Preacher: Ancient History (Vol. 4) by Garth Ennis and various artists. This volume contains Preacher: Saint of Killers (art by Steve Pugh and Carlos Ezquerra), Preacher Special: The Story of You-Know-Who (art by Richard Case) and Preacher Special: The Good Old Boys (art by Carlos Ezquerra). 224 pages.
This volume is a little detour out of the Preacher story. It gives us the origin of Saint of Killers, the origin of Arseface and a funny little story starring Jody and T.C.
The Saint of Killers story was pretty good in my opinion. I think the first two issues are better than the last two, but it was interesting seeing a Western story be imbued with a Heaven and Hell story. Westerns are a kind of mythology, so it was interesting seeing a story being so direct about the connection. The Saint of Killers is a man who was born to kill, was shown that he didn't have to kill (with the love of a beautiful woman) and then was shown that killing was his true path as he looked for revenge after the death of his family. A powerful mythology/Western story.
The Story of You-Know Who was pretty good. It is interesting how bad a life Arseface had, but yet after his accident he loved his dad even more. His dad would beat him up, talk him down and never show any respect to him. Yet, after all he went through he still loved his father. I thought this sentiment was very nice. Arseface went through a lot of terrible things but was still capable of love and kindness in the end. In a way, his story is inspiring.
The Good Old Boys is a parody. It is clearly not a serious story. It makes fun of the clichéd hero and of the damsel in distress. It was a fun read. A lot of people acted illogically, but this was the funny part as it was clear that the author was making fun of some action movies.
This volume is very good. The only detractor is that it doesn't really continue the Preacher story. It has three great self-contained stories.
Showing posts with label steve dillon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label steve dillon. Show all posts
Monday, January 4, 2010
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Preacher: Proud Americans (Vol. 3)
Preacher: Proud Americans (Vol. 3) by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon. The volume consists of issues 18 through 26. 232 pages.
The whole volume consists of one story, in fact it could be considered the same story arc going back to "Hunters" in the second volume. The Grail has kidnapped Cassidy thinking it was Jesse and they take him to a fortress in France called "Masada". In this volume we get to know more about "The Grail", we get to know more about the angel that fathered Genesis and we get to meet the latest heir of Jesus.
The volume is packed with great action, hilarious moments and even moments of happy love (Tulip and Jesse). We get a little worried about Cassidy and we get to see how powerful Jesse is.
One thing I liked a lot about this volume was the interaction between Tulip and Jesse. It is just really nice. It also brought to my mind the power of friendship, since Cassidy made a big sacrifice for Tulip and now they are doing a big sacrifice for Cassidy. It shows us how important friendship is to these characters.
Another thing I liked a lot in this volume was how ridiculous The Grail is. I was laughing a lot when the leader of The Grail, Allfather D'aronique, appeared for the first time. Being such a fat man that an airplane couldn't land correctly. It was very funny how Ennis was making fun of powerful men.
Besides the great story involving Masada and the rescue of Cassidy, we get a nice break from the action with the last 2 issues, where Cassidy narrates to Jesse how he became a vampire and how his life was when he got to America. It was a very nice break from the action we were getting in the other issues.
A great story continues.
The whole volume consists of one story, in fact it could be considered the same story arc going back to "Hunters" in the second volume. The Grail has kidnapped Cassidy thinking it was Jesse and they take him to a fortress in France called "Masada". In this volume we get to know more about "The Grail", we get to know more about the angel that fathered Genesis and we get to meet the latest heir of Jesus.
The volume is packed with great action, hilarious moments and even moments of happy love (Tulip and Jesse). We get a little worried about Cassidy and we get to see how powerful Jesse is.
One thing I liked a lot about this volume was the interaction between Tulip and Jesse. It is just really nice. It also brought to my mind the power of friendship, since Cassidy made a big sacrifice for Tulip and now they are doing a big sacrifice for Cassidy. It shows us how important friendship is to these characters.
Another thing I liked a lot in this volume was how ridiculous The Grail is. I was laughing a lot when the leader of The Grail, Allfather D'aronique, appeared for the first time. Being such a fat man that an airplane couldn't land correctly. It was very funny how Ennis was making fun of powerful men.
Besides the great story involving Masada and the rescue of Cassidy, we get a nice break from the action with the last 2 issues, where Cassidy narrates to Jesse how he became a vampire and how his life was when he got to America. It was a very nice break from the action we were getting in the other issues.
A great story continues.
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.
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.
Preacher: Gone to Texas (Vol. 1)
Preacher: Gone to Texas (Vol. 1) is written by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon. Vol. 1 collects issues 1 through 7. 200 pages.
I had read the first issue of the series years ago and decided that it wasn't good enough to keep reading the series. However, after I kept hearing from source after source that this comic was great, I had to give it another try, specially since my brother-in-law lent me all volumes of Preacher.
With all volumes in hand, I decided to give it another try. As I was reading the first issue again (which is a double sized issue), I realized it was better than what I had thought before, it almost seemed like I hadn't understood the story at my first try. The conception of Genesis made sense this time. Genesis is a creature born to an angel and a demon. Genesis is very powerful and takes the body of a priest Jesse Custer. After this Jesse decides that his mission is to find God and confront him.
The first 4 issues introduce us to the main characters: Jesse Custer, an rural preacher, Cassidy, a vampire and Tulip, an ex-girlfriend of Jesse who has a past involving guns. These issues also introduce us to a larger than life character called "Saint of Killers", a seemingly indestructible killer that comes out straight out of a Western movie. Besides introducing us with all these great characters, this volume gives us a reason to care for what will happen with Jesse and his search for God. It also brings in a lot of gore and a lot of funny moments.
The last three issues of the volume are kind of outside the mission of finding God. It involves a nasty detective story. I actually liked these issues more than the first four, mainly because the story had an ending and because it is full of shockingly funny moments. It is a great story that shows us how the characters introduced in the first story could come together in funny, exciting ways.
The first volume is very good, but not quite excellent.
I had read the first issue of the series years ago and decided that it wasn't good enough to keep reading the series. However, after I kept hearing from source after source that this comic was great, I had to give it another try, specially since my brother-in-law lent me all volumes of Preacher.
With all volumes in hand, I decided to give it another try. As I was reading the first issue again (which is a double sized issue), I realized it was better than what I had thought before, it almost seemed like I hadn't understood the story at my first try. The conception of Genesis made sense this time. Genesis is a creature born to an angel and a demon. Genesis is very powerful and takes the body of a priest Jesse Custer. After this Jesse decides that his mission is to find God and confront him.
The first 4 issues introduce us to the main characters: Jesse Custer, an rural preacher, Cassidy, a vampire and Tulip, an ex-girlfriend of Jesse who has a past involving guns. These issues also introduce us to a larger than life character called "Saint of Killers", a seemingly indestructible killer that comes out straight out of a Western movie. Besides introducing us with all these great characters, this volume gives us a reason to care for what will happen with Jesse and his search for God. It also brings in a lot of gore and a lot of funny moments.
The last three issues of the volume are kind of outside the mission of finding God. It involves a nasty detective story. I actually liked these issues more than the first four, mainly because the story had an ending and because it is full of shockingly funny moments. It is a great story that shows us how the characters introduced in the first story could come together in funny, exciting ways.
The first volume is very good, but not quite excellent.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)