Darkly funny, 08 Nov 2008
Ennis introduced us to The Boys, in a hail of violence and dark humour. In volume three we learn more about the world which The Boys exist and the political parallels to the Bush administration are more savage than satire. Butcher and his crew keep mixing it up the superheroes and things are coming to a head. By all means buy this book, but get volumes one and two to see how the story builds.

Darkly funny, 08 Nov 2008
Ennis introduced us to The Boys, in a hail of violence and dark humour. In volume three we learn more about the world which The Boys exist and the political parallels to the Bush administration are more savage than satire. Butcher and his crew keep mixing it up the superheroes and things are coming to a head. By all means buy this book, but get volumes one and two to see how the story builds.

Turning comic book canon on its head, 08 Nov 2008
Imagine if someone dared to pen a Hollywood Babylon for superheroes and the people who need to keep them in line? That's the premise of The Boys. Volume one sets the scene introducing to us to our players Wee Hughie - a Scottish slacker with a good heart looking for vengence after his girlfriend is ran over by a superhero. Mike Butcher and his bulldog Terror who leads a shadowy group called The Boys, Mother's Milk - a former US Ranger and conscience of Butcher, Frenchie - someone who you have little background on but pleasingly eccentric and The Female - who doesn't speak, but kills a lot.

Ennis creates characters as rich as his previous Preacher series and I am looking forward to the next volumes

Epic Ennis, 18 Jul 2008
As a fan of Ennis you really can guarantee the quality of not only the story arcs but the graphical nature to which these compendiums pay homage to. Its fun, it's a dark twist on the world to which the characters inhabit and lets face it, if you're fed up with goody two shoes Superhero characters its great to see the fallibility of these paragons of mankind. Ennis does it with spades with his usual dark humour and mind twists his way through the stories. Great fun and to be honest something that I really have to recommend to the older fan of the graphic novel due to the adult nature blended within the story arc. Epic action with an adult twist as Superheroes discover that there's a price for vice and screwing over the little guy.

Boys don't cry!, 19 Mar 2008
The fine art captures the superb action, and as much gritty realism as you can fit in a superhero graphic. A world seen when the rose tinted glasses have been lost. A fantastic idea which has been well crafted, and will leave you drooling for more.

Awesome Stuff, 14 Dec 2007
Garth Ennis at his brilliant best. Guts, Gut laughs and simon pegg. If you liked "the preacher" you will love this. A clever and interesting take on the superhero genre with plenty of deep dark humour. Wholeheartedly reccomended! I cannot wait for the next installment! This reeks of quality!

Garth Ennis is a Genius!, 14 Dec 2007
Once again Garth Ennis demonstrates his brilliance in this unique and hilarious graphic novel. The story follows the exploits of Hugh Campbell who after witnessing his girlfriends demise is enlisted into "The Boys" a CIA funded team trained to deal with super heroes who step out of line. As with most of Garth Ennis's work it is packed full of violence, gore, nudity and plenty of politically incorrect humour which will have you laughing well into the night. Believe me when I say that after reading this you will never be able to look at super heroes in the same way again.

Darkly funny, 08 Nov 2008
Ennis introduced us to The Boys, in a hail of violence and dark humour. In volume three we learn more about the world which The Boys exist and the political parallels to the Bush administration are more savage than satire. Butcher and his crew keep mixing it up the superheroes and things are coming to a head. By all means buy this book, but get volumes one and two to see how the story builds.

Turning comic book canon on its head, 08 Nov 2008
Imagine if someone dared to pen a Hollywood Babylon for superheroes and the people who need to keep them in line? That's the premise of The Boys. Volume one sets the scene introducing to us to our players Wee Hughie - a Scottish slacker with a good heart looking for vengence after his girlfriend is ran over by a superhero. Mike Butcher and his bulldog Terror who leads a shadowy group called The Boys, Mother's Milk - a former US Ranger and conscience of Butcher, Frenchie - someone who you have little background on but pleasingly eccentric and The Female - who doesn't speak, but kills a lot.

Ennis creates characters as rich as his previous Preacher series and I am looking forward to the next volumes

Epic Ennis, 18 Jul 2008
As a fan of Ennis you really can guarantee the quality of not only the story arcs but the graphical nature to which these compendiums pay homage to. Its fun, it's a dark twist on the world to which the characters inhabit and lets face it, if you're fed up with goody two shoes Superhero characters its great to see the fallibility of these paragons of mankind. Ennis does it with spades with his usual dark humour and mind twists his way through the stories. Great fun and to be honest something that I really have to recommend to the older fan of the graphic novel due to the adult nature blended within the story arc. Epic action with an adult twist as Superheroes discover that there's a price for vice and screwing over the little guy.

Boys don't cry!, 19 Mar 2008
The fine art captures the superb action, and as much gritty realism as you can fit in a superhero graphic. A world seen when the rose tinted glasses have been lost. A fantastic idea which has been well crafted, and will leave you drooling for more.

Awesome Stuff, 14 Dec 2007
Garth Ennis at his brilliant best. Guts, Gut laughs and simon pegg. If you liked "the preacher" you will love this. A clever and interesting take on the superhero genre with plenty of deep dark humour. Wholeheartedly reccomended! I cannot wait for the next installment! This reeks of quality!

Garth Ennis is a Genius!, 14 Dec 2007
Once again Garth Ennis demonstrates his brilliance in this unique and hilarious graphic novel. The story follows the exploits of Hugh Campbell who after witnessing his girlfriends demise is enlisted into "The Boys" a CIA funded team trained to deal with super heroes who step out of line. As with most of Garth Ennis's work it is packed full of violence, gore, nudity and plenty of politically incorrect humour which will have you laughing well into the night. Believe me when I say that after reading this you will never be able to look at super heroes in the same way again.

Amazing potential, not quite fulfilled., 26 Sep 2007
No spoilers.

I finished reading this series a short time ago, and after the initial excitement of the early volumes, I was so disappointed at the rest that I've finally decided to get it off my chest in a review.

The story gets off to a cracking start - I'd never seen a graphic novel like this before. The themes are awesome and cosmic. The violence is... violent and quite funny at times. It's shocking. If your jaw doesn't drop open a few times as you read it, you probably have tetanus. It has a few wonderful, memorable moments that you'll never forget.

But for me the whole thing has two major problems.

First - the pervy sex and cuss words,blasphemy, etc... I have no problem with these as such, but it's as if the writer got so excited about being able to do all that x-rated stuff in a comic book, that he just got carried away and *overdid* it. I mean to the point where it becomes a distraction from the story rather than something to carry it forward.

I kept thinking that it was like when a little kid discovers a cuss word, and keeps using it over and over - just because he can. It can be funny at first, but eventually it just gets intensely irritating. After the first few volumes, the Preacher series goes through a stage where it's almost a self-parody, putting the story on 'hold' and taking time out to be as shocking and offensive as possible, just for its own sake.

But my biggest beef with the series was how it all ended. Like I promised, there are no spoilers here - but I felt it just kinda fizzled out in a slightly-rushed, semi-resolved sort of way. Personally, I felt it was a far from satisfying ending, and haven't felt so cheated since I watched the final episode of the TV series 'Alias'.

If you're into graphic novels, you've probably GOT to read this. I don't regret the experience but didn't regard it as a keeper - I promptly sold all my copies, and it's VERY unusual for me to buy a graphic series and not keep it on my shelves.

One of the best comics ever., 02 Apr 2007
This is a superb adult comic.

The characters are great and the humour is black.

I haven't completed the series but I am yet to be dissapointed.

If you are reading this then you are into this kind of thing. Don't delay any longer, dive right in.

One word.......WOW, 01 Apr 2007
Preacher is the most fantastic Graphic Novel I have EVER read. It is like the drug of the comic world- once youv'e had a taste you aint never going back! - you'll have to get all the others in the series no matter what - its that addictive!

Dismiss any thoughts of the title meaning this is gonna be too religious or something. It isn't. It's characters (an Irish Vampire, a gun toting fiesty female, and a cussing, fist fighting Preacher) are strong and very well written. The storyline - smooth, well paced and imaginative. And its amusing (not in a comedic way, but twisted in such an imaginative way you cannot help but turn the page quicker every time in amazment).

I have never heard a bad word said about this novel by anyone who's read it and I would highly, highly recommend it to Everyone!

That fella's got a face like an..., 07 Jan 2006
Recently I decided to check out some new comic titles - by "new" obviously meaning ones I haven't read yet, as Preacher ran from 1995 to 2000. While Preacher is of course a well-known title among comics/graphic novels, it was mostly a shot in the dark. Well, when I turned the light on, there was a big smoking bullet hole right in the bullseye.

I started out skeptical. Take Cassidy: an Irish vampire. It felt pretty thrown together, but before long you're loving the guy for being such a reliable jerk. The craziest things happen in Preacher, but in the end all you can do is laugh your head off and turn the page.

Not that it's all smiles, of course. The sheer amount of flesh-rending gunshot wounds in the entire Preacher series is staggering. And pitting God Almighty as the antagonist is a pretty damn brave thing to do - we may live in a fairly liberal western world, but surely some things people still don't suffer to be taken lightly. Be warned, Jesse Custer is not strictly a moral man, and some may find offense in the comic's easily dispensed violence and unforgiving treatment of 'bad folks' (until they remember that it is, after all, just a comic, that is).

Preacher is a fresh take on the mythology of America, strong plot, surprises for even the most cynical among us, one-liners and panels that make you burst out laughing ("Paulie, you sure you're not just ****ed in the head?"), strong characters (Tulip must be one of the toughest chicks ever seen in comic books), and no compromises. Pick up Gone To Texas and be assured that every issue after it is at least as good as the last.

To buy or not to buy, 22 Jul 2005
Of course you have to buy Praecher but you cant buy just one you have to get them all. thestory is captivating the characters multilayered, each with a past that gets slowly revealed. the writing is quick and witty. the art is imaginative as well.

Darkly funny, 08 Nov 2008
Ennis introduced us to The Boys, in a hail of violence and dark humour. In volume three we learn more about the world which The Boys exist and the political parallels to the Bush administration are more savage than satire. Butcher and his crew keep mixing it up the superheroes and things are coming to a head. By all means buy this book, but get volumes one and two to see how the story builds.

Turning comic book canon on its head, 08 Nov 2008
Imagine if someone dared to pen a Hollywood Babylon for superheroes and the people who need to keep them in line? That's the premise of The Boys. Volume one sets the scene introducing to us to our players Wee Hughie - a Scottish slacker with a good heart looking for vengence after his girlfriend is ran over by a superhero. Mike Butcher and his bulldog Terror who leads a shadowy group called The Boys, Mother's Milk - a former US Ranger and conscience of Butcher, Frenchie - someone who you have little background on but pleasingly eccentric and The Female - who doesn't speak, but kills a lot.

Ennis creates characters as rich as his previous Preacher series and I am looking forward to the next volumes

Epic Ennis, 18 Jul 2008
As a fan of Ennis you really can guarantee the quality of not only the story arcs but the graphical nature to which these compendiums pay homage to. Its fun, it's a dark twist on the world to which the characters inhabit and lets face it, if you're fed up with goody two shoes Superhero characters its great to see the fallibility of these paragons of mankind. Ennis does it with spades with his usual dark humour and mind twists his way through the stories. Great fun and to be honest something that I really have to recommend to the older fan of the graphic novel due to the adult nature blended within the story arc. Epic action with an adult twist as Superheroes discover that there's a price for vice and screwing over the little guy.

Boys don't cry!, 19 Mar 2008
The fine art captures the superb action, and as much gritty realism as you can fit in a superhero graphic. A world seen when the rose tinted glasses have been lost. A fantastic idea which has been well crafted, and will leave you drooling for more.

Awesome Stuff, 14 Dec 2007
Garth Ennis at his brilliant best. Guts, Gut laughs and simon pegg. If you liked "the preacher" you will love this. A clever and interesting take on the superhero genre with plenty of deep dark humour. Wholeheartedly reccomended! I cannot wait for the next installment! This reeks of quality!

Garth Ennis is a Genius!, 14 Dec 2007
Once again Garth Ennis demonstrates his brilliance in this unique and hilarious graphic novel. The story follows the exploits of Hugh Campbell who after witnessing his girlfriends demise is enlisted into "The Boys" a CIA funded team trained to deal with super heroes who step out of line. As with most of Garth Ennis's work it is packed full of violence, gore, nudity and plenty of politically incorrect humour which will have you laughing well into the night. Believe me when I say that after reading this you will never be able to look at super heroes in the same way again.

Amazing potential, not quite fulfilled., 26 Sep 2007
No spoilers.

I finished reading this series a short time ago, and after the initial excitement of the early volumes, I was so disappointed at the rest that I've finally decided to get it off my chest in a review.

The story gets off to a cracking start - I'd never seen a graphic novel like this before. The themes are awesome and cosmic. The violence is... violent and quite funny at times. It's shocking. If your jaw doesn't drop open a few times as you read it, you probably have tetanus. It has a few wonderful, memorable moments that you'll never forget.

But for me the whole thing has two major problems.

First - the pervy sex and cuss words,blasphemy, etc... I have no problem with these as such, but it's as if the writer got so excited about being able to do all that x-rated stuff in a comic book, that he just got carried away and *overdid* it. I mean to the point where it becomes a distraction from the story rather than something to carry it forward.

I kept thinking that it was like when a little kid discovers a cuss word, and keeps using it over and over - just because he can. It can be funny at first, but eventually it just gets intensely irritating. After the first few volumes, the Preacher series goes through a stage where it's almost a self-parody, putting the story on 'hold' and taking time out to be as shocking and offensive as possible, just for its own sake.

But my biggest beef with the series was how it all ended. Like I promised, there are no spoilers here - but I felt it just kinda fizzled out in a slightly-rushed, semi-resolved sort of way. Personally, I felt it was a far from satisfying ending, and haven't felt so cheated since I watched the final episode of the TV series 'Alias'.

If you're into graphic novels, you've probably GOT to read this. I don't regret the experience but didn't regard it as a keeper - I promptly sold all my copies, and it's VERY unusual for me to buy a graphic series and not keep it on my shelves.

One of the best comics ever., 02 Apr 2007
This is a superb adult comic.

The characters are great and the humour is black.

I haven't completed the series but I am yet to be dissapointed.

If you are reading this then you are into this kind of thing. Don't delay any longer, dive right in.

One word.......WOW, 01 Apr 2007
Preacher is the most fantastic Graphic Novel I have EVER read. It is like the drug of the comic world- once youv'e had a taste you aint never going back! - you'll have to get all the others in the series no matter what - its that addictive!

Dismiss any thoughts of the title meaning this is gonna be too religious or something. It isn't. It's characters (an Irish Vampire, a gun toting fiesty female, and a cussing, fist fighting Preacher) are strong and very well written. The storyline - smooth, well paced and imaginative. And its amusing (not in a comedic way, but twisted in such an imaginative way you cannot help but turn the page quicker every time in amazment).

I have never heard a bad word said about this novel by anyone who's read it and I would highly, highly recommend it to Everyone!

That fella's got a face like an..., 07 Jan 2006
Recently I decided to check out some new comic titles - by "new" obviously meaning ones I haven't read yet, as Preacher ran from 1995 to 2000. While Preacher is of course a well-known title among comics/graphic novels, it was mostly a shot in the dark. Well, when I turned the light on, there was a big smoking bullet hole right in the bullseye.

I started out skeptical. Take Cassidy: an Irish vampire. It felt pretty thrown together, but before long you're loving the guy for being such a reliable jerk. The craziest things happen in Preacher, but in the end all you can do is laugh your head off and turn the page.

Not that it's all smiles, of course. The sheer amount of flesh-rending gunshot wounds in the entire Preacher series is staggering. And pitting God Almighty as the antagonist is a pretty damn brave thing to do - we may live in a fairly liberal western world, but surely some things people still don't suffer to be taken lightly. Be warned, Jesse Custer is not strictly a moral man, and some may find offense in the comic's easily dispensed violence and unforgiving treatment of 'bad folks' (until they remember that it is, after all, just a comic, that is).

Preacher is a fresh take on the mythology of America, strong plot, surprises for even the most cynical among us, one-liners and panels that make you burst out laughing ("Paulie, you sure you're not just ****ed in the head?"), strong characters (Tulip must be one of the toughest chicks ever seen in comic books), and no compromises. Pick up Gone To Texas and be assured that every issue after it is at least as good as the last.

To buy or not to buy, 22 Jul 2005
Of course you have to buy Praecher but you cant buy just one you have to get them all. thestory is captivating the characters multilayered, each with a past that gets slowly revealed. the writing is quick and witty. the art is imaginative as well.

Turning comic book canon on its head, 08 Nov 2008
Imagine if someone dared to pen a Hollywood Babylon for superheroes and the people who need to keep them in line? That's the premise of The Boys. Volume one sets the scene introducing to us to our players Wee Hughie - a Scottish slacker with a good heart looking for vengence after his girlfriend is ran over by a superhero. Mike Butcher and his bulldog Terror who leads a shadowy group called The Boys, Mother's Milk - a former US Ranger and conscience of Butcher, Frenchie - someone who you have little background on but pleasingly eccentric and The Female - who doesn't speak, but kills a lot.

Ennis creates characters as rich as his previous Preacher series and I am looking forward to the next volumes

Epic Ennis, 18 Jul 2008
As a fan of Ennis you really can guarantee the quality of not only the story arcs but the graphical nature to which these compendiums pay homage to. Its fun, it's a dark twist on the world to which the characters inhabit and lets face it, if you're fed up with goody two shoes Superhero characters its great to see the fallibility of these paragons of mankind. Ennis does it with spades with his usual dark humour and mind twists his way through the stories. Great fun and to be honest something that I really have to recommend to the older fan of the graphic novel due to the adult nature blended within the story arc. Epic action with an adult twist as Superheroes discover that there's a price for vice and screwing over the little guy.

Boys don't cry!, 19 Mar 2008
The fine art captures the superb action, and as much gritty realism as you can fit in a superhero graphic. A world seen when the rose tinted glasses have been lost. A fantastic idea which has been well crafted, and will leave you drooling for more.

Awesome Stuff, 14 Dec 2007
Garth Ennis at his brilliant best. Guts, Gut laughs and simon pegg. If you liked "the preacher" you will love this. A clever and interesting take on the superhero genre with plenty of deep dark humour. Wholeheartedly reccomended! I cannot wait for the next installment! This reeks of quality!

Garth Ennis is a Genius!, 14 Dec 2007
Once again Garth Ennis demonstrates his brilliance in this unique and hilarious graphic novel. The story follows the exploits of Hugh Campbell who after witnessing his girlfriends demise is enlisted into "The Boys" a CIA funded team trained to deal with super heroes who step out of line. As with most of Garth Ennis's work it is packed full of violence, gore, nudity and plenty of politically incorrect humour which will have you laughing well into the night. Believe me when I say that after reading this you will never be able to look at super heroes in the same way again.

Darkly funny, 08 Nov 2008
Ennis introduced us to The Boys, in a hail of violence and dark humour. In volume three we learn more about the world which The Boys exist and the political parallels to the Bush administration are more savage than satire. Butcher and his crew keep mixing it up the superheroes and things are coming to a head. By all means buy this book, but get volumes one and two to see how the story builds.

Turning comic book canon on its head, 08 Nov 2008
Imagine if someone dared to pen a Hollywood Babylon for superheroes and the people who need to keep them in line? That's the premise of The Boys. Volume one sets the scene introducing to us to our players Wee Hughie - a Scottish slacker with a good heart looking for vengence after his girlfriend is ran over by a superhero. Mike Butcher and his bulldog Terror who leads a shadowy group called The Boys, Mother's Milk - a former US Ranger and conscience of Butcher, Frenchie - someone who you have little background on but pleasingly eccentric and The Female - who doesn't speak, but kills a lot.

Ennis creates characters as rich as his previous Preacher series and I am looking forward to the next volumes

Epic Ennis, 18 Jul 2008
As a fan of Ennis you really can guarantee the quality of not only the story arcs but the graphical nature to which these compendiums pay homage to. Its fun, it's a dark twist on the world to which the characters inhabit and lets face it, if you're fed up with goody two shoes Superhero characters its great to see the fallibility of these paragons of mankind. Ennis does it with spades with his usual dark humour and mind twists his way through the stories. Great fun and to be honest something that I really have to recommend to the older fan of the graphic novel due to the adult nature blended within the story arc. Epic action with an adult twist as Superheroes discover that there's a price for vice and screwing over the little guy.

Boys don't cry!, 19 Mar 2008
The fine art captures the superb action, and as much gritty realism as you can fit in a superhero graphic. A world seen when the rose tinted glasses have been lost. A fantastic idea which has been well crafted, and will leave you drooling for more.

Awesome Stuff, 14 Dec 2007
Garth Ennis at his brilliant best. Guts, Gut laughs and simon pegg. If you liked "the preacher" you will love this. A clever and interesting take on the superhero genre with plenty of deep dark humour. Wholeheartedly reccomended! I cannot wait for the next installment! This reeks of quality!

Garth Ennis is a Genius!, 14 Dec 2007
Once again Garth Ennis demonstrates his brilliance in this unique and hilarious graphic novel. The story follows the exploits of Hugh Campbell who after witnessing his girlfriends demise is enlisted into "The Boys" a CIA funded team trained to deal with super heroes who step out of line. As with most of Garth Ennis's work it is packed full of violence, gore, nudity and plenty of politically incorrect humour which will have you laughing well into the night. Believe me when I say that after reading this you will never be able to look at super heroes in the same way again.

Amazing potential, not quite fulfilled., 26 Sep 2007
No spoilers.

I finished reading this series a short time ago, and after the initial excitement of the early volumes, I was so disappointed at the rest that I've finally decided to get it off my chest in a review.

The story gets off to a cracking start - I'd never seen a graphic novel like this before. The themes are awesome and cosmic. The violence is... violent and quite funny at times. It's shocking. If your jaw doesn't drop open a few times as you read it, you probably have tetanus. It has a few wonderful, memorable moments that you'll never forget.

But for me the whole thing has two major problems.

First - the pervy sex and cuss words,blasphemy, etc... I have no problem with these as such, but it's as if the writer got so excited about being able to do all that x-rated stuff in a comic book, that he just got carried away and *overdid* it. I mean to the point where it becomes a distraction from the story rather than something to carry it forward.

I kept thinking that it was like when a little kid discovers a cuss word, and keeps using it over and over - just because he can. It can be funny at first, but eventually it just gets intensely irritating. After the first few volumes, the Preacher series goes through a stage where it's almost a self-parody, putting the story on 'hold' and taking time out to be as shocking and offensive as possible, just for its own sake.

But my biggest beef with the series was how it all ended. Like I promised, there are no spoilers here - but I felt it just kinda fizzled out in a slightly-rushed, semi-resolved sort of way. Personally, I felt it was a far from satisfying ending, and haven't felt so cheated since I watched the final episode of the TV series 'Alias'.

If you're into graphic novels, you've probably GOT to read this. I don't regret the experience but didn't regard it as a keeper - I promptly sold all my copies, and it's VERY unusual for me to buy a graphic series and not keep it on my shelves.

One of the best comics ever., 02 Apr 2007
This is a superb adult comic.

The characters are great and the humour is black.

I haven't completed the series but I am yet to be dissapointed.

If you are reading this then you are into this kind of thing. Don't delay any longer, dive right in.

One word.......WOW, 01 Apr 2007
Preacher is the most fantastic Graphic Novel I have EVER read. It is like the drug of the comic world- once youv'e had a taste you aint never going back! - you'll have to get all the others in the series no matter what - its that addictive!

Dismiss any thoughts of the title meaning this is gonna be too religious or something. It isn't. It's characters (an Irish Vampire, a gun toting fiesty female, and a cussing, fist fighting Preacher) are strong and very well written. The storyline - smooth, well paced and imaginative. And its amusing (not in a comedic way, but twisted in such an imaginative way you cannot help but turn the page quicker every time in amazment).

I have never heard a bad word said about this novel by anyone who's read it and I would highly, highly recommend it to Everyone!

That fella's got a face like an..., 07 Jan 2006
Recently I decided to check out some new comic titles - by "new" obviously meaning ones I haven't read yet, as Preacher ran from 1995 to 2000. While Preacher is of course a well-known title among comics/graphic novels, it was mostly a shot in the dark. Well, when I turned the light on, there was a big smoking bullet hole right in the bullseye.

I started out skeptical. Take Cassidy: an Irish vampire. It felt pretty thrown together, but before long you're loving the guy for being such a reliable jerk. The craziest things happen in Preacher, but in the end all you can do is laugh your head off and turn the page.

Not that it's all smiles, of course. The sheer amount of flesh-rending gunshot wounds in the entire Preacher series is staggering. And pitting God Almighty as the antagonist is a pretty damn brave thing to do - we may live in a fairly liberal western world, but surely some things people still don't suffer to be taken lightly. Be warned, Jesse Custer is not strictly a moral man, and some may find offense in the comic's easily dispensed violence and unforgiving treatment of 'bad folks' (until they remember that it is, after all, just a comic, that is).

Preacher is a fresh take on the mythology of America, strong plot, surprises for even the most cynical among us, one-liners and panels that make you burst out laughing ("Paulie, you sure you're not just ****ed in the head?"), strong characters (Tulip must be one of the toughest chicks ever seen in comic books), and no compromises. Pick up Gone To Texas and be assured that every issue after it is at least as good as the last.

To buy or not to buy, 22 Jul 2005
Of course you have to buy Praecher but you cant buy just one you have to get them all. thestory is captivating the characters multilayered, each with a past that gets slowly revealed. the writing is quick and witty. the art is imaginative as well.

Turning comic book canon on its head, 08 Nov 2008
Imagine if someone dared to pen a Hollywood Babylon for superheroes and the people who need to keep them in line? That's the premise of The Boys. Volume one sets the scene introducing to us to our players Wee Hughie - a Scottish slacker with a good heart looking for vengence after his girlfriend is ran over by a superhero. Mike Butcher and his bulldog Terror who leads a shadowy group called The Boys, Mother's Milk - a former US Ranger and conscience of Butcher, Frenchie - someone who you have little background on but pleasingly eccentric and The Female - who doesn't speak, but kills a lot.

Ennis creates characters as rich as his previous Preacher series and I am looking forward to the next volumes

Epic Ennis, 18 Jul 2008
As a fan of Ennis you really can guarantee the quality of not only the story arcs but the graphical nature to which these compendiums pay homage to. Its fun, it's a dark twist on the world to which the characters inhabit and lets face it, if you're fed up with goody two shoes Superhero characters its great to see the fallibility of these paragons of mankind. Ennis does it with spades with his usual dark humour and mind twists his way through the stories. Great fun and to be honest something that I really have to recommend to the older fan of the graphic novel due to the adult nature blended within the story arc. Epic action with an adult twist as Superheroes discover that there's a price for vice and screwing over the little guy.

Boys don't cry!, 19 Mar 2008
The fine art captures the superb action, and as much gritty realism as you can fit in a superhero graphic. A world seen when the rose tinted glasses have been lost. A fantastic idea which has been well crafted, and will leave you drooling for more.

Awesome Stuff, 14 Dec 2007
Garth Ennis at his brilliant best. Guts, Gut laughs and simon pegg. If you liked "the preacher" you will love this. A clever and interesting take on the superhero genre with plenty of deep dark humour. Wholeheartedly reccomended! I cannot wait for the next installment! This reeks of quality!

Garth Ennis is a Genius!, 14 Dec 2007
Once again Garth Ennis demonstrates his brilliance in this unique and hilarious graphic novel. The story follows the exploits of Hugh Campbell who after witnessing his girlfriends demise is enlisted into "The Boys" a CIA funded team trained to deal with super heroes who step out of line. As with most of Garth Ennis's work it is packed full of violence, gore, nudity and plenty of politically incorrect humour which will have you laughing well into the night. Believe me when I say that after reading this you will never be able to look at super heroes in the same way again.

Preacher the man, 01 Jul 2004
I believe this is one of the best graphic novels about in this day and age. The story of Jesse and his amazing abilty for a cross between good and evil outstands me. I do believe the writers and artists deserve a pat on the back and a drop of the old bourbon. The charcters are well detailed and very well put forward.

I first started to read the novels out of my public library and always eargly awaited the next one to pop up. When it did i thought i was in heaven so to speak

I hope this will continue as well as the marvel comics did and if you like your graphic novels hot and gory this is the one for you. BUT, you have to read from the beginning to truly understand Jesse's well being and how he came about.

As my old mate Jesse Custer would say.

"Until the end of the world"

Clearification of the Grail, 09 Jul 2001
This book (volume 3, which collects #18-26) picks up the tale right where the last issue in "Untill the end of the World" left us, with Jesse going on his way to rescue Cassidy from the Grail. Before the actual rescue operation begins we first get a little intermission-window-tale (#18) where Jesse meets a man at the airport who tells him a story about the time when he used to know Jesse's father in Vietnam. Not really an important factor for the rest of the story, but plenty entertaining. After that (#19-24) the search for Cassidy is on and you get to read a tale that makes the intentions of both the Grail as Starr a lot clearer (which was indeed a little neccesary). Starr however is expecting Jesse and waiting to ambush him, and the Saint of Killers is also on his trail again. Starr himself isn't having an easy time either since the allfather of the Grail comes checking up on him, a sign he thinks that they suspect something about his little scheme. With that we get to meet "the greatest treasure of the Grail" (who isn't exactly how you expect him to, to say the least) and Jesse meets a creature who learns him more about the Genesis entity. This is really a very good part of the story and, I dare say, the most important part of the TPB for those who are following the main story. Off course it's also filled with humorous little sub-plots you would never have thought of yourself in a million years, like we're growing used to from Ennis it seems. Finally the last part of the book (#25,26) handles the origin of Cassidy. It shows how and when exactly Cassidy became what he is now, how he learned to live with it, and how come he's in America now (being an Irish bloke). This little part falls a bit out of line in the Preacher saga sometimes (makes you think of Heartland, for those who've read it) when Garth makes clear how he feels about Ireland.

Like I said, a lot more about the Grail and their goals becomes clear now which really comes to the good of the series. It gets really clear what each player is in it for and what they hope to achieve. The bizar humor stays at the good level it's been for a while now, keeping the series a laugh-riot along the way of the great story. Dillons art is as good as before, clear and expressive without taking the attention of the story too much. A worthy successor after "Gone to Texas" and "Untill the end of the World"

Ouch., 11 Mar 2001
Preacher - It rocks all the remaining taboos in our society. This book is sick, and should be banned immediately. The very notion of the Grail, lead by the grotesque AllFarther D'Aronique, inbreeding the descendants of Christ for two millenia, and the horrendous depiction of the new messiah are heresy and blasphemy of the highest order. If ever there was a good argument for the burning of books, this piece of depraved filth is it. I loved every page of it. Comics don't get any better than Preacher, and Preacher don't get any better than this. More Please - 5 stars isn't enough. All that and I didn't mention Frankie the Eunoch - it's characters like him that Ennis does best. Pure genius from cover to cover.

Houmoruos and exciting. Love, death and a lot of violence!, 31 Mar 2000
This book starts with a story from Vietnam. It is about Jesse Custer`s father and this story gets really nasty, like in the other "Preacher" books. Then Jesse gets a picture of his father by a former friend of his.

We then get to meet the Allfather,who is an enourmous bloke who leads a christian sect! Here, we also meet Herr Starr, who we can learn much more about in later Preacher stories.

The best part of the story is when the Saint of Killers comes into it. He sure lives up to his name! In this issue he also meets Jesse Custer.

At the end Cassidy tells the tale of how he became a vampire. Cassidy is my personal favourite charachter and I loved this story.

What do I think about this comic book? I was brought up by Christian parents, and I want my children to have another kind of life experience then I had as a child. Actually, if I get children I will teach them to despise the Christian morality. I will teach them to like things like sex, death and rock`n roll. To put another way, I will teach them to read "Preacher"!

Darkly funny, 08 Nov 2008
Ennis introduced us to The Boys, in a hail of violence and dark humour. In volume three we learn more about the world which The Boys exist and the political parallels to the Bush administration are more savage than satire. Butcher and his crew keep mixing it up the superheroes and things are coming to a head. By all means buy this book, but get volumes one and two to see how the story builds.

Turning comic book canon on its head, 08 Nov 2008
Imagine if someone dared to pen a Hollywood Babylon for superheroes and the people who need to keep them in line? That's the premise of The Boys. Volume one sets the scene introducing to us to our players Wee Hughie - a Scottish slacker with a good heart looking for vengence after his girlfriend is ran over by a superhero. Mike Butcher and his bulldog Terror who leads a shadowy group called The Boys, Mother's Milk - a former US Ranger and conscience of Butcher, Frenchie - someone who you have little background on but pleasingly eccentric and The Female - who doesn't speak, but kills a lot.

Ennis creates characters as rich as his previous Preacher series and I am looking forward to the next volumes

Epic Ennis, 18 Jul 2008
As a fan of Ennis you really can guarantee the quality of not only the story arcs but the graphical nature to which these compendiums pay homage to. Its fun, it's a dark twist on the world to which the characters inhabit and lets face it, if you're fed up with goody two shoes Superhero characters its great to see the fallibility of these paragons of mankind. Ennis does it with spades with his usual dark humour and mind twists his way through the stories. Great fun and to be honest something that I really have to recommend to the older fan of the graphic novel due to the adult nature blended within the story arc. Epic action with an adult twist as Superheroes discover that there's a price for vice and screwing over the little guy.

Boys don't cry!, 19 Mar 2008
The fine art captures the superb action, and as much gritty realism as you can fit in a superhero graphic. A world seen when the rose tinted glasses have been lost. A fantastic idea which has been well crafted, and will leave you drooling for more.

Awesome Stuff, 14 Dec 2007
Garth Ennis at his brilliant best. Guts, Gut laughs and simon pegg. If you liked "the preacher" you will love this. A clever and interesting take on the superhero genre with plenty of deep dark humour. Wholeheartedly reccomended! I cannot wait for the next installment! This reeks of quality!

Garth Ennis is a Genius!, 14 Dec 2007
Once again Garth Ennis demonstrates his brilliance in this unique and hilarious graphic novel. The story follows the exploits of Hugh Campbell who after witnessing his girlfriends demise is enlisted into "The Boys" a CIA funded team trained to deal with super heroes who step out of line. As with most of Garth Ennis's work it is packed full of violence, gore, nudity and plenty of politically incorrect humour which will have you laughing well into the night. Believe me when I say that after reading this you will never be able to look at super heroes in the same way again.

Amazing potential, not quite fulfilled., 26 Sep 2007
No spoilers.

I finished reading this series a short time ago, and after the initial excitement of the early volumes, I was so disappointed at the rest that I've finally decided to get it off my chest in a review.

The story gets off to a cracking start - I'd never seen a graphic novel like this before. The themes are awesome and cosmic. The violence is... violent and quite funny at times. It's shocking. If your jaw doesn't drop open a few times as you read it, you probably have tetanus. It has a few wonderful, memorable moments that you'll never forget.

But for me the whole thing has two major problems.

First - the pervy sex and cuss words,blasphemy, etc... I have no problem with these as such, but it's as if the writer got so excited about being able to do all that x-rated stuff in a comic book, that he just got carried away and *overdid* it. I mean to the point where it becomes a distraction from the story rather than something to carry it forward.

I kept thinking that it was like when a little kid discovers a cuss word, and keeps using it over and over - just because he can. It can be funny at first, but eventually it just gets intensely irritating. After the first few volumes, the Preacher series goes through a stage where it's almost a self-parody, putting the story on 'hold' and taking time out to be as shocking and offensive as possible, just for its own sake.

But my biggest beef with the series was how it all ended. Like I promised, there are no spoilers here - but I felt it just kinda fizzled out in a slightly-rushed, semi-resolved sort of way. Personally, I felt it was a far from satisfying ending, and haven't felt so cheated since I watched the final episode of the TV series 'Alias'.

If you're into graphic novels, you've probably GOT to read this. I don't regret the experience but didn't regard it as a keeper - I promptly sold all my copies, and it's VERY unusual for me to buy a graphic series and not keep it on my shelves.

One of the best comics ever., 02 Apr 2007
This is a superb adult comic.

The characters are great and the humour is black.

I haven't completed the series but I am yet to be dissapointed.

If you are reading this then you are into this kind of thing. Don't delay any longer, dive right in.

One word.......WOW, 01 Apr 2007
Preacher is the most fantastic Graphic Novel I have EVER read. It is like the drug of the comic world- once youv'e had a taste you aint never going back! - you'll have to get all the others in the series no matter what - its that addictive!

Dismiss any thoughts of the title meaning this is gonna be too religious or something. It isn't. It's characters (an Irish Vampire, a gun toting fiesty female, and a cussing, fist fighting Preacher) are strong and very well written. The storyline - smooth, well paced and imaginative. And its amusing (not in a comedic way, but twisted in such an imaginative way you cannot help but turn the page quicker every time in amazment).

I have never heard a bad word said about this novel by anyone who's read it and I would highly, highly recommend it to Everyone!

That fella's got a face like an..., 07 Jan 2006
Recently I decided to check out some new comic titles - by "new" obviously meaning ones I haven't read yet, as Preacher ran from 1995 to 2000. While Preacher is of course a well-known title among comics/graphic novels, it was mostly a shot in the dark. Well, when I turned the light on, there was a big smoking bullet hole right in the bullseye.

I started out skeptical. Take Cassidy: an Irish vampire. It felt pretty thrown together, but before long you're loving the guy for being such a reliable jerk. The craziest things happen in Preacher, but in the end all you can do is laugh your head off and turn the page.

Not that it's all smiles, of course. The sheer amount of flesh-rending gunshot wounds in the entire Preacher series is staggering. And pitting God Almighty as the antagonist is a pretty damn brave thing to do - we may live in a fairly liberal western world, but surely some things people still don't suffer to be taken lightly. Be warned, Jesse Custer is not strictly a moral man, and some may find offense in the comic's easily dispensed violence and unforgiving treatment of 'bad folks' (until they remember that it is, after all, just a comic, that is).

Preacher is a fresh take on the mythology of America, strong plot, surprises for even the most cynical among us, one-liners and panels that make you burst out laughing ("Paulie, you sure you're not just ****ed in the head?"), strong characters (Tulip must be one of the toughest chicks ever seen in comic books), and no compromises. Pick up Gone To Texas and be assured that every issue after it is at least as good as the last.

To buy or not to buy, 22 Jul 2005
Of course you have to buy Praecher but you cant buy just one you have to get them all. thestory is captivating the characters multilayered, each with a past that gets slowly revealed. the writing is quick and witty. the art is imaginative as well.

Turning comic book canon on its head, 08 Nov 2008
Imagine if someone dared to pen a Hollywood Babylon for superheroes and the people who need to keep them in line? That's the premise of The Boys. Volume one sets the scene introducing to us to our players Wee Hughie - a Scottish slacker with a good heart looking for vengence after his girlfriend is ran over by a superhero. Mike Butcher and his bulldog Terror who leads a shadowy group called The Boys, Mother's Milk - a former US Ranger and conscience of Butcher, Frenchie - someone who you have little background on but pleasingly eccentric and The Female - who doesn't speak, but kills a lot.

Ennis creates characters as rich as his previous Preacher series and I am looking forward to the next volumes

Epic Ennis, 18 Jul 2008
As a fan of Ennis you really can guarantee the quality of not only the story arcs but the graphical nature to which these compendiums pay homage to. Its fun, it's a dark twist on the world to which the characters inhabit and lets face it, if you're fed up with goody two shoes Superhero characters its great to see the fallibility of these paragons of mankind. Ennis does it with spades with his usual dark humour and mind twists his way through the stories. Great fun and to be honest something that I really have to recommend to the older fan of the graphic novel due to the adult nature blended within the story arc. Epic action with an adult twist as Superheroes discover that there's a price for vice and screwing over the little guy.

Boys don't cry!, 19 Mar 2008
The fine art captures the superb action, and as much gritty realism as you can fit in a superhero graphic. A world seen when the rose tinted glasses have been lost. A fantastic idea which has been well crafted, and will leave you drooling for more.

Awesome Stuff, 14 Dec 2007
Garth Ennis at his brilliant best. Guts, Gut laughs and simon pegg. If you liked "the preacher" you will love this. A clever and interesting take on the superhero genre with plenty of deep dark humour. Wholeheartedly reccomended! I cannot wait for the next installment! This reeks of quality!

Garth Ennis is a Genius!, 14 Dec 2007
Once again Garth Ennis demonstrates his brilliance in this unique and hilarious graphic novel. The story follows the exploits of Hugh Campbell who after witnessing his girlfriends demise is enlisted into "The Boys" a CIA funded team trained to deal with super heroes who step out of line. As with most of Garth Ennis's work it is packed full of violence, gore, nudity and plenty of politically incorrect humour which will have you laughing well into the night. Believe me when I say that after reading this you will never be able to look at super heroes in the same way again.

Preacher the man, 01 Jul 2004
I believe this is one of the best graphic novels about in this day and age. The story of Jesse and his amazing abilty for a cross between good and evil outstands me. I do believe the writers and artists deserve a pat on the back and a drop of the old bourbon. The charcters are well detailed and very well put forward.

I first started to read the novels out of my public library and always eargly awaited the next one to pop up. When it did i thought i was in heaven so to speak

I hope this will continue as well as the marvel comics did and if you like your graphic novels hot and gory this is the one for you. BUT, you have to read from the beginning to truly understand Jesse's well being and how he came about.

As my old mate Jesse Custer would say.

"Until the end of the world"

Clearification of the Grail, 09 Jul 2001
This book (volume 3, which collects #18-26) picks up the tale right where the last issue in "Untill the end of the World" left us, with Jesse going on his way to rescue Cassidy from the Grail. Before the actual rescue operation begins we first get a little intermission-window-tale (#18) where Jesse meets a man at the airport who tells him a story about the time when he used to know Jesse's father in Vietnam. Not really an important factor for the rest of the story, but plenty entertaining. After that (#19-24) the search for Cassidy is on and you get to read a tale that makes the intentions of both the Grail as Starr a lot clearer (which was indeed a little neccesary). Starr however is expecting Jesse and waiting to ambush him, and the Saint of Killers is also on his trail again. Starr himself isn't having an easy time either since the allfather of the Grail comes checking up on him, a sign he thinks that they suspect something about his little scheme. With that we get to meet "the greatest treasure of the Grail" (who isn't exactly how you expect him to, to say the least) and Jesse meets a creature who learns him more about the Genesis entity. This is really a very good part of the story and, I dare say, the most important part of the TPB for those who are following the main story. Off course it's also filled with humorous little sub-plots you would never have thought of yourself in a million years, like we're growing used to from Ennis it seems. Finally the last part of the book (#25,26) handles the origin of Cassidy. It shows how and when exactly Cassidy became what he is now, how he learned to live with it, and how come he's in America now (being an Irish bloke). This little part falls a bit out of line in the Preacher saga sometimes (makes you think of Heartland, for those who've read it) when Garth makes clear how he feels about Ireland.

Like I said, a lot more about the Grail and their goals becomes clear now which really comes to the good of the series. It gets really clear what each player is in it for and what they hope to achieve. The bizar humor stays at the good level it's been for a while now, keeping the series a laugh-riot along the way of the great story. Dillons art is as good as before, clear and expressive without taking the attention of the story too much. A worthy successor after "Gone to Texas" and "Untill the end of the World"

Ouch., 11 Mar 2001
Preacher - It rocks all the remaining taboos in our society. This book is sick, and should be banned immediately. The very notion of the Grail, lead by the grotesque AllFarther D'Aronique, inbreeding the descendants of Christ for two millenia, and the horrendous depiction of the new messiah are heresy and blasphemy of the highest order. If ever there was a good argument for the burning of books, this piece of depraved filth is it. I loved every page of it. Comics don't get any better than Preacher, and Preacher don't get any better than this. More Please - 5 stars isn't enough. All that and I didn't mention Frankie the Eunoch - it's characters like him that Ennis does best. Pure genius from cover to cover.

Houmoruos and exciting. Love, death and a lot of violence!, 31 Mar 2000
This book starts with a story from Vietnam. It is about Jesse Custer`s father and this story gets really nasty, like in the other "Preacher" books. Then Jesse gets a picture of his father by a former friend of his.

We then get to meet the Allfather,who is an enourmous bloke who leads a christian sect! Here, we also meet Herr Starr, who we can learn much more about in later Preacher stories.

The best part of the story is when the Saint of Killers comes into it. He sure lives up to his name! In this issue he also meets Jesse Custer.

At the end Cassidy tells the tale of how he became a vampire. Cassidy is my personal favourite charachter and I loved this story.

What do I think about this comic book? I was brought up by Christian parents, and I want my children to have another kind of life experience then I had as a child. Actually, if I get children I will teach them to despise the Christian morality. I will teach them to like things like sex, death and rock`n roll. To put another way, I will teach them to read "Preacher"!

Mythology, 23 Jul 2007
Garth Ennis forewards this issue. He speaks of growing up with John Wayne and Clint Eastwood and of a long desire to add his own hero to the Western canon. In Saint of Killers he may just have managed to add a gunslinger who can stand toe to toe with them all. The first page of the elderly pizza owner recounting the tail - having grown apart from his hot shot lawyer son floored me.
The other two character preludes were entertaining, but it's the saint, barrel still smoking that walked away with me after the last page.

Excellent, 28 Feb 2007
I was surprised by how much I liked this seeing as it is a detour for Preacher. It was fun to see something different from the main story arc, and it was great to actually enjoy the adventures of three of the most unsympathetic characters in the series so far; the Saint, Jody and T.C.

Needless to say, if you've never read Preacher, do. It doesn't matter if you are a fan of comics or not, it is hard to think of anything more imaginative or entertaining than this series. Gory and funny in equal measures, Preacher: Ancient History is a prime example of this classic and acclaimed series. Give it a shot - this book is as good an introduction to the series as any. And if you like this, wait until you get to the main story!!

And now for something somewhat different, 22 Feb 2007
Honestly, this book is far more interesting than many of the others in the series, considering it is generally thought of as "filler". It begins with a truly gritty tale of The Old West, one that I feel is better realised than any Western you'll see.

The Saint Of Killers is absolutely one of the most striking points in the Preacher series, and this dips deep into his story. From being a soldier, a husband and a father, this book follows his journey to taking The Angel Of Death's position as Saint Of Killers.

Although the first story is the most enjoyable, the second and third are excellent as well. We see the strangely touching story of 'Arse Face', and a brilliantly violent little adventure starring T.C. and Jodie, who are played as anti-heroes rather than The Bad Guys. Which is fun!

Also interesting about this book, Steve Dillon had nothing to do with it, so you get to enjoy Ennis's wonderful world of Preacher as seen through the eyes of a few different artists, each really amazing in their own right.

Of course, if you're looking at these reviews, and you've bought the previous instalments, you'll get this anyway. But, just in case you were having any doubts: BUY THIS BOOK NOW.

A good starting point, 20 Feb 2007
This, the fourth volume in the Preacher series, gives us three backstories about some of the background characters - the Saint of Killers, Arseface and Jesse's redneck relatives Jody and T.C. - altogether more enjoyable than any of the previous volumes, I thought, and in fact I would recommend readers wanting to get to know the series to start with this volume rather than any of the earlier three.

Time to get a little sidetracked, 12 May 2004
I don't know about anyone else, but I found volume 4 of the PREACHER library to be a nice change of pace, and an enjoyable little sidetrack away from the main storyline. It was interesting checking out the back story of some of the series' most notable supporting cast members. I also enjoyed seeing other artists' (aside from Steve Dillon) renditions of these characters. If you're looking for a few amazing PREACHER tales that are off the beaten path, then 'Ancient History' won't disappoint!

If you thought the Saint of Killers was an unpleasant character in PREACHER's main storyline, wait'll you see his origin story! A man so full of hate that he literally does the impossible: freezes hell over! Oh yeah, then there's the part where he offs the devil before he really gets his killing spree goin', which gives you an idea of how much of a bad mofo he really is. Speaking of the devil(!), this particular story arc reveals the name he prefers to go by. And it's NOT Satan, Scratch, Be'elzebub, or Lucifer!

The second part depicts how PREACHER's beloved horribly disfigured teenager with a heart of gold, Arse-Face, came to be. I'll not go into too many details about it; let's just say his decision to drastically alter his facial features was a misguided attempt to emulate a particular grunge artist's suicide. 90s American teenage angst, substance use, and physical & mental abuse abound in this ish.

'The Good Ol' Boys' features quite a few moments of gratuitous, gory violence in the over-the-top vein of Paul Verhoeven action flicks. There's also a few great scenes featuring that Ennis-trademark you're-not-supposed-to-laugh-at-that-style humor, highlighted by one hillbilly's disgustingly hilarious fond memories of- um, romance- with various inanimate objects and members of other species. Throw in a gorilla getting bludgeoned to death with a baseball bat, and a swamp chase featuring a middle-eastern cartel boss whose attempts at using various English-language curses are both pitiful and gut-bustingly funny, and-well, you'll hafta see it to believe it...

'Late

Darkly funny, 08 Nov 2008
Ennis introduced us to The Boys, in a hail of violence and dark humour. In volume three we learn more about the world which The Boys exist and the political parallels to the Bush administration are more savage than satire. Butcher and his crew keep mixing it up the superheroes and things are coming to a head. By all means buy this book, but get volumes one and two to see how the story builds.

Turning comic book canon on its head, 08 Nov 2008
Imagine if someone dared to pen a Hollywood Babylon for superheroes and the people who need to keep them in line? That's the premise of The Boys. Volume one sets the scene introducing to us to our players Wee Hughie - a Scottish slacker with a good heart looking for vengence after his girlfriend is ran over by a superhero. Mike Butcher and his bulldog Terror who leads a shadowy group called The Boys, Mother's Milk - a former US Ranger and conscience of Butcher, Frenchie - someone who you have little background on but pleasingly eccentric and The Female - who doesn't speak, but kills a lot.

Ennis creates characters as rich as his previous Preacher series and I am looking forward to the next volumes

Epic Ennis, 18 Jul 2008
As a fan of Ennis you really can guarantee the quality of not only the story arcs but the graphical nature to which these compendiums pay homage to. Its fun, it's a dark twist on the world to which the characters inhabit and lets face it, if you're fed up with goody two shoes Superhero characters its great to see the fallibility of these paragons of mankind. Ennis does it with spades with his usual dark humour and mind twists his way through the stories. Great fun and to be honest something that I really have to recommend to the older fan of the graphic novel due to the adult nature blended within the story arc. Epic action with an adult twist as Superheroes discover that there's a price for vice and screwing over the little guy.

Boys don't cry!, 19 Mar 2008
The fine art captures the superb action, and as much gritty realism as you can fit in a superhero graphic. A world seen when the rose tinted glasses have been lost. A fantastic idea which has been well crafted, and will leave you drooling for more.

Awesome Stuff, 14 Dec 2007
Garth Ennis at his brilliant best. Guts, Gut laughs and simon pegg. If you liked "the preacher" you will love this. A clever and interesting take on the superhero genre with plenty of deep dark humour. Wholeheartedly reccomended! I cannot wait for the next installment! This reeks of quality!

Garth Ennis is a Genius!, 14 Dec 2007
Once again Garth Ennis demonstrates his brilliance in this unique and hilarious graphic novel. The story follows the exploits of Hugh Campbell who after witnessing his girlfriends demise is enlisted into "The Boys" a CIA funded team trained to deal with super heroes who step out of line. As with most of Garth Ennis's work it is packed full of violence, gore, nudity and plenty of politically incorrect humour which will have you laughing well into the night. Believe me when I say that after reading this you will never be able to look at super heroes in the same way again.

Amazing potential, not quite fulfilled., 26 Sep 2007
No spoilers.

I finished reading this series a short time ago, and after the initial excitement of the early volumes, I was so disappointed at the rest that I've finally decided to get it off my chest in a review.

The story gets off to a cracking start - I'd never seen a graphic novel like this before. The themes are awesome and cosmic. The violence is... violent and quite funny at times. It's shocking. If your jaw doesn't drop open a few times as you read it, you probably have tetanus. It has a few wonderful, memorable moments that you'll never forget.

But for me the whole thing has two major problems.

First - the pervy sex and cuss words,blasphemy, etc... I have no problem with these as such, but it's as if the writer got so excited about being able to do all that x-rated stuff in a comic book, that he just got carried away and *overdid* it. I mean to the point where it becomes a distraction from the story rather than something to carry it forward.

I kept thinking that it was like when a little kid discovers a cuss word, and keeps using it over and over - just because he can. It can be funny at first, but eventually it just gets intensely irritating. After the first few volumes, the Preacher series goes through a stage where it's almost a self-parody, putting the story on 'hold' and taking time out to be as shocking and offensive as possible, just for its own sake.

But my biggest beef with the series was how it all ended. Like I promised, there are no spoilers here - but I felt it just kinda fizzled out in a slightly-rushed, semi-resolved sort of way. Personally, I felt it was a far from satisfying ending, and haven't felt so cheated since I watched the final episode of the TV series 'Alias'.

If you're into graphic novels, you've probably GOT to read this. I don't regret the experience but didn't regard it as a keeper - I promptly sold all my copies, and it's VERY unusual for me to buy a graphic series and not keep it on my shelves.

One of the best comics ever., 02 Apr 2007
This is a superb adult comic.

The characters are great and the humour is black.

I haven't completed the series but I am yet to be dissapointed.

If you are reading this then you are into this kind of thing. Don't delay any longer, dive right in.

One word.......WOW, 01 Apr 2007
Preacher is the most fantastic Graphic Novel I have EVER read. It is like the drug of the comic world- once youv'e had a taste you aint never going back! - you'll have to get all the others in the series no matter what - its that addictive!

Dismiss any thoughts of the title meaning this is gonna be too religious or something. It isn't. It's characters (an Irish Vampire, a gun toting fiesty female, and a cussing, fist fighting Preacher) are strong and very well written. The storyline - smooth, well paced and imaginative. And its amusing (not in a comedic way, but twisted in such an imaginative way you cannot help but turn the page quicker every time in amazment).

I have never heard a bad word said about this novel by anyone who's read it and I would highly, highly recommend it to Everyone!

That fella's got a face like an..., 07 Jan 2006
Recently I decided to check out some new comic titles - by "new" obviously meaning ones I haven't read yet, as Preacher ran from 1995 to 2000. While Preacher is of course a well-known title among comics/graphic novels, it was mostly a shot in the dark. Well, when I turned the light on, there was a big smoking bullet hole right in the bullseye.

I started out skeptical. Take Cassidy: an Irish vampire. It felt pretty thrown together, but before long you're loving the guy for being such a reliable jerk. The craziest things happen in Preacher, but in the end all you can do is laugh your head off and turn the page.

Not that it's all smiles, of course. The sheer amount of flesh-rending gunshot wounds in the entire Preacher series is staggering. And pitting God Almighty as the antagonist is a pretty damn brave thing to do - we may live in a fairly liberal western world, but surely some things people still don't suffer to be taken lightly. Be warned, Jesse Custer is not strictly a moral man, and some may find offense in the comic's easily dispensed violence and unforgiving treatment of 'bad folks' (until they remember that it is, after all, just a comic, that is).

Preacher is a fresh take on the mythology of America, strong plot, surprises for even the most cynical among us, one-liners and panels that make you burst out laughing ("Paulie, you sure you're not just ****ed in the head?"), strong characters (Tulip must be one of the toughest chicks ever seen in comic books), and no compromises. Pick up Gone To Texas and be assured that every issue after it is at least as good as the last.

To buy or not to buy, 22 Jul 2005
Of course you have to buy Praecher but you cant buy just one you have to get them all. thestory is captivating the characters multilayered, each with a past that gets slowly revealed. the writing is quick and witty. the art is imaginative as well.

Turning comic book canon on its head, 08 Nov 2008
Imagine if someone dared to pen a Hollywood Babylon for superheroes and the people who need to keep them in line? That's the premise of The Boys. Volume one sets the scene introducing to us to our players Wee Hughie - a Scottish slacker with a good heart looking for vengence after his girlfriend is ran over by a superhero. Mike Butcher and his bulldog Terror who leads a shadowy group called The Boys, Mother's Milk - a former US Ranger and conscience of Butcher, Frenchie - someone who you have little background on but pleasingly eccentric and The Female - who doesn't speak, but kills a lot.

Ennis creates characters as rich as his previous Preacher series and I am looking forward to the next volumes

Epic Ennis, 18 Jul 2008
As a fan of Ennis you really can guarantee the quality of not only the story arcs but the graphical nature to which these compendiums pay homage to. Its fun, it's a dark twist on the world to which the characters inhabit and lets face it, if you're fed up with goody two shoes Superhero characters its great to see the fallibility of these paragons of mankind. Ennis does it with spades with his usual dark humour and mind twists his way through the stories. Great fun and to be honest something that I really have to recommend to the older fan of the graphic novel due to the adult nature blended within the story arc. Epic action with an adult twist as Superheroes discover that there's a price for vice and screwing over the little guy.

Boys don't cry!, 19 Mar 2008
The fine art captures the superb action, and as much gritty realism as you can fit in a superhero graphic. A world seen when the rose tinted glasses have been lost. A fantastic idea which has been well crafted, and will leave you drooling for more.

Awesome Stuff, 14 Dec 2007
Garth Ennis at his brilliant best. Guts, Gut laughs and simon pegg. If you liked "the preacher" you will love this. A clever and interesting take on the superhero genre with plenty of deep dark humour. Wholeheartedly reccomended! I cannot wait for the next installment! This reeks of quality!

Garth Ennis is a Genius!, 14 Dec 2007
Once again Garth Ennis demonstrates his brilliance in this unique and hilarious graphic novel. The story follows the exploits of Hugh Campbell who after witnessing his girlfriends demise is enlisted into "The Boys" a CIA funded team trained to deal with super heroes who step out of line. As with most of Garth Ennis's work it is packed full of violence, gore, nudity and plenty of politically incorrect humour which will have you laughing well into the night. Believe me when I say that after reading this you will never be able to look at super heroes in the same way again.

Preacher the man, 01 Jul 2004
I believe this is one of the best graphic novels about in this day and age. The story of Jesse and his amazing abilty for a cross between good and evil outstands me. I do believe the writers and artists deserve a pat on the back and a drop of the old bourbon. The charcters are well detailed and very well put forward.

I first started to read the novels out of my public library and always eargly awaited the next one to pop up. When it did i thought i was in heaven so to speak

I hope this will continue as well as the marvel comics did and if you like your graphic novels hot and gory this is the one for you. BUT, you have to read from the beginning to truly understand Jesse's well being and how he came about.

As my old mate Jesse Custer would say.

"Until the end of the world"

Clearification of the Grail, 09 Jul 2001
This book (volume 3, which collects #18-26) picks up the tale right where the last issue in "Untill the end of the World" left us, with Jesse going on his way to rescue Cassidy from the Grail. Before the actual rescue operation begins we first get a little intermission-window-tale (#18) where Jesse meets a man at the airport who tells him a story about the time when he used to know Jesse's father in Vietnam. Not really an important factor for the rest of the story, but plenty entertaining. After that (#19-24) the search for Cassidy is on and you get to read a tale that makes the intentions of both the Grail as Starr a lot clearer (which was indeed a little neccesary). Starr however is expecting Jesse and waiting to ambush him, and the Saint of Killers is also on his trail again. Starr himself isn't having an easy time either since the allfather of the Grail comes checking up on him, a sign he thinks that they suspect something about his little scheme. With that we get to meet "the greatest treasure of the Grail" (who isn't exactly how you expect him to, to say the least) and Jesse meets a creature who learns him more about the Genesis entity. This is really a very good part of the story and, I dare say, the most important part of the TPB for those who are following the main story. Off course it's also filled with humorous little sub-plots you would never have thought of yourself in a million years, like we're growing used to from Ennis it seems. Finally the last part of the book (#25,26) handles the origin of Cassidy. It shows how and when exactly Cassidy became what he is now, how he learned to live with it, and how come he's in America now (being an Irish bloke). This little part falls a bit out of line in the Preacher saga sometimes (makes you think of Heartland, for those who've read it) when Garth makes clear how he feels about Ireland.

Like I said, a lot more about the Grail and their goals becomes clear now which really comes to the good of the series. It gets really clear what each player is in it for and what they hope to achieve. The bizar humor stays at the good level it's been for a while now, keeping the series a laugh-riot along the way of the great story. Dillons art is as good as before, clear and expressive without taking the attention of the story too much. A worthy successor after "Gone to Texas" and "Untill the end of the World"

Ouch., 11 Mar 2001
Preacher - It rocks all the remaining taboos in our society. This book is sick, and should be banned immediately. The very notion of the Grail, lead by the grotesque AllFarther D'Aronique, inbreeding the descendants of Christ for two millenia, and the horrendous depiction of the new messiah are heresy and blasphemy of the highest order. If ever there was a good argument for the burning of books, this piece of depraved filth is it. I loved every page of it. Comics don't get any better than Preacher, and Preacher don't get any better than this. More Please - 5 stars isn't enough. All that and I didn't mention Frankie the Eunoch - it's characters like him that Ennis does best. Pure genius from cover to cover.

Houmoruos and exciting. Love, death and a lot of violence!, 31 Mar 2000
This book starts with a story from Vietnam. It is about Jesse Custer`s father and this story gets really nasty, like in the other "Preacher" books. Then Jesse gets a picture of his father by a former friend of his.

We then get to meet the Allfather,who is an enourmous bloke who leads a christian sect! Here, we also meet Herr Starr, who we can learn much more about in later Preacher stories.

The best part of the story is when the Saint of Killers comes into it. He sure lives up to his name! In this issue he also meets Jesse Custer.

At the end Cassidy tells the tale of how he became a vampire. Cassidy is my personal favourite charachter and I loved this story.

What do I think about this comic book? I was brought up by Christian parents, and I want my children to have another kind of life experience then I had as a child. Actually, if I get children I will teach them to despise the Christian morality. I will teach them to like things like sex, death and rock`n roll. To put another way, I will teach them to read "Preacher"!

Mythology, 23 Jul 2007
Garth Ennis forewards this issue. He speaks of growing up with John Wayne and Clint Eastwood and of a long desire to add his own hero to the Western canon. In Saint of Killers he may just have managed to add a gunslinger who can stand toe to toe with them all. The first page of the elderly pizza owner recounting the tail - having grown apart from his hot shot lawyer son floored me.
The other two character preludes were entertaining, but it's the saint, barrel still smoking that walked away with me after the last page.

Excellent, 28 Feb 2007
I was surprised by how much I liked this seeing as it is a detour for Preacher. It was fun to see something different from the main story arc, and it was great to actually enjoy the adventures of three of the most unsympathetic characters in the series so far; the Saint, Jody and T.C.

Needless to say, if you've never read Preacher, do. It doesn't matter if you are a fan of comics or not, it is hard to think of anything more imaginative or entertaining than this series. Gory and funny in equal measures, Preacher: Ancient History is a prime example of this classic and acclaimed series. Give it a shot - this book is as good an introduction to the series as any. And if you like this, wait until you get to the main story!!

And now for something somewhat different, 22 Feb 2007
Honestly, this book is far more interesting than many of the others in the series, considering it is generally thought of as "filler". It begins with a truly gritty tale of The Old West, one that I feel is better realised than any Western you'll see.

The Saint Of Killers is absolutely one of the most striking points in the Preacher series, and this dips deep into his story. From being a soldier, a husband and a father, this book follows his journey to taking The Angel Of Death's position as Saint Of Killers.

Although the first story is the most enjoyable, the second and third are excellent as well. We see the strangely touching story of 'Arse Face', and a brilliantly violent little adventure starring T.C. and Jodie, who are played as anti-heroes rather than The Bad Guys. Which is fun!

Also interesting about this book, Steve Dillon had nothing to do with it, so you get to enjoy Ennis's wonderful world of Preacher as seen through the eyes of a few different artists, each really amazing in their own right.

Of course, if you're looking at these reviews, and you've bought the previous instalments, you'll get this anyway. But, just in case you were having any doubts: BUY THIS BOOK NOW.

A good starting point, 20 Feb 2007
This, the fourth volume in the Preacher series, gives us three backstories about some of the background characters - the Saint of Killers, Arseface and Jesse's redneck relatives Jody and T.C. - altogether more enjoyable than any of the previous volumes, I thought, and in fact I would recommend readers wanting to get to know the series to start with this volume rather than any of the earlier three.

Time to get a little sidetracked, 12 May 2004
I don't know about anyone else, but I found volume 4 of the PREACHER library to be a nice change of pace, and an enjoyable little sidetrack away from the main storyline. It was interesting checking out the back story of some of the series' most notable supporting cast members. I also enjoyed seeing other artists' (aside from Steve Dillon) renditions of these characters. If you're looking for a few amazing PREACHER tales that are off the beaten path, then 'Ancient History' won't disappoint!

If you thought the Saint of Killers was an unpleasant character in PREACHER's main storyline, wait'll you see his origin story! A man so full of hate that he literally does the impossible: freezes hell over! Oh yeah, then there's the part where he offs the devil before he really gets his killing spree goin', which gives you an idea of how much of a bad mofo he really is. Speaking of the devil(!), this particular story arc reveals the name he prefers to go by. And it's NOT Satan, Scratch, Be'elzebub, or Lucifer!

The second part depicts how PREACHER's beloved horribly disfigured teenager with a heart of gold, Arse-Face, came to be. I'll not go into too many details about it; let's just say his decision to drastically alter his facial features was a misguided attempt to emulate a particular grunge artist's suicide. 90s American teenage angst, substance use, and physical & mental abuse abound in this ish.

'The Good Ol' Boys' features quite a few moments of gratuitous, gory violence in the over-the-top vein of Paul Verhoeven action flicks. There's also a few great scenes featuring that Ennis-trademark you're-not-supposed-to-laugh-at-that-style humor, highlighted by one hillbilly's disgustingly hilarious fond memories of- um, romance- with various inanimate objects and members of other species. Throw in a gorilla getting bludgeoned to death with a baseball bat, and a swamp chase featuring a middle-eastern cartel boss whose attempts at using various English-language curses are both pitiful and gut-bustingly funny, and-well, you'll hafta see it to believe it...

'Late

Bad artwork, 10 Jan 2008
What ruined this for me was some of the appalling artwork some of the stories, literally a 10 year old could do better! I cant beleive Marvel would allow "artists" so bad to work for them. Only buy if youre a Punisher lover.

The punisher: beginning to end, 24 Oct 2007
A collection of three long one off comics featuring the punisher, marvel's vigilante killer who takes direct action against bad guys. This is the mature readers version of the character, and thus it doesn't compromise on the blood and gore and language, and there are no superheroes in sight.

In the first story, the tyger, the punisher thinks back to his youth, and how the neigbhourhood where he lived was terrorised by mobsters that nobody would do anything about. Until one person fights back. An excellent tale that superbly captures the atmosphere of a 1950's new york summer, with some very memorable characterisation.

In the second story, the cell, the punisher is captured, arrested, and sent to jail. It's all part of the plan. As there are people in there he'd like a word with. A brutal, uncompromising, and quite brilliant revenge thriller.

the final story, the end, presents the punisher years from now, old and in jail, in a world that has just self destructed. And with one last set of bad guys to deal with it. this is a 'final' story for the character, and a fitting and very nihilistic way for him to go out.

Three good strong stories in one good package. Recommended. But for the squeamish

One of THE best things you'll read......EVER!, 02 Jan 2007
Well, being one of the largest Punisher fans in the known universe, I went into this with a slightly one-sided view, however I have let many of my mates read 'The Cell' (the second of the titles in this book) and even though they hadn't heard of Mr.Castiglione, they loved it regardless. Speaking of The Cell, it contains one of the best evolutions of Frank's past yet!
And 'The End', well, what can I say, Punisher doing what he does best in a war ravaged, post-apocalyptic, hell-on-earth has some of the BEST artwork I've ever seen!

All I can say is READ IT!! The Tyger is a cool little story, elaborating on Frank's past and adding depth to his persona, but The Cell and The End equally take the cake, and the biscuit!

Darkly funny, 08 Nov 2008
Ennis introduced us to The Boys, in a hail of violence and dark humour. In volume three we learn more about the world which The Boys exist and the political parallels to the Bush administration are more savage than satire. Butcher and his crew keep mixing it up the superheroes and things are coming to a head. By all means buy this book, but get volumes one and two to see how the story builds.

Turning comic book canon on its head, 08 Nov 2008
Imagine if someone dared to pen a Hollywood Babylon for superheroes and the people who need to keep them in line? That's the premise of The Boys. Volume one sets the scene introducing to us to our players Wee Hughie - a Scottish slacker with a good heart looking for vengence after his girlfriend is ran over by a superhero. Mike Butcher and his bulldog Terror who leads a shadowy group called The Boys, Mother's Milk - a former US Ranger and conscience of Butcher, Frenchie - someone who you have little background on but pleasingly eccentric and The Female - who doesn't speak, but kills a lot.

Ennis creates characters as rich as his previous Preacher series and I am looking forward to the next volumes

Epic Ennis, 18 Jul 2008
As a fan of Ennis you really can guarantee the quality of not only the story arcs but the graphical nature to which these compendiums pay homage to. Its fun, it's a dark twist on the world to which the characters inhabit and lets face it, if you're fed up with goody two shoes Superhero characters its great to see the fallibility of these paragons of mankind. Ennis does it with spades with his usual dark humour and mind twists his way through the stories. Great fun and to be honest something that I really have to recommend to the older fan of the graphic novel due to the adult nature blended within the story arc. Epic action with an adult twist as Superheroes discover that there's a price for vice and screwing over the little guy.

Boys don't cry!, 19 Mar 2008
The fine art captures the superb action, and as much gritty realism as you can fit in a superhero graphic. A world seen when the rose tinted glasses have been lost. A fantastic idea which has been well crafted, and will leave you drooling for more.

Awesome Stuff, 14 Dec 2007
Garth Ennis at his brilliant best. Guts, Gut laughs and simon pegg. If you liked "the preacher" you will love this. A clever and interesting take on the superhero genre with plenty of deep dark humour. Wholeheartedly reccomended! I cannot wait for the next installment! This reeks of quality!

Garth Ennis is a Genius!, 14 Dec 2007
Once again Garth Ennis demonstrates his brilliance in this unique and hilarious graphic novel. The story follows the exploits of Hugh Campbell who after witnessing his girlfriends demise is enlisted into "The Boys" a CIA funded team trained to deal with super heroes who step out of line. As with most of Garth Ennis's work it is packed full of violence, gore, nudity and plenty of politically incorrect humour which will have you laughing well into the night. Believe me when I say that after reading this you will never be able to look at super heroes in the same way again.

Amazing potential, not quite fulfilled., 26 Sep 2007
No spoilers.

I finished reading this series a short time ago, and after the initial excitement of the early volumes, I was so disappointed at the rest that I've finally decided to get it off my chest in a review.

The story gets off to a cracking start - I'd never seen a graphic novel like this before. The themes are awesome and cosmic. The violence is... violent and quite funny at times. It's shocking. If your jaw doesn't drop open a few times as you read it, you probably have tetanus. It has a few wonderful, memorable moments that you'll never forget.

But for me the whole thing has two major problems.

First - the pervy sex and cuss words,blasphemy, etc... I have no problem with these as such, but it's as if the writer got so excited about being able to do all that x-rated stuff in a comic book, that he just got carried away and *overdid* it. I mean to the point where it becomes a distraction from the story rather than something to carry it forward.

I kept thinking that it was like when a little kid discovers a cuss word, and keeps using it over and over - just because he can. It can be funny at first, but eventually it j