preacher: the movie

Arseface was portrayed fairly sympathetically in the comic, iirc. I remember him being one of the only decent people in that universe.

I think I ultimately wound up pretty strongly disliking the core cast. I doubt that was intentional.

Preacher worked best as a serial comic entertainment, delivered on a monthly basis by a very reliable artist - one issue a month just about the right ration. I gave up reading before the end, but the impression I had was that the ending was not universally loved, even by fans of the comic?

I don't know that I was ever that much of a fan, actually (mostly just way into Vertigo at the time, although I should've followed my instincts after lamenting when Ennis took over Hellblazer), but I did read the whole thing. Don't remember the ending much but I don't remember anything positive about it.

i have the full series on my shelf somewhere, i suppose i should reacquaint

Ennis's "fuck everything" misanthropy seems very juvenile now, doesn't it.

He's definitely juvenile, but I'd hardly class Ennis as misanthropic. If anything he's a sentimentalist

masculinist sentimentalist methinks

first ep was okay, probably better than I was expecting (genuine lols at 'tom cruise explodes') although cooper's accent was even worse than i feared it would be. he's too old and pug-faced for jesse but i liked tulip and cassidy fine

best thing was the opening scene in outer space with the b-movie fx

i'll stick around for a few episodes but i guess the real acid test will be how they handle the more classically ennis material

I guess it's maybe an encouraging sign that Genesis merging with Jesse didn't kills his congregation at the same time

Arseface was portrayed fairly sympathetically in the comic, iirc. I remember him being one of the only decent people in that universe.

He starts off as a nasty joke, but yeah, Ennis soon sets him up as a decent person, more decent than any of the protagonists. His story also has a much more positive conclusion you'd ever expect based on those early issues, and I definitely agree Ennis is a sentimentalist. Fespite his tendency to go for the yuck factor, ultimately most of his stories emphasize that there is fundamental goodness in (some) people, and most of his protagonists get a happy ending, of a sort at least.

If you can live with Ennis' gross-out excesses, I'd still recommend reading The Boys, his other creator-owned magnum opus besides Preacher. It has a lot of the same strengths as Preacher (some actually funny gags, solid characterization, good sense of pacing and drama) + a lot of strong satire on superheroes and the military-industrial complex, but it significantly tones down his worst tendencies, i.e. the sexism and homophobia. It's still reconizably Ennis, so if his tics generally annoy you, they will do so with The Boys too, but I was positively surprised by it.

mainly i'm just morbidly curious to see them adapt the bill hicks issue

Never been able to get past the terrible artwork on The Boys

I think Darick Robertson is a decent artist, and his cartoonish style is certainly a good match for Ennis' writing style... But the digital colouring and the "3D" shading on the comic is awfully ugly and brown-tinted, which makes Robertson's art look worse too.

The Irish stereotype guy in this is pretty broad isn't he? Is that guy actually northern english, mancunian or something? Geezer who's been in Misfits etc?

Am wondering if they'll include Jesse's John Wayne fixation or if it'd mean touching on copyright issues or something.

Did quite enjoy this so will probably watch the rest.

Also really enjoyed The Boys a couple of years back. I guess roughly when it was coming out really.

xp agreed, i never liked the coloring on that book, you just nailed it for me - I wasn't sure it what it was...

If they do the John Wayne thing the way they did it in the book (in shadow) I'm sure they can get away with it as parody. Bill Hicks thing I'm less sure...

turns out Rogen and Goldberg are developing a TV version of The Boys too

I just realized that Ennis is basically a way less self-aware Johnny Ryan.

issue #1 of preacher going for northwards of £200 on ebay at the mo.

(the amc-branded reissue is free on comixology, or 69p for the vertigo version.)

haven't re-read this since it was published. time to dig it out again?

Ennis is pretty self-aware, imho. He's just happy where he is.

I'd imagine there is precisely zero chance of them doing the Bill Hicks episode, it must've be first on any list of compromises.

(I'm actually curious about how widely known John Wayne is with younger generation)

I didn't see any of the angels introduced yet so wonder to what extent they're going to be used. Prior containment for this thing that has arrived on earth from somewhere in space appears to be handled very differently in the comics. But maybe the tv narrative needs the earthly participants introduced first or something.

Considering quite a bit of Preacher is flasbacks, I can see why they are changing it up a bit for the show.

They are also interestingly enough making to more superhero considering Tulip's and Cassidys parts in the first show.

?

i just reread the first five issues; this book sucks

They are also interestingly enough making to more superhero considering Tulip's and Cassidys parts in the first show.

― earlnash, Thursday, May 26, 2016 3:44 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I'm assuming this relates to Tulip being introduced as a bungling would be assassin in the comic book who leaps into Cassidy's pick up truck and tries to jack it off him which he refuses.
& the tv show has him being introduced having a Bond -like fight on a plane, though a bit more gorey, and her having a fight in a speeding vehicle displaying all kinds of martial arts skills or whatever.

But it is a different medium and does have its own way of showing narrative which maybe this taps into more.
I dunno. Quite enjoyed it anyway.

I enjoyed it! A more comedic tone than the comic, and seemed much more willing to laugh at its protagonists, which can only be a good thing. Remains to be seen how well/if it deals with the more epic storylines coming up.

Re accents - I'm as English as they come so am probably not the best judge, but I thought Joe Gilgun's Cork brogue was pretty convincing.

God Howard Stark's accent is so, so bad. Like, even worse than his Howard Stark accent - but at least he's not the main character in that show!

Whatever Gilgin's doing, it ain't Cork boy

I thought this was pretty good, even if it is the worst of the current batch of comics TV shows that isn't Arrow.

It did seem the plot threw itself about a bit but I guess television narrative style drives that.

Read the full series on a whim, definitely gonna try to sell it on ebay.
First episode of this was pretty bad, i faded out after the gratuitous broken arm scene.

Does it hold up? I've never read it.

I re-read it nine or ten years ago, and it kind of doesn't, except that it didn't really at the time. A new reader might well be carried along by the characters and jokes and twists just as well as a '90s reader waiting month to month or TPB to TPB was, except without the accompanying investment letting them feel disappointed or cheated by a tangent or twist too far. Read it if you're interested, keep going if you like it, bail out if it loses you at some point.

Positive things I have to say about Preacher based on my memory of reading it fifteen years ago or whatever:

1) I really like Steve Dillon's art.
2) For better or worse, Odin Quincannon fucking the meat lady is an indelible image.
3) Turning Herr Starr into a walking penis head was pretty good, as juvenile jokes go.

That's pretty much it.

it doesn't "hold up" but it is a quick compulsive read if you skip over all the proselytizing. Last few issues are terrible.

I don't think I managed to finish the first TPB.

I read a lot of this series (at least the first five trades) in high school during my heavy Vertigo phase, and while I still like Steve Dillon's art, the writing definitely seems glib and ~edgy~ in a strained way that doesn't repay rereading.

so the main way they're trying to keep true to the comic is computer-colouring everything in '90s Vertigo shades of baby-shit brown and green

I.e. the most consistently-lamentable quality of '90s Vertigo.

on the plus side, a copy of preacher #1 sold on ebay for $250 over the weekend so ahma try to sell my whole collection asap

Would that I had not sold my collection years ago. One man's trash...

$150 bid for the collection (1 to 50 plus all the one shots and saint of killer mini in VF+/NM and the last two TPB), 4 days to go

nice. I sold all the one-shots & spinoffs years ago, gotta get my run of TPBs up

I got 340 bucks for the full series btw, think i undersold but happy to have the room on my shelf.

That seems like a good price. are old floppies like old vinyls now?

Wow. I'm not sure what I have in the way of the spin offs but certainly have the original 60 odd issues. Not entirely sure where they are but...

Walking Dead number one is selling for thousands; there's a sudden surge on preacher insofar as if it becomes popular it's a CULTURAL TOUCHSTONE
seems silly but happy to have it happen. Now what do I do with the other 5000 odd floppies? Do people want full runs of Howard the Duck anymore?

I got 340 bucks for the full series btw, think i undersold but happy to have the room on my shelf.

Got the 9 volumes out the door for $130, very happy about that

Also stuck up Troubled Souls and For A Few Troubles More by Ennis & McCrea, which are at $50 and $45 respectively with 5 days to go