Goddess

Rating:
Summary: Not Ennis' Best Work, But Still Entertaining.
Review: In one of the strangest over-reactions of the time, DC/Vertigo postponed the publication of Goddess in the weeks after the September 11th attacks. The book contains some strong images of eco-terrorism, but the violence is SO over-the-top that it's hard to imagine anyone being offended....The story itself is simple- Young Irish lass Rosie Nolan begins to display strange, seemingly limitless powers. Finding herself pursued by a crazed C.I.A operative, she goes on the lam with 3 friends. Horrific violence ensues.

Ennis' script will offer no surprises to longtime fans- We've seen this kinda thing before in Dicks, Hitman, and Preacher before. The art by Phil Winslade is great; You can actually see the progression of his talent as the book nears it's conclusion. The book picks up after a slow start, and the end is truly original. The book also has a new introduction by Winslade, and a gallery of his sketches and unpublished art. Overall, not a bad package, and it's hard not to fall for the loveable Rosie....

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: Let this be clear: I love "Preacher". Ennis's work on "Hellblazer" was magnificent. Even "War in Heaven" and "Pilgrim" was far above average.

So I was pretty excited about this early work of his.
Sadly, I was deeply disappointed. Oh yes, there are many glimpses of the nihilistic Ennis-brand of satire. And plenty of bloodshed. But all the fun goes out of the book, partly due to Winslade's boring, over-detailed artwork, but mostly due to the heavy-handed, shallow political correctness that poisons the story.

Police are bad, must die, horribly. CIA bad, must die, horribly. Whalers bad, must die, horribly. Military bad, must die, horribly. Smokers bad... well, the villain is a smoker, nobody else is. The all-too predictable anti-authority attitude gets old in a few pages. And the heroes are frankly not very likable at all. The charming well-meaning villain, who gladly kills people to protect animals comes off as a stupid git, with fists instead of brains. And Rosie herself, the Goddess of the title, starts out as a confused superpowered being, but as she gains control, she only wants to use her powers to cram her own ideals down the throat of humanity.

It's surprising, as well, as Ennis in "Preacher" raged against political correctness at every opportunity. Perhaps he woke up after Goddess and actually realised that know-it-all political correctness is as much a false authority as know-it-all cynical politicians.

I dearly wish I hadn't read this depressing book at all.