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View Full Version : Why every Tower junkie must read Garth Ennis's "Preacher"



TheCrisisKing
04-10-2010, 03:01 PM
If you love the Tower, and wanted a mature comic book without superheroes and tights, then you will love Garth Ennis's Preacher.

Preacher tells the story of Jesse Custer, a down-and-out preacher in the small Texas town of Annville. Custer was accidentally possessed by the supernatural creature named Genesis in an incident which killed his entire congregation and flattened his church.

Genesis, the product of the unauthorized, unnatural coupling of an angel and a demon, is an infant with no sense of individual will. However, as it is composed of both pure goodness and pure evil, it might have enough power to rival that of God himself. In other words, Jesse Custer, bonded to Genesis, may have become the most powerful being in the whole of living existence.

Custer, driven by a strong sense of right and wrong, goes on a journey across the United States attempting to (literally) find God, who abandoned Heaven the moment Genesis was born. He also begins to discover the truth about his new powers, which allow him to command the obedience of those who hear his words. He is joined by his old girlfriend Tulip O'Hare, as well as a hard-drinking Irish vampire named Cassidy.

During the course of their journeys, the three encounter enemies and obstacles both sacred and profane, including: the Saint of Killers, an invincible, quick-drawing, perfect-aiming, come-lately Angel of Death answering only to "He who sits on the throne"; a serial-killer called the 'Reaver-Cleaver'; The Grail, a secret organization controlling the governments of the world and protecting the bloodline of Jesus; Herr Starr, ostensible Allfather of the Grail, a megalomaniac with a penchant for prostitutes, who wishes to use Custer for his own ends; several fallen angels; and Jesse's own redneck 'family' — particularly his nasty Cajun grandmother, her mighty bodyguard Jody, and the 'animal-loving' T.C.

In heart the book is a western. The series had a definite run with a beginning and end with generally consistant artwork. The softcovers are available in 9 volumes. Although a fair warning: THE BOOK IS MATURE RATED. SCENES OF SEX, GRAPHIC VIOLENCE, TWISTED FETISHES, ABUSE AND TORTURE ARE IN THIS BOOK, NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART. Another note, this book is generally not blasphemous, but this book is NOT FOR THE DEDICATED RELIGIOUS PATRONS

WeDealInLead
04-11-2010, 03:10 PM
One of my favourite comics. I have all the 9 paperbacks and am planning on buying the hardcovers as they come out. So far only two are available.

Ennis is one of my favourite comics writers.

WeDealInLead
04-11-2010, 03:10 PM
TheCrisisKing is a Helmet reference, right?

TheCrisisKing
04-11-2010, 05:53 PM
TheCrisisKing is a Helmet reference, right?

Actually no. I just thought it sounded cool

DoctorDodge
04-11-2010, 06:05 PM
It's funny you posted this JUST as i got this out of the library. Good thing, too: normally, i get a ton of graphic novels out of the library, and probably just read one of them whilst getting distracted by everything else and ignoring the rest. However, having read this board, i decided to go, "OK, i might as well give it a look."

Now, i've just read the first issue in Gone To Texas, but it is fucking great! I shouldn't be surprised, though: i've read a lot of Ennis's work before, including the Darkness - of which i still need to finish, not because it wasn't good but because it's so fucking huge and i reached a confusing crossover - and he's been pretty consistently good. In fact the only duff strips i've read of his is some of his Judge Dredd stuff, which is a shame, as I do love those comics.

But I have to say that I'm loving Preacher so far. Gonna go to bed now and read at least half of it, I think. I'll let you guys know tomorrow! So far though, it's fucking awesome, and that's not a word I like to use unless I have to!

WeDealInLead
04-11-2010, 06:17 PM
TheCrisisKing is a Helmet reference, right?

Actually no. I just thought it sounded cool


I guess I was seeing things I wanted to see. That's the name of one of the songs on their 4th LP called Aftertaste.

TheCrisisKing
04-11-2010, 08:36 PM
It's funny you posted this JUST as i got this out of the library. Good thing, too: normally, i get a ton of graphic novels out of the library, and probably just read one of them whilst getting distracted by everything else and ignoring the rest. However, having read this board, i decided to go, "OK, i might as well give it a look."

Now, i've just read the first issue in Gone To Texas, but it is fucking great! I shouldn't be surprised, though: i've read a lot of Ennis's work before, including the Darkness - of which i still need to finish, not because it wasn't good but because it's so fucking huge and i reached a confusing crossover - and he's been pretty consistently good. In fact the only duff strips i've read of his is some of his Judge Dredd stuff, which is a shame, as I do love those comics.

But I have to say that I'm loving Preacher so far. Gonna go to bed now and read at least half of it, I think. I'll let you guys know tomorrow! So far though, it's fucking awesome, and that's not a word I like to use unless I have to!

Volume 2 is my personal favorite. Out of the whole series. And Im not saying the rest is up to par. I'm just saying that Volume 2 is when the shit storm happens

turtlex
04-12-2010, 02:34 AM
Hey CrisisKing, welcome to the site! Nice write up about the Preacher comics.

I'm all for anyone who want to encourage people to read Garth Ennis. He's an amazing writer and Preacher is a great story.

( though to be honest, based on your thread title, I thought you were going to be making a correlation between The Dark Tower story/characters and the Preacher series )

I'm gonna leave this here for a bit and then roll it into the Recommended Graphic Novels thread.

TheCrisisKing
04-12-2010, 03:36 PM
Oh, I guess I didnt see that section. I really wasnt talking about the books in general but the story but thanks anyway.

turtlex
04-13-2010, 11:58 AM
No problem at all!

It's always great to have a comic fan come into the Comic Tower and share their favorites.

Preacher is a great title and I think a lot of folks here agree!

WeDealInLead
04-13-2010, 12:00 PM
I'm gonna leave this here for a bit and then roll it into the Recommended Graphic Novels thread.

I'll post in it when I have two consecutive seconds to myself. Posting over a plate of spaghetti doesn't count!

turtlex
04-13-2010, 12:09 PM
:thumbsup: :clap:

turtlex
04-13-2010, 12:11 PM
Hey All -

Here's the link to the Recommended Graphic Novels (http://www.thedarktower.org/palaver/showthread.php?t=1557) thread. Just click and share !