective. After that some other entertaining diversion stories are thrown in where Jesse keeps picking up hitchhikers who all tell them their rather uncommon stories. It makes for great laughs (if you're into the typical bizar Ennis humor) and points back to some events of the past. Jesse also meets a bum who tells him more about the dark side of Cassidy ,who she knows from long ago.
Herr Starr is also back (he's literally not half the man he used to be) and gets confronted with another big problem. Meanwhile all is not well in Arsefaces life.

Another good volume which proves "Dixie Fried" was only a (minor) onetime slip. It's for a big part a funny diversion from THE story (where Jesse is after God) but it does set things up nicely for the next book which shall end the story. And it doesn't forget to intertwine several humurous sub-plots to keep things easy and light to read.
Steve Dillons art is as good as it has been all the way. If you don't read Preacher you're missing out on one of the best post-80's comicbooks. But like I said at most reviews of the other volumes: start with volume one ("Gone to Texas") because otherwise it's like you're starting to watch a movie which is already halfway.

In this, the penultimate instalment to the remarkable Preacher run, Garth Ennis sets the scene before it all comes crashing down in The Alamo. An interweaving of narrative focuses on things that were: the younger lives of Tulip and Cassidy; the last story, `Tall in the Saddle,' looks at a younger Jesse, Tulip, and Amy, and shows the extent of Jesse's moral imperatives. Jesse's Texas-style justice borders on the sadistic in much of these pages. Nothing new there, I suppose, but there's some pretty graphic stuff, which further makes difficult the ability to unequivocally embrace Jesse as 'the hero.'If Preacher can 'mean' anything, surely the interrogation of whether good people can do bad deeds must be one of its hallmarks.

There's an undercurrent of themes here, most notably, the grand vision of America as the home of second chances and fulfilled dreams. That such a naïve suggestion could even be seriously articulated in as cynical and dark a text as Preacher (particularly when it's delivered by an ex-porn actor), shows the broadness of the canvas with which Ennis paints. Although Ennis clearly does believe in the notion of redemption, as witnessed by Jesse's spiritual rebirth in the appropriately-titled `Salvation,' and Tulip's deliverance from her own personal hell in these pages, our good buddy Arseface, though, is a living example of what happens when we too-openly trust and believe in goodness and decency. And people like Cassidy demonstrate the morality of people who manipulate that trust for their own benefit...

All in all, this is a good read. I would have liked more plot and less background (did I really need to know all I did about Tulip? And why is her father's hand inexplicably replaced by a hook?), but I can see Ennis playing the role of maestro here, having things quiet down before the finishing crescendo.

This is the next-to-the-last (the penultimate, if you will) in the series of collected Preacher graphic novels, and it's a good one. It's probably not as good as Salvation, but still it's one of my favorites.

This is the last bit of breathing space we're allowed in the series before the plot takes over and bulldozes us towards the conclusion in book nine. Here there's still some room to move sideways as well as forward.

The books starts with some backstory on Tulip. We visit her childhood and find out why she's who she is, and why she's so good with a gun. Then at long last Tulip and Jesse are reunited.

There's also some Grail business to take care of, and we get some QT with Arseface before Cassidy shows up at the end of the book like a mangy dog at the door step. Jesse makes an appointment with him to settle their difference like real men...at the Alamo. And on we go to the rousing conclusion of the series...see you there.

The general problem almost everyone seems to have with "All Hell's A-Coming" is that that nothing much happens. Of course, if they mean that there aren't the usual amount of shootings, murders and gruesome deaths then they're perfectly right. Throughout this TPB (The one-shot "Tall In The Saddle" excepted) there are surprisingly few deaths. What we have in its place, however is superb characterisation, some insightful revelations on the pasts of both Tulip and Cassidy and tonnes of excellent jokes.

Those who want blood, guts and mutilation might want to turn back to Dixie Fried, which was basically the antithesis of this TPB; lots of gore and death but no real movement in the plot. Those who really care about the characters, however (and with Ennis' sometimes surprisingly compassionate writing this is easy) should enjoy this book wholeheartedly. "Even Hitgirls Get The Blues", the issue beginning a two-part look back at Tulip's formative years, shows that Ennis really can write touching and moving rites-of-passage stuff with the best of them, whilst Jesse's discovery about Cassidy's dark past (told in flashback) adds further layers onto a character who started off as the stereotypical rakish "lad". To add unneccesary fights and blood would utterly devalue these stories.

Although none of this really moves the background plot forward - Starr's machinations aside - it does provide excellent character profiles and credits the characters and reader with some intelligence. The only part of this book which actually feels like padding is Jesse's road trip, with him picking up various hitchhikers - including some very familliar characters - as he travels to see Amy. And a scene in which a fat gentleman wearing blue suede shoes who used to be a rock and roll star (yes, HIM) is picked up by Jesse pushes the book just a little too close to silliness.

Oh, and the one-shot (featuring art work which, for some reason, mimicks Dillon's style) is a so-so actioner with some fairly good jokes and a big continuity slip-up (in case you can't figure it out, Jesse kills a couple of men in this pre-Gone To Texas story, yet in GTT he claims never to have killed a man before. D'oh!)

An excellent TPB, which once again proves that comic books can have "real" characters too.

Outstanding in every facet. With a witty tone and popping art that comes right off the page. Original and thought provoking.

If you've made it this far in Preacher, don't stop now. Vol. 8 was fantastic, and an enjoyable read, leading up to the big finale of the series.