Customer Reviews

Preacher

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

In an interesting diversion from the story that "The Preacher" has been looping back and forth through, Mr. Garth has decided to give us three stories focusing on minor characters in the series. Only one of the three disappointed me. In "Gone To Texas" we met Arseface, and although his situation was grotesque, it always carried some degree of twisted, twisted humor. However, with "The Story of You-Know-Who", Ennis removes all traces of humor, stripping away his trademark irony to show us a truly depressing, somehow unoriginal and after-school-special-like origin of his strange monster. But, even if though I was disappointed by this story, I couldn't say enough about the other two. The Origin of the Saint of Killers is astonishing. We finally get an intense, sad, strange, gorgeous explanation for the presence of this creature. And there are moments in it (such as the saint turning his guns on a certain, very powerful fellow) that are some of the finest of the "The Preacher" thus far. And then, after two very depressing, low key tales, we are given "The Good Old Boys", one of the funniest comics I have ever read. It's enough that Ennis takes us back to the Bayou, where we meet the ugly, fish-loving cousins from book 1. But, somehow, he got the idea to suddenly invade their swamp with characters from some terrible, direct to video action film. I don't mean that the characters are shallow or stupid. They actually scream lines like "I'm a cop with a dangerous secret!" Ennis takes these living cliche's, and then throws them into the muck with two men we know to be sicker than any within a thousand miles. The result is truly disgusting and really quite brilliant. Ennis is a real life artist. I can't wait for the next one.

Whilst the ongoing adventures of Texas Preacher Jesse Custer and the strange world of violence and supernatural happenings is consistently witty, intelligent and shocking, writer Garth Ennis really shows his ingenuity and flexibility with this collection of spin-offs from this superb series.

"Saint Of Killers" follows the origin of Jesse's most powerful and terrifying enemy yet. This four-part story explains how a mean-spirited bounty hunter became an immortal one-man kill machine. A superb, compelling and disturbing story of a man who was so mean that hell had to spit him out.

"The Good Old Boys" Displays a few days in the extraordirinary lives of Jesse's sick, twisted and thoroughly unpleasant uncles out in the swamps of Texas. It's a wonderfully clever and witty (and bloody and gory...) spoof of all those OTT action movies, starring two of the comic's most enduring characters.

Finally, "The Story of You-Know-Who" is much darker fare. No vampires, no angels, no demons nor cowboys, just the backstory of the poor disfigured teenager called "Arseface" and the terrible chain of events which led to his attempted suicide. A bit of a shock to the system if you read "Good Old Boys" first.

A superb spin-off collection which, despite losing Steve Dillon's superb artwork, is a must-have for anyone with a strong stomach and a taste for dark humour.

As some of the longer graphic novel series are wont to do at times (see Sandman, for example), Ennis introduces a `break' to the Preacher arc with "Ancient History," temporarily halting plot development and placing several Preacher characters outside the timeline. "Ancient History" contains two origin stories, one of Saint of All Killers and one of Arseface, respectively, and a broad-brush satire of the action movie genre, featuring those rapscallion down-home boys, Jody and T.C.

The two origin stories speak to the past pain and anger that the Saint and Arseface experienced, and how these emotions molded their desire to mete out vengeance. Saint is the `simpler' of the two characters. As Ennis himself acknowledges in his excellent Foreward, Saint is the virtual embodiment of the Clint Eastwood movie-western archetype, an innately violent man unable to contain the demons within when the good in him vanishes. Arseface, however, is painted with a subtler brush: a sad and isolated loner whose physiological transformation `triggers' (pardon the pun) a paradoxically sunnier and more violent outlook on life. Note also how Arseface comes to relate and sympathize with the things he most fears. Although these tales are both downers, the book finishes with a rousing send-off, thanks to the fanciful "Good Ole Boys." The unlikeliest of heroes save the day and get the girl, and, er, dog. A bumbling Middle Eastern terrorist who utters a constant stream of scatological malapropisms `leads' the bad guys. People (and animals) are killed, mutilated, and abused. Hilarious, violent, offensive, politically incorrect; in short, Ennis at his crackling best.

For the first time in the series, Dillon is not involved with the art. However, Steve Pugh's rich illustrations, the masterful Carlos Ezquerra's evocative imagery, and Pamela Rambo's skillful colouring, among others, ensure the visuals are up to par with the story.

Although I'm not generally a fan of graphic novels that wander from the series arc, I have to admit that the book was very well written and a heckuva lot of fun to read.

The extingencies of deadlines often force comic publishers to farm out a couple issues to backup artists in order to give the main crew a break and time to catchup on the main storyline. This represents such a collection of stories.

A different set of artists is used for each story. (In one story about the Saint of Killers - the backup artist couldn't meet the deadline and a backup-backup artist had to be called in to finish the story!).

The stories vary in quality - particularly in the drawing and coloring. The plots concern background information about the Saint of Killers and Arse-face. Whereas the main Preacher storyline is brilliant, this particular collection is just average.

I recommend buying it if, like me, you have to own every Preacher graphic novel. If you are not so obsessive, then rest assured that you can continue to enjoy the Preacher series without reading this collection.

If you first read "Preacher" as a series of graphic novels, as I did, you may be a bit disappointed to find that this fourth installment doesn't actually move the story forward. Instead, it pauses to give backstory on some of the supporting cast, and that backstory ranges from as good or better than the regular "Preacher" fare to a chapter that really didn't need to be included at all.

Collected here are the "Saint of Killers" miniseries and the two one-shots, "The Story of You-Know-Who" and "Good Old Boys."

"Saint of Killers" is the closest comic books have come to producing a masterpiece in the western genre. The story of the saint is infuriating, tragic, heartbreaking and horrifying all at the same time, and the blending of western themes with the usual theological quandries of "Preacher" is seamless.

"You-Know-Who" also provides backstory, this time on the series' strangest and most hideous character. An interesting tale, to be sure, but not really something necessary for the overall story.

To be frank, I could have done without "Good Old Boys." Ennis takes time to tell a story of a pair of villains who, at that point in the story, are dead anyway, and which really sheds no new light on them or the main story. It's interesting as a parody of action films, but nothing more.

Overall, this collection is worth picking up for "Saint of Killers" alone.

Personally, I thought that the four issue mini-series "Saint of Killers" deserved it's own separate trade paperback. Lumping the other material in here doesn't really fit or make sense. The story arc works perfectly by itself- hell, it's a masterpiece of graphic story telling. Moreover, you don't need to know anything about the rest of the Preacher series to appreciate it- either before or after. I remember when I first found this miniseries- my reaction was Wow, this is really GOOD! I reread it three times and then sent a fan letter to Ennis (which he probably never got.)

What we have here is an interesting union of real world, western myth, and cosmic myth. We never learn the name of the "Saint", he is always "that man"- or Sir! We do learn his story though- from Gettysburg to the Llano Estacada- from Confederate cavalryman to bounty hunter. He was a hard man, but a fair one. While he hunted down bad men for bounty (red and white) he never saw himself as any sort of hero. He treated good folk with respect and decency- but primarily he just wanted to be left alone. Then he rescued a good woman from the hands of a Kiowa raiding party- and for eight years he enjoyed a peaceful, full family life that he suspected that he had no true right to. That all came to an end in the Great Blizzard of '86. While he was riding to get medicine for his sick wife and child he was delayed by a gang of murderous scum. He made it back to them too late. Only one thing remained for him- vengeance against those who had kept him from his mission. He tracked them down and got his vengeance- but he knowingly and deliberately killed an innocent soul that got in the way while he was doing so. Before that, his soul had been balancing on a knife's edge- neither a good man nor a strictly bad man- just a hard man. And so he died before killing the leader of the outlaws- and his soul went straight to Hell.

Yet, that wasn't the end. So cold was his heart, so perfect was his hatred, that Hell itself literally froze over in his presence. Even the Devil himself couldn't whip the hatred from him. The doors of Hell were frozen shut and the Devil himself was frightened. It was then that the Angel of Death offered to trade places with the newcomer. He would walk the earth harvesting souls and doing God's bidding- when death and Divine Wrath were called for. To this end the Angel's sword was melted down to make two Walker Colts....

This is just a collection of background stories for Preacher's supporting cast. With this compilation of Preacher special editions, we probe the past of The Saint of Killers, Arseface and the good old boys, the evil Jody and TC. The Saint's story is the only one that actually moves the story along. His story is interesting, but it would have been better (and earned the volume another star) if Dillon had done the artwork. The Arse's story is the most down to Earth read in all the Preacher comics. It is a much edgier after school school special. As you might have already guessed by my screenname, I am a fan of Kurt Cobain's music, and I don't appreciate seeing him put down. But as much as I want to believe that he was murdered, who the hell am I kidding? of course he killed himself, he is a horrible role model. And it was this role model that Arseface was emulating when he tried to kill himself, leaving his face vicously scarred. The final story is that of two major villian from earlier on. Jody and TC, two of the sinister Gran'ma L'angelle's enforcers have their own little mini action movie. It does nothing for the story, nor even provide any insight into the theme of the comic, it is just a show of the series' trademark dark humor. The good old boys battle an international terrorist who's english is so bad that he doesn't know how to swear. It is meant to be stupid and laughable, as it is lampooning the action movie genre, casting two VILLIANS from Jesse Custer's past as the action heroes. If you are reading the Preacher series from beginning to end, this can be skipped over, because it is just a filler.

Probably the biggest problem with most comics is the lack of a good back story to support the main characters. Ennis and Dillon looked to change that, and succeded with flying colors. Not only does this book provide a good backing to many of the characters in the actual comics, but it also is a great standalone, a monument in an industry overburdened by flashy art and flamboyant characters. I reccomend this book to anyone who likes Preacher, and also anyone who likes a good (allbeit dark) story.

It's flashback time. So to make this even happening, let's keep our regular mad writer and bring three different artists to make this story work out. Guess what? They do make it work out!

Garth Ennis takes us back in flashback sequence one four major characters of his Preacher series to make us see, what makes them tick. Saint of Killers, TC and Jody and last but not least the well named, Arseface.

The story of the Saint of Killers is perhaps in this three part trade paperback in the ever popular Preacher series. You never would have guessed that a cold hearted killer was really human. Heck you might never even guess what this guy's true function in this life is really all about, until you read this for yourself. Anything I say can be considered a spoiler. The art works well. I can't see Steve Dillon's work working well here so it was great having Steve Pugh filling in. His art is grittier and darker and makes this character just a teensy weensy meaner than anything you've ever seen.

Arseface comes in next. This guy is just plain old out of this world. You would never even believe he was human before, but it turns out that he really was. This is the most human of the stories depicting the origin of the character and what makes him who he really is rght now. The way Ennis makes him talk and ctually have the translation for you is unbelievably insane.

TC and Jody's story is fun. These guys are whacko. They have always been whacko ever since they were first introduced. So unlike the other stories, this one would be the goriest of them in terms of things done to people that you never thought can be done. TC's fetish for making out with creatures really is turned up a notch here.

Despite the inconsistence of the art, the 4the volume of the Preacher series stands as an important part. The telling of the origin of these characters makes them more accessible to the reader. It was good for Ennis to talk about these characters. Dillon or no Dillon, Ennis continues to fight the good fight.

While I would never suggest that a fan of the series *not* read this volume, I can say with confidence the only reason to read it is for the Saint of Killers origin story.

Ennis and Dillon have created a cast of characters and a chain of events in "Preacher" that all feed one another in their own wonderfully twisted psychotic eco-system. In this series, every thing happens for a reason (even if it's a sick one) and no story is told simply for the hell of it.

Except for two stories in this volume.

All the stories in this volume existed outside the regular run of the monthly "Preacher" series. While the Saint miniseries revealed the origin of our favorite modern-day Angel of Death with all the gunpowder and brimstone you'd hoped for, the Arseface and Jody & T.C. oneshots reprinted here must've been some kind of bizarre contract-fulfillment that Ennis clearly had no interest in writing. I swear on a stack of Bibles that there is no reason to waste your time reading either the Arseface origin story and the Jody & T.C...whatever it is.

In short, an essential volume in the series with some non-essential hangers-on.