Graphic Novels

My God, this is sick! It's also funny as hell, even though I still feel slightly disturbed that I actually laughed at some of the things that happen.

"Preacher: Gone to Texas," is the first of the trade paperback collections of the comics series. I haven't read any of the others, so I really have no idea what happens later, but after reading this first volume, I plan to buy the next ones in the very near future, and continue to not believe I'm laughing. This stuff is addictive.

From what I can tell so far, "Preacher" is the story of preacher Jesse Custer, his ex-girlfriend Tulip, and Cassidy, an Irish vampire. At some point, an angel and a demon had a child named Genesis. Genesis was a new idea, as powerful as God Almighty; it has escaped its heavenly prison and bonded with Jesse. Now Jesse, a moral person despite his many flaws, is searching for God. He plans to ask some serious questions.

"Gone to Texas" falls roughly into two parts. First there's the introduction, where we meet the three main characters, and others, such as the Saint of Killers. Then the three hitchhike to New York City, where they start looking for God and get involved in a serial murder case.

There are times when the gore and cursing get too thick, so they're tiresome instead of funny; that's why I'm not giving this five stars. Still, "Preacher" is one of the best comics I've read in a while, and I'm looking forward to the next collected volumes.

Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon have managed to single-handedly change the world of comics. Preacher is without a doubt, one of the ballsiest comics ever published. Taking on the faux pas topics of faith and religion and giving them a swift kick in the pills, Preacher delivers. Follow Jesse Custer, a reverand from Texas, his hit...uh, person ?girlfriend? Tulip and a beer-swilling Irish vampire Cassidy as they take off on a quest for the lord, and its not as holy as it sounds, I assure you. You also meet the young boy Arseface, and see his tradgedy, but you can't help but laugh a little bit. Round it off with the patron saint of all Killers and you've got a fun book. Great art, great plot, Preacher is forever immortalized in this, the firt of 9 violumes that will leave you breathless. For anyone who never liked comics or considered them "kiddy," Preacher says that they're anything but.

There's a Tarantino-esque quality to Preacher. Beyond the most obvious similarity- the gratuituous violence- there's also a fascination with dialogue. Note the coarse language; the raw, edgy humour; the emphasis on storytelling; and it's almost like you've entered a down-home version of Pulp Fiction. Ennis is clearly concerned with replicating the words as we would actually hear them. Particular speech patterns are inserted into the text, making the characters' words more credible (particularly noteworthy is Ennis' insistence on having us read a speech-challenged character's words as they would actually sound. The words are 'subtitled,' though). I think that Ennis' usage of dialogue is what makes this a great work. One small fault is that, as other reviewers have noted, Ennis occasionally misses with his characterization of the Texan accent. Nevertheless, he should be applauded for his intriguing and unique construction of dialogue, a too often overlooked feature in the medium.

Ennis is clearly a very gifted storyteller. He uses the archetypal figures of movie westerns we all know (the John Wayne type, the bad-guy gunslinger, the stern, tough-as-nails cop) and places them in absurd situations. How he came up with such unique characters as Arseface or the Saint of Killers I'll never know. They certainly added to my interest in the story. The 'hints' section really made me want to pick up the next installment to figure out how the tale develops.

A tip of the cap should also be given to Steve Dillon. His clean and detailed lines were sometimes touching, sometimes disturbing, but always tastefully done. His visual interpretations of the characters are right-on: I couldn't possibly imagine a more appropriate looking Jesse Custer or Cassidy.

In short, this is a brilliant start to a brilliant series. This is one very rare case where you can actually believe the hype.