I have never read this and was wondering whether to try it.
Has anyone here read it? If so, what did you make of it?
Is it worth getting?
Hi Fishy
drop me a line and Ill pass the books on. Youve had a couple from me before so I know youll take care of them. They are rather dandy in places!!
Yer Slips
Mr Slips that is an extremely kind offer.
Thanks , i shall stick an email through.
Slips has it right-a really cracker wee read,great entertainment.Dialogue is sharp as...
I've got the last issue,signed by Dillon&Ennis.Heh,drool you mortals!
M.
do it qucik and Ill get the first couple in the post before I go on holiday (monday)....
read and loved it, actually, haven't finished it yet, books 8 + 9 to go.
have a copy of book one signed by fabry, lovely bloke, even when he's totally pissed.
What about 'Hitman'. I never read this, though remember it being fairly well received, so I'm surprised I haven't seen any collections on the shelves. Was it any good? Was it worth reading?
Preacher - I've been looking to read this for a while. The collected editions are among the few comics sold in mainstream bookshops - along with Sandman and whatever movie related books are knocking about.
Hitman's a good read too. Got into it towards the end and I'm (very) slowly picking up the GNs when Mrs WoD lets me have my pocket money.
WoD.
Ooooh, essential reading. And umm, it's better than Helter Skelter :o)
Possibly the best comic series ever, at least it's my personal favourite.
IMHO... ok, much sickness and gore, funny in places, let down by poor ending
HITMAN is possibly my favourite Ennis comic ever, even more so than PREACHER. It developed from DC's ill-starred "Bloodlines" crossover, which was designed to introduce new heroes and villains to the DC Universe (where Batman, Superman and co. operate)... but Hitman was the only survivor.
HITMAN is the story of Tommy Monaghan, an American hitman with Irish ancestry (natch!), who accidentally gets superpowers (X-ray vision and telepathy) when attacked by a bizarre, obese alien. Christening himself Hitman, Monaghan takes the contracts no other killer will ? and he specialises in supervillains.
Monaghan is essentially a 'good' man - he won't kill cops or 'good' heroes ever - but his chosen career brings him a lot of heartache and danger.
The real strengths of the book are:-
? Its utter contempt for DC's greatest heroes - Tommy pukes on Batman in one issue, and uses a dead cat and a spotlight to attract Catwoman's attention in another
? The brilliant main characters: Tommy, Natt - his fat ex-army buddy, Ringo - basically Chow-Yun Fat, Hacken - a big stupid mong, Pat - Tommy's mouthy buddy, and Sean - the owner of the bar where they all drink, and a father figure to Tommy
? The genius superheroes Ennis created, especially alcoholic loon Sixpack ("Me and Batman fought Pink Elephant Lad!") and Section Eight, his utterly hilarious superteam
? Typical Ennis dialogue but better
? "Zombie Night at the Gotham Aquarium", one of the funniest strips ever written, and John McCrea's bestest art ever
? Hitman 1,000,000 - part of the DC 1 MILLION crossover, but completely took the piss out of the whole thing, and contains the immortal line "Oh my god! I turned my ass into a hand grenade!"
J-Bo-1
I guess I've got to read it now!
Not really into Ennis stuff but Preacher's a cracking read (a mate of mine lent me every GN so I did it one go). I've read a couple of Hitman GN's, they were so-so and on a par with the average Ennis Dredd, wouldn't recommend them at all, begorrah.
"let down by poor ending"
Mrs Mikey cried at the end-she was on the bus at the time too!She's got a real thing for Jesse...
But I do think it ended the only way it could.
M.
Good man!
Current HITMAN GNs (in order):-
HITMAN
10,000 BULLETS
LOCAL HEROES (features ZOMBIE NIGHT...)
WHO DARES WINS
ACE OF KILLERS (features SECTION EIGHT)
Unfortunately, DC have gone on the record to state that there will not be any further HITMAN GNs - but, then, they *have* changed their minds about things before...
J-Bo-1
Thanks everyone for the advice on this one.
Mr slips has kindly offered to loan me some, so i look forward to seeing what sounds like a great strip.
"Zombie Night at the Gotham Aquarium",
Heh Heh Heh!!!
Fabulous.
WoD
preacher ending rant on! but wot the fuck happened to the half angel devil thing! it just vanished! And ... And...! i think i had better calm down a bit and....
spoiler alert..
the irish vampire 'Behgorrah I'm dead, making the ultimate sacrifice!" "oh no I'm not!" was just a cheat
"Zombie Night at the Gotham Aquarium"
Not recommended for Troutman, Something Fishy....
J-Bo-1
Just to add my tuppence worth. Preacher is my favourite strip ever ('cept for Dredd, naturally). I cared about the characters throughout the tale and it's the set of books I give people who want to give comics a try.
Very highly recommended.
That would make the pond stink that would.
I am rather enthused about this now. Cheers.
It makes all the more great that the fabulous Mr Slipsy is trusting me with his copies.
I am also about to try Y The Last Man.
Oo.. i'm getting all experimental.
oh yeah & i totally loved it & went to great obbsessive lengths to get the whole lot. pretty ikky in parts but the characters were ...erm ..like you really cared? i cried n that.
well well well Venen Bousey, this must be something quite special to make a warrior queen cry.
my enthusedness is reaching an even higher level.
thanks.
a late enthuse here
Preacher is brilliant, check it out. I`ve read the lot.
You can quibble with it; I got tired of the PC but not PC writing sometimes and I wasn`t sure about the ending (although I`m damned if I can think of a better one) but it is fantastic and you should read it.
yours hotly,
Floyd
Y is great.
Other recommendations:
FABLES - if you like fairytales
STORMWATCH: TEAM ACHILLES - if you like politics / military fiction
WILDC.A.T.S. - if you like superheroes, but not when they look bloody silly
LOSERS - if you like the A-Team (and who doesn't?)
SLEEPER - if you like the movie DEEP COVER
J-Bo-1
I'm really surprised that so many people critisise the ending. What were they expecting? For a long running series with so much going on, it was a joy to see all of the loose ends tied up (unlike Sandman and others).
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Perhaps the quiet and emotive ending caught people off guard after the rest of the story. Probably they were expecting a big battle?
well i cried a lot lemmi tell you. mush conquers all.
Re: PREACHER, I don't think that the ending is at all problematic - Cassidy's situation is telegraphed in the plot so shouldn't be a "surprise" at all, and Jesse/Tulip's ending is a sensible note to finish on, as is the Saint's.
The problem for a lot of people seems to be the length of time it takes to get there, especially the SALVATION arc. Me, I loved SALVATION, so...
J-Bo-1
Thanks for the tips.
A mate of mine sold me the complete Preacher (all issues and specials) for a tenner the other week.
I'm only about 25 issues in, but I really am loving it. Fantastic, fantastic stuff.
It would just be 'pretty good', but it's the first thing I've read in a long, long time that's written so well that it actually made me completely question my own beliefs.
It's also made me think a lot more of Ennis as a writer.
My only REAL criticism is that he's taken the 'evil gay' characters to a level that makes Mills look balanced!!
A mix of all sorts of stuff, but all of it (so far) fantastic.
"My only REAL criticism is that he's taken the 'evil gay' characters to a level that makes Mills look balanced!!"
It's not even near the same! Starr is justa f*cked-up hombre from the first panel he shows up.
Preacher ending...didn't bother me in the slightest. A mighty end to a mighty comic.
Re: preacher ending
Thought it was pretty much spot on, myself. It was essentially a western, after all.
But i did think Cassidy's sacrifice would have meant more if he stayed dead. Would have made more sense too.
It was good fun, then it ended.
Definately worth a read.
2 of those been finished early
WildCATS just had the last issue (24 - think he had up to 40 planned)
Stormwatch Achilles - pulled before the last episode could be written - at least the one they wanted to finish on...
Think Sleepers' bound for the can as well...
Dan
Ok, there's two evil detectives/rent boys, Jesus De Sade (who is, admittadly, totally fucked up), Starr.... The list goes on...
Dont see the point your trying to make at all Dribbles..Ennis has done far more 'Evil Straight' characters than he has gay ones..so some of his evil characters are gay?..so what?..no-one is under any obligation to portray Gays as all round good eggs than they are straights..this is the world of comics where anything can and usually does happen not an episode of East fucking enders written by by the usual ragtag bunch of bearded liberals..Funny how no-one has ever spoke out because Ennis,Mills,Rennie or Millar show most of the evil characters as Hetro-sexuals..my God I've just realised that Comics are vehicles for rampant Hetrophobia...aaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrgggggghhhhhhhhhhh
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Fer frigg's sakes....
All I was saying was that having maybe five major gay villains in (so far) 16 issues is a bit strange!! I've read enough Ennis to know that he doesn't do this all the time and I wondered if it was significant at all!!
It's supposed to be bibically frowned upon, I wondered if there was a clumsy point being made. If not, it seems a trifle unnecessary to highlight their sexuality.
Though his frequent fixation with people's sexuality can spoil things. I draw your attention to The Ultimates.
'Hulk STRAIGHT!'
Yeah that line was a cracker..like ANYONE would try it on the Hulk
Millar wrote that. Ennis has nothing to do with ultimate commercial rip-off.
If you like preahcer, then read his Punisher stuff.
Freddie And Bob weren't really evil....if you keep reading you'll see they're not bad lads really.
Well, okay, they're involved in a load of hard drugs dealing, but you'll see what I mean when you get to it.
Paulie...not really a bad guy. I read it as a piss-take of all hard-ass cops in films and that.
You've still got Odin Quincannon to come...truly deviant evil if ever there was some. And Jody, Grandma and God are far more twisted than the rest of the feckers.
There is much envy on my part...you get to read it for the first time.
Millar it was. Where did I get Ennis from?!? Oh well, my qualms are gone. It's still a fething awful line. Along with all the 'Come to HULK, Betty, HULK horny for Betty'
I'm loving reading it for the first time too! He he he. Having only really read Judgement Day as a 'big' Ennis story before, I'm very shocked at how good this is!
Some of the characters are GENIUS!! Jessie's entire family.... When the 'explanation' episode appeared, it was stellar! I'm gonna have a sit down and rattle through another 15 or so tonight. I know I should be savouring it.... but I can't!!
Thanks Mr C. I think Floyd was talking about this a while ago.... I'll check it out when I can afford to (not likely to be any year soon......)
Dribbles... have you got all the specials? as well as they really add to the characters... esp The Arseface origin story
Yeah. Like I said, a full set! Really, really good stuff.
Just found this as well. I funting HATE James MArsden, but if he can pull off a grittier role (primarily seen him as a pretty boy) then it might work. Depends on other casting too I guess. And director. It claims to be out this year, but I guarantee it won't be as it isn't even in production!!
Johnny Depp seems to be a fan fave, but nobody knows if he'd be Jesse or Cassidy. I'll watch this, but I seriously doubt it'll equal the comic.
Link: Adaptions and stuff
The specials are all in the ANCIENT HISTORY trade (book 4 of the complete series), IIRC.
J-Bo-1
Ennis'latest Punisher story arc is a cracker too..'Hells Kitchen'..try and pick it up from issue 7
When should I read the specials then.....?
I'm in the 60s now, Jessie is looking for Cassidy (presumable to kick his slimy Oirish arse). I was quite confused by the sudden 10 issue story arc where he became a sherrif, found his mom, took down a meat pervert then just went back to business....
Odd! But readable and well paced.
>When should I read the specials then.....?
Errr that's something I'd like to know for when I get around to a re-reading them
I seem to think there was one in each graphic novel (after the first couple)
I kinda read it a bit out of sequence... read the first gn when it came out then started reading the comic, eventually filing in what I had missed with the second gn and some backissues
Finished!
What was wrong with the end? Really? It played out about the only way it could have....
Gary, could you mail me the ending you mentioned in the chat the other day? I'm curious.
Damn, that was good stuff.
>When should I read the specials then.....?
In the tpb's, The Saint of Killers specials are after Cassidy tells Jesse how he became a vampire and before they go to New Orleans. Arseface and the Good Ol' Boys don't really matter when, as they just add some depth to the characters. In the collections they're lumped after the Saint.
The Cassidy special is collected just before New Orleans. Starr is after New Orleans, before Monument. And if my memory's still working, High In the Saddle is after Jesse and Tulip leave New York for San Antonio.
The 'Hulk Straight' confusion comes from the 'Hulk Sissy! Hulk girl!' bit in Hulk Smash, by Ennis... not sure that the Hulk refutes these allegations or just goes mental, but the masculinity-proving vibe is there if not the actual quote...
...true believer!
-- Sadsack Stan
As long as you read the GN's in order, you'll read all the specials where youre 'supposed' to.
And allways make sure you show 'blood and whiskey' to goths! Especially fat ones.
Ah, but I had them as singles. No worries, I read them at more or less the right times. I avoided spoilers but they still made sense. I quite liked
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the Frenchman begging for his life in the Jessie/Tulip one.
'No! PLEASE! I'll do ANYTHING! I'LL BE LESS FRENCH!'
nibble the vein...nibble the vein.....now say the name....SAY THE NAME.....
Isn't the Meat Man(Odin Quincannon) the most F#$ked up thing you've ever seen in comics?
I personally found the whole Salvation arc in Preacher to be a nice change of pace and broke the main story up nicely aswell as telling us a little bit more about what makes Jessie tick.
CU Krestel
Yep, that full pager where his passion is...revealed is really fucked up.
But Starr is my favorite character.
"Hello, police? Yes, I was just jabbing a syringe of heroin into my eyeball while fellating a billy-goat when these men came in and started shooting the place up. Honestly, can't we have orgies in peace these days?"
Best Preacher quote though is "Get ready, true believer...It's buggering time!"
One of my favourite Starr lines was:
"How was your trip sir?"
"OH, well let me see: we had a eunuch, several dozen idiots, an unkillable mick, a one man holocaust in a duster coat, the occasional twenty course banquet for the mother of all fat fucker, inbreeding, family feuds, bulemia, a retarded child - always good for a laugh - and the utter destruction of our most sacred shrine and secret retreat in the detonation of a fifty-ton bomb. If I thnk of anything else, I'll let you know"
That and his complete RANT at Hoover over inverted commas:
(while shooting Hoover's report with a BIG gun)
"Improper use of inverted commas, Hoover. IMPROPER USE OF INVERTED COMMAS!!"
Genius sequence.... Really inspired!
Oh Preacher! Could go on about that comic for days so I'll just keep it brief and say it's probably the best thing I've ever read.I'm always amazed by the dialogue, every single line just seems perfect, kind of like the comic equivalent of Tarantino. It also hooked my girlfriend and now she reads my comics all the time so I guess it must appeal to more than just your average comic fan too. Loved the ending personally,thought it was perfect, and The Punisher is incredible right now thanks to Ennis!
Link: PAIGE
Just remembered!
There IS one special thats not included in the GN's, 'Tall In The Saddle'.
Nice little story, but not an important bit of plot or anything.
Theres also 1 or 2 issues missing between book 1 and book 2, but that was reprinted in the Meg a while back.
Best line?
"No prime minister, i shall not be 'popping down under'. If i wanted to visit a bunch of sheep-shaggers i'd go to Wales. Its closer."
something like that, anyway!
>There IS one special thats not included in the GN's, 'Tall In The Saddle'.
It's at the back of "All Hell's A'Coming"
I really liked the Salvation arc. A lot of people moan about it but they need the "six month gap" of Jesse separated from Tulip in order for her to learn about Cassidy. And it helped tie up Arseface nicely.
">There IS one special thats not included in the GN's, 'Tall In The Saddle'.
It's at the back of "All Hell's A'Coming" "
DOH!!!
Yes Preacher is fantastic. Even more so because it's the reason I got back into 2000ad.
I picked up the Megazine just for something to read on the way back from college, and it had the second issue of Preacher reprinted in it. I was hooked, Dredd was Vs. the Bouncy Brats, and Blackheart, which I couldn't give a toss about.
So I kept buying the Megazine for Preacher, then started on 2000ad a couple of months later.
So it rates as one of my all time faves for brining me into the fold.
But Hitman is genius as well. I have all the GN's and managed to pick up all the back issues, except 58.
If anyone has it and wantrs to sell it, I will steal a smalkl child to sell you if you want. (I have no children of my own to swap)
I think my all-time favourite bit of PREACHER is at the start of the issue where Starr delivers Hoover the aforementioned "inverted commas" bollocking; it's the three-panel sequence showing what everyone's thinking.
Hoover's got a little heart with "H&F" written in it...
Featherstone's got a little heart with "F&S"...
Starr, of course, simply has a giant, steaming turd.
Wondrous.
J-Bo-1
Ahhh! The scene outside the ambulance after Jessie uses the word to tell the red neck cop to go fuck himself in book 1 is fantastic!
Pete.
When Starr gets stuck behind the old lady on the walkway in the airport I nearly pissed myself with amusement.
Link: PAIGE