Please spoil Preacher for me. I have read all of the trade paperbacks in the comic store/book store (my economic circumstances preclude me from purchasing them :smack: ). After reading the books I have the following questions that I hope you can help me with:
Please note that I haven’t quite mastered the spoiler box so if you have not read the series please look away now: SPOILERS**************************
What happened to Cassidy? Is he “cured” at the end? Has he, literally, been given a new lease on life?
What happened to the Preacher, does he really lose the power and, if so, why?
Who or what is the John Wayne character? Is he merely a figment of the Preacher’s imagination?
Why did God live and is all of his power directly associated with his chair?
Yep; Cassidy is cured. That was part of his deal in betraying Jesse.
Jesse lost the power because when he was killed, the half-angel/half-demon (I forget its name), was freed. I think there’s even a panel of this, but it’s been a while since I’ve read the books.
I think John Wayne was just part of Jesse’s subconscious, prompting him to be the kind of man he wanted to be; kind of a father-figure/spirit guide thing.
I didn’t think God lived; as I recall, the Saint of Killers shot and killed him (his guns never run out of ammo, never miss, always kill, right ?). That said, I don’t think there was any power associated with the throne.
The Saint only wanted peace. He killed God because God had (deliberately) given the Saint a lot of heartache (so he would eventually become the Saint of Killers). After the Saint killed God, there was no new Almighty; God had left his children alone long enough that they had learned to get along without him (Jesse says something to this effect a GN or two before the last one).
There’ll probably be someone along soon that knows the series better than I who can correct the things I’ve mis-remembered.
I believe the Saint had said that if God is on His throne, he wouldn’t be able to kill Him, even with his magic guns. So there must be some kind of power with the throne.
I liked those graphic novels. Having never read graphic novels before, Preacher caused me to purchase Dark Knight returns, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and I just bought Watchmen and have yet to open it.
At the end of the series, Cassidy is disintegrated by the sun. However, prior to that he had made a deal with God to resurrect both him and Custer (AFAIK, he was the one who tipped off Starr to their location). The exact details of the deal is not stated but I can only assume he wanted (or was forced) to come back as a regular human. At the end he promises to be good but IMHO it’s not going to happen.
When Custer died, you see the half angel/half demon entity exiting his body (Remember when Starr said ‘What the hell was that?’). When Custer was resurrected, he came back as he once was, without the Voice. If the Voice could control God then God wouldn’t have had the power to put it back in Custer when He resurrected him.
Think of him as a artist’s rendition of his conscience. He was Custer’s moral compass. Or maybe he was like Kazoo or Goliath and Custer was crazy ;). Remember, he first showed up when Custer is submerged in that lake as a little kid.
I believe the Saint’s words were ‘Once God’s on his throne, there ain’t a gun in the world that can hurt him. Not even a Colt’. I believe Ennis just needed a loophole for killing a omnipotent being.
No, God died at the end. It was implied that the world of The Preacher would be better off without Him.
The only thing he wanted was peace. His last scene shows him sitting on the throne surrounded by the bodies of the Heavenly Host. I take this to mean he could have become the new Almighty. Personally, I don’t believe he would want it. He got his revenge against God (don’t we all wish for that sometimes :)) and afterwards he just wanted to rest.
Hmm, I guess it could be interpreted that way too. I’ll like to think he finally got what he wanted after killing God. I suppose fading away would be what he wants. Maybe he makes one last wish while his sitting there?
My take was that the Saint O’ Killers would finally have his eternal rest, with no being left to awaken him (or to order his awakening).
BTW, the spawn of the Angel and the demon was called “Genesis.”
The John Wayne thing, IMO, was another case of an English writer taking a stab at capturing the cowboy/Texan mentality and getting it slightly wrong. Ennis is a bit off when using some slang as well, though I don’t find it detracts from the work in the least.
The main thing I found jarring about Preacher was Jesse’s many references to himself as a Southerner. But he wasn’t a Southerner, he was a Texan.
While I understand why the distinction would be lost on a Brit like Ennis, no Texan would call himself a Southerner and most Southerners would say they’re not, either.
Um…as someone who’s lived in Texas for a good…eight, nine years now, I can tell you, a lot of Texans consider themselves Southerners. Not all of them are full of that much “Texas Pride”.
I really loved this series, but I found the ending a little…eh. I know the St. of Killers’ bullets can kill angels and other supernatural beings, but being able to kill God? I guess it was Enis’s way of answering the ole “Can God create a boulder so big He couldn’t lift it?” question. Why God allowed himself to be shot and killed instead of just making the St. fade out of existance, I just don’t understand. I understand the concept that “It’s all about showing how mankind can exist without God”, but it was a rather piss poor way of achieving that goal.
I just wanted to jump in here and say that I bought the first couple trades on the recommendation of a friend, and really enjoyed them. I thought the character development was great, and each of the main ones given interesting and challenging backstories. There were way too many cliches to some of the characters, i/e Starr and everything about him, and Assfaces’ father, but alltogether they showed a ton of promise. I liked the story lines, and was looking forward to each new trade.
Then, IMHO, they went to shit.
I think Ennis found he had a good moneymaker and tried to squeeze more issues out. I think he got too involved in the constant “freak” side of new characters and actions, and quit focusing on the humanity of the characters. For a writer who ends up positing that Humanity is better off without a God, he sure made most of the humans detestable. I also had a whole problem with the “god” in the story, he’s a complete idiot. I actually liked the idea of a god who is absent for whatever reasons, but making him so incredibly stupid and selfish was a bad use of a great storyline.
All in all, it was another example of a great start, with a fantastic premise, that was ruined by a poor writer. Ennis may be a great creative mind, but IMHO, he really messed this story up.
I kind of agree with Hamlet. Preacher had a great start, and I think even a great ending, but too much of the middle was padding or junk. I liked the basic storyline, but at some point Mr. Ennis decided to to throw as much blood and perversion into the storyline as he could fit, and that turned me off. For example, most of the Arseface stuff really added nothing to the story, nor did about 75% of the “small town sheriff vs. meat packing plant owner” story arc. It’s obvious that he was heading toward a strong conclusion, but he took a lot of pointless detours getting there.
I believe Ennis just needed a loophole for killing a omnipotent being.