Rating: 
Summary: A Politically Correct Lynching
Review: "Preacher" is one of the most noteworthy comics of the late nineties, though that is not as saying much considering the meltdown in the industry, and this is the graphic novel that concludes it. To its admirers "Preacher" provides a unique combination of humour, theological speculation, sex and ultra-violence that is unprecedented in comics today. Garth Ennis grew up in Belfast during "the troubles" and understandably has a rather acidic attitude towards religious orthodoxy. God here is both mad and brutal, the story of Jesus is a lie, manipulated by a group of unusually perverted megalomaniacs known as the Grail. Only Jesse Custer, a renegade preacher somehow imbued with the offspring of angel and demon, who can therefore command anyone to do his biding. Only Jesse, his girlfriend, and an all powerful assasin named the Saint of Killers that God has conveniently granted absolute powers.This is certainly entertaining to read, but the more one looks at it the more repulsive it becomes. Custer is in one sense the heroic American, the typical Western hero (the book concludes with he and his lover riding off on a vast desert plain). He is a thief and a fornicator, he swears and drinks like a fish. More importantly he is a ruthless killer and exterminator of his enemies. There is something vaguely ironic here. On one level Custer is the true common man, against moralism and bureaucracy, who heroically stops the cruelties of the Grail and God, even temporarily losing his own life in the process (note his initials). Yet throughout the course of "Preacher" he learns to trust and not to deceive his lover and at the end successfully begs her forgiveness. Yet on the other hand he is nothing of the sort. He does not so much defeat God and the Grail as the two conveniently self-destruct. Can God create an assasin so powerful that he could kill God himself? Well let's just say that insane malevolent deities can sometimes do the most convenient of things. Rather conveniently Custer comes back to life with the help of two people, one whom he denounces and renounces, the other he has set up to be killed. There is the irony that Custer shares the name of the worst officer in the history of the American army. There is another more serious irony. You can take the boy out of Belfast, but not Belfast out of the boy. The Preacher is as ruthless and unforgiving towards his enemies as the deity in Numbers and Joshua, and his victims are no more deserving of sympathy than the exterminated Amalekites. Just like the old God, but with better sex. In an earlier volume Custer actually lynches a particularly disgusting Frenchmen. Aside from showing that Francophobia is the favorite prejudice of the right and the centre, one has to ask is this ironic or what? In so many respects Custer resembles the caricature of the Texas Good Old Boy, hard-drinking, hard-fighting, rude, belligerent, unthinkingly patriotic to the point of xenophobic. But unlike so many others of this type, his opinions about women and race are unimpeachable. He kills people, but at least they're not black. Is this plausible? Is this a joke? Is Ennis subtly sanitizing his hero or laughing his head off at the irony? In an way Custer DOES resembles America, or more precisely a certain American hypocrisy, an America who benefits from good luck and the sacrifices of other people, but does not acknowledge them, who views its opponents as demons, who condemns without mercy while indulging in its own hedonism. But it will not do to praise Ennis as a clever ironist. For he is a man who indulges a noticeable sadistic streak, and who introduces bestiality and incest as plot points. One suspects this is a man who condemns the IRA and the Roman Catholic Church not for their cruelty or intolerance, but because their sense of principle challenges his ... sick easy nihilism. ...
Rating: 
Summary: Apocalyptic Revelations
Review: "The end of laughter and soft lies/The end of nights we tried to die/This is the end."
Of course, with its title, you know there will be plenty of blood and guts and death and guns (lots of those) before the conclusion. There are a lot of angry people here, and a lot of scores to settle. Interestingly, the end is not as much a finality as it is a suggestion of new beginnings.
The `Jesse as Jesus' motif is finally realized, with the notable difference, of course, of the real Jesus never having wanted to exact revenge on God. Oddly, as Jesse himself acknowledges in this book, it is precisely because of his religion, because he still thinks of himself as a preacher, that he hunts God to seek an explanation as to why He abandoned humankind.
I liked the drawings by other acclaimed artists (featuring such heavyweights as Dave Gibbons and Carlos Ezquerra) at the end of the book. Not to take anything away from the quality of their work, but it really goes to show how Steve Dillon's understated and clean approach really added to the feel of the series. Though he may not be the most technically gifted of artists, Dillon has a great feel for what works and what's appropriate.
This was undoubtedly one of the best long-run series in the D.C. Vertigo line, if not in all comics. However, although I found The Alamo to be very good, and definitely in keeping with the spirit of the series, it left me feeling a little flat. Ennis seemed to be treading water with the past few volumes, and this was no exception. The first couple instalments were nothing short of brilliant and set the tone of the series. Fortunately- or not- Ennis pretty much used them as his template. Not that I'm complaining, but I felt the series never really grew, and became somewhat predictable by the end.
Nevertheless, I've got to say that the Alamo does what Preacher is known for: blowing you away. The Alamo contains all of the humour, despair, pathos, and hope that Preacher is so rightly celebrated for. Both a party and a bummer, the Alamo is a fitting bookend.
Rating: 
Summary: Well...
Review: A slightly contrived conclusion to an otherwise (with the exception of 'Dixie Fried') first-rate series. If you've got this far you're going to buy it anyway regardless, and I recommend you do, but I couldn't help feeling a little ripped-off. I grew to dislike Jesse Custer somewhat after his abhorrent actions near the end of 'Salvation', and by this book I couldn't care less whether the mongrel lived or died. Asides from that, this volume contains more of the solid writing sharp dialogue we've come to love, and the art is top notch as always.
Rating: 
Summary: Fantastic Conclusion to One Hell of a Series.
Review: After a long haul the beloved Preacher series has finally come to an end. Many, myself included, had doubts regarding the quality of the ending after such a monumental series. I suspected that there was no way that it could end and do justice to the many issues and TPB's before it, but Garth Ennis came through with flying colors. While a few elements may seem a little too 'deus ex machina,' it's still a wonderful conclusion that remains true to the characters and the series. Who says there's no such thing as justice?
Rating:
Summary: Original enough
Review: After five and a half years we here have the final chapter in the Preacher series, together with Sandman (although they're hardly comparible) THE series I'm gonna remember the nineties by ... comic-wise. It's probably the best mass-attractive
'ending ongoing series' yet in print.
It all ends in a satisfying matter, but I can't help but feel that maybe Ennis could have made a little more of it. Still, the ending comes unexpected and is original enough to be deemed a worthy finale. After the previous two trades ("Salvation" and "All Hell is A-Coming") which were mostly meant as diversions, here Jesse continues his quest to find and confront God. For this he teams up with someone who you'd least expect it from. Starr learns of Jesse's coming and he changes his plans in service of the Grail to his own, he wants bloody revenge (he IS quite the ruin-in-body by now). Arseface gains some new perspective after the events in the last collection. All characters get ready for the big finale, including Cassidy (who is a little under-exposed in the two previous trades but is fully present again here). A little extra note of humurous input comes through Hoover, Featherstone's male colleague, who is a new man after 'speaking' to Jesse again after the 'count-sand' disaster. All in all a worthy ending of a great series. One that comes by only once in a while. Original, humurous, good dialoguing AND action-packed. Garth Ennis told his tale from beginning to end with ONE steady artist on the title, which is rare these days. That artist, Steve Dillon, kept his art at a constant quailty-level. I'm gonna miss this title but I'm also glad it wasn't milked dry. The series wouldn't deserve such a fate.
For the last time I'm gonna say as well that you really should start with volume 1 ("Gone to Texas") and work your way up from there. This is not a story of which you can read "just an arc halfway', it's one big tale.
Rating:
Summary: An epic end to an epic tale
Review: As engrossingly blasphemous as the preacher series was, this one caps it off with the subtly of a mushroom cloud. Without spoiling to much, I'll say the following happens: 1. A suprisingly one-sided battle between two former best buds. 2. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. 3. A...shall we say genitalia-impaired chrome dome exacts his revenge. 4. An extremely disfigured, yet refreshingly optimstic, boy finds salvation. 5. Heaven is ravaged beyond belief. 6. A Creator answers to His Creation. 7. A series ends a hell of a lot better than Seinfeld did. That's about all I can say except, buy this book and get a small facet of closure in your life. It's worth it. Oh, and never ever show this to your parents if they aren't extremly open-minded.
Rating:
Summary: The awesome finale for one of the best comics of the 90's
Review: For five and a half years it has led up to this. Jesse Custer's confrontation with God is coming full circle, as is the fates of all the characters who have gone through more character development in that aforementioned span than some comic characters go through in a decade. All the oddly written characters we have grown to love and hate like Jesse, Tulip, Cassidy, Herr Starr, The Saint of Killers, and Arseface meet their respective fates in big ways; ranging from Starr seeking his revenge on Jesse, to Jesse's showdown with Cassidy, to The Saint of Killers' war on heaven, and everything in between. By the end of Alamo, long time readers of the series will feel satisfied of most of the outcomes, and even though it is sad to see the Preacher series come to an end, it is good to know that the series didn't re-hash itself every twenty four issues and kept the storyline on one true track during the entire run. Let it also be noted that Preacher creators; writer Garth Ennis and artist Steve Dillon, stayed on for the entire Preacher run. That in itself is an accomplishment in the comic industry as they brought readers some of the most unforgettable characters and one of the most engrossing sagas in the modern comic age. Rumor has it (straight out of Wizard Magazine) that a Preacher re-launch is in the works, but time will tell. I also strongly suggest Ennis and Dillon's Punisher TPB for Marvel Comics; even if you've never had an interest in that character you should read the re-invention of him by the Preacher duo, it is pure genius.
Rating:
Summary: The awesome finale for one of the best comics of the 90's
Review: For five and a half years it has led up to this. Jesse Custer's confrontation with God is coming full circle, as is the fates of all the characters who have gone through more character development in that aforementioned span than some comic characters go through in a decade. All the oddly written characters we have grown to love and hate like Jesse, Tulip, Cassidy, Herr Starr, The Saint of Killers, and Arseface meet their respective fates in big ways; ranging from Starr seeking his revenge on Jesse, to Jesse's showdown with Cassidy, to The Saint of Killers' war on heaven, and everything in between. By the end of Alamo, long time readers of the series will feel satisfied of most of the outcomes, and even though it is sad to see the Preacher series come to an end, it is good to know that the series didn't re-hash itself every twenty four issues and kept the storyline on one true track during the entire run. Let it also be noted that Preacher creators; writer Garth Ennis and artist Steve Dillon, stayed on for the entire Preacher run. That in itself is an accomplishment in the comic industry as they brought readers some of the most unforgettable characters and one of the most engrossing sagas in the modern comic age. Rumor has it (straight out of Wizard Magazine) that a Preacher re-launch is in the works, but time will tell. I also strongly suggest Ennis and Dillon's Punisher TPB for Marvel Comics; even if you've never had an interest in that character you should read the re-invention of him by the Preacher duo, it is pure genius.
Rating:
Summary: The Preacher Series
Review: Good series - not the best. The ending felt a bit rushed to me, but did indeeed tie up all the loose ends. The hedonism was little full throttle for my taste, but the characters were so well developed that you couldn't help but enjoy them. Over all its a fun, ambitious series and definately worth the time/money to read it, but I think the people who give it 5 stars are short changing what it means to give something a 5 star review - Watchmen which is an all but perfect comic deserves 5 stars; the dark knight returns which paved the way for psychological backdrops for superhero's deserves 5 stars, and the Sandman series which is a well versed, educated-person's modern fairy tale deserves 5 stars. Ennis has achieved something notable here - something fun and stupid and sexy and violent - but it is not perfect. Enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: Revelations
Review: I picked up the first volume of Preacher over a year ago, and have read every installment since. What attracted me was the humor and reputation, but I didn't really know what to expect. I'll admit that Alamo, the end of the series, was not what I expected. The series had occasional moments of importance, but for the most part, it was a funny, violent romp. The ending, however, was extremly touching. I won't assume Ennis's motivations, but to me, Alamo changed my view of the whole series. At first glance, most of the series follows Jesse Custer, the Preacher. But Alamo reveals that Cassidy, the vampire, may be the strongest character. Much like The Shawshank Redemption is focused on Tim Robbins's character, while Morgan Freeman's character is the moral center. But I'll let you draw your own opinions. Read this.
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