Way more gruesome and dark than the show! Possibly the darkest comic I've read. But it's worth it!

*wheezing * Kent .breeef. need. mooreee.

Dark, gritty, southern. Intensely violent. Irreverent. Can you see why I dig it so much?

Brutal.

The last time I read this was ...oh probably about 10 years ago so I was a little bit worried that I might have 'outgrown' it, but it's just as good now as it was then. Absolutely hilarious [although if we're being completely honest there are parts of it that have not aged all that well] and I really appreciate that things just kick off right away and never slow down rather than spending a whole volume needlessly setting everything up [like a certain tv show adaptation, cough cough].

For those who enjoyed Ennis's run on Punisher MAX, Preacher is another series for you. It spares not on the dark humor, the vast amounts of cursing, or the violence that is par for Ennis's adult titles (though perhaps that would be a warning for some, rather than a selling point).

In brief, the story concerns Jesse Custer, a Texas minister who, after losing his church and his flock in a pretty standard inferno, is possessed by the entity known only as Genesis who passes unto him the Word of God. As is standard, this is not just a single word; rather, this is the ability for Jesse to, at opportune moments, make people do whatever it is he commands.

Also in the cast of characters is Jesse's former lover Tulip, involved in a contract killing gone bad, a veritable asshole of an Irish vampire named Cassidy, and a mysterious man known only as the Saint of Killers who never misses a single shot.

With an engaging, often funny (if not outright cynical) cast of characters set against a backdrop of reality that only a fellow cynic can provide, Preacher sets itself up to be a very fun read in this volume.

Not my usual choice of literature: it's profane, gruesome, and full of inappropriate ethnic, racial and gender slurs. However, it's the first graphic novel in which the plot has been compelling enough that I'm not utterly distracted by the images. I had unpleasant dreams all last night after finishing it, but I'm interested in seeing how the rest of the series goes. An exercise in oppositional opinions: this.

Just read the whole series (courtesy of the Rev) coming in and out of flu-induced fever dreams, which seems like the right way to do it. Steve Dillon's art is gritty (especially love the Saint, who looks like a walking monument to evil), and Garth Ennis--as fine a foul bastard as you could hope to meet--rips the guts out of the Western and builds it back into an obscene, blasphemous multi-beast that attacks the biggest of issues with serious irreverence. Frequently sick and wrong, but ultimately riveting and, in the end, surprisingly moving.

Not as clever as it thinks it is