Preacher: Until the End of the World (Vol. 2)

Preacher: Until the End of the World (Vol. 2) was written by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon. The volume consists of issues 8 through 17. 264 pages.

In the second volume we get two stories: "Until the End of the World" and "Hunters".

Until the End of the World gives us a backstory to Jesse. We find out why he left Tulip five years ago and why he became a priest. We also find that his voice powers have a limit, as they don't work on his family. The story made me feel very bad for Jesse as his childhood was terrible. The writing is great because in a way, I felt like I could understand the villains in this tale. It seems like the driving force was family. A bizarre, evil family, but it was what drove the two main villains in this story. The whole tale is perfectly illustrated by Steve Dillon, who makes all the gory scenes come out great and who is able to illustrate really good moments between Jesse and his family and Jesse and Tulip. The art intensifies some scenes. Some of the panels in this story are unforgettable.
While the whole story seems to be about Jesse, the thing that makes the story work is Jesse's love for Tulip. Without the passages about their love and seeing the interaction between the two characters, this story would be worth little. Both Ennis and Dillon do a great job of making a great story about love, family, tragedy and change.

In "Hunters" we are introduced to some disturbing people, people that have crazy orgies and try all sorts of extreme things for pleasure. A lot of the things they do are illegal, but somehow all of this has to do with Jesse and Tulip as they are led there through a series of events that happen throughout. This tale reminds me a little of the show Seinfeld since we have three stories that meet in the middle. We have Jesus de Sade, the organizer of all the debauchery. We have The Grail, a group of people that keep the heirs of Christ safe and who want to find Jesse Custer to protect God. We have the trio of Jesse, Tulip and Cassidy. Somehow they all end up in the same place for different reasons and a lot of violence, sex and swearing happens in the middle. The story has a big cliffhanger that makes one want to read the next volume right away.

This volume is fantastic. It deepens the characters and it moves the plot forward while giving us a lot of funny moments, a lot of sad moments and a lot of happy moments.