Rating: 
Summary: Title says it all: "Hell" is "coming", so we wait...
Review: Like all readers of this book, I've been following the Preacher Saga since "Gone To Texas", and for the first time I have to agree with the negative reviewers: this is not exactly the best Preacher chapter but that is not to say that is bad either,'cos it's pretty good.Many feel that the "Salvation" storyline was just a waste of valuable time but I disagree. It was a needed pause after the "War in the Sun" fast and violent events and a cool sort of sequel to "Until the End of the World". The problem with "All Hell's" is that it has slow plot development AFTER another kindda slow one. "Salvation" had suspense, weird enough characters and when Jesse eats the peyote and remembers his encounter with God... You are GLAD to have the trade in your possesion! "All Hell's" ties many loose ends but it lacks real movement until we see certain irish vampire again. The Starr parts are, as always, hilarious and the Jesse and Tulip "early days" story is okey. But I think we've hear enough about how they love each other and how America is so great that all hitchickers are extravagant and very American people. I found that part sort of preachy and repetitive. Maybe the books before has been so great that we complain when they're only normal, maybe we're so anxious to read "Alamo" that everything else just doesn't seem to matter. Anyway, this is a must for any fan of the series and I bet the next book will be so shocking and memorable that we'll be talking about it from years to come.
Rating:
Summary: Gathering speed for the conclusion makes this a bit slow...
Review: Much is made of the innovative series Preacher. This collection lacks some of the energy the previous volumes had, but makes up for it with feeling and a solid story. Sure, this isn't as heart-pounding as, say, War in The Sun, but All Hell's A-Coming is still a good book. The title says it quite clearly: All hell is a-coming... it's not here yet!
Garth Ennis takes a little time here to tie a few loose ends before the big climatic ending. Still, this Preacher is as good as all the others. This book has a lot going for it.
The artwork by Steve Dillon is top notch. Since this Vertigo series is not in a superhero universe, it's really appropriate to have an artist with little to no anatomy distorsion in his art. The people here look like people you might meet at the supermarket. And that fits the story, so no complaints. Also, Dillon has a knack for making his pictures move, even though they remain stills. Every panel is dynamic and you can follow motion easily. Also, it's hard to see his visuals and not make little noises like gunfire and punches. It's that good. Additionally, this has the bext dialog in the industry: sharp, incisive, dead-on character development. Believeable characters in wonderful situations. Preacher excells in all catergories. So give it a read. You'll enjoy it. Just make sure you read the rest!
Rating: 
Summary: This book is really good.
Review: The eighth installment in the PREACHER library departs from much of what made the book so successful in the fisrt place. Blood and gore take a back seat, as Ennis and Dillon choose to concentrate more heavily on character development, most noticeable in the characters of Tulip and Cassidy. There is just enough blood to satisfy the gore-hounds, but also enough excellent dialogue and plot development to interest those who would never imagine a mere comic book could be this thought provoking. Jesse and Tulip's relationship is put to the ultimate test, which we glimpsed in the finale of WAR IN THE SUN (my personal favorite of the PREACHER collections) and the outcome is interesting to say the least. All in all, this book is an excellent prelude of the earth shaking events that will no doubt transpose at the conclusion of the current series-ending "Alamo" storyline. One more thing: Mark my words, Arseface will be remembered as one the great tragic characters, on par with Shakespeare's Hamlet and Tarantino's Mr. Orange.
Rating:
Summary: Too much plot? Of course not!
Review: The general problem almost everyone seems to have with "All Hell's A-Coming" is that that nothing much happens. Of course, if they mean that there aren't the usual amount of shootings, murders and gruesome deaths then they're perfectly right. Throughout this TPB (The one-shot "Tall In The Saddle" excepted) there are surprisingly few deaths. What we have in its place, however is superb characterisation, some insightful revelations on the pasts of both Tulip and Cassidy and tonnes of excellent jokes. Those who want blood, guts and mutilation might want to turn back to Dixie Fried, which was basically the antithesis of this TPB; lots of gore and death but no real movement in the plot. Those who really care about the characters, however (and with Ennis' sometimes surprisingly compassionate writing this is easy) should enjoy this book wholeheartedly. "Even Hitgirls Get The Blues", the issue beginning a two-part look back at Tulip's formative years, shows that Ennis really can write touching and moving rites-of-passage stuff with the best of them, whilst Jesse's discovery about Cassidy's dark past (told in flashback) adds further layers onto a character who started off as the stereotypical rakish "lad". To add unneccesary fights and blood would utterly devalue these stories. Although none of this really moves the background plot forward - Starr's machinations aside - it does provide excellent character profiles and credits the characters and reader with some intelligence. The only part of this book which actually feels like padding is Jesse's road trip, with him picking up various hitchhikers - including some very familliar characters - as he travels to see Amy. And a scene in which a fat gentleman wearing blue suede shoes who used to be a rock and roll star (yes, HIM) is picked up by Jesse pushes the book just a little too close to silliness. Oh, and the one-shot (featuring art work which, for some reason, mimicks Dillon's style) is a so-so actioner with some fairly good jokes and a big continuity slip-up (in case you can't figure it out, Jesse kills a couple of men in this pre-Gone To Texas story, yet in GTT he claims never to have killed a man before. D'oh!) An excellent TPB, which once again proves that comic books can have "real" characters too.
Rating:
Summary: Leads up to the incredible finale
Review: This collected volume, which leads up to the incredible finale of the Preacher series, finds Tulip leaving her new life of booze, drugs, and Cassidy to try to get her life back together. After that (and a rousing backstory on Tulip's childhood and her meeting with Amy), she and Jesse are re-united proving one of Preacher's many themes: love is stronger than death. The best parts of All Hell's A-Coming is undoubtadly Jesse learning all of Cassidy's dark and dirty past. This part is pivotal for a few reasons: longtime fans of the series have no doubt grown to love Cass, and now their opinions will be surely changed. Also, this is the plot progressing set up the final, pivotal events that come in the next and final collected volume; Alamo. The final story, a backstory on one of Jesse, Tulip, and Amy's criminal misadventures, isn't one of Ennis' better written stories, but think of it as an added bonus.
Rating:
Summary: Leads up to the incredible finale
Review: This collected volume, which leads up to the incredible finale of the Preacher series, finds Tulip leaving her new life of booze, drugs, and Cassidy to try to get her life back together. After that (and a rousing backstory on Tulip's childhood and her meeting with Amy), she and Jesse are re-united proving one of Preacher's many themes: love is stronger than death. The best parts of All Hell's A-Coming is undoubtadly Jesse learning all of Cassidy's dark and dirty past. This part is pivotal for a few reasons: longtime fans of the series have no doubt grown to love Cass, and now their opinions will be surely changed. Also, this is the plot progressing set up the final, pivotal events that come in the next and final collected volume; Alamo. The final story, a backstory on one of Jesse, Tulip, and Amy's criminal misadventures, isn't one of Ennis' better written stories, but think of it as an added bonus.
Rating:
Summary: Almost there...
Review: This is the next-to-the-last (the penultimate, if you will) in the series of collected Preacher graphic novels, and it's a good one. It's probably not as good as Salvation, but still it's one of my favorites. This is the last bit of breathing space we're allowed in the series before the plot takes over and bulldozes us towards the conclusion in book nine. Here there's still some room to move sideways as well as forward. The books starts with some backstory on Tulip. We visit her childhood and find out why she's who she is, and why she's so good with a gun. Then at long last Tulip and Jesse are reunited. There's also some Grail business to take care of, and we get some QT with Arseface before Cassidy shows up at the end of the book like a mangy dog at the door step. Jesse makes an appointment with him to settle their difference like real men...at the Alamo. And on we go to the rousing conclusion of the series...see you there.
Rating:
Summary: Almost there...
Review: This is the next-to-the-last (the penultimate, if you will) in the series of collected Preacher graphic novels, and it's a good one. It's probably not as good as Salvation, but still it's one of my favorites. This is the last bit of breathing space we're allowed in the series before the plot takes over and bulldozes us towards the conclusion in book nine. Here there's still some room to move sideways as well as forward. The books starts with some backstory on Tulip. We visit her childhood and find out why she's who she is, and why she's so good with a gun. Then at long last Tulip and Jesse are reunited. There's also some Grail business to take care of, and we get some QT with Arseface before Cassidy shows up at the end of the book like a mangy dog at the door step. Jesse makes an appointment with him to settle their difference like real men...at the Alamo. And on we go to the rousing conclusion of the series...see you there.
Rating:
Summary: Good stories
Review: This one's still a bit more downbeat than the first three installments, seemingly to conclude the "calm before the storm" chapters that have been running since the start of the "Salvation" storylines. I would have prefered it if they'd at least started to get back into the really fun stuff before the end of this book, but it sets up for the final chapter very well, and left me looking forward to the last episode. Even though it's almost all concerned with past events (and these do answer some interesting questions), there's a highly entertaining mini-story and the standard of narrative and artwork are as high as ever. Fans will love it, which probably means everyone whose ever read any of the earlier preacher books, but for someone who hasn't this doesn't make a good jumping-in point.
Rating:
Summary: Better Than "Salvation"
Review: This penultimate Preacher collection builds up the series finale, but ultimately you're left feeling nothing really happened. I'm still left wondering what the hell "Salvation" was about that it needed to last a whole year. In any case, Preacher still hasn't hit its high marks from Le Saint Marie to Death Valley again, but hopefully the last one will be decent. Of course it goes without saying that this is a must-have for ANY comics fan!
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