This volume of Preacher is the end, and man does it have everything. Over the course of it we reflect on the journey oIt's a hell of a ride, isn't it?
This volume of Preacher is the end, and man does it have everything. Over the course of it we reflect on the journey our unholy trinity have been on, the choices they've made over the course of it, and we're forced to really do some deep digging into just who these characters are. The last volume saw Jesse really dig deep and come to terms with who he is, and we saw some of Tulip do the same. This volume sees both of them make some hard choices and eventually truly face up to themselves.
Oh, and there's also the little problem of Cassidy.
The handling of Cassidy is some of the most interesting examinations of character that I've ever read. It's easy to fall for him, the reader falls for him as easily as Jesse did after all. The coming to terms with who he is happens to the reader just as it does to Jesse and we're forced to really, well, deal with it. It's interesting, it's difficult, but at the end of the day... it's satisfying in a way few things are. Is it possible to be a good person if you've done terrible things? Contrasting Gunther and Cassidy would be an interesting thing to examine. Some things can't be forgiven, so, can Cassidy be forgiven? Does he deserve to be?
Anyway, I think it's easy to say that everybody got the ending you didn't even know you wanted them to get, and that's a pretty cool thing to see. Sitting back and really looking at it... well. Preacher has held up beautifully, and I think to some degree it always will. Yeah, it was best when it first came out, but reading it sure puts you right back in that mood, doesn't it?
Here we are, the second to last volume of Preacher and it hasn't dipped in quality in the least.
This volume is high on contemplative ruminations aboutHere we are, the second to last volume of Preacher and it hasn't dipped in quality in the least.
This volume is high on contemplative ruminations about why Jesse is doing what he's doing rather than action. Don't get me wrong, there is action, but this is still a slower volume. Jesse is getting set up in a town in the middle of nowhere. He's going to meet some people from his past, and he's going to dig deep into his own motivations. Who is he, after all, without Genesis? It's only by getting a better grip on himself that he can turn around and go back to hunting down God. He needs firm footing, to figure himself out so that he can march forward proud as ever and certain that he's in the right as he has been from the start.
This volume contains two flashbacks of sorts that have stuck with me in the decade since I first read it. One, how Jesse Custer's daddy got the medal of honor while fighting in Vietnam. The exchange at the Vietnam Memorial with Spaceman was some of Garth Ennis at his best and brought a tear to my eye. Ennis's war stories are some of the most powerful things I've read and it means all the more for where in the series the story gets to be told. Jesse, becoming firm in who he is and having this last memory of his dad to cling onto... it's really powerful stuff.
The second flashback is Tulip's backstory, and that is also some beautiful and powerful stuff. Tulip, as the series goes on, really comes into her own as a character and solidifies herself as one of my favorite female characters period. The television show did a pretty fine job with her attitude overall, but it takes a while in the comics for her to really come into that. This backstory is just beautiful and great. I really felt for her, and was relieved to see her get away from Cassidy there at his worst. The show was way too kind to Cass, after all...
So, we're nearing the end of the trail, partner, and I am not eager to see it all end. It's been a joy to reread, brought me right back to when I first read it all. After reading this I might dip back into some of the other series that I read around that time to remind myself just how beautiful these graphic novels can be... and how to tell a truly phenomenal story. I swear not a single page of Preacher is filler and that is one damn fine accomplishment....more
Jesse Custer has decided that he needs to talk to Genesis to hunt down the exact whereabouts of God, aWell, now things have really gone off the rails.
Jesse Custer has decided that he needs to talk to Genesis to hunt down the exact whereabouts of God, and to do it he's going to go to the Navajo Reservation by Monument Valley. Herr Starr isn't so keen on Jesse getting in touch with Genesis, that could mess up his plans, after all. The Saint of Killers? Well, he's hunting down the both of them - only this time Herr Starr is prepared. Or thinks he's prepared. What I mean to say is, there is a nuclear bomb in the mix now over Monument Valley and everything is going to hell in a handbasket in the way only Garth Ennis can make it happen.
So.
This volume is absolutely bonkers. Collected in the Deluxe Edition are also "The Story of You-Know-Who" which is, as expected, Arseface's history. There is also a short, and side-splitting, story about ole Jody and T.C. Those stories are a nice little capstone to the insane romp that this volume of Preacher is, and adds a bit more context to dear ole Arseface... and adds to Jody's legend. Jody fights a gorilla. Literally.
Preacher just continues to be Preacher overall. We see more of Cassidy doing what he does and things are going downhill fast. Things are just gonna explode, and there's nothing anyone can do about it. Herr Starr has come into his own. Jesse has an additional resolve. Cassidy is cracking, just cracking under the pressure and you just know things can't last the way they are between him and Tulip forever. Sooner or later Jesse will learn, and when he learns? Oh, you better not be in the line of this good ole boy's fire....more
This volume of the Deluxe edition contains two miniseries in their proper places within the reading order. So, we Welcome back to my Preacher reread.
This volume of the Deluxe edition contains two miniseries in their proper places within the reading order. So, we get the Saint of Killer's backstory right where we need it. This backstory was actually adapted pretty well in the television show, but as tends to be the case, the comics still blow it all out of the water. The miniseries is told with the slow brutal beats of a Cormac McCarthy story as everything draws nearer and nearer to the inevitable conclusion. Oh, but it's good.
The second miniseries contained in here is the much lauded "Blood and Whiskey", the Cassidy meets Anne Rice style vampires that was wet your pants level funny back when it first came out. Does it hold up well nowadays? Well, to me it still does. While Lestat isn't everywhere you turn any longer, the shadow that Twilight cast still looms large and it hits the right notes for me. I still found it hilarious. I'm curious how newcomers might feel if they didn't grow up during that whole craze, though...
This volume focuses primarily upon Cassidy once you get out of the miniseries. Why did Cassidy join up with our dear Preacher and Tulip? What does he want with this? What does he get out of it? We meet an old friend with a hideous face. We peek in at Featherstone and Starr and see that they're continuing to plot and plan, even if Starr is looking rather worse for wear. We see our old friend begin his transformation into what he always wanted to be.
Things are looking... slightly up for everyone but Cassidy. Then again, Cassidy always does get himself into the worst messes, doesn't he? Then again... Cassidy deserves so much of what he gets even if we do love him....more
I can still remember all of my lofty reading goals for 2020 and how quickly they all went up in flames when March rolled around. I could be finally fiI can still remember all of my lofty reading goals for 2020 and how quickly they all went up in flames when March rolled around. I could be finally finishing reading Fables, or Paper Girls. Hell, I could be finally getting into Hellblazer as I'd been intending to, or continuing my strange relationship with The Walking Dead by partaking in Negan Lives. There are a million things I could be doing, but here I am, rereading Preacher for the first time in over a decade and loving every second of it. We can't all be perfect, I guess.
The second volume isn't as riotous an romp as the first. This is the volume, after all, when we learn about just what the Grail is, what it's doing, and how Herr Starr plans on utilizing Jesse Custer in their name. This is the volume where we also get a fair bit of backstory - both of Jesse's father and Cassidy and how he turned. While not as disruptive to the story as Hughie's backstory in The Boys was, it still is a little bit of a momentum killer in the moment. Having already read the story, though, I enjoyed both the Vietnam and the Uprising bits a good deal more than I thought I would've. Then again, it isn't Blood and Whiskey, but I'm not sure how well that hilarious Cassidy one-shot is since it's no longer the early 2000s and Anne Rice isn't exactly the force she was back then these days. Ah well.
Preacher is still its hilarious self. I'm still loving every second of it. The bit that surprises me the most is how much I'm enjoying the artwork. I was worried that it might have aged poorly, considering how different comic book styles are now compared to what they were in the 90s/early 2000s. Instead, Dillon's work is still fantastic and doing its job. The Saint of Killers is still terrifying, the Allfather still disgusting. Herr Starr is still... well, you know.
One of the reasons I enjoyed the flashback issues as much as I did this time around is that I think they betray a central bit of Ennis's charm. Ennis, in spite of how crass, irreverent, and hilarious he tends to be still as at his very core a belief in the goodness of people. Cassidy and Jesse's friendship, for instance, is such a massive backbone of the series and an intense thing of beauty. The sort of loyalty the two share to one another, that partnership, the sort of love and respect that Jesse and Tulip (eventually, though certainly not in this volume) build and share - all of that is truly beautiful - even as the end of the world rages around them.
Ennis's morality is like catnip to me, and I'm not entirely certain what that says about me.
Reading Preacher at what feels like the end of the world really makes John Custer's words hit a bit different. You gotta be one of the good guys, kid, there's more than enough of the bad.
Damn right. Be excellent to one another, dudes. ...more
Every now and then I think to myself Man, I should really reread Preacher. The problem with that impulse is that I have a million other things to readEvery now and then I think to myself Man, I should really reread Preacher. The problem with that impulse is that I have a million other things to read. Reading through the 66 some issues that make up the series is putting stuff like Y: The Last Man or American Vampire on hold. This year, though... this year is a year that I'm not going to beat myself up for a little bit of comfort reading. So, let's reread Preacher. Let's have some fun.
Jesse Custer is a preacher in the small no name town of Annville deep in the heart of Texas. Genesis is an entity whose power rivals that of God; its birth, in fact, causes God to vacate his throne. Genesis escapes its heavenly prison to inhabit the body of Jesse Custer. Jesse, upon learning all of this, decides to search for God to figure out exactly what happened - along with his bazooka toting ex-girlfriend and an alcoholic vampire.
Preacher is a violent romp through all of America. It's filled with gore, absurdity that will make you laugh out loud, and surprisingly inciteful moments of old Western morality sprinkled throughout. It's a comic that analyses the best and the worst of us and demands frontier justice at every turn. As ridiculous as the comic gets, as offensive and ridiculous as it is pushing the boundaries of what is acceptable at every turn, I can't help but love it. Reading it again was like coming home, confirming with each flip of the page its constant place upon the favorites list of my mind.
I love Preacher. I love how every piece of the puzzle of its short run is there from the beginning. I love how the story is told in such a fluid manner that the ending seems inevitable even from the first few issues. I love how well-developed the characters are, how even the minor characters in figures like Si and Detective Tool make sense in the end in the universe that Preacher created. I love how the art has stood the text of time, how the script is just so natural.
I love how the comic is so well-drawn reading it is like watching a movie in my own head.
Can't wait to get through the rest of the issues in this reread. This is just what the doctor ordered....more
The book focuses upon two stories, which eventually intertwine near the end of the book. One story is Unfortunately, Inland just didn't do it for me.
The book focuses upon two stories, which eventually intertwine near the end of the book. One story is of a young man turned outlaw who joins up with the cameleers during the latter days of the Civil War. He works with the camels, traversing the Western Territories and bringing water to those in need. He's haunted by the dead, able to see ghosts, although not hear them.
The other story is that of a woman near New Mexico who is dealing with a drought, dying of thirst, waiting for her husband to come home with water. Will he come home with water? Meanwhile, two of her three sons have also gone missing... there is still no water, and scandal is brewing in town.
The book is deeply atmospheric and the plot comes in a slow trickle. The atmosphere is more the thing, and if you're seduced by it this book will be incredible. It plods along purposefully, never wavering in its sight. I simply could not see where it was trying to go and got frustrated with the pace. The writing didn't do it for me, although I could tell on some level that it was likely brilliant.
A more patient soul in love with this time period and setting would likely get a lot more from this book....more
This comic book is a nice little story lampooning the Western genre. It's funny, well paced, and full of her beI really love Lisa Hanawalt's artwork.
This comic book is a nice little story lampooning the Western genre. It's funny, well paced, and full of her beautiful artwork and character designs. Some of the anachronisms in the main characters speech made me laugh out loud, as did the silliness of seeing the wolves sticking their tongues out, and Red's varying expressions.
This book isn't any exceptional, but I genuinely liked it. I look forward to continuing to follow her work - in comics and animation both, and to read her writing. She has a great sense of humor, a wonderful style, and a voice that is wholly her own. It's always fun to see an artist so unashamedly herself....more
I was lucky enough to go into this book knowing it wasn't a horror novel like my much loved Bird Box. I was doubly lucky for having read A House At I was lucky enough to go into this book knowing it wasn't a horror novel like my much loved Bird Box. I was doubly lucky for having read A House At the Bottom of A Lake so I had some general notion of Josh Malerman's writing and how much I enjoy it. Further encouragement from my friend here on GoodReads made me rather excited for the book, as has my growing love for the author. What I got, though, I'm not entirely certain how I feel about it. Something about the book didn't sit entirely right with me, but I'm not certain why. This was a nice Western, a nice supernatural romp with the classic plot of deceitful husband running through it. Maybe it was the fact the triggerman Smoke didn't really resonate with me. Maybe it was something else. I still can't put my finger on it.
Nevertheless, the book was an enjoyable read. I was impressed with how thoroughly the writing style changed between the three books of Malerman that I have read, and how well developed his eye for the Weird is. I liked the structuring of the book itself, and the pacing felt good to me. It was very much like watching a classic Western. The comparisons to McCarthy on the back of the book made me roll my eyes a little. This wasn't nearly so bleak nor so unrelenting. The violence was never quite shocking, always a bit on par for the story being told.
I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this book to most. While it lacks in chills it doesn't lack in thrills and I definitely think others would enjoy it without the perplexing 'what do I feel I missed' that I felt throughout....more
I have a deep and unending love of westerns. There's something so unbelievable about the truth behind the legends of that time, the fact that so many I have a deep and unending love of westerns. There's something so unbelievable about the truth behind the legends of that time, the fact that so many were drawn from what truly happened and nowhere near as embellished as one might think. There's a wildness to the stories, and yes, a romance even behind the crazed sociopaths that ran across the country and territories with guns blazing. So many thought they were in the right - so many courts acquitted them accordingly. How was this only a few generations ago?
Draw: The Greatest Gunfights of the American West is a surprisingly slim volume that goes into far more detail than one might expect. Between these pages are indeed summaries of the greatest gunfights, histories of those involved, and a bit of speculation on the part of the author about the circumstances. There are fascinating asides now and then, and even a few pictures. I learned a lot from this volume, as it seeks to dig into more than just the 'old favorites'. I was particularly pleased to see the absurd story of the execution of Black Jack Ketchum included, as his has a particularly gruesome ending that never ceases to amuse.
This book is darkly humorous, and I read it with the same surprise I tend to view these stories. It was so recent in the past, and so insane a time. How many died over trivial things? How many were shot just for snoring too loud, or by accident? I'm only amazed that there weren't more civilian casualties in all the mad shoot-outs. Then again, the civilians more often than not were involved in them... Isn't it incredible we lived through such a time?...more
As my previous reviews have revealed, I did spend a spell living in Montana. While living in Bozeman dI won this book through the first-reads program.
As my previous reviews have revealed, I did spend a spell living in Montana. While living in Bozeman didn't give me the experience of the mudjackers, nor the experience of living in such a small town as Gros Ventre, it did allow me to head to Butte on occasion. For anyone who has ever been to Butte, or lived in Montana, Zoe's comments about Butte alone make the book worth reading. Seriously, it got a few rather loud laughs from me.
Ivan Doig has penned a novel of grand proportions. Not only has he put a rather unique spin on the dysfunctional family (the protagonist, Rusty, doesn't know who his mother is exactly and is being raised by his bartender father Tom) but he has also lovingly constructed Montana's history - and in it a rather big chunk of US history itself - in the pages of this book.
Ivan Doig has painted a portrait of Montana every bit as Western and nostalgic as Charlie Russell's famous paintings. The book is not without humor, without heartbreak, nor is it without a deepset ache that's near impossible to shake. This is a Western of unique proportions, and one that will stick with you perhaps even more strongly than Lonesome Dove. To say that I loved this book would be an understatement.
One couldn't be more accurate than saying that I sure do miss Montana now....more
I won this book through first-reads, and from the very mention of Firefly on its cover knew it had a lot to live up to. CompaOh, dear lord, this book!
I won this book through first-reads, and from the very mention of Firefly on its cover knew it had a lot to live up to. Comparing a book to Firefly? Having to review something compared to Firefly when I consider myself a pretty devoted Browncoat? Well. I opened the book with a dose of skepticism, pretending that I hadn't just texted my sci-fi (and fellow Browncoat) loving boyfriend that I just got that ARC I'd been telling him about. I hyped it up sufficiently in my mind.
This book delivered beyond my wildest of expectations.
The book was fast paced with a healthy underlining of wry humor. This is one of the few books that has made me laugh out loud on more than occasion... Every character is lovingly crafted, they each have their quirks and their tongue-in-cheek moments - it's incredible that it never comes off as false or heavyhanded. Katy Stauber has faultlessly delivered on a nearly impossible task: she's given us a novel that draws upon the cult classic of Firefly without being mere fanfiction - in fact, she's created something lovingly unique.
That this is a scifi adaptation of The Odyssey is also apparent, as if the cover doesn't give it away. She's morphed the tale into something that encompasses Rasta Nation colonies (marijuana bombs!), entirely creepy genetic splicing experiments, rogue orbitals, and everything else under (and on level with) the sun. She's made The Odyssey freshfaced and deadpan, and Cesar Vaquero is a much, much more lovable protagonist than the cunning Ulysses.
I can't praise this book enough, nor how many people I want to throw my copy at so I can chat with them about it. I can't wait to pass this book on, and only hope that it will get the recognition and acclaim it well deserves.
Keep writing Katy Stauber! I'll be reading your every word for certain. You've found a great fan in me!...more
I was a bit caught between three and four stars for this rating.
I adore Cormac McCarthy, although I do understand that he is a polarizing author. I'vI was a bit caught between three and four stars for this rating.
I adore Cormac McCarthy, although I do understand that he is a polarizing author. I've never heard of a person thinking that he was just 'all right'. The language of the book is both poetic and moving, and the imagery of it fades like so many colors across the painted desert. The book is beautiful, in a manner that only Cormac McCarthy could possibly convey. The book is... strange, as far as the author's normal nihilism and existentialist views tend to be.
The book is a western, and in it it contains much more humor and love than I expected out of a Cormac McCarthy novel. The humor caught me off-balance at first, and what stark horror there was pales in comparison to The Road or Blood Meridian. While I didn't enjoy this book as much as I enjoyed the other two, I still did like it once I got past the initial shell-shock of reading such a different piece by this author.
My advice to anyone picking this book up who is already a fan of McCarthy would be to stick with it. The book becomes more common McCarthy fare towards the middle of the second Act, and by the third it meshes once more with the new Western offering to create a very nice mixture that the poeticism of the text portrays well.
To anyone who has not read McCarthy, or perhaps found him distasteful, I would defy them to read this book and see how their views may change. I like to think that this book may bridge the gap between those who like him and those who don't. I like to think that this book may touch others in some way, the way that The Sunset Limited and Blood Meridian may touch me.
At the very least I think that just about everyone would benefit from reading a bit of Cormac McCarthy, the man commands language like very few can....more
Some have complained about the lack of facts when it comes to this book. There simply aren't a lot of hard facts about Billy - but there are a lot of Some have complained about the lack of facts when it comes to this book. There simply aren't a lot of hard facts about Billy - but there are a lot of outright lies. The book addresses everything that it is capable of addressing, and puts to rest some of the worse rumors.
What I liked about this book was the thorough way it dealt with the time period in question. By the end I felt that I knew a fair deal about life in the 1860s and how that sort of environment bred outlaws such as Billy. The Wild West and the social stresses that created such an environment were quite clearly laid out.
Very readable, very informative, an all over quite a fascinating book. I'm very happy I picked it up....more
Classic story of horse thieves being brought to justice. This tale takes place prior to the events of the PrThis is one of the good Preacher specials.
Classic story of horse thieves being brought to justice. This tale takes place prior to the events of the Preacher comics so we get a good example of Tulip, Amy, and Jesse's conduct back before everything went crazy. Well, crazier.
Now it's back to what made Preacher great from the start.
This collection contains Tulip's backstory, fills in the blanks in Cassidy's own tales, and Now it's back to what made Preacher great from the start.
This collection contains Tulip's backstory, fills in the blanks in Cassidy's own tales, and takes everything far closer to the conclusion we all know is coming. The pacing is excellent, old characters return, and the humor that made the comic so attractive in the first place is here in force.
Also - who doesn't love a good Western? The horse thieves deserved what they got....more
The Preacher specials seem to be largely hit or miss. I appreciate them for the back story they give, even if it isn't needed. Herr Starr's story was The Preacher specials seem to be largely hit or miss. I appreciate them for the back story they give, even if it isn't needed. Herr Starr's story was good - not exceptional, but largely what was already expected and explained. Here we just get to see how he was recruited to the Grail and some of the machinations of how he decided/enacted his plan to eventually become Allfather.
The low rating was merely because.. well, it was expected. There was nothing earth shatteringly fantastic in it, and the same old fetish jokes were trotted out in regard to Herr Starr's ah.. personal habits. We got to learn how he got the tell-tale scars and how he lost his eye - but again, it seemed a bit unnecessary.
So - all in all, a decent book, but not one really needed. It felt a bit like the Jack's Tattoo episode of Lost. Interesting? A bit. Required? Not really. Filler is filler, and I like Ennis best when he's working with Dillon....more
More Herr Starr abuse... More brilliance from the Saint of Killers. Nuclear blasts, crazed cannibals, blasphemers, and an Arsefaced world. Well, PreacMore Herr Starr abuse... More brilliance from the Saint of Killers. Nuclear blasts, crazed cannibals, blasphemers, and an Arsefaced world. Well, Preacher is slowly getting back on track....more
Hilary "Fox"
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