Hazel
22nd February 2009, 03:33 PM
Garth Ennis has become my comic-God. After Preacher, I just had to get more of his work, and first up was a foray into The Boys. This time, Ennis has teamed up with Darick Robertson (Transmetropolitan) to create this comic series.
If you like Preacher, or more importantly, was not offended by it, then you will like The Boys. Set in a world where superheroes are, if not common, then accepted, someone has to police them, because in between saving lives, posing for the cameras and drumming up all sorts of good PR, the 'supes' also live rather shady private lives. Sordid private lives. A couple of comic book questions are answered - Who watches the watchmen? Well, The Boys do. And the question that Jason lee in Mallrats asked? What would happen if Superman and Lois had sex? Well, let's just say that The Boys landscape is filled with damaged, broken, worn out and dead prostitutes.
The Boys police the supes. The supes were found to be high in something called Compound V that now The Boys have to inject in order to be able to keep up with, and control the supes. Head of The Boys is Billy Butcher, a hulking, brutish, Bill Sykes kind of guy complete with bulldog, Terror. Joining him is Mother's Milk - big, black, and brutal, but no clue yet as to why the nickname, The Female - silent, deadly, looks like the girl in The Ring, reminds me of deadly little Miho in Sin City, and rips mens' faces from them in the blink of an eye, and The Frenchman - deadly, goes by scent and amusing.
The book opens with them having just lost a member. In Glasgow, (can't tell you how much I loved that), Wee Hughie finds true love with his girlfriend only to have her killed almost immediately by a superhero accident. Cue anger, vengeance, and the new member of The Boys. As an aside, Wee Hughie is based on a friend of Ennis's but is the picture of Simon Pegg, a deliberate image as Pegg is a fan of Ennis's and likewise. But he does have some Scottish dialogue, enough to make you forget the Pegg link. He says "jings" a lot. No one says that in Glasgow - also noted by one of the other characters.
There is a lot to love in this book. Ennis's trademark violence, scenes of a sexual nature, and amusing dialogue. The artwork is excellent, darkly colourful, shading striving for realism, and grotesqueries. There is nothing original about the story though, and you can pinpoint each move along the comic-book/film/literature lands.
If you like Preacher, or more importantly, was not offended by it, then you will like The Boys. Set in a world where superheroes are, if not common, then accepted, someone has to police them, because in between saving lives, posing for the cameras and drumming up all sorts of good PR, the 'supes' also live rather shady private lives. Sordid private lives. A couple of comic book questions are answered - Who watches the watchmen? Well, The Boys do. And the question that Jason lee in Mallrats asked? What would happen if Superman and Lois had sex? Well, let's just say that The Boys landscape is filled with damaged, broken, worn out and dead prostitutes.
The Boys police the supes. The supes were found to be high in something called Compound V that now The Boys have to inject in order to be able to keep up with, and control the supes. Head of The Boys is Billy Butcher, a hulking, brutish, Bill Sykes kind of guy complete with bulldog, Terror. Joining him is Mother's Milk - big, black, and brutal, but no clue yet as to why the nickname, The Female - silent, deadly, looks like the girl in The Ring, reminds me of deadly little Miho in Sin City, and rips mens' faces from them in the blink of an eye, and The Frenchman - deadly, goes by scent and amusing.
The book opens with them having just lost a member. In Glasgow, (can't tell you how much I loved that), Wee Hughie finds true love with his girlfriend only to have her killed almost immediately by a superhero accident. Cue anger, vengeance, and the new member of The Boys. As an aside, Wee Hughie is based on a friend of Ennis's but is the picture of Simon Pegg, a deliberate image as Pegg is a fan of Ennis's and likewise. But he does have some Scottish dialogue, enough to make you forget the Pegg link. He says "jings" a lot. No one says that in Glasgow - also noted by one of the other characters.
There is a lot to love in this book. Ennis's trademark violence, scenes of a sexual nature, and amusing dialogue. The artwork is excellent, darkly colourful, shading striving for realism, and grotesqueries. There is nothing original about the story though, and you can pinpoint each move along the comic-book/film/literature lands.