Customer Reviews

Preacher Vol. 2: Until the End of the World

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Being relatively new to the sordid world of comics, I happened upon this trade PB at a local comic book shop while desperately trying to find a couple of back issues of Strangers in Paradise (which, incidentally, I now own almost every one of.) I picked it up and flipped through it. The artwork was pretty darn good, and I really liked the quality, realistic coloring. Ooh, sacreligious ex-preacher guy, cool chick character, and a vampire too? Seemed almost too good to be true.

I sat down and read the thing all the way through, stopping occasionally to show my friends the delightfully disgusting portraits of "Grandma", and to quote the evil hill-billies. After I was done, my friends insisted I leave the book there so that they might read it as well. Cheez, three fans created by one purchase, so far.

The comic is very well done. The amount of sheer, graphic violence and disturbing subject matter (especially the forced sodomy and beastiality) will make this story difficult for "sensitive" readers. Many parts of this book were hard for me to stomach, and I think they were meant to be funny. This is *not* a comic for anyone under the age of 18, I think - these scenes are enough for an adult to handle.

So, disturbing matter aside, this is a damn fine story. You will find yourself dreaming about the heroic Custer and his love, the very bad-@$$ Tulip, hoping that they make it. I understand that the storyline is currently winding to a close. This is almost a relief to me, as I know that I now have to start collecting the entire series - I won't be stuck in a never-ending cycle of collection! (Like it's not bad enough that I own a collection of bagged-n-boarded comics in the first place. A friend comes over and looks at them, and I wring my hands over the darn things like they are sickly children.)

This book *will* make you re-think your concept of God, Jesus, the Afterlife, and everything in-between. It slips into your psyche like a spirit, and you begin to truly *care* about the characters. It takes a rare kind of artists to create people so complete that they are seem obviously real anytime one opens up a book. From what I have experienced in the comic industry, it's even more difficult to *draw* them, continue an engaging storyline, and make the reader *think*, all at the same time. "Preacher" manages to do all three, and I commend its creators, who breathe life into an idea, and allow us to live it as well. A storyline like this could either flop or succeed . In this case - well, you already know what I think, doncha? : ) Enjoy.

The second installement of the 9 volume Preacher series, Garth Ennis (Hellblazer, Punisher) and Steve Dillon (Punisher, Supreme Power:Nighthawk) has out done themselves again in this book. It's even better than the first vol., Gone to Texas.

This TPB is seperated into two story arcs, the first, "All in the Family" tells us of Jesse Custer's troubled past in Annville and why he left Tulip five years ago, and he also meets some familiar, but unwanted faces. This story arc introduces Jody and T.C., hitmen that work for Jesse Custer's dredded grandmother, who can be summarized as an evil, ugly, old hag. The second story arc is about Cassidy being taken by a powerful organization called Grail, and introduces Herr Starr, Hoover, and Featherspoon. Alot of sex and bizzare moments in this story arc. Anyways, the main plot of the whole series is about Jesse Custer looking for God, literally, that's because according to this book, God left his job and quits, and Jesse isn't just gonna just let God leave, he's gonna give him a peice of his mind. As if that's not enough, this book also say that maybe Jesus faked his death and ressurection, this book is bound to offend a lot of people, especially Catholics and Christians, but then again, I'm a Christian and I feel fine with it, but that's just me. Lots of violence as usual, the jokes are over the top, a lot of sex, and arguably the best adult comic out there today. Garth Ennis, basically an insane but genious Irish writer, is one of the best comic writers out there, and he continues to surprise his faithful readers with his trademark bizzareness and dark humor. He does some of the best work here in "Until the End of the World."

Let's not forget the art by Steve Dillon, Ennis's partner in crime. His work in the tade paperback is superb. Great details, especially in depicting faces and expression, and insane art when drawing the trademark gruesome violence of Ennis and Dillon, he doesn't hold back.

It's unbelievable how great these two gentlemen are, but they've definitely out done themselves this time. But if you can be offended by excessive violence, nudity and sexual themes, profanity, or just plain bizzareness, then don't even think about getting this book. But if you are not, my friends, then you better go get a copy now and be ready to be disturbed and entertained.

With 8 volumes already out, and a 9th obviously on the way,"Until the End of The World" is my personal favorite. Welearn the horrible secrets of Jesse's past, why he left Tulip out of the blue five years ago, we meet Herr Starr and The Grail for the first time, "The Sexual Detectives", and of course Jesus De Sade and his...interesting party. I won't reveal anything else, because you'll be more shocked when you find out on your own!

I first read Preacher while I was doing my military service and immediately got hooked. Although I read the books in a pretty out-of-order fashion, I still followed the plot and found it interesting. Happily in reserve now and money to buy the albums and read them with more thought. Until the end of the World is probably the biggest shocker in the series. First you see Custer's disgusting family and you can only guess how many times I went "Oww gross, what next!?". I also found it pretty interesting that IMO the story in Vol.2 seemed to get a bit lighter in mood as the story progressed. Cassidy and the cat, Starr getting more he bargained for and the strange orgy at the end. I was rolling on the floor laughing as I watched this bizarre story unfold. I'll get my head examined next... Anyway, the story is as solid you can expect from Ennis with plenty of story driven bloodshed and some nice 'slaps on the cheek' in the form of some unexpected headshots. Unfortunately, the Saint of Killers is seen only once in the this book, but expect to catch this menacing figure in the next book doing what he does best ;->

This, the second Preacher collection is vile, depraved, revolting, disgusting and morally dubious. Up to the usual Ennis standards, then. The general plot, for those who don't know, is this: Jesse Custer, a small town Texas Preacher, has his soul bonded with Genesis, a creature born of a demon and an angel, giving him the power to command people to do his bidding. He meets up with his hit-woman ex-girlfriend, Tulip and an Irish (that's IRISH, not AUSTRALIAN) alcoholic vampire called Cassidy. Soon, this trio find themselves on the run from the FBI, the Texas state police, a super-secret conspiracy known as the Grail, an immortal cowboy and a hideously disfigured (yet strangely upbeat) teenager. If you thought that Reservoir Dogs needed a bit more blood and that Pulp Fiction was wholesome family entertainment, then you really need to buy this book, I can't reccommend it enough. Don't be fooled into thinking this is a brainless shoot-em-up suerhero comic,however, - it is a carefully characterised well written story which deserves to be read from start to finish and then over again. In it's time, Preacher has presented moral stories on alcoholism, drug-abuse, child-abuse, love, friendship and what to do when everything you belive in has fallen down around you. BE WARNED, though - this comic don't pull any punches.

A man from Texas confronts the demons of his past in a bloody showdown. Even this seemingly tired plot device is sheer dynamite in the hands of Garth Ennis and this is easily the most emotionally gripping Ennis storyline in his usually irreverent career. I don't mean to suggest some jaring change of pace from the familiar doses of dark hummor associated with Preacher... But even with such mood lightening antics, the darkness of this tale is so pervasive that these clever bits don't provide the familiar relief we are expecting.
This is a good thing. I am all about making the reader/listener/viewer uncomfortable and "Until The End of the World" is a master study of discomfort. This shows the genius of Ennis goes way beyond some routine physically gross torment of protagonist Jesse Custer. Ennis strips Custer of EVERYTHING! His father, his mother, his inbreed hillbilly mutant buddy and his childhood itself are all cast away. But even then Ennis gives us, and Jesse, another black hearted kick in the guts: His woman executed right before his eyes...with a shotgun!!! If your not already up to date on the whole series to this point then stop being lazy and start at the beginning!
This is NOT like some light viewing TV series you can drop in and out of on a whim to see what's up. This is a full scale pop art epic culminating in no less than the ouster of God Almighty himself.
And though nothing on that level of cosmic importance occurs in this particular collection, "Until the end of the World" is still something that can literally put a tear in my eye. The horrors of an abusive childhood put right and put there by Texas justice.

"Untill the end of the World" (which collects #8-17) is in my personal opinion the best volume of the Preacher-series. It is well written, everything that happens does happen for a cause reveiled later (really good to see things fall into place and finding yourself go "Oh, that's right indeed !"), a little more light-hearted than the previous volume (which comes to the good of the story) and filled with bizar humor which makes it easy to keep in touch with everything that happens without getting the feeling you're reading something information-packed (because you DO get a lot to process all at once). Steve Dillons art is also elevated to a higher level and works great for the story (not saying that it didn't before, but now even more so). The action and gore are well illustrated without it taking the attention of the actual story too much. It never gets the upper hand.

The storyline is basically divided in four parts: In the first part (#8-10), that continues from the final issue of the previous volume, we see Jesse and Tulip trying to figure out what to do next when people from Jesse's past suddenly catch up with them. Seeing how their future-perspectives have suddenly changed 180 degrees Jesse decides it's time to tell Tulip about his youth, growing up at Angelville, and about how and why he disappeared all of a sudden out of her life 5 years ago. This is really the best part of the book (if not the best part of the whole series). It's really good to read about the sick and disturbed people Jesse had to grow up with (both for humurous means as for cruelty. You get to see ways of 'raising' a kid you seriously never thought of before), and it's good to know how this tough man wound up being a preacher (the 5 year gap between now and his disappereance is totally cleared up here). The second part (#11,12) is about Jesse and Tulips thoughts returning to the here and now. Jesse gets a preach by a rather uncommon person which tells him to deal with it all, and so he does. Then (#13-16) follows the "Hunters" story-arc. Jesse and Tulip meet back up with Cassidy who's is currently living in the apartment of his deceased girlfriend. When Cassidy gets a hint of which people are to be held responsible for the girls death he, Jesse and Tulip go on their way to avenge her. A story that leads us to the house of Jesus the Sade, a decadent freak, who's good for a nice, humorfilled, but not very important storyline (what bugs me a little though is the sudden display of morals in this storyline while preacher is nothing like that for the rest. Falls a little out of place). What IS important in this storyline is that we first get to meet the underground-group "The Grail" and learn about their quest (which is really big in later volumes). It takes some attention to realize who is who and who is doing what and what for, but in the end it's worth it (AND neccesary to understand to get what's going on later). The book ends (#17) with an issue that is really an intro to the next book. It further explains what the Grail hopes to achieve over time and what Herr Star REALLY wants with it. Cassidy turns out to be a man of more honor than Tulip gave him credit for up till now.

The biggest plus of the book is Ennis' further display of his typical humor which is far more present here than in the previous volume. This makes the book a constant laugh (although the events in it aren't really that humorous) and easy to follow (seeing how A LOT that is of importance later gets laid out here). People who liked "Gone to Texas" will love this book because it's even better

I read Spider-Man, Justice League and other "super-hero" comics. Preacher belongs to a completely category. No subject or situation is safe from writer Garth Ennis. The first story, which reprints the monthly Preacher issues 8-12, is an outstanding example of brutal storytelling. Yes, there are injections of particularly violent scenes every few pages, which could be described as gratuitous, but what makes the story so readable is the characterisation. You really feel hatred towards the filthy, murderous Jody, T.C. and Gran'ma. A masterstroke is the use of a ghostly image of John Wayne, who acts as Jesse Custer's guardian angel. The second story, which reprints issues 13-17, isn't quite as compelling but that's only in comparison to what has come before. Preacher: Until The End Of The World is a graphic novel that I wouldn't recommend to everyone, purely because of the extreme nature of the story contained within; but for the open-minded, it's a real treat.

Preacher is, without a shadow of a doubt, the greatest comic book series ever created (with Sandman, Hellboy,Moore's SwampThing and Hellblazer close behind). While the firts volume is fantastic, this second paperback is arguably the best and is what will show you what all the fuss is about. Once you read the story of Jesse Custer, you will have a newfound respect for comics, and you Will agree with Kevin Smith in his quote: ¨More fun than going to the movies¨.

What can I say about this book that hasn't already been said? It's violent? Yes. Is there a whole lot of cussing? Oh yeah. But is the violence and language really that gratuitous? Well the language is pretty much how people talk, like when the characters are just talking a f-word might slip occasionally but isn't that how normal conversations are? The language gets pretty rough but think of what the characters are going through. I'd be cussing just as much if someone just kidnapped me or just shot a roomful of people. And about the violence being gratuitous? Hell do you know what it looks like when someones head is blown off? Well let me tell you it's much worse in real life than in the book. So yeah it's a violent book but that justs shows how sick some of the characters are. The main characters resort to violence but never cold blooded murder. But beyond the gore and language there lies one of my favorite stories ever. The first story in this book about Jesse's family is my favorite story in the whole series. But the series as a whole is the reason I read graphic novels again. Best book ever, go pick it up.