The Preacher

As I already have written, I just started reading the comic book Preacher, and I have to say, they are really good. Have read the first three now, only have five out of ten I think, so might have to do some shopping soon (if I can find the money).

The series starts with Preacher Vol. 1: Gone to Texas, where we first meet the protagonist, Jesse Custer, and his two side kicks; his ex-girlfriend Tulip and the hard-drinking Irish wampire Cassidy. Jesse, who is a preacher in a small Texan town, sees his whole congregation burned to ashes by the half-angelic half-demonic entity Genesis, who also merges with Jesse, leaving Jesse on the run from the law. From Texas, the story continues in New York, where Jesse and his companions not only are troubled by Genesis, but also by the Saint of Killers, out to kill Gensis aka Jesse, and the Reaver-Cleaver, a sadistic serial killer. I won't go into too much detail here since I don't wanna spoil the story if you are gonna read it, but it is good, violent but good.

The story continues in Preacher Vol. 2: Until the End of the World, where we learn more of Jesse's history and how this seeminlgy not so perfect christian ended up becoming a minister. In this volume, God also makes his first appereance, trying to get Jesse to back off his trail. God, you see, one day suddenly left his job, leaving heaven in the care of his angels. Jesse, upon finding this out has decided to find God and make him take up his responsibility again. Cassidy, on the other hands, finds his girlfriend dying of a heroin overdose and sets out, with the help of Jesse and Tulip to avenge her. Towards the end, the Grail also makes an appereance. The grail is a society protecting the ancient and holy bloodline of Christ. Kinda similar to the DaVinci Code, but so much more fun and satirical.

In the third volume, Preacher Vol. 3: Proud Americans, Jesse and Tulip are headed to France, to the grail headquarters, to rescue Cassidy who is held captive by them. Jesse also meets an old friend of his dad, who died when Jesse was only five. Through him, Jesse learns more of his dad, who he only has a fleeting recollection of. Towards the end of the volume, we also learn Cassidy's history, how he became a vampire, what powers he then gained and how he came from Ireland to the America.

All three volumes show, in my opinion, a high level of storytelling ability, the characters are realistically portrayed, you really start caring for them (The scene where Jessy met his father's old army friend gave me goos bumps). At the same time, the story is filled with a lot of humour, black humour most of the time, and arcane biblical references. Also, the different storylines are often told in very different fashions, some time you feel you are reading a western, then an action story, sometimes the style is crime, sometimes drama. Garth Ennis tryly shows his artistic range and his ability as a writer. Supplemented with Steve Dillon's wonderful artwork, this comic becomes very good and I highly recommend it. But you need a strong heart, I reckon, the violence is everywhere and page after page is filled with bloody, gory details.

Well, that was my take on Preacher so far. Still have two more volumes of the story at home and plan to read them soon. I have also been reading in the novel London, of course, and is coming closer and closer to the end. Only about 50 pages left there, so tomorrow's post will be about London, and how I felt about that book after hving finished it.

That's it for now I guess, going back to my reading. Tomorrow I have a meeting concerning my new job, hopefully my boss and I are on the same page and can figure out all the details. The job looks interesting and I hope I end up having it. Wish me luck. Until next time

cya