Preacher: Gone to Texas

Rating:
Summary: Not for the Weak of Stomach
Review: First, an important disclaimer: I realize that, to a certain degree, I have no more right to complain about this graphic novel than someone who reads an entire issue of Playboy and then professes to be shocked, shocked by all the nudity. I mean, with a Vertigo title, you pretty much know you're gonna encounter stuff that's provocative, unsettling, challenging, perhaps even creepy. That being said, though, I found "Preacher: Gone to Texas" to simply be vile and loathesome.

Basically, "Preacher" posits that God Almighty is just some wanker who has enjoyed lording it over his subjects, but that the moment a challenge arose, he scarpered off like a schoolyard bully. So now it's up to Jesse Custer (the preacher of the title, although he has no apparent interest in his religion) to hunt down God and bring him to trial for his myriad failings.

Of course, in God's absence, Heaven itself isn't doing too well. The archangels are arrogant and uncaring, while the lesser angels are a pack of self-aggrandizing conspirators, most of whom are drunk and foul-mouthed stumblebums. Custer later points out that Heaven and Hell are not the same as good and evil, and that the forces of Heaven fear new ideas.

On Earth, Custer becomes infused with Genesis, an entity that's escaped captivity in Heaven. As a consequence of this merger, Custer's entire congregation of 200 people gets burned alive, but that seems to be of little import. Ennis makes sure to depict the townspeople as being narrow-minded and venal bigots, so I guess they got what they deserved.

Custer survives and coincidentally links up with his former girlfriend Tulip, who has taken on a new job as hitwoman, and with Cassidy, a punked-out and laidback Irish vampire. The trio gets chased across Texas by the local constabulary and by the Saint of Killers, an ustoppable death machine in the guise of an Old West gunslinger, who has been unleashed by the angels to recover Genesis. Several massacres ensue, but again, we don't have to care, because the sheriff and all of his deputies are backwoods idjits and racists, so it's okay that they all get gunned down. (Evidently, Ennis believes that everyone in rural Texas is a gov'mint-hatin' inbred member of the KKK.)

Mostly, Jesse Custer (whose name is an anagram) is concerned with getting Tulip in bed, with an occasional pause to grumble about that ol' meanie, God. Tulip is pretty much just a cipher. But the character of Cassidy is actually quite engaging.

Be warned that the violence in this book is not the old-fashioned "biff bam pow" sort that you would find in the comics of yesteryear. The depictions are...well, extreme. You'll see:

--a man get his face flayed off and then nailed back on

--a man get his lower jaw exploded by a bullet

--a teenage survivor of a failed suicide attempt (shotgun blast through the bottom of his chin)

--an angel get the back of his head blown out so that the contents slowly slush out the back in a steaming pile

--and several dozen other men, women, and children get slain by shots to their heads, necks, and faces (the artist is extraordinarily fascinated with the vaporization of people's heads)

I alternated between being offended, dismayed, and disgusted, but I suppose that this material will work for a lot of other people. It's not, however, for those with weak stomachs. It's too late for me, so save yourselves.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent start to an excellent series
Review: Just a few quick comments here... first, I haven't been reading comics very often for the past few years. I'd heard good things about Preacher, though, and decided I'd check it out. Frankly, I was amazed. Few serious novels I've read can match the emotional intensity and gripping story Garth Ennis has created with Preacher. While this is not the best of the series (of the first five I've read, I liked the second one best), it is nonetheless fully deserving of the five stars I give it. Even if you don't like comics much, do yourself a favor and check this one out. One final comment: I'm a Christian, and I liked this. It also made me think, and that is by far the highest accolade I can give.

Rating:
Summary: Even my room mate likes it.
Review: Okay, so I'll admit it. I'm a) a nerd and b) fond of comic books. But I'm also choosie. I'm not into characters in tights. Capes in no way impress me and if I see another hero with the prefix "captain" or the suffix -man, I will be forced to shoot someone.

Enter Preacher. If Johnny Cash wrote a song about a Clive Barker novel that had been heavily influenced by the book of satan you'd get some inkling of what Preacher is about. Blasphemous, intelligent and utterly irreverant- Universities should study it as literature. This isn't a book that you can just pick up and throw away. You have to think, you have to be prepared to be challenged and you have to have a sense of humor. If not don't bother. Actually, no. Do bother and expand your horizons, all your friends will say you needed it!

Rating:
Summary: Wayward British slang notwithstanding.. :)
Review: Although I was a huge fan of comics back in elementary school (surprise, surprise), I tired of them after realizing just how expensive a habit it is to keep up with them. Nowadays I don't enjoy many comics unless they come in graphic novel format and have a limited number of issues. Once a run goes so far, it becomes too difficult to collect. Unfortunately, once you find something as fun to read as Preacher, you wish you could avoid the paradox altogether because you always want to read more.

While Preacher may seem to the casual observer some kind of twisted perversion of modern day literature, this is because of the stark realism (aside, of course, from the clearly supernatural aspects of certain characters) of the books. Not everything is going to be ok at the end of the day, necessarily. Unlike the superhero genre, there isn't always a solution to any given problem. Lost a limb? You're going to need prosthetics.

A little more action-oriented at the beginning, the plot and characters are gradually fleshed out, eventually placing the emphasis on development. While this may mean some fans may not appreciate the later collections, those who enjoy the epic tale of moral struggle amidst nigh unbearable hardships will love Preacher from start to finish. Foremost, however, this series is for people who have a dark sense of humor, are not easily averted by grotesque situations, and are able to enjoy the subtle nuances of a well-told story.

Rating:
Summary: Higher than 5 stars!
Review: Preacher is a wild, insane ride with a Preacher, his girl and a vampire named cassidy. This book is INCREDIBLY fun to read, and hard to put down. Along with Transmetropolitan, it is the best comic out.

Rating:
Summary: Better than drugs
Review: With the exception of Gaiman's Sandman, Preacher is the best comic ever written. It's equal parts epic, horror, comedy, and action story. Once you read more Preacher books, you'll step back and ask yourself, "Who thought this stuff up?" Garth Ennis is the answer. Praise, praise, praise.

Rating:
Summary: Finger Lick'in Good
Review: When one takes time to analyse the comics of today with an older and enlightened view, one finds that comics today are lacking one obvious necessity, a story. While you of course see your "Flame ons," and your "Spider-sense tingling," you're often left with nothing at the end of a comic except minus a buck fifty. Now here's the part where several characters with well thought out personas are factored in to a story that is provacative and different. The idea of man having a bone to pick with God is nothing new, except, perhaps finding him and having him bite out your left eye. Many might consider this book, which I say without shame is something to be considered as a literary classic, as sinful and teaches children, who shouldn't be reading anything this graphic to begin with, to question God. When in fact it is something made to entertain rather than teach. If one learns all his lessons from a comic book he's probably going to grow up to be pretty messed up. Within these several volumed trade's Ennis has taken his readers on a thrill ride that's ending is yet to be determined. And all one can say is... it's going to be one hell of a party pilgrim.

Rating:
Summary: Preach On!
Review: I am a recent fan of the "Preacher" series, and with the title ending in another month as of this writing, I missed alot. So when I read this first book of collected issues, I knew I had several more books to go in order to catch up. I was hooked by page 2! This entire run is amazing and it all began here in this book! It's incredibly violent, but it does it for a reason, instead of just for shock value. If you want to read one of the best stories to come along since WATCHMEN, then start with this book!

Rating:
Summary: The first of the Preacher saga
Review: This is the one that started it all. Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon produced one of the greatest most twisted comics ever and this is how it all began. We are introduced to the Reverend Jesse custer along with his gun toting girlfriend Tulip and Vampiric drinking buddy Cassidy. Though this is just the beginning, it is one of the most enjoyable of the Preacher stories. If you are into Preacher, you should definately have read this as it shows how it all began.

Rating:
Summary: offensive, violent, but incredibly enjoyable
Review: I hate violence, and usually get bored to tears by fiction that presents it devoid of complexity, realism, and the real human feelings such as shock, guilt, and pain that must inevitably result. Preacher is, among other things, such a fiction, which is why I'm so amazed I enjoyed it! There's just something so kinetic, so utterly enjoyable about the work that the (many!) instances of twisted violence somehow... work. It's really the characters that make the work so good (without giving anything away): the endearing Arsface; the Irish vampire (I love that concept!) Cassidy; the menacing Saint of Killers. This is America not as it is, but as a gross exaggeration, written by an Irishman, Garth Ennis. It might not rank in the VERY first tier of comics: Sandman, From Hell, etc, but ranks close behind.