Wow. I mean, ohmyfuckinggodwow. Mississippienne brought all nine graphic novels of Preacher to Maryland with her and I tore through them like they were crack. Deep, rich characters, enthralling storyline, gorgeous artwork, comedic situations, and a new take on the Almighty Himself… who could ask for more?
Cassidy started out my favorite character, but after seeing him fuck up so much, I went to Herr Starr for comic relief and finally settled on the most badass of the badass: the Saint of Killers.
Whose your favorite character? Discuss all things dealing with Jesse Custer & Gang here.
Heh, I read all nine volumes over the course of three nights, thanks to a loan from Selkie. I eventually bought them all for myself, but they were great. Preacher is one of my all-time favorite long-form comics, alongside Starman, Sandman Mystery Theatre, and Justice League International. Ennis could have ended it after the first 3 books and it still would have been fulfilling, but it just became a grand epic as is. I honestly don’t care much for volume 4, “Ancient History,” with all the flashbacks relating to secondary characters, but I’ll agree that it enriches the main story. One of my favorites that seems to be unpopular among the fans was volume 7, “Salvation,” where Jesse is sidelined in his main quest as he becomes a small-town sheriff. It was Ennis’ greatest tribute to the Westerns he loves, and that arc really resonated with me. But it’s hard to think of too many other Western-horror-crime-buddy comedy-adventure-romance religious epics, if any others even exist.
Hey, if you ever reread Preacher, try a soundtrack of Johnny Cash, Tom Waits, the Pogues, Ennio Morricone, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and a band called Ghoultown (they specialize in “Gothabilly.”) Seriously, that will make the experience even better!
Have you heard about the Preacher movie that has been stalled in preproduction for years, with James Marsden (Cyclops from the X-Men movies) cast as Jesse? I always envisioned Matthew McConaughey myself, along with Patricia Arquette as Tulip, Ewan McGregor as Cassidy, John Malkovich as Starr, Lance Hendricksen as the Saint of Killers, Orlando Jones as Hoover, and Joan Cusack as Featherstone.
Agreed on the music to go with the comic. Mississippienne and I have been discussing a while on who would be the best picks to play the parts in the movie. She’s pretty much settled on Gary Oldman as Herr Starr. My vote is Patrick Stewart, sans a few pounds. We’re still discussing the rest of your lineup, though I can’t see a better Saint of Killers than Clint Eastwood (if he would do it).
One point, though: any movie based on Preacher would be mutilated to death. There’s too much nudity, head wounds, and controversial material to reward it with anything less than an MA rating. And, sadly enough, the producers would probably want it dropped down to PG-13 so the comic book kiddies can see it. :rolleyes: That, and they simply would have to make God a good guy to prevent a backlash from the Christian Conservative Right. :rolleyes: again.
I came and went buying WIZARD magazine, but the one thing they ever wrote that I will always appreciate was favorably rating “PREACHER” a must-read.
PREACHER was my introduction to Garth Ennis’ work, and I’d since moved on to DICKS, HITMAN, THE RIFLE BRIGADE, his first two PUNISHER story arcs and his various WAR STORIES one-shots for Vertigo.
What’s not to like about the characters? Some of the greatest oddball eccentrics in any series, including Dick Tracy’s foes, The Batman’s Rogue Gallery and all the loopy Latinos in Beto’s Palomar combined. Featherstone. Hoover. Cassidy. God. The Grail. The Angels. The Demons. The Saint of Killers. My favorite character remains Herr Starr, followed by Tulip, actually. She was hottie badass and who liked gangsta rap! Jody and T.C. were a hoot: Ennis does this nice bit paired up male buddies bonding in almost all his work save PUNISHER and his one-shots. Also appreciated was . I seem to be in a minority in loving the slowed-down pace of the arc where Jesse becomes sheriff, battles the Meatman and discovers his Mom’s alive.
There was intense internet speculation at ne time about Jesse Custer having some sort of messiaic grand importance in the resolution of the series, and someone had worked it out that “Jesse Custer” was an anagram for “Secret Jesus.” Ennis found out about it and made fun of it in one of the final issues. I still believe the actual resolution of the PREACHER was not quite the intended original resolution, although I can’t be sure what Ennis changed. But then again, because of the “Secret Jesus” anagram, I thought there might be something up with Jesse’s stray dog = God, too.
Man, I WISH I was a Hollywood casting director, especially for all the comic book movies. Just ask, I’ve got the perfect actor in mind for everyone, and none of those include Keanu Reeves.
I loved the first couple graphic novels of this franchise. I thought the premise was outstanding, the characters were interesting, and the action was good.
Then the series started, for lack of a better word, sucking. The characters just got stupid, the plots got contrived and the overall arc was often forgotten. By the time I got to Alamo, I hated the series. I only read it to see if the series could redeem itself. It most certainly did not. I hated the ending. I ended up hating the characters. I hated the premise. I hated the art. I hated pretty much everything about the series. It had so much potential, but rather than dealing with a fantastic philosphical premise, it got drowned in stupidity, violence for violence sake, and playing a game of “let’s see how fucked up I can make a character”.
I’m not a big fan. I thought Ennis used cartoonish violence and dick jokes just because he could – I’d expect that in a comic written by a 13 year old boy, but I wouldn’t pay for it. I recall saying at one point much closer to when I read the series that it seemed to me that Ennis had developed Jesse to be a character with a lot of flaws that could be exploited for drama, specifically his entirely fucked-up Texas formalist views of justice and manhood, but then Ennis liked him too much and began to actually come to view Jesse as a fundamentally just character. Meanwhile, Cassidy becomes this major villain even though he had previously exhibited no villainous tendencies. I liked the ending – it’s the only rational action a man could take in a world where God were to exist – but the journey was not at all to my taste.
I’m with Cliffy. The first three TPBs were fun, but I started getting disgusted by the fourth. And this is coming from a guy who loves such outrageous stuff as South Park. The low points for me were the “Good Ol’ Boys” story - I just can’t see those two sickos as protagonists - and the bit with the giant meat woman and his Nazi secretary.
I did like the way Alamo wrapped up everything, though.
Favorite character? Arseface. I also liked the comedy relief of Buggery Bob & Fellatio Frank, which, unlike pretty much everything else in the series, was not overdone. I think if they’d been seen more, I would have hated them too.
I’m completely with you. I picked up Dixie Fried and thought, “Well here’s the point where the series is going downhill fast.” War in the Sun was interesting, but not enough to make me thrilled. And then I hit Salvation and that was my single favorite arc from the entire series.
I tend to agree with Hamlet - the first few collections were brilliant, but after
Jesse feel from the airplane
it seemed that he was abandoning any sense of continuity or coherent storyline in favor of a combination freak show/slaughterhouse/whorehouse atmosphere.
<< Rare use of a smiley icon.