Preacher

[ssjtom]

Well, I haven't finished the full run of Preacher as of yet, I'm about half way through, but so far I've found it to be one of the most engrossing comic books I've picked up in a long while.

Preacher tells the story of Jesse Custer, a down-and-out preacher in the small Texas town of Annville. Custer is accidentally possessed by the supernatural creature named Genesis in an incident which killed his entire congregation and flattened his church, here the story begins as we follow Jesse along the path that seems almost fated to him, meeting plenty of amazing characters along the way.

The first thing that hits me about every single issue of the comic is Glen Fabry's painted covers setting you up for the themes of each issue, each cover contains immense detail and just seems to capture the weird, devious and horrific nature of this particular comic book.

Along the same lines Steven Dillon does in my opinion a near perfect job on the story telling with his art, every panel is clear and concise and moves at a great pace but in particular excels in a lot of his close up shots (especially of Jesse) and also in his portrayal of the action, fight scenes and just general badass brutality.

Garth Ennis writes brilliant dialog between characters that occasionally has made me actually laugh out loud, he's not shy when it comes to using the word **** thats for sure, but the best thing about the writing is just the simple fact that I found I genuinely cared about the characters which isn't something I find often happens in comic books for me personally and its all down to the writing.
Not to mention the fact I just genuinely can't wait to get to the next issue because every single one seems to end on a cliff hanger where I just need to know whats going to happen next.

The plot is brilliant at first I wasn't sure how original it was going to be but when started to get through it I found it had something new to me even though it was first released in 1995. It deals with some crazy themes, I mean other than religion and the underlying themes of westerns and old movies, but also incest, abuse and plenty of bestiality which still creeps me out every time I get to it.

Any guy who's writing comics where people **** armadillos for me is pushing the boundaries

I've still not actually finished the full 66 issues (plus specials), I'm up to about issue 13 and I can't wait to get to the end but I almost don't want to finish it because I haven't found a good read like this in ages, I'm almost shamed I missed out on this for nearly 13 years.

this is the first time I've ever written anything like this so I hope I didn't go on too much, but yeah as you can tell, I'm a big fan and was wondering what other people liked about it/thought about the comic book?

Another Comic book movie adaption on its way but at least Ennis wrote the scripts for these, which as I was reading it was what I was hoping for.
Sam Mendes is Directing so I actually am interested to see how they handle characters like
'Arse Face'

ahaha god 'Arse Face' what a character.

Okay I've been up all night, its 9am, sorry if I've rambled on for too long.

-Tom

[DJ Kenobi]

I know there are a lot of Preacher fans here, but could you write up a more complete review? We're trying to keep Comics Analysis for reviews and follow up discussion and away from "this rocks, this is awesome, this sucks, etc." What specifically do you love? Is it Glen Fabry's layouts? His depiction of characters? Ennis's plotting? His dialogue? Get specific.

Thanks.

[ssjtom]

Cheers for the tip DJ Ken, Hope I did it right, if not... then I give up.

[Crimson Spider]

The plot is brilliant at first I wasn't sure how original it was going to be but when started to get through it I found it had something new to me even though it was first released in 2000.

It was actually released in 1995.

To me, the book, when you get down to it, was about the friendship shared between Jesse and Cassidy, as well as Jesse and Tulip's love for each other. I remember even early on, I really felt bad for Cass when Jesse discovered that he was a vampire and called him an abomination, not because he wasn't, but because they had hit it off so well.

You've made me want to read this book on, which is never a bad thing except that I have way too much on my plate as is.

[ssjtom]

It was actually released in 1995.

To me, the book, when you get down to it, was about the friendship shared between Jesse and Cassidy, as well as Jesse and Tulip's love for each other. I remember even early on, I really felt bad for Cass when Jesse discovered that he was a vampire and called him an abomination, not because he wasn't, but because they had hit it off so well.

You've made me want to read this book on, which is never a bad thing except that I have way too much on my plate as is.

aha, well if it made you want to read it again my 10am rant wasn't a fail
ah yeah I thought it was earlier than 2000 but when I looked at wiki it said 2000 for some reason, weird.

Yeah I definitly felt bad when Jesse called him an abomination,
but also when he talks about his abuse as a child, its just so ****ed up, killing Billy one eye for being in the barn and the coffin,
and also when they shot tulip I was literally like HOLY SHIT NO scrambling for the next issue to find out if she survived lol

[DJ Kenobi]

Cheers for the tip DJ Ken, Hope I did it right, if not... then I give up.

Thanks for the review!

Ennis writes the rogue-with-a-heart-of-gold type character brilliantly, and Preacher is a great example of this. I have to say though, that the it was probably the high-concept that first hooked me. That the offspring of an angel and a demon would produce a new idea, a new concept that took refuge on earth. I remember when the book first came out, it was the concept that got me to pick up the book; I stayed for the brilliant writing and Dillon's great storytelling art.

[Popninja]

It's still probably the best comic series I've ever read. There hasn't been a series since that has had me running to my LCS with as much anticipation each and every month as Preacher.

[Jel]

Preacher is the best comic I've ever read, and probably the best I will ever read.

As Crimson Spider put it, eventhough at first the comic seems to be a wild supernatural journey accross the most depraved parts of the world, hunting for God, in the end it's just one of the truest and most moving tales of love and friendship I've ever read, all media considered.

Ennis' science of writing, combinating rioting humor, gruesome or disgusting events, and truer-than-life dialogues and relationships, mixed with Dillon's science of acting, his ability to depict every nuance of emotion with a slight line on the face, a slight tweak of the eyebrow is unparalleled.

It's the only comic I 've ever read which managed to make me cry. And one of the very few to make me laugh out very loudly.

[NaveenM]

It's the only comic I 've ever read which managed to make me cry.

Well, the end of Y: The Last Man did it to me. I kept rushing back to my LCS to buy copies of Y, and that's how I was introduced to Preacher.

I literally picked up Preacher b/c of the cover of the first trade. That Glenn Fabry painting, with Jesse and his evil smile, along with the little church ablaze, was more than I could resist.

I knew nothing about the book. I expected more of a Hellblazer type story. What I got was a delightful surprise.

I'm still turned off by the gore, though. Call me old-fashioned, but I don't need it. But the story was more than strong enough to get me to ignore that.

It touched on things I didn't expect, particularly friendship and love. In the end, the high concept religious stuff was really an afterthought, a set-up for character interaction. Plus, it was effing hilarious!

[sequentialscott]

I like Preacher and have all the trades. That said, I'm conflicted about it. It reminded me of Sin City (the movie) in a way. Both of the seemed to make a point of finding the line in a couple of areas (gore and violence, for example), walking up to that line, and then stepping over it while looking back with a glint in the eye saying, "See what I'm doing? Heh."

That's my personal take. Neither one struck me as purely gratuitous - they _were_ more concerned with storytelling than being gratuitous, but they did that too. So, as I said, I'm conflicted.

[NaveenM]

It didn't bother me as much in Sin City. I think the worlds Frank Miller creates are so suffused with violence it just seems natural.

[oqnet]

I haven't read all of Preacher just the first 15 issues or so, but I've read all of Sin City. So far I would say Sin City seemed more acceptable in in violence maybe because it seemed like such a different world than ours.

[JPJ]

I'm at book 7 in the TPB's. While I've enjoyed the series, I find myself less interested in the major story arc of Jesse finding God and more of the stories where Jesse is sherriff or when they're all just road tripping and enjoying America.

Great series overall. I'm planning on picking up the last two trades this next weekend.

[Aurelius]

I found Jesse being a sheriff more distracting and unnecessary. The series to me lost its way about right about in the middle. The first two trades were fun, gritty and irreverent. The addition of Amy was good. When they delved into the backgrounds of Tulip and Cassidy, I loved it. But then the issues of Jesse as sheriff and Jesse driving around in a pick up truck and all these tangents wore thin.

[JPJ]

I found Jesse being a sheriff more distracting and unnecessary. The series to me lost its way about right about in the middle. The first two trades were fun, gritty and irreverent. The addition of Amy was good. When they delved into the backgrounds of Tulip and Cassidy, I loved it. But then the issues of Jesse as sheriff and Jesse driving around in a pick up truck and all these tangents wore thin.

You and I, sir, shall battle to the death! :)

[The P.R. Man]

I kinda thought they were a good break from fighting the whole freaking army and surviving the saint of killers, and the FREAKING BOMB!!

plus, it was cool to see what happened to Jessie's mom, and Arseface finally got some.