2016 Comic Challenge 200 Good Old Boys #01

TITLE-Good Old Boys #01
PUBLISHER-Vertigo an imprint of DC

Underneath that gorgeous Glenn Fabry cover is my personal favorite of all the Preacher one shots/mini series.

From before they died,we get a normal night in the life of Jody and TC. After a bit of fishing they head off deeper into the swamp for a bare knuckle brawl.

Once there Jody jumps down into the pit and is ready for the fight. But this time instead of a man he is gonna fight a gorilla.

In another part of the swamp a helicopter has crashed. On  board is your standard Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon ripoff and a lady obviously based on that 90s movie Cindy Crawford did.

Both our duos end up meeting up. Then Saddam Hopper,who has the most unique way of cussing that I have ever seen,sends mercs after the Cindy clone. Seems she has a tape in her panties that will convict Saddam.

Garth Ennis of course writes this one shot. And Carlos Ezquerra,who I knew from various Judge Dredd/2000AD things handles the pencils.

Ennis manages to parody and homage all the 80s action movie tropes in one issue. And isn't all in your face with it like certain other UK Veritgo writers would be.

Good Old Boys #01 get a BUY!

2016 Comic Challenge 184 One Man's War #01

TITLE-Preacher Special One Man's War #01
PUBLISHER-Veritgo a DC Imprint

Under that gorgeous Glenn Fabry cover,why was this never released as a poster?,is the origin of Herr Starr.

OK real quick there might be spoilers for the Preacher TV show up ahead,but since that show seems to be Earth 2 Preacher who knows.

Starr is part of German Special Forces,think Spetnaz or Delta Force,and during a mission meets a new compadre. Who ends up asking Starr to join The Grail.

The Grail is a secret,and I think Catholic ran,organization that has protected Jesus's bloodline for centuries. Yep in the Preacher universe Jesus had children. And to keep the bloodline pure the Grail has allowed them to only mate within the bloodline. Their main plan is to have a failed nuclear strike happen when the year 2000 starts. Then bring out the great great great great great great great great great great great great great great grandson of Jesus as the new Messiah. But of course if you keep people breeding within their immediate family well you are gonna end up with a very very special needs Messiah.

Realizing that no one will buy this kid as the new Messiah,Herr Starr starts a group within the Grail that will take it over soon. And replace the Messiah with Jesse Custer.

As with everything connected to Preacher,Garth Ennis writes this issue. And Peter Snejbjerg handles the pencils. The art is nice and looks a bit like Steve Dillon's art in the main series.

Pretty sure you can still find this for cover price or less at a decent comic shop. And it is reprinted in one of the Preacher trades and hardcovers. So no reason if you are a comic fan to not track this down.

Preacher Special One Man's War #01 gets a BUY!!!

2016 Comic Challenge 180 Cassidy:Blood & Whiskey #01

TITLE-Preacher Special Cassidy:Blood & Whiskey #01
PUBLISHER-Vertigo a imprint of DC Comics

Yep  another Preacher one shot. And again it has a beautiful Glenn Fabry cover. This time not only is Garth writing it,but they also got Steve Dillon to handle the pencils.

Set before issue 1 of the main series,Cassidy is hitchhiking when on I-10 near New Orleans he smells something he hasn't smelled before. Another vampire. So he gets dropped off,tracks the other vamp down. And they have adventures.

IIRC this came out right before the main series took a 5 or so issue trip to New Orleans. So this one shot was used to explain some upcoming stuff.

But really what makes this stand out to me is the main theme. The other vampire Cassidy meets is obviously a clone of Lestat from the Anne Rice series of novels. I get the feeling Ennis is like me and hates all the horrible clones of what was at one time a decent character. So he takes the piss out of all the tropes from the Anne Rician Vampires.

Cassidy:Blood & Whiskey #01 gets a BUY!

2015 Reading Challenge Book 87 Preacher vol 3 Proud Americans

Title-Preacher:Proud Americans
AUTHOR-Garth Ennis
FORMAT-Trade Paperback
FIRST TIME READING-Nope
PRICE-$15

By the time this trade hit the shelves I was already hooked on Preacher. I had been a huge fan of Neil Gaiman's Sandman series from the Vertigo imprint,and Preacher was the polar opposite.

Most of this trade is all about Jesse and his two friends going to France and meeting the Grail for the first time.So we get the first appearances of recurring major villain Herr Star.

It is the first issue reprinted in this trade that sticks in my memory.While at an airport waiting for his plane to France,Jesse happens to run into a friend of his father's. One who was over in Nam with him. So we get the origin of Jesse's Fuck Communism zippo. This and the much later  on in the series Nam flashback story are my two favorite issues of the series. I would love to see a 6 to 8 issue mini that is Ennis and Steve Dillon telling more stories of Jesse's Dad in the war.

The art is even better than the last two trades. To me it was around this time that Steve Dillon got all the major characters figured out.

Preacher vol 3 Proud Americans gets a 4.95 outta 5.

2015 Reading Challenge Book 083 Preacher volume 1 Gone to Texas

TITLE-Preacher volume 1 Gone to Texas
AUTHOR-Garth Ennis
FORMAT-Trade Paperback
FIRST TIME READING-No
PRICE-$12

Most years I take the time to re-read Preacher. I was gonna save it for the end of the year. But with all the news coming out about the upcoming TV adaptation I grabbed the first trade off my shelf.

Preacher at it's core is a love story. Jesse Custer is a preacher in a small Texas town.One night he gets really drunk and goes to the local bar. Where he reveals most of the residents secrets. He gets the shit beaten out of him. But the next day during the church services he gets the biggest turn out in a long time. Right before he starts his sermon something flies into the church. Goes into Jesse's body. And then the entire church explodes. Which kills everyone but Jesse.

Around the same time Jesse's ex Tulip happens to be heading towards that tiny Texas town. She has hitched a ride with a guy named Cassiedy. They find Jesse and so our journey begins.

Going back and re-reading this trade for what has to be the 20th time I am pleasantly surprised at how good it is. And how many clues Garth Ennis leaves as to what will happen in later volumes.

Now I am assuming some of the people reading this have not read Preacher. So here is a small synopsis. And since I plan on reading the rest of the series as part of my reading challenge I am only gonna cover what happens in this volume.

Jesse finds out the thing that flew into him is the offspring of a demon and an angel. Which at birth was imprisoned in Heaven. He also learns that as soon as this being,known as Genesis,was born God fled Heaven. And no one knows where he is.

The angels have been left in charge of Heaven. So they send the Saint of Killers out to find Jesse and Genesis. Yeah there is a Saint of Killers.

The first 4 or 5 issues in this trade cover all the above. After that we get a short story line. Cassiedy has a friend in NYC who is a reporter. Who deals in stuff like UFOs,Jesus appearing in various objects. So they go to visit him. And just so happens there is a serial killer on  the loose in NYC. And of course our trio run into the killer.

Pretty sure this was one of the first comics written by Mr Ennis that I read. And since then I have given anything he has wrote a try. The great Glen Fabry does all the covers. And his art is perfect for the series. It has this realistic,but ugly,look that fits the tone of the series. And you got Steve Dillon doing the art on the insides.I love Dillon's art. Hell I will buy any comic he draws.

Preacher volume 1 Gone to Texas gets a 4.88 outta 5.