Customer Reviews

Preacher Vol. 5: Dixie Fried

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

With this instalment, we return to real-time in the series. The fearsome threesome find themselves deep in the Lousiana bayou; historic N'awlins, to be precise. Jesse hooks up with a witch doctor with a mind to jumpstart his buried consciousness. Lucky for us, things aren't quite so simple. The gang manages to quickly upset the baddies, resulting in the usual decapitations, burnings-to-death, and human shish kabobs we've come to love with Preacher. In the subplot department, Arseface becomes a celebrity and Tulip meets up with an old friend (after having hogtied her poor hopeless beau). The intro story, a stand-alone feature, stars Cassidy and his (mis)adventures in New Orleans. Cassidy comes to learn later in the series that his actions have consequences; not just to him, but to those in his circle, too.

While the plot moves somewhat laboriously at times (the interchange between Tulip and friend really did not need to be that long) this is offset by the fact that there are some big revelations here, and some interesting plot developments. Many critics find this to among the weakest of Ennis' efforts in the Preacher canon. While certainly not up to par with the first two books, it manages to do the job and get you itching to read the next instalment.

Slightly disappointing in this volume was the lack of a Forward; I was getting accustomed to the excellent introductions that prefaced each book and contextualized the series (Ennis' own introduction to Ancient History was especially noteworthy). Dillon continues to surprise here, managing to create iconic images with ease. His deceptively simple style effectively reinforces the stark and brutal violence that underscores this world.

This (the fifth volume of the Preacher series) is a step up from the slow down that occurred after The Grail storyline (a definite high point). Jesse, Tulip, and Cass are all back together and the stories in this volume give the most insight to Cass and start to make him more of a character and not so much a characture.

New readers be warned...Preacher is not the kind of series that you can jump onto at any point...start with Book #1 - GONE TO TEXAS.

For those of you who have been along for the ride let's just say that Dixie Fried gives us more of what we love: dark humor, violence, disturbing ideas, masochism, sex, swearing, and even ArseFace (who makes me sick to my stomach every time).

The story telling is of A-quality and the only minor stumbling points are: weaker villains...who don't portray much menace for our protagonistic three, and a lack of Herr Starr (everyone's favorite whipping boy),

I myself have not yet read Volumes 6-9 but I'm heading in that direction and I guarantee that anyone who starts reading these adventures in GONE TO TEXAS will end up at THE ALAMO.

Humperdido!

After the last chapter of the Preacher series, this one comes back to where Jesse, Tulip and Cass were left off in Chapter 3. Ennis is taking his time bringing back the premise of the characters after their trip to Paris. His style is laid back, down to earth and not as shocking as his previous work.

The story starts off with Cass and Jesse in NYC getting ready to meet Tulip. After a rundown of the things that happened to them previously in Paris, Tulip shows that she's never to be underestimated under any circumstance. For that part, I think that would have been the most memorable thing in the whole book The gang head to New Orleans, when they come upon a hellbent Arseface that wants to kill them all. Good thing he decides otherwise and actually joins the group to become a sensational singer. This goes to show you that not only is Ennis is sick, he is the pure essence of evil when it comes in creating pitiful characters that you just love to make fun of. Another thing that makes this guy pure unadulterated king of BAD (sorry Michael Jackson), is the fact that he creates a love triangle between Tulip, Cass and Jesse. I, for one, want to see what the heck will happen in that department.

Dillon is back. Can't say he's back with a vengeance since his style really is adamant in not changing at all. His work is a sight for sore eyes to tell you the truth, since he was AWOL during the last chapter. He carries the book as usually gracefully.

Not a bad book, but not a good one either. I don't know if it's lack of creative idea or direction, but Ennis and Dillon should pick themselves up pretty quickly if they want to keep their readers interested in their characters. Preacher was original when it first came out. Let's just hope that the characters and story remain that way till the end of the series.

I by no means want to jump on the bandwagon here, if you're reading up on Dixie Fried on this page and wondering whether or not to buy it you're probabley getting pretty discouraged. However, hear me out, no puzzle is complete without all of the pieces, and the same goes for the Preacher volumes. This is essential reading for any fan of the series who is embarking upon the entire literary journey from Gone to Texas to Alamo. Dixie Fried reuintes Jesse with Tulip after he ditched her in Proud Americans, and a revelation from Cass impacts the entire series for the remainder of the story. So hear me out, this is NOT a bad story, it's fine, but not slack jawed bliss like the other volumes. It's essential reading for anyone who isn't too lazy to get the entire story from the prolouge in Alamo. Also take note that there is a exceptional romp that starts the story collected from the Preacher SPECIAL: Cassidy, Blood and Whiskey. This is the best part of the book and the reason I didn't give Dixie Fried a ***. And I'm out.

In all honesty I must firstly say that this isn't exactly the best Preacher TPB of the series. The story takes itself a teensy bit TOO serious here, with TOO much pointless graphic violence, and the bizar humor is also on low-profile for the time being (which is not a good thing here). Cassidy has some good oneliners but that's pretty much it for the humorous bit in this trade. The first two issues in here are about Jesse having to face Tulip again after what he did to her in France (see "Proud Americans" for that). Tulip handles it in her own manner and then wents out to get a drink in the bar, where she gets to hear a disturbing confession from Cassidy. After that she meets an old friend and the rest of these issues is filled with them talking and reflecting on their lives and relationships these last couple of years. In the rest of the issues (#29-33) Jesse thinks of (and tries) a way to try and get in contact with the Genesis entity in his head (an idea he had because of what the angel in the previous volume said). When he goes to meet the person who can possibly help him with this it turns out that Cassidy and this person have a (negative) history together, and if that isn't enough there's also a group of wannabe vampires called 'Les enfants du sang' who know Cassidy from the past and need him to do something for them now (a past that is cleared up in the Preacher Special "Cassidy: Blood & Whiskey" which is also collected in this trade). One of the positive notes that I need to share here is the return of Arseface in this trade. His goal is to avenge his father but he turns out to have another carreer-perspective ahead of him (a hysterically funny one I might add), which DOES really come to the good of the mood in this trade. Also, the included Preacher Special about Cassidy is also good reading. Not that important for the general story, but very nice. In here the humor IS at level.

The story in this TPB seems nothing more than a filler, which wouldn't even need to have been so bad if the humor had been at level. But that, like I said, isn't really the case. Overall pointless violence has the upper hand without the sub-plot adding anything to Jesse's quest. Now I don't wanna make it sound like it's an awful book because it IS pretty nice reading, but for Preacher standards I consider this one of the lesser volumes.

This collection contains Preacher 27-33, and the Cassidy: Blood & Whiskey one shot.

The Blood &. Then it's on to the guts of it - the seven collected issues.

Previously, in the Preacher story arcs, the violence that has occured in and around the main characters has actually been slightly frightening and very much the focus. In this collection the story takes a slightly different tack, with the violence used as a plot device to show us that good ole Cassidy ain't a nice feller aller the time, and Jesse is just a wee bit too trusting.

A great read. Still got more balls than any comic this side of Hellblazer.

I'm finding The Preacher to be wildly uneven. A great start, then it's gone downhill, with just enough perks along the way to keep me interested. Dixie Fried was the worst of the bunch. Aside from the entertaining first story about Cassidy meeting another of his kind, the bulk of it was just boring, contrived and frustrating. Ennis sort of ruins Cassidy in this one, and there's very little action at all. At this point I'm halfway through the series and will likely keep going, but my advice is to skip this one altogether, and find a synopsis online. Definitely not worth the money.

It starts off fine with cassidy at his best behaviour, battling that sonnuvabitch sheriff. After you go past the first vampire episode you realise that sadly this is the paperback that was destined to backfire, there`s something lacking, something not quite right. After a while i get the feeling that this part of the series has been done much on routine and sadly it affects the ominous feeling of pending doom that`s always present. I`ve noticed that the main characters are getting more brutal and ruthless issue by issue, sure what can you expect with Jesses upbringing and Cassidys condition but what about tulip? Her descent into righteous cruelty doesn`t seem logical it`s more like the writer changed her too fast and i don`t like it. The end of the paperback on the other hand was something else, when jesse realises what`s going on and who set it all up, it sends god damn shivers down the spines of any preacherfan. I`m ready for the next issue.

The first three volumnes of this trade paperback collection of the "Preacher" comic series are absolutely fantastic. Full of humor, life, bizarre insights, and wild characters. The fourth volumne collects odds and ends, and then this collection starts the story line limping along again. Limping along is almost generous... while the characters are still bizarre and interesting, and the humor evident, the flame of life that resounded earlier in the series is but a simmering coal. I strongly recommend reading the first three issues of the "Preacher" series, they are absolutely fantastic. Now I hope that this is just a pause or something and the story starts into its intense run again in the sixth book.

Some people have criticized this volume as being a bit sub-par for the series. I haven't read 6-9 yet, and while this isn't quite at the level of the first 3, it is a most welcome return to our main heroes after Vol. 4's focus on origin stories. The main criticism that anyone could have about this collection is the general weakness of the antagonists. And yes, it is true, a bunch of gothic wankers aren't quite as threatening as the Saint of Killers or the Grail, they aren't the focus of these issues. The focus is on Cassidy, or rather, Cassidy's degrading relationship with Tulip. We get a few glimpses into a slightly more turbulent and shady time in Cassidy's past, and start to get the idea that perhaps he isn't the stand-up guy that he seems to be. It is Cassidy that puts them Tulip and Jesse at risk, it is Cassidy that nearly gets them all killed, and it is the Cassidy that may cause the fractioning of this adventuring trio and lead them into even greater danger than before. To me, this volume seems to have laid the groundwork for the rest of the series, and as such, it was very intriguing. And come on, the gothic wankers("Les Enfants du Sang") are pretty darn entertaining. Who doesn't love to laugh at a bunch of pretentious psuedo-intellectuals and faux-artitses!