Garth Ennis

It's hard not to be completely captivated by this volume, because it's so full of action and intrigue that you just can't look away.

The first half of this book takes us back to Angelville, the ancestral home of Jesse's family, that (let me assure you) is not full of angels. Instead, the place is populated by a violent sociopath and a redneck who will fuck anything, both of whom are under the dominion of Jesse's psychtic grandmother. All grandmother's have the tendency to be a bit scary show more somtimes (since they've had longer to perfect the mother stare and manipulation techniques), but this one is some other piece of work. I literally cheered when she (and the ancestral home) went up in flames! So long and good riddance, you crazy old bat!

The second storyarc sets us up for the next big adventure, with the introduction of a secret society who is in charge of protecting the Grail (ie the bloodline of Christ). Apparently they want Jesse to be the next messianic figure, since he actually has the power of God and the current offspring is somewhat of a disappointment. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that they're practicing inbreeding as a means of keeping the bloodline "pure" again! Sometimes these fundamentalist types are just so stupid that it makes me laugh. show less

MUahahahahahaha

What a grand treat this is! I mean, I fell in love with the Amazon show and I've been a diehard fan of the Preacher (also Garth Ennis), so it's kinda a no-brainer that I would have gone gung-ho over this one as well.

What I DIDN'T expect was just how far, how raunchy, how purely, gloriously satirical Ennis would take it!

A lot of the iconic scenes and character twists are exactly the same in both the tv show and the comic, but in some cases, it's much MORE. Starlight, for show more example, got cornered by three of the Seven on first meet-and-greet. The Serum is much more widespread than we were lead to believe in the show, as well. And the embarrassing moments? The blackmail attempts? The full-out craziness of the supes, everywhere? These are worse in the comics. And by worse, I mean deliciously horrific and entertaining.

The satire is god-awful brilliant. I was really blown away by Tech-Knight (aka Batman) and his little problem. Getting to know The Legend (aka Stan Lee) was also great. But you know what blew me away the most? The f**k-up with the airplane. It was this alternate history's 9/11, taking out the Brooklyn Bridge. And the cluster-F surrounding big corporations owning the government is pretty much the same... only the big players are different. Supes are BIG BUSINESS, ya know?!

So delicious. And I'm only a third done in the Big Omnibus. I can't wait to see how this war ENDS. :) show less

Let's face it. I have an iron stomach. I can handle all the over-the-top violence a comic can throw at me. I like a good bit of horror, too. But what I like best of all?

Good Satire.

And let's face it, mate, this one goes all bollocks on every superhero franchise we've got. Who are the bad guys? Who are good? It doesn't matter. They're all summed up quite nicely by Butcher's Great Power observation. It sums up nicely that great power corrupts absolutely. And no, I'm not using the word he show more uses. I may enjoy a great R-rated comic but it doesn't mean I have to write an R-rated review. :)

I'm telling you, the big blowout oat the end of this, with the war, the coup, the everything... was freaking amazing. I even got that huge sinking feeling in the whole wrap-up that turned into a dark depression. And yet, the comic still kept coming on strong. And ended strong.

This is right up there with The Watchmen for me. Maybe, in some ways, it is better. Not all the way better, but **** me, mate, I had me some great laughs. This is a classic. I'll be making no bones about it. show less

The book opens with a group of hipsters sitting around in a New York apartment explaining to each other how nuclear war will never happen. London is wiped from the map later that night.

I found this book almost painful to read not because of the depictions of life after, but because the book follows the same group of unbearable hipsters as they're still in complete denial as the world is literally ending around them.

The only positive things I have to say about this are about the art and show more lettering. Becky Cloonan's illustrations, Tamra Bonvillain's colors, and Pat Brosseau's letters are stellar and worthy of a far better book.

Received via NetGalley. show less