The Boys

Zombipanda

My Boom-Boom's mostly gay
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So, I could have sworn we had a topic for this book but I can't find it anywhere.

Is anyone else reading this book? As far as I can tell, I'm the only person on the face of the earth who will admit to liking it. When the book first started I was a little skeptical that it was just Garth Ennis gross out factor without the heart, but I quickly came to think otherwise. And after sitting down over the course of a week and catching up on the book, I've got to say, it's one of the better things Ennis has written, and one of the most consistently good books on the stands.

It just suffers the same problem Preacher does. I loved Preacher but found the banal "God is a dick" ending disappointing until someone (I think Dr. Strangefate) raised the point that it's not really about religion at all. It's about the characters. And The Boys suffers the same problem. Ennis' criticism of superhero comics isn't all that strong (despite being HILARIOUS) but that's beside the point. Within the first year of the issue's run, we have pretty much all the chips in place about the ****ed up state of superheroics and from then on we can just accept them as the recurring antagonists and instead focus our attention on the characters, and the leads are actually greatly written. Hughie and Annie is one of the better tragic romances in comics. The Frenchie/Female relationship is also quite touching, and Butcher is rounded out to be a pretty ****ing despicable fiend.

Oh. And Darrick Robertson is great too. It really speaks to the book that, at the few times when replacements come in, the book really suffers for it. I mean, John McCrea does a commendable job for his fill-ins (and he draws a hell of a dog) but the other guy they have filling in for Robertson really doesn't fit the bill.

So... Am I the only one enjoying this?
 
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DSF convinced me to try it again.

And I was the one who was talking about the characters in Preacher!
 
I've been planning to get to it after I finish Hitman, but I was worried that it would be Preacher without the heart.
 
It's not. It's about on the same level as Preacher, though I don't think it will outpreach Preacher. About the same.
 
Heed my words!

Don't get me wrong, it's awesome. But I don't see it outperforming Preacher like Ennis stated before the series started.
 
I dropped it within the first arc after it moved to Dynamite, but ended up coming back to it out of sheer curiousity... It suffers the same problem as everything Ennis: It's obscene to the point of ridiculous, so when you're reading monthly it can be overwhelming... But when you read it in bulk you see the downright brilliant use of characterization at play.

And don't listen to Craig. I am too amazing for you not to think I told you that. Also: I wholeheartedly agree. Ennis is always about character. It's his strongest suit as a writer.
 
This is a ****ing great series.

And just like in Preacher and Punisher MAX, Ennis shows how much of a master he is at creating amazing characters.
 
Anyone else notice this just went up to $3.99? That was pretty stealthily done.
 

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