Preacher: Gone to Texas, Garth Ennis

"Merging with a bizarre spiritual force called Genesis, Texan Preacher Jesse Custer becomes completely disillusioned with the beliefs that he had dedicated his entire life to. Now possessing the power of "the word," an ability to make people do whatever he utters, Custer begins a violent and riotous journey across the country. Joined by his gun-toting girlfriend Tulip and the hard drinking Irish vampire Cassidy, the Preacher loses faith in both man and God as he witnesses dark atrocities and improbable calamities during his exploration of America."










First of all, this isn't a book for kids. If there were one comic that defines the idea that comics can be both adult and good, then this is it. There's enough sex, violence, big ideas, booze, blood, cursing and brilliance to fill a hundred lesser books that think that sticking some nudity in will cover the bill.

If you can find your way past that, and most of the time I can, you'll find that Preacher is one of the wittiest, most challenging books around. There are very few graphic novels that will still be talked about in 30 years time but I don't mind thinking that Preacher is one of them - it's nearly 15 years since it was first published, so it hardly seems unlikely.

Ennis sets up a situation that is brilliantly simple in its economic storytellin (what do you do with the power of God) and yet somehow manages to bring in vampires, the hosts of heaven, a serial killer, the Saint of Killers, John Wayne, the World's Unluckiest Cop (and his bondage hiding partner), and hints at much more to come. Much of this will pay off over the next eight volumes, but the wonder of it is that left on its own this is a fully contained first collection. It may leave you wanting more but it has a somewhat fulfilled ending.

The art work requires mention, because whilst Steve Dillon has been great elsewhere, it's here that he really shines. I've said before that nobody draws violence like Dillon, and it's on show here. His sequences with the Saint of Killers taking down a dozen policemen and their helicopter support is wonderful, not just for the illustrated carnage, but for the facial expressions of both Saint and cops. Sure,. sometimes it's hard to distinguish between different people, but he does a better job here than usual at creating characters who look different enough to be recognisable, and it's an otherwise peerless job.

For many the plot and content will be off putting, and it certainly isn't for the faint hearted. I remember loving it as a teenage boy (which is hardly surprising) but I also found a lot to love coming back to it as an adult. The fact that in the intervening years I became a Christian, and thus can critically respond to a story about God abandoning his creation in fear of new ideas is slightly irrelevant in this review. The point is that this is a book that works, on every level, and one that sums up an age and aesthetic in comics that can't really be found anywhere else anymore.

If you ever see this first volume cheap. Buy it. You may just have a new favourite on your hands.

Also Try:
Garth Ennis, Punisher MAX
Garth Ennis, The Punisher kills the Marvel Universe
Garth Ennis, Thor: Vikings

Supreme Power: Nighthawk, Daniel Way

"As a boy, Kyle Richmond - the man who would one day become Nighthawk - witnessed the senseless murder of his parents. There was no reason for their deaths, no provocation - they were just simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was a traumatic event that has left him scarred for life - and turned him into a hero more feared than the criminals he polices. Now, it's happening again... but on a much larger scale. The people of Chicago - men, women and children - are dying in the streets, victims of a monster whose thirst for slaughter cannot be quenched, whose soul is a bottomless void and whose scars run even deeper than Nighthawk's. Long ago, Kyle Richmond looked into the face of madness - now, it's looking back at him. And it's flashing a killer smile. Collects Supreme Power: Nighthawk #1-6."






The main draw of this is the Steve Dillon art, a guy who is the go to for obscenely sterile violence (read Preacher or The Punisher, and be amazed at the hurt that can be drawn from a guy who doesn't detail his work in any way). Sticking him on an alternative take on Batman vs The Joker is a stoke of genius  and it helps that it's written by Daniel Way, the guy behind some of the best of Deadpool, and another man who's very at home with impressive levels of serious violence.

So there is a competent team in place, and they certainly don't disappoint. Whilst it's an inconsequential tale its nice to see a story that doesn't take its subject matter very seriously. Nighthawk is a character that's rife for this kid of treatment - as a Batman parody he doesn't really work, because he's too in-jokey for the reader. His entire set up in the Supreme Power reality is that of an amoral Billionaire who only intervenes in those cases where he can help black people, and sees everything through a prism of perceived racism.

It's basically taking the concept of Batman as a protector of the weak and turning it to Batman being the protector of some of the weak, the few that are like him, a concept that just makes him ridiculous.

Still, it's amusing to see him breat the crap out of racists and bullies, and his lack of limits make for a refreshing solution when he does confront the joker analogue who is murdering anyone and everyone across Chicago. There's little of substance there, but it works, and it's a nice addition to the Supreme Power universe.

Also Try:
Scott Snyder, Death of the Family
J. Michale Straczynski, Supreme Power
Daniel Way, Thunderbolts
Garth Ennis, Preacher