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The Boys (Trade Paperbacks) #7
The Boys, Volume 7: The Innocents
Convinced that Hughie was never what he seemed, Butcher goes to see the Legend- and sets something terrible in motion for our little Scots pal...
214 pages, Paperback
First published November 16, 2010
50 people are currently reading
988 people want to read
About the author
Garth Ennis
2,622 books3,174 followersEnnis began his comic-writing career in 1989 with the series Troubled Souls. Appearing in the short-lived but critically-acclaimed British anthology Crisis and illustrated by McCrea, it told the story of a young, apolitical Protestant man caught up by fate in the violence of the Irish 'Troubles'. It spawned a sequel, For a Few Troubles More, a broad Belfast-based comedy featuring two supporting characters from Troubled Souls, Dougie and Ivor, who would later get their own American comics series, Dicks, from Caliber in 1997, and several follow-ups from Avatar.
Another series for Crisis was True Faith, a religious satire inspired by his schooldays, this time drawn by Warren Pleece. Ennis shortly after began to write for Crisis' parent publication, 2000 AD. He quickly graduated on to the title's flagship character, Judge Dredd, taking over from original creator John Wagner for a period of several years.
Ennis' first work on an American comic came in 1991 when he took over DC Comics's horror title Hellblazer, which he wrote until 1994, and for which he currently holds the title for most issues written. Steve Dillon became the regular artist during the second half of Ennis's run.
Ennis' landmark work to date is the 66-issue epic Preacher, which he co-created with artist Steve Dillon. Running from 1995 to 2000, it was a tale of a preacher with supernatural powers, searching (literally) for God who has abandoned his creation.
While Preacher was running, Ennis began a series set in the DC universe called Hitman. Despite being lower profile than Preacher, Hitman ran for 60 issues (plus specials) from 1996 to 2001, veering wildly from violent action to humour to an examination of male friendship under fire.
Other comic projects Ennis wrote during this time period include Goddess, Bloody Mary, Unknown Soldier, and Pride & Joy, all for DC/Vertigo, as well as origin stories for The Darkness for Image Comics and Shadowman for Valiant Comics.
After the end of Hitman, Ennis was lured to Marvel Comics with the promise from Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada that he could write The Punisher as long as he cared to. Instead of largely comical tone of these issues, he decided to make a much more serious series, re-launched under Marvel's MAX imprint.
In 2001 he briefly returned to UK comics to write the epic Helter Skelter for Judge Dredd.
Other comics Ennis has written include War Story (with various artists) for DC; The Pro for Image Comics; The Authority for Wildstorm; Just a Pilgrim for Black Bull Press, and 303, Chronicles of Wormwood (a six issue mini-series about the Antichrist), and a western comic book, Streets of Glory for Avatar Press.
In 2008 Ennis ended his five-year run on Punisher MAX to debut a new Marvel title, War Is Hell: The First Flight of the Phantom Eagle.
In June 2008, at Wizard World, Philadelphia, Ennis announced several new projects, including a metaseries of war comics called Battlefields from Dynamite made up of mini-series including Night Witches, Dear Billy and Tankies, another Chronicles of Wormwood mini-series and Crossed both at Avatar, a six-issue miniseries about Butcher (from The Boys) and a Punisher project reuniting him with artist Steve Dillon (subsequently specified to be a weekly mini-series entitled Punisher: War Zone, to be released concurrently with the film of the same name).
Taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garth_Ennis
Another series for Crisis was True Faith, a religious satire inspired by his schooldays, this time drawn by Warren Pleece. Ennis shortly after began to write for Crisis' parent publication, 2000 AD. He quickly graduated on to the title's flagship character, Judge Dredd, taking over from original creator John Wagner for a period of several years.
Ennis' first work on an American comic came in 1991 when he took over DC Comics's horror title Hellblazer, which he wrote until 1994, and for which he currently holds the title for most issues written. Steve Dillon became the regular artist during the second half of Ennis's run.
Ennis' landmark work to date is the 66-issue epic Preacher, which he co-created with artist Steve Dillon. Running from 1995 to 2000, it was a tale of a preacher with supernatural powers, searching (literally) for God who has abandoned his creation.
While Preacher was running, Ennis began a series set in the DC universe called Hitman. Despite being lower profile than Preacher, Hitman ran for 60 issues (plus specials) from 1996 to 2001, veering wildly from violent action to humour to an examination of male friendship under fire.
Other comic projects Ennis wrote during this time period include Goddess, Bloody Mary, Unknown Soldier, and Pride & Joy, all for DC/Vertigo, as well as origin stories for The Darkness for Image Comics and Shadowman for Valiant Comics.
After the end of Hitman, Ennis was lured to Marvel Comics with the promise from Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada that he could write The Punisher as long as he cared to. Instead of largely comical tone of these issues, he decided to make a much more serious series, re-launched under Marvel's MAX imprint.
In 2001 he briefly returned to UK comics to write the epic Helter Skelter for Judge Dredd.
Other comics Ennis has written include War Story (with various artists) for DC; The Pro for Image Comics; The Authority for Wildstorm; Just a Pilgrim for Black Bull Press, and 303, Chronicles of Wormwood (a six issue mini-series about the Antichrist), and a western comic book, Streets of Glory for Avatar Press.
In 2008 Ennis ended his five-year run on Punisher MAX to debut a new Marvel title, War Is Hell: The First Flight of the Phantom Eagle.
In June 2008, at Wizard World, Philadelphia, Ennis announced several new projects, including a metaseries of war comics called Battlefields from Dynamite made up of mini-series including Night Witches, Dear Billy and Tankies, another Chronicles of Wormwood mini-series and Crossed both at Avatar, a six-issue miniseries about Butcher (from The Boys) and a Punisher project reuniting him with artist Steve Dillon (subsequently specified to be a weekly mini-series entitled Punisher: War Zone, to be released concurrently with the film of the same name).
Taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garth_Ennis
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 195 reviews
August 4, 2024
As the team investigate another lower level group Super-Duper, Hughie fins himself in compromising positions both at home and undercover. After these Hughie shenanigans it comes as no surprise that there are cracks forming in the team as they attempt to dig under more of Vought American and The Seven's suspected conspiracies. And who is their insider? The amazing series continues relentlessly. 9 out of 12 fine Four Star read.
2019 and 2017 read
2019 and 2017 read
August 13, 2019
At Butcher's insistence, Hughie stakes out the team Super-Duper, only to discover that they are a group of special needs superheroes.
Malchemical is a psychotic bully, who is now assigned to Super-Duper as their 'leader'. This was his punishment for shape-shifting into another supe on his team and fucking his girlfriend in the pooper.
The team already had an unofficial leader who was basically a super-caretaker, and she tries to stand up to Malchemical - but it turns out she has her own set of issues that he exploits.
Of course, once things get out of hand, you know Hughie isn't going to stand by and let Malchemical hurt these kids.
Oh, and Butcher (having learned Annie's true identity) is convinced Hughie is a mole. Plus, it looks like Homelander is getting ready to spring something on the world.
So. Yeah, lots of good stuff in this one.
Still a great comic, but this isn't for the squeamish or easily 'triggered'.
Malchemical is a psychotic bully, who is now assigned to Super-Duper as their 'leader'. This was his punishment for shape-shifting into another supe on his team and fucking his girlfriend in the pooper.
The team already had an unofficial leader who was basically a super-caretaker, and she tries to stand up to Malchemical - but it turns out she has her own set of issues that he exploits.
Of course, once things get out of hand, you know Hughie isn't going to stand by and let Malchemical hurt these kids.
Oh, and Butcher (having learned Annie's true identity) is convinced Hughie is a mole. Plus, it looks like Homelander is getting ready to spring something on the world.
So. Yeah, lots of good stuff in this one.
Still a great comic, but this isn't for the squeamish or easily 'triggered'.
November 2, 2021
The seventh volume in the anti-superhero satire series The Boys. In this one there is love sweet love for Hughie. Annie! And they use the L word with each other. The thing is. Billy sees them together and recognizes her as Starlight from the Seven (a superhero group). Is Hughie now compromised? Even a spy?
The first of two arcs here is all about a kind of parody of the Legion of Superheroes-type team called Super Duper, featuring a psychotic jerk superhero (okay, villain) named Malchemical, assigned to lead these kind of lame but somehow endearing folks. The second arc is about a ploy to connect Christianity to superheroes through some huge event where the supes come in and hypocritically mouth platitudes for big profits. Capes for Christ! The leader is a pedophile named Oh Father.
The best thing about the series is Hughie, the true and relatable protagonist, but the way things shake out in the final scene makes him less likable to me. But I'll read on, after all these years, taking a break periodically. Things are sometimes so over-the-top sometimes in the series--something to offend everyone! what can we do in this volume to cross all the lines??!--so it kinda undermines the initially clever purpose of the series for me at times.
The first of two arcs here is all about a kind of parody of the Legion of Superheroes-type team called Super Duper, featuring a psychotic jerk superhero (okay, villain) named Malchemical, assigned to lead these kind of lame but somehow endearing folks. The second arc is about a ploy to connect Christianity to superheroes through some huge event where the supes come in and hypocritically mouth platitudes for big profits. Capes for Christ! The leader is a pedophile named Oh Father.
The best thing about the series is Hughie, the true and relatable protagonist, but the way things shake out in the final scene makes him less likable to me. But I'll read on, after all these years, taking a break periodically. Things are sometimes so over-the-top sometimes in the series--something to offend everyone! what can we do in this volume to cross all the lines??!--so it kinda undermines the initially clever purpose of the series for me at times.
March 31, 2018
this collection pulls The Boys out of the low lows of the past two books. I enjoyed the overarching exploration of Innocence Sullied that carries over two narrative arcs and one ongoing romance. the first arc is all about the Legion knock-off team called Super Duper learning that the world is a gross place. it features a particularly fun asshole in the Metamorpho parody that is superhero(villain) Malchemical, who is the new leader of those poor dumb kids. the second arc is about a popular Christianity-palooza where various superheroes(villains) make lucrative appearances, including the pedophile Oh Father - a less fun character obviously, but the point is certainly made. those stories were both fine but I especially appreciated the sweetly carnal innocence of Hughie and Starlight's charming relationship, which has always been a refreshing island in the cesspool ocean that is the world of this comic. so sad that their relationship took a major hit, but it was time - at least in order for narrative and characterization to continue moving forward. we're still in a holding pattern as far as learning what's it all about and where it's all going, but that's fine when the stories told here hold together so well and have, at long last, some genuine emotional resonance.
May 5, 2021
Volumen interesante en el que al fin se cuentan algunos secretos de la trama romántica de fondo. Todavía hay cosas que critico del comic (si bien es interesante conocer un mundo en el que los superhumanos no son héroes, me parece injusto que no exista ninguno que le interese hacer el bien y que sea bueno haciéndolo)
October 14, 2016
A symbolic one-star because of my feelings of absolute raging hatred towards nice guy protagonist Wee Hughie by the time this volume ended.
The plot continues apace, with intrigue on the side of Vought-American rising to an admirable boiling point as regards Homelander's instability and resentment. The arc with the faux Legion of Doom is equal parts charming (their cluelessness) and tense (the truly horrifying not-Metamorpho they suddenly have to contend with). The art by Russ Braun is actually more pleasing to me than Darick Robertson's, so all in all, if you are not me and you had been enjoying The Boys up until now, you'll most likely keep enjoying it with this volume as well.
HOWEVER
When Hughie finds out what Annie had to do to join the Seven, he unleashes a tirade of misogynist invective before walking out on her in a huff. Now, the book suddenly invokes the voice of an omniscient narrator (a new stylistic trick that hadn't been done before at all) to tell us that "Hughie knew how wrong he was but he couldn't help himself" (paraphrased) seeing as how one of the men Annie serviced was A-Train, the notFlash who accidentally killed Hughie's fiancée.
Unless Hughie gets utterly fucking demolished in the next volume, and my boy Ennis assures us that he is wrong for being angry at any part of that situation that DOESN'T involve Annie blowing Robin's killer and him having an emotional response to that (and even then how the fuck was she gonna know), this series and indeed Ennis as a writer will get some serious fucking moral caveats in my mental registry.
I hope I don't have to put you in the Shane Black drawer, Garthy!
The plot continues apace, with intrigue on the side of Vought-American rising to an admirable boiling point as regards Homelander's instability and resentment. The arc with the faux Legion of Doom is equal parts charming (their cluelessness) and tense (the truly horrifying not-Metamorpho they suddenly have to contend with). The art by Russ Braun is actually more pleasing to me than Darick Robertson's, so all in all, if you are not me and you had been enjoying The Boys up until now, you'll most likely keep enjoying it with this volume as well.
HOWEVER
When Hughie finds out what Annie had to do to join the Seven, he unleashes a tirade of misogynist invective before walking out on her in a huff. Now, the book suddenly invokes the voice of an omniscient narrator (a new stylistic trick that hadn't been done before at all) to tell us that "Hughie knew how wrong he was but he couldn't help himself" (paraphrased) seeing as how one of the men Annie serviced was A-Train, the notFlash who accidentally killed Hughie's fiancée.
Unless Hughie gets utterly fucking demolished in the next volume, and my boy Ennis assures us that he is wrong for being angry at any part of that situation that DOESN'T involve Annie blowing Robin's killer and him having an emotional response to that (and even then how the fuck was she gonna know), this series and indeed Ennis as a writer will get some serious fucking moral caveats in my mental registry.
I hope I don't have to put you in the Shane Black drawer, Garthy!
December 22, 2012
I don't mean to imply that the only thing going on in this story is personal relationships.
There's good action. Good mystery. A lot of worthwhile social commentary. A lot of lampooning of superhero comics themselves.
All of this is done well, is entertaining, and is (almost entirely) done in service to the overarching story.
(Continued in Volume 8.)
November 8, 2014
I dunno, I didn`t love this one. I`d say probably 3.5 stars.
What I did like is that we finally get the revelation that Hughie`s lady isn`t who he thought she was, but he doesn`t take it well at all...
There`s an evolution in the relationship between the team, as MM calls Butcher out on some assumptions he makes, and Butcher is ready to let Hughie pay for it.
Luckily, there is some relief, but it only subsides long enough for us to see Hughie`s world fall apart.
There`s some more scenes of Supes behaving badly, and it looks like the Homelander is about to go rogue, and maybe take some others with him. We also get a revelation about another member of the Seven and where loyalties really lie...
It will be interesting to see where things go from here...
The only comic relief is from the Female, undercover with the Frenchman, and her antagonizing at the hands of a bully...the thought bubbles of what she`ll do, and how Frenchy responds are the only lightness in this otherwise VERY dark book.
Lots of rape, mentally challenged folks being treated like shit by a big bully, and the collapse of one of the bright lights of the series.
I commend Ennis for not taking the easy way out of that, I just don`t think he would have gone that way.
Get this review and more at:
What I did like is that we finally get the revelation that Hughie`s lady isn`t who he thought she was, but he doesn`t take it well at all...
There`s an evolution in the relationship between the team, as MM calls Butcher out on some assumptions he makes, and Butcher is ready to let Hughie pay for it.
Luckily, there is some relief, but it only subsides long enough for us to see Hughie`s world fall apart.
There`s some more scenes of Supes behaving badly, and it looks like the Homelander is about to go rogue, and maybe take some others with him. We also get a revelation about another member of the Seven and where loyalties really lie...
It will be interesting to see where things go from here...
The only comic relief is from the Female, undercover with the Frenchman, and her antagonizing at the hands of a bully...the thought bubbles of what she`ll do, and how Frenchy responds are the only lightness in this otherwise VERY dark book.
Lots of rape, mentally challenged folks being treated like shit by a big bully, and the collapse of one of the bright lights of the series.
I commend Ennis for not taking the easy way out of that, I just don`t think he would have gone that way.
Get this review and more at:
August 28, 2019
Something about the pure innocence of Super Duper really touched my heart. In a cold-blooded world of narcissistic coked-up superheroes, these are the dorky useless underlings who get wedgies and wet-willies. But their sweet innocence is also something to admire in this dark world. It's also something that touches Wee Hughie as well as he goes on his emotional journey. There is one more thing I will say about The Boys -- the sure do know how to maximize the comedic value of fat superheroes. From Blowchowski to Bobby Badoing, they never miss a chance to use a fat superpowered moron for a few laughs.
July 18, 2022
Bullet Review:
Part 2 of "I can't read emails and now I need to finish ASAP to return overdue library books". I've been checking out library books since I was in first grade, and this is the first time I've ever kept books past due (2020 doesn't count).
Developments finally come to a head in this one, namely the big one involving Hughie's girlfriend and who is helping The Boys spy on The Seven. (Other developments I wish would get addressed still haven't, but I am hopeful they will soon.) I kinda want to smack Hughie senseless for his asinine response to all this, but we are all human I suppose, and Butcher certainly didn't help him make a good decision.
To be honest, one of the reasons I really liked this volume is that this volume moves beyond just "Superheroes are vile" and art of piss, gore, blood, vomit, boobs, and gobs and gobs of sex of all forms. I feel like this volume is building off the previous, and stuff is moving in a direction -Homelander starts branching out his plan, which is nice to see more of than just some evil villain cackling in the background, we're seeing more of the Vought-American guy, we know most of protagonist"s backstories now
Part 2 of "I can't read emails and now I need to finish ASAP to return overdue library books". I've been checking out library books since I was in first grade, and this is the first time I've ever kept books past due (2020 doesn't count).
Developments finally come to a head in this one, namely the big one involving Hughie's girlfriend and who is helping The Boys spy on The Seven. (Other developments I wish would get addressed still haven't, but I am hopeful they will soon.) I kinda want to smack Hughie senseless for his asinine response to all this, but we are all human I suppose, and Butcher certainly didn't help him make a good decision.
To be honest, one of the reasons I really liked this volume is that this volume moves beyond just "Superheroes are vile" and art of piss, gore, blood, vomit, boobs, and gobs and gobs of sex of all forms. I feel like this volume is building off the previous, and stuff is moving in a direction -Homelander starts branching out his plan, which is nice to see more of than just some evil villain cackling in the background, we're seeing more of the Vought-American guy, we know most of protagonist"s backstories now
January 18, 2023
The first couple trades were rough. There’s no denying that. But then the series started to find itself around vol 4 and maintains a surprising level of quality. Ennis can be a very strong writer and the addition of another artist and a more streamlined style really helped to make all the incredible cynicism palatable. I’ve abandoned any comparisons to the tv show, as they’ve gone very quickly in wildly different directions, but there are flashes of similarity. As we start to enter the home stretch, the promise of impending doom has an undeniable allure. Ennis’ ability to portray complete sociopaths as complex characters is a gift.
September 18, 2011
This is the soap-opera book of the series - besides a storyline involving a disgraced hero taking command of a weird kids-oriented supergroup who barely have powers, the bulk of the book focuses on Hughie and Starlight's relationship. Yup, this is the one where Hughie finds out about Starlight being part of the Seven and what she had to do to get into it...
There is a setup for a larger storyline involving a possible "Civil War" type scenario happening between the Supes and Vought, but it's just a hint of foreshadowing that shows you where the series is headed.
It's not a bad book but feels a bit lightweight. There's a lot of pages but besides the Hughie/Starlight storyline advancing and the Supes go rogue/Vought storyline that's been hinted at since "Herogasm" being hinted at yet again, nothing much else happens. A few cool moments aside, I wanted more from this volume than there was. If you're a fan then of course you'll get this one and it's still a fun read. Oh well, hopefully Book 8 will be a corker!
There is a setup for a larger storyline involving a possible "Civil War" type scenario happening between the Supes and Vought, but it's just a hint of foreshadowing that shows you where the series is headed.
It's not a bad book but feels a bit lightweight. There's a lot of pages but besides the Hughie/Starlight storyline advancing and the Supes go rogue/Vought storyline that's been hinted at since "Herogasm" being hinted at yet again, nothing much else happens. A few cool moments aside, I wanted more from this volume than there was. If you're a fan then of course you'll get this one and it's still a fun read. Oh well, hopefully Book 8 will be a corker!
November 5, 2011
Dark. That's how this book hits me. I can't help it, I know that's so over-used these days, but when I think about how Butcher and Malchemical and a couple of the Boys act, that's where my brain goes.
This is a serious book, many dramatic turns and little to redeem the optimist inside me. I did *not* think Ennis would take us here, and as I saw it unfolding I just assumed he'd let us off the hook sooner or later.
Now I really want to read the next volume immediately - this suffering has to end and quickly. That's the sign of good writing, and while I'm not feeling happy right now, I know that this book has affected me - which is the highest honour.
The art is keeping up its amazing standards of quality - without this visceral, line-crossing work I think this series could've lost me a while back.
This is a serious book, many dramatic turns and little to redeem the optimist inside me. I did *not* think Ennis would take us here, and as I saw it unfolding I just assumed he'd let us off the hook sooner or later.
Now I really want to read the next volume immediately - this suffering has to end and quickly. That's the sign of good writing, and while I'm not feeling happy right now, I know that this book has affected me - which is the highest honour.
The art is keeping up its amazing standards of quality - without this visceral, line-crossing work I think this series could've lost me a while back.
Read
January 13, 2021Ennis got his start in the mid to late 90s, establishing a reputation as an extremist in the comics community alongside Warren Ellis, though Ennis would become the Grant Morrison to Ellis' Alan Moore, with Ennis sometimes going to extremes without letting his story threads come together in a natural way. Does that mean Ennis is a bad writer? Of course not. He wouldn't be a favorite of mine if that were the case. While The Boys doesn't entirely reach the heights of some of Ennis' finer outings like Preacher or Punisher MAX, The Boys proved itself to be another interesting series in Ennis' catalogue.
Garth Ennis is never one for the easily offended, the copious amounts of sex, violence and mayhem that inhabits this series can test even the most mentally and physically strong of people, as I said earlier Ennis is rather extreme with his content. Though luckily, Ennis does know how to pace himself and provide a good plot to keep you invested unlike some of the other artists and writers from the uber grimdark period of comics (cough cough, Rob Liefeld, cough cough, Frank Miller). Ennis, much like Alan Moore, makes a point to show that if superhumans were to exist in our world, they would bring about an apocalyptic sense of change to the world. Though unfortunately, I'm not quite as sure that Ennis is as thorough in his exploration as Moore was. He never fully goes deeper in his critique of superheroes, which is rather unfortunate. Though unlike Moore, Ennis pulls no punches when taking shots as superheroes, this is unsurprising given his well known disdain for the superhero genre, yet again, I don't find that his satire nearly goes far enough to make a grand point of it all.
While The Boys' satire is admittedly simplistic unlike something that is more nuanced like Watchmen, we see Ennis' reputation for characterization shine through, with Billy Butcher being a standout and even Ennis himself lamenting that he was his favorite character to write. Most of the characters in The Boys are strongly developed and their depth and likability is reminiscent of Preacher, but we also see how they change over time. Wee Hughie in particular changes from a mild mannered normal person into a hardened, but still well intentioned person. The satire of The Boys, while sometimes going overboard and becoming crude, usually does its job, with targets being of corporatism, crony capitalism, and the incompetence of government, in particular the Bush era.
I have often complained about how many modern comics have problems with pacing. But luckily Ennis doesn't have this issue, and I would lobby him alongside Ed Brubaker as having a mastery of pacing, as Ennis knows when he should slow things down and when to let things speed up. It is nice to find someone else to use as an example of how to pace your stories in a way to where you won't lose your audience, and Ennis definitely knows how to keep his audiences attention, for better or worse.
Few problems come through in the series, Ennis's writing teeters in quality near the end, with some unexpected twists coming in that shakes up the story at hold and not in a way that feels natural. Though luckily Ennis manages to make it work as best as he can and manages to wrap his story up in a satisfying way. While Ennis is ruthless in his mockery of the superhero genre and its conventions, some of his edgy, extreme humor doesn't really seem to go anywhere, which is a problem that pervades through much of his work. Though unlike Preacher or Punisher MAX where he manages to tamper it with volumes of excellent story, The Boys sometimes does get brought down by its over the top extremes. The art from Derrick Robertson, while very good and well drawn, I often compare to his extraordinary work on Transmetropolitan, and I found that he hasn't ever surpassed the strange and surreal visuals from that series.
Cruel and crass as The Boys may be, Ennis rarely forgets character motivation or good plotting to keep readers invested, while he may lose some of his steam by the end of the series, The Boys remains a strong and enjoyable outing from Ennis' catalogue.
Garth Ennis is never one for the easily offended, the copious amounts of sex, violence and mayhem that inhabits this series can test even the most mentally and physically strong of people, as I said earlier Ennis is rather extreme with his content. Though luckily, Ennis does know how to pace himself and provide a good plot to keep you invested unlike some of the other artists and writers from the uber grimdark period of comics (cough cough, Rob Liefeld, cough cough, Frank Miller). Ennis, much like Alan Moore, makes a point to show that if superhumans were to exist in our world, they would bring about an apocalyptic sense of change to the world. Though unfortunately, I'm not quite as sure that Ennis is as thorough in his exploration as Moore was. He never fully goes deeper in his critique of superheroes, which is rather unfortunate. Though unlike Moore, Ennis pulls no punches when taking shots as superheroes, this is unsurprising given his well known disdain for the superhero genre, yet again, I don't find that his satire nearly goes far enough to make a grand point of it all.
While The Boys' satire is admittedly simplistic unlike something that is more nuanced like Watchmen, we see Ennis' reputation for characterization shine through, with Billy Butcher being a standout and even Ennis himself lamenting that he was his favorite character to write. Most of the characters in The Boys are strongly developed and their depth and likability is reminiscent of Preacher, but we also see how they change over time. Wee Hughie in particular changes from a mild mannered normal person into a hardened, but still well intentioned person. The satire of The Boys, while sometimes going overboard and becoming crude, usually does its job, with targets being of corporatism, crony capitalism, and the incompetence of government, in particular the Bush era.
I have often complained about how many modern comics have problems with pacing. But luckily Ennis doesn't have this issue, and I would lobby him alongside Ed Brubaker as having a mastery of pacing, as Ennis knows when he should slow things down and when to let things speed up. It is nice to find someone else to use as an example of how to pace your stories in a way to where you won't lose your audience, and Ennis definitely knows how to keep his audiences attention, for better or worse.
Few problems come through in the series, Ennis's writing teeters in quality near the end, with some unexpected twists coming in that shakes up the story at hold and not in a way that feels natural. Though luckily Ennis manages to make it work as best as he can and manages to wrap his story up in a satisfying way. While Ennis is ruthless in his mockery of the superhero genre and its conventions, some of his edgy, extreme humor doesn't really seem to go anywhere, which is a problem that pervades through much of his work. Though unlike Preacher or Punisher MAX where he manages to tamper it with volumes of excellent story, The Boys sometimes does get brought down by its over the top extremes. The art from Derrick Robertson, while very good and well drawn, I often compare to his extraordinary work on Transmetropolitan, and I found that he hasn't ever surpassed the strange and surreal visuals from that series.
Cruel and crass as The Boys may be, Ennis rarely forgets character motivation or good plotting to keep readers invested, while he may lose some of his steam by the end of the series, The Boys remains a strong and enjoyable outing from Ennis' catalogue.
December 24, 2014
Extremely disappointing. Maybe I've matured out of the target demographic lately. I mean, I still love all the "stickin' it to the supes" stuff, but Butcher and Hughie are painted so unsympathetically here it's really difficult to root for them at all. We've always known Butcher & Co were a bunch of right bastards, and that was fine, because we had Simon Pe... err, Wee Hughie to identify with, as the "regular guy" we could all see as us (and by we I mean of course white cishet dudes). But by the end of this book, I could no more identify with Hughie than with Butcher. They're both pretty reprehensible, and I don't know if I care enough to read another few volumes about them.
June 6, 2017
Another double story arc book. Things are certainly heating up.
The Legion of Superheroes parody in the first arc made me smile. It's perhaps not as on point as some of the arcs in The Boys have been, but it's still fun. We're starting to see some dissention in the ranks.
As for the second arc, well, we knew that moment was coming, but it still sucked ...
Looking forward to volume 8! Onward!
The Legion of Superheroes parody in the first arc made me smile. It's perhaps not as on point as some of the arcs in The Boys have been, but it's still fun. We're starting to see some dissention in the ranks.
As for the second arc, well, we knew that moment was coming, but it still sucked ...
Looking forward to volume 8! Onward!
May 24, 2016
Another fine volume.
May 15, 2024
Mais um volume muito bom de The Boys, que série incrível escrita por Garth Ennis. O roteirista consegue encaixar muito bem o humor escrachado, com violência e questões do dia a dia de forma que flui bem, é uma mescla que dá uma personalidade única para The Boys.
Nessa edição, temos 2 arcos, sendo o primeiro denominado “Os Inocentes”, e outro denominado “Acredite”.
No arco Os Inocentes, temos Butcher testando o Hughie, após a descoberta que o membro mais novo dos The Boys está tendo um romance com uma integrante dos 7. No teste, Hughie ficou incumbido de acompanhar os Super-Hiper, um grupo de heróis que é composto por crianças e integrantes que possuem limitações em seus poderes, não conseguindo trazer problemas para os The Boys. O grande problema é seu novo líder, um super perigoso com poderes problemáticos.
Durante o arco, vemos Hughie tendo que acompanhar o grupo e relatando o que descobriu para Butcher, enquanto L.M busca respostas por trás das ordens do Carniceiro, tendo em vista que o mesmo estranhou Hughie ter ido acompanhar um grupo que não oferece perigo aos The Boys.
Esse primeiro arco, não possui nada muito excepcional, e serve para dar continuidade na narrativa da trama, tendo como diferencial a evolução enquanto a relação entre Butcher e Hughie, mostrando questões de confianças e perspectivas de ambos quanto aos supers.
O segundo arco, é o mais interessante do encadernado. Além de ser um arco extremamente importante no que tange a relação de Hughie e Estelar, ele também trabalha a relação entre Hughie e Butcher, pois agora ambos sabem que a garota com que Hughie está saindo é integrante dos Sete, e eles conversam entre si para discutir como agir.
Outro ponto importante da trama, é mostrar o começo das ações do Patriota. Ainda não sabemos o que ele está planejamento de maneira concreta, mas ele começa a mobilizar heróis e fazer conexões para por seu plano em prática. Dessa maneira, nesse arco ele dá os primeiros passos, e considerando o que aconteceu até agora, podemos esperar algo grande vindo aí. O clima de conspiração começa a ter início.
Um ponto que destaco, é em relação ao nome do arco, Acredite. O nome, de maneira bem direta, faz referência a o nome do evento religioso que está ocorrendo durante o arco, em que o Conglomerado utiliza alguns heróis, com pegadas mais religiosas, para tirar dinheiro dos cristãos. Porém, além dessa referencia implícita, durante minha leitura, também pude relacionar a alguns momentos da trama, em diferentes núcleos inclusive.
No caso de Hughie, quando ele conta ao Butcher sobre sua descoberta quanto a sua namorada, ele torce para que seu parceiro acredite no que diz, tendo em vista as coincidências existentes, e ainda tem medo que o mesmo não acredite. Em outro momento, Hughie conversando com a Estelar, após ele sabe sobre os poderes dela, está furioso e fala coisas pesadas para a moça, que ao mesmo tempo não quer acreditar no que ele está dizendo, ela sabe que nem ele acredita, e em pensamento ele também admite não acreditar nas suas palavras. Outrora, Patriota também quer acreditar em seu plano e na mobilização dos supers, bem como L.M não acredita que Butcher mexeu em suas coisas. Dessa maneira, acredito que o nome Acredite, foi muito bem trabalhado durante a trama e em diferentes núcleos de personagens.
Nessa edição, temos 2 arcos, sendo o primeiro denominado “Os Inocentes”, e outro denominado “Acredite”.
No arco Os Inocentes, temos Butcher testando o Hughie, após a descoberta que o membro mais novo dos The Boys está tendo um romance com uma integrante dos 7. No teste, Hughie ficou incumbido de acompanhar os Super-Hiper, um grupo de heróis que é composto por crianças e integrantes que possuem limitações em seus poderes, não conseguindo trazer problemas para os The Boys. O grande problema é seu novo líder, um super perigoso com poderes problemáticos.
Durante o arco, vemos Hughie tendo que acompanhar o grupo e relatando o que descobriu para Butcher, enquanto L.M busca respostas por trás das ordens do Carniceiro, tendo em vista que o mesmo estranhou Hughie ter ido acompanhar um grupo que não oferece perigo aos The Boys.
Esse primeiro arco, não possui nada muito excepcional, e serve para dar continuidade na narrativa da trama, tendo como diferencial a evolução enquanto a relação entre Butcher e Hughie, mostrando questões de confianças e perspectivas de ambos quanto aos supers.
O segundo arco, é o mais interessante do encadernado. Além de ser um arco extremamente importante no que tange a relação de Hughie e Estelar, ele também trabalha a relação entre Hughie e Butcher, pois agora ambos sabem que a garota com que Hughie está saindo é integrante dos Sete, e eles conversam entre si para discutir como agir.
Outro ponto importante da trama, é mostrar o começo das ações do Patriota. Ainda não sabemos o que ele está planejamento de maneira concreta, mas ele começa a mobilizar heróis e fazer conexões para por seu plano em prática. Dessa maneira, nesse arco ele dá os primeiros passos, e considerando o que aconteceu até agora, podemos esperar algo grande vindo aí. O clima de conspiração começa a ter início.
Um ponto que destaco, é em relação ao nome do arco, Acredite. O nome, de maneira bem direta, faz referência a o nome do evento religioso que está ocorrendo durante o arco, em que o Conglomerado utiliza alguns heróis, com pegadas mais religiosas, para tirar dinheiro dos cristãos. Porém, além dessa referencia implícita, durante minha leitura, também pude relacionar a alguns momentos da trama, em diferentes núcleos inclusive.
No caso de Hughie, quando ele conta ao Butcher sobre sua descoberta quanto a sua namorada, ele torce para que seu parceiro acredite no que diz, tendo em vista as coincidências existentes, e ainda tem medo que o mesmo não acredite. Em outro momento, Hughie conversando com a Estelar, após ele sabe sobre os poderes dela, está furioso e fala coisas pesadas para a moça, que ao mesmo tempo não quer acreditar no que ele está dizendo, ela sabe que nem ele acredita, e em pensamento ele também admite não acreditar nas suas palavras. Outrora, Patriota também quer acreditar em seu plano e na mobilização dos supers, bem como L.M não acredita que Butcher mexeu em suas coisas. Dessa maneira, acredito que o nome Acredite, foi muito bem trabalhado durante a trama e em diferentes núcleos de personagens.
July 25, 2022
Man, this was TENSE and the perfect example for screaming at the characters to JUST TALK TO EACH OTHER!! One of the most frustrating tropes of all time is when all the issues could be resolved by two characters just having an honest conversation.
Anyhoo, here we have Hughie watching a bunch of Supes who seem more like idiotic kids. Naturally, they're wholesome idiots and even though they do the most ridiculously stupid stuff, you still kinda find yourself rooting for them. Butcher has somehow become the Bad Guy this issue, so it was interesting to see the group dynamics shift a little.
Also loving the direction Homelander seems to be headed - I am ready for some major sh*t to go down.
Another fantastic installment, and I can feel the series getting darker. Keener than ever to get through it!
Anyhoo, here we have Hughie watching a bunch of Supes who seem more like idiotic kids. Naturally, they're wholesome idiots and even though they do the most ridiculously stupid stuff, you still kinda find yourself rooting for them. Butcher has somehow become the Bad Guy this issue, so it was interesting to see the group dynamics shift a little.
Also loving the direction Homelander seems to be headed - I am ready for some major sh*t to go down.
Another fantastic installment, and I can feel the series getting darker. Keener than ever to get through it!
July 30, 2019
Another chapter in the Boys series. In this one we find out that Hughie really loves Annie and tells her. Billy sees them together and recognizes her as Starlight from the Seven. He naturally thinks Hughie is a spy and goes to the Legend to discuss this turn. He could not be further from the truth. it is just that Hughie doesn't realize she is in the Seven, since I don't think he has seen her on any of the tapes from the hidden cameras. Meanwhile Annie is coming out of her shell and takes him shopping for porn.
Over at Vought we have a new player who will be in charge of the Seven, when the original handler moves up the corporate ladder. She is rather gung-ho and all. She has seen the files on the Seven though and knows they are just horrible at times, especially the photos of Homelander destroying a bunch of people for fun. Mothers Milk confronts some other Vaught managers about their attack on them earlier.
Billy decides to test Hughie by sending him to bug SuperDuper, a very low power team. Half of the team has mental disabilities, and powers that don't work all the time. They are being sent a new leader by Vought, a total sick mental case. Billy figures of Hughie gets seen then he won't do anything because both sides work for Vought. Hughie winds up liking them, since they are "mentally just kids", and they do things like rescuing cats from trees and all. The woman in charge of SuperDuper gets into it with the new leader and he decides he had enough of them and goes to town with going to rape them all. Hugie steps in and gets messed up and Billy busts in and ends the jerk and saves Hughie.
Later we get into the Capes for Christ event in the park. It's where Vought ties the supes with religion and get the fans to pay to see them all and attend. Homelander doesn't want to do it, neither does Annie. Vought lets them know that this isn't opional. Hughie and Annie are at the park later and Hughie lets Annie know how his former love was killed by a supe, namely A-Train by the Seven. she gets upset and then confesses she is in the Seven. This totally destroys Hughie, with all he has seen and done. He has to run off, while Annie still shouts her love for him. Billy sends Frenchie and Female to spy at Capes for Christ and we see Oh Father, a pedophile superhero with 12 kid sidekicks. Homelander approaches him and asks him to ask around to find other supes who might want to make a change on who is in charge of the country. Oh Father knows a few and they discuss this while Annie as Starlight puts on this act about how great belief is and all that. She talks to Homelander later and he is a jerk but then lets her go because the only thing left for the day is the contest of "win dinner with the homelander".
Hughie then meets up with Billy all upset with what he found out about his girl. he confesses to Billy and Billy sees that he is telling the truth, that he knew nothing. They discuss about how Billy doesnt think Hughie is a spy, but maybe Annie is. They go back to their HQ and discuss how they have cameras and bugs on the Seven's lair because Queen Mave decided to help the Boys years back. Billy suggests that Hughie start checking the tapes right before he met Annie to see if they planned anything, knowing he will see what she did to join the Seven. He gets so pissed and confronts Annie in the park. He goes to town on her, super mean language and all, breaking her heart because of her secret. So mad and sad and all, totally great writing and all of an irrational breakup fight. They both leave crying.
To end the book we have Homelander with the winning family who will go to dinner with him. They are in their car and he picks it up and flies off with it. Frenchie see that a lot of other supes fly off after them as well. After a long flight Homelander just throws the car in the ocean killing the family and discusses his plans with the large group of supes with him.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 7, 2013
The Innocents (39-43). This is quite a good story because of its advancement of the plot and the distrust that evolves within The Boys. The final fight is also refreshingly brutal. The problem, of course, is when Ennis decides to be purposefully offensive for no good reason … which unfortunately occurs at least once per issue [7/10].
Believe (44-47). The second story in the volume is brilliant though. It finally sets off all the bombs that have been laid in the series to date and has a wonderful, wonderful ending. This is Ennis at his best (and there are only one or two moments of purposefully, unnecessary crudity) [8+/10].
Believe (44-47). The second story in the volume is brilliant though. It finally sets off all the bombs that have been laid in the series to date and has a wonderful, wonderful ending. This is Ennis at his best (and there are only one or two moments of purposefully, unnecessary crudity) [8+/10].
January 24, 2023
I'm absolutely loving this and reading all these comments by Ennis fans about how this is him at his worst, puerile, juvenile, etc, etc, and I'm like... okay? But our system has a five year old boy, so like... yeah, sometimes we're childish?
He loves horror and violence (until, like, two pages in he gets scared and runs away), but is meh on The Boys, probably because characters keep getting outed as pedophiles.
Anyway, I am loving this. It is kinda childish in some ways, says some other stuff I find deeper, and I'm just amused. Will probably finish this series early this week.
He loves horror and violence (until, like, two pages in he gets scared and runs away), but is meh on The Boys, probably because characters keep getting outed as pedophiles.
Anyway, I am loving this. It is kinda childish in some ways, says some other stuff I find deeper, and I'm just amused. Will probably finish this series early this week.
September 13, 2019
First part is great, as Hughie goes on a solo mission, because butcher is an asshole, along the way we discover to other ends of the world's superhero's spectrum.
The second part is terrible, with a climax that only manages to turn Hughie to an even greater asshole than Butcher, with text that can only be written by a not very smart writer.
And I thought I was starting to really enjoy the series.
The second part is terrible, with a climax that only manages to turn Hughie to an even greater asshole than Butcher, with text that can only be written by a not very smart writer.
And I thought I was starting to really enjoy the series.
March 1, 2022
Well, no one ever thought a romance of opposites as stark and the wee lad and his superlassie was ever going to last. And sure enough…
In the Tv series, this gets addressed fairly early on. In the comics, somehow – inexplicably – it doesn’t until book 7. Whaaa…
How does a man whose job it is to observe and report on Superheroes not recognize that the woman he’s dating is one of the Supers from the most famous super team out there? I mean, she doesn’t wear a mask. Nothing like that. Is it the Clark Kent effect? But she doesn’t even wear glasses. WTF?
Anyway, so things come to blows. There are some other subplots, but that’s the main one. It’s pretty emotionally devastating for a comic as crass and as in your face as The Boys too. Book 7 comprises two storylines, done by two different artists once again. I preferred the second one. Like his faces much more. Plus, he does a terrific Terror.
Other than that, the usual fun was had. Turns out, stepping away from the comics for a while was the right move, made it fresher and more fun upon return. Recommended.
This and more at https://advancetheplot.weebly.com/
In the Tv series, this gets addressed fairly early on. In the comics, somehow – inexplicably – it doesn’t until book 7. Whaaa…
How does a man whose job it is to observe and report on Superheroes not recognize that the woman he’s dating is one of the Supers from the most famous super team out there? I mean, she doesn’t wear a mask. Nothing like that. Is it the Clark Kent effect? But she doesn’t even wear glasses. WTF?
Anyway, so things come to blows. There are some other subplots, but that’s the main one. It’s pretty emotionally devastating for a comic as crass and as in your face as The Boys too. Book 7 comprises two storylines, done by two different artists once again. I preferred the second one. Like his faces much more. Plus, he does a terrific Terror.
Other than that, the usual fun was had. Turns out, stepping away from the comics for a while was the right move, made it fresher and more fun upon return. Recommended.
This and more at https://advancetheplot.weebly.com/
June 15, 2020
I know this series is deliberately over the top and provocative. I'm not bothered by the over the top violence, unlikable protagonists, constant racism, sexism and homophobia, or the black and grey morality of it all. It's Garth Ennis, I get it. He's successfully turned his disdain for superhero culture into a fun, disturbing and interesting romp.
The thing that anchors it all is Hughie, the likeable (if somewhat homophobic) protagonist of the series.
The final scene of this volume nicely undoes everything that was likeable about him. I won't go into spoilers, but it was a real turn off. He crossed some lines that you can't go back on. It's particularly hard to read in a post MeToo world.
I don't remember how it all ends, but I assume Hughie apologises and makes up for what he said, but honestly that's not good enough, and right now I've lost the momentum I had for re-reading the rest of this series.
The thing that anchors it all is Hughie, the likeable (if somewhat homophobic) protagonist of the series.
The final scene of this volume nicely undoes everything that was likeable about him. I won't go into spoilers, but it was a real turn off. He crossed some lines that you can't go back on. It's particularly hard to read in a post MeToo world.
I don't remember how it all ends, but I assume Hughie apologises and makes up for what he said, but honestly that's not good enough, and right now I've lost the momentum I had for re-reading the rest of this series.
June 5, 2011
I love this series by Ennis. Is it crude? Yes. Graphic (sex/violence)? Oh yes. But I really do love the characters and really get a kick out of them. And the world that Ennis has created - where super heroes are shmucks just like the rest of us, or worse - is endlessly captivating. Was volume 7 my favorite volume? No. Sad to say, there was a lot of lovey-dovey detail about Wee Hughie and his love affair with Annie January (aka Starlight) and not nearly enough story given to other "boys" like The Frenchman and The Female. But all in all, darn satisfying.
[Note: for some reason, my cover image is much different - The Female dangling in the sky at the tail end of a bunch of balloons - but I didn't see an alternate image on any of the major book sites so I'll leave my review tagged to this image.]
[Note: for some reason, my cover image is much different - The Female dangling in the sky at the tail end of a bunch of balloons - but I didn't see an alternate image on any of the major book sites so I'll leave my review tagged to this image.]
October 27, 2017
One of the best issues!
The juxtaposition btw camaraderie and distrust were strewn throughout the book, which had been brewing for awhile.
The sense that pivotal elements were now in play gave me a heightened sense of excitement.
... and, as always with Ennis, he enjoys playing with emotions.
This volume definitely elicited a multitude, all varying from "yes, to the underdog", sympathy to rage to pity.
The art was paramount in this volume, and the variants were wonders to behold!
The juxtaposition btw camaraderie and distrust were strewn throughout the book, which had been brewing for awhile.
The sense that pivotal elements were now in play gave me a heightened sense of excitement.
... and, as always with Ennis, he enjoys playing with emotions.
This volume definitely elicited a multitude, all varying from "yes, to the underdog", sympathy to rage to pity.
The art was paramount in this volume, and the variants were wonders to behold!
August 31, 2021
2021 reads, #61-72. In preparation for finally watching the Amazon Prime Video adaptation currently being made out of it, I recently had the opportunity to acquire the entire six-year, 72-issue run of Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson's The Boys (broken down at Goodreads into 12 larger graphic novels; this review covers them all, which I'm copying and pasting into each book page), the anti-superhero tale from the creator of legendary '90s Vertigo Generation-X hit Preacher that is now popularly known as "The Darkest Comic Book In History And We're Not Just Buying Into The Hype When We Say That, You Should Do Yourself A Favor And Seriously Take That Warning Legitimately;" and while the original plan had been to read only a few issues of what I was fully expecting to be a mediocre title, whose reputation I assumed had been artificially inflated by a bunch of uncultured nerds who wouldn't know true transgressive literature if it reached up and bit them on the dick, I ended up doing a feverish binge of all 72 issues in a mere 72-hour period this weekend, because the hype turned out to be fully believable in this case, and I kept greedily drinking it all in as fast as I could, partly because I couldn't believe something this relentlessly dark could even exist within the comics industry in any form at all, and kept half-expecting it to disappear in front of my eyes as I was reading it, like some kind of evil magical spell that had finally reached its end.
And indeed, the first thing you'll wonder as you start making your way through it is how this possibly could've started life at "mainstream indie" Wildstorm in the first place, which was just about to go through an acquisition by DC when The Boys was first brought on, which is why Wildstorm unceremoniously dumped The Boys six issues in, although to their credit with the enthusiastic help of the pre-DC staff to get it to a more unknown publisher that would do it right before the acquisition happened, and even giving Robertson a special allowance to his otherwise DC-exclusive contract in order to continue working on it. And this is not just because the title is a particularly sickening example of the Dark Age "superheroes are actually barely disguised Nazi monsters" trope that's been around since literally the early '80s (imagine taking Alan Moore's infamously apocalyptic ending to his early underground hit Miracleman and making that page 1 of issue 1 of The Boys), but it's just as much an indictment if not more so of the corporate psychopaths who own the intellectual property rights to such superheroes, intimating here that if we lived in a world where Time Warner owned not only the story, movie and merchandising rights to caped heroes but the actual real-time life rights of the human beings committing these acts of derring-do, the employees of Time Warner would essentially spend a billion dollars a year attempting to hide the psychopathic crimes such "heroes" would of course start immediately committing, the moment they realize that they have powers that can only be stopped by only a handful of other creatures on the planet, and a fully oiled corporate machine going around cleaning up whatever messes they choose to cause with such powers.
That leads to a world where the violent gangrape initiation ceremony of a new member of the Justice League of America, by this universe's version of Superman, Batman, Aquaman and the Martian Manhunter, is merely chapter one of a sprawling, always worsening look at the depths of the human race's capacity for depravity, as we quickly learn that the "super" powers of this universe are not caused by superior alien DNA or bites from radioactive spiders but rather a single "supersoldier" serum developed by a Nazi scientist in the 1930s, which makes it just a bunch of normal, everyday random people who end up becoming said superheroes in the universe of The Boys (around 200,000 of them now, by most people's estimates, although with the vast majority of them never making their powers publicly known, and the only "famous" superheroes being the ones who have managed to achieve corporate sponsorship); and it turns out that when you give superpowers to a bunch of normal, everyday random people, and not the "paragons of virtue" that DC and Marvel have made sure all their own superheroes over the years have been, those normal, everyday random people almost immediately become corrupt, perverted serial killers upon realizing that no one can stop them besides their equally corrupt, equally perverted superfriends. And this is not to mention creating the very real threat of a future government coup by the main multinational superhero conglomerate, Vought-American (a clear stand-in for real-life baddies Marvel-Disney), if their whims aren't catered to by an increasingly nervous Congress and White House (whose current VP, by the way, is a literally mentally challenged Vought stoolie).
That's led the CIA to quietly putting our titular Boys on the payroll, four equally violent psychopaths (plus our hapless Simon Pegg everyman reader-stand-in character) as a dirty-tricks squad being desperately used by the government as a secret behind-the-scenes check and balance against the growing dictatorial control of Vought-American, while a billion dollars are being spent by V-A at TMZ and TikTok to keep up the public appearance of these caped rapists' Dudley Do-Rite reputations, then eventually (in what many comics fans will consider the most cynical turn of the entire storyline) creating their own version of "Dark Age" comics when the Boys' shenanigans make it too impossible to keep their corporate mouthpieces' various horrific vices out of the public spotlight anymore, deciding to turn the vices into virtues so to not cause even the slightest interruption to the hamburger-selling that's been going on the whole time.
So in this, then, the 72-issue uber-plot going on here is an angry condemnation of the entire superhero comics industry, not just the intellectual premise of turning such Nazi ubermen into toothless rah-rah heroes, but the psychopathic mindset needed among the emotionally stunted man-child comics creators to pull off this premise, the glib incel glee among the industry's Comic Book Guy fans who made such material so popular in the '80s and '90s to begin with, the corporate middlemen who know exactly what kind of Nazi rape-porn twaddle they're peddling but simply don't care, and even you for thinking that a mean-spirited but ultimately toothless satire of the subject somehow counts as an effective antidote. It doesn't, as this series' infamously pessimistic climax proves, and now I'm more curious than ever to see how this ceaselessly piss-fueled indictment of the entire industry ended up getting adapted at the corporate-friendly Amazon, whose own employees are guilty of many of this story's most damning behavior. Certainly you shouldn't take this on unless you're ready for one of the most relentlessly bleak stories you've ever read in your life; but absolutely you should do so if you're ready for such, and big kudos to creators Ennis and Robertson for actually managing to finish it without slitting their own wrists somewhere around issue #54 or so. Do yourself a big favor and go into it with this attitude in mind.
And indeed, the first thing you'll wonder as you start making your way through it is how this possibly could've started life at "mainstream indie" Wildstorm in the first place, which was just about to go through an acquisition by DC when The Boys was first brought on, which is why Wildstorm unceremoniously dumped The Boys six issues in, although to their credit with the enthusiastic help of the pre-DC staff to get it to a more unknown publisher that would do it right before the acquisition happened, and even giving Robertson a special allowance to his otherwise DC-exclusive contract in order to continue working on it. And this is not just because the title is a particularly sickening example of the Dark Age "superheroes are actually barely disguised Nazi monsters" trope that's been around since literally the early '80s (imagine taking Alan Moore's infamously apocalyptic ending to his early underground hit Miracleman and making that page 1 of issue 1 of The Boys), but it's just as much an indictment if not more so of the corporate psychopaths who own the intellectual property rights to such superheroes, intimating here that if we lived in a world where Time Warner owned not only the story, movie and merchandising rights to caped heroes but the actual real-time life rights of the human beings committing these acts of derring-do, the employees of Time Warner would essentially spend a billion dollars a year attempting to hide the psychopathic crimes such "heroes" would of course start immediately committing, the moment they realize that they have powers that can only be stopped by only a handful of other creatures on the planet, and a fully oiled corporate machine going around cleaning up whatever messes they choose to cause with such powers.
That leads to a world where the violent gangrape initiation ceremony of a new member of the Justice League of America, by this universe's version of Superman, Batman, Aquaman and the Martian Manhunter, is merely chapter one of a sprawling, always worsening look at the depths of the human race's capacity for depravity, as we quickly learn that the "super" powers of this universe are not caused by superior alien DNA or bites from radioactive spiders but rather a single "supersoldier" serum developed by a Nazi scientist in the 1930s, which makes it just a bunch of normal, everyday random people who end up becoming said superheroes in the universe of The Boys (around 200,000 of them now, by most people's estimates, although with the vast majority of them never making their powers publicly known, and the only "famous" superheroes being the ones who have managed to achieve corporate sponsorship); and it turns out that when you give superpowers to a bunch of normal, everyday random people, and not the "paragons of virtue" that DC and Marvel have made sure all their own superheroes over the years have been, those normal, everyday random people almost immediately become corrupt, perverted serial killers upon realizing that no one can stop them besides their equally corrupt, equally perverted superfriends. And this is not to mention creating the very real threat of a future government coup by the main multinational superhero conglomerate, Vought-American (a clear stand-in for real-life baddies Marvel-Disney), if their whims aren't catered to by an increasingly nervous Congress and White House (whose current VP, by the way, is a literally mentally challenged Vought stoolie).
That's led the CIA to quietly putting our titular Boys on the payroll, four equally violent psychopaths (plus our hapless Simon Pegg everyman reader-stand-in character) as a dirty-tricks squad being desperately used by the government as a secret behind-the-scenes check and balance against the growing dictatorial control of Vought-American, while a billion dollars are being spent by V-A at TMZ and TikTok to keep up the public appearance of these caped rapists' Dudley Do-Rite reputations, then eventually (in what many comics fans will consider the most cynical turn of the entire storyline) creating their own version of "Dark Age" comics when the Boys' shenanigans make it too impossible to keep their corporate mouthpieces' various horrific vices out of the public spotlight anymore, deciding to turn the vices into virtues so to not cause even the slightest interruption to the hamburger-selling that's been going on the whole time.
So in this, then, the 72-issue uber-plot going on here is an angry condemnation of the entire superhero comics industry, not just the intellectual premise of turning such Nazi ubermen into toothless rah-rah heroes, but the psychopathic mindset needed among the emotionally stunted man-child comics creators to pull off this premise, the glib incel glee among the industry's Comic Book Guy fans who made such material so popular in the '80s and '90s to begin with, the corporate middlemen who know exactly what kind of Nazi rape-porn twaddle they're peddling but simply don't care, and even you for thinking that a mean-spirited but ultimately toothless satire of the subject somehow counts as an effective antidote. It doesn't, as this series' infamously pessimistic climax proves, and now I'm more curious than ever to see how this ceaselessly piss-fueled indictment of the entire industry ended up getting adapted at the corporate-friendly Amazon, whose own employees are guilty of many of this story's most damning behavior. Certainly you shouldn't take this on unless you're ready for one of the most relentlessly bleak stories you've ever read in your life; but absolutely you should do so if you're ready for such, and big kudos to creators Ennis and Robertson for actually managing to finish it without slitting their own wrists somewhere around issue #54 or so. Do yourself a big favor and go into it with this attitude in mind.
September 21, 2021
The relationship between Hughie and Starlight was always going to cause problems - for both of them. In this volume, we see the fallout from Hughie's side of things, as Butcher finds out about their love affair.
I really like the approach Ennis took with the reveal, as Butcher see's Hughie and Starlight kissing on the street. He has Butcher immediately think Hughie must be a mole. True to his character, he begins digging into this assumption by getting Hughie out of the way and sending him to get more info on a D List group of heroes named SuperDuper. Well, when he gets back, it all hits the fan, with Butcher egging Hughie on to what the truth must be if he isn't a mole: Starlight is playing Hughie. This leads to Hughie confronting Starlight about it, and just obliterating what was built between them.
Its high stakes emotional drama in this one folks, and Ennis manages to make the story believable and well thought out. Of course this is how Butcher would react and of course Hughie would believe him. Ennis has spent most of the series building the character traits of these guys, and when these pieces start falling into place, it just makes sense and makes the story that much more enjoyable. Great writing by Ennis.
The series feels like it's headed towards a resolution now, with the stakes being higher between the Seven and the Boys and even higher emotional stakes with the situation between Hughie and Starlight. I've read this before but I kind of forgot all of this happened, so I'm eagerly looking forward to the next volume.
I really like the approach Ennis took with the reveal, as Butcher see's Hughie and Starlight kissing on the street. He has Butcher immediately think Hughie must be a mole. True to his character, he begins digging into this assumption by getting Hughie out of the way and sending him to get more info on a D List group of heroes named SuperDuper. Well, when he gets back, it all hits the fan, with Butcher egging Hughie on to what the truth must be if he isn't a mole: Starlight is playing Hughie. This leads to Hughie confronting Starlight about it, and just obliterating what was built between them.
Its high stakes emotional drama in this one folks, and Ennis manages to make the story believable and well thought out. Of course this is how Butcher would react and of course Hughie would believe him. Ennis has spent most of the series building the character traits of these guys, and when these pieces start falling into place, it just makes sense and makes the story that much more enjoyable. Great writing by Ennis.
The series feels like it's headed towards a resolution now, with the stakes being higher between the Seven and the Boys and even higher emotional stakes with the situation between Hughie and Starlight. I've read this before but I kind of forgot all of this happened, so I'm eagerly looking forward to the next volume.
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