Steve Dillon (1) (1962–2016)

This was insane as usual. Gorey, irreverent, sacrilegious, perverted, and sometimes touching. Jessie Custer is a "simple man" and for me that makes him hard to relate to. He's a badass and an asshole, but a great friend if you can get on the "short list".

This collection was just as outrageous as the two before it, but there were 3 issues that were different. They flashed back for Jessie and then for Cassidy, and somehow they fit perfectly with the deviant sex and extreme torture of the show more other issues, showing that Ennis is more than a "shock" writer.

I'm really hoping the series stays this good. show less

Husband: "You should read Preacher, I think you'd really like it."
Me: "Oh yeah? What's it about?"
Husband: "...well, it's, uh, hmmm...it's a western?"
Me: "You can't blurb it for me?"
Husband: "Not really, no. Just read it."

A few hours later...

Me: "So lemme get this straight. We have Jesse Custer, the Preacher, who's been possessed by some sort of nigh-omnipotent heavenly power and has the spirit of John Wayne as his guardian angel, Cassidy, who's basically Shane McGowan the vampire, and Tulip, show more the mob-connected hit woman and Jesse's ex-girlfriend all off on a mission to literally find God?"
Husband: "Yup."
Me: "That's just insane."
Husband: "Maybe."
Me: "Be a dear and grab me volume two, if you would be so kind..." show less

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

Mr. Quincannon! Could you put your meat down for just a moment and have a word with our sponsors? Please? Odin? Please, just this once... would you put your meat down?

*shiver* What a creepy MFer. Lordy.

I can't quite decide which was worse, the guy from this comic or the iteration in the TV. Both were pretty damn awesome, and there are just a few things you can't quite do on TV but you can in a comic.

Oh, who am I kidding. The one in the comic was freaking amazeballs. I loved his lawyer, show more too.

Hell, the whole town of Salvation may have been just a stopover, a place to downshift, to let Jesse get his bearings after all the crap went down in the previous volume, but here's what amazes me most: It's a grand-style western. Stranger comes into town and picks up the badge and tries to put down the bad guys. It worked a hella-well, and I guess I feel kinda blessed now to have read this and see exactly where the entire feel of that short-run of Banshee got its gumption from. :)

Oh, yeah, and the reveals were pretty sweet, too, as were the sub-plots. Things are coming out and slapping us in the face pretty regular, now. :) Gotta love it. show less