What do you think?
Rate this book
Preacher
Preacher, Volume 7: Salvation
In the wake of the apocalyptic events in Preacher: War in the Sun, the Reverend Jesse Custer's quest to find an absentee God takes an unexpected detour, one which leads down a backwater road to the godforsaken town of Salvation! Separated from gun-toting girlfriend Tulip and Irish vampire Cassidy, Custer's looking to lose himself for a while, take stock of a life that has been torn apart. But there's no rest for the good or the wicked in Salvation, a small town with a lot of very big secrets, as Custer soon discovers.
Collects PREACHER #41-50.
Collects PREACHER #41-50.
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
16 people are currently reading
2197 people want to read
About the author
Garth Ennis
2,624 books3,170 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
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 273 reviews
March 29, 2021
Right, the end of the last volume was a bit of a shocker, right? This one's all about, what Jessie does next in a li'l ol' Texan town called Salvation, where he finds the past and present, and seeks answers for the future. Lots of N words - Nazi, Naughtiness, Nostalgia, New beginnings and Near-knuckle dark humour :). 8.5 out of 12.
February 9, 2017
Mr. Quincannon! Could you put your meat down for just a moment and have a word with our sponsors? Please? Odin? Please, just this once... would you put your meat down?
*shiver* What a creepy MFer. Lordy.
I can't quite decide which was worse, the guy from this comic or the iteration in the TV. Both were pretty damn awesome, and there are just a few things you can't quite do on TV but you can in a comic.
Oh, who am I kidding. The one in the comic was freaking amazeballs. I loved his lawyer, too.
Hell, the whole town of Salvation may have been just a stopover, a place to downshift, to let Jesse get his bearings after all the crap went down in the previous volume, but here's what amazes me most: It's a grand-style western. Stranger comes into town and picks up the badge and tries to put down the bad guys. It worked a hella-well, and I guess I feel kinda blessed now to have read this and see exactly where the entire feel of that short-run of Banshee got its gumption from. :)
Oh, yeah, and the reveals were pretty sweet, too, as were the sub-plots. Things are coming out and slapping us in the face pretty regular, now. :) Gotta love it.
*shiver* What a creepy MFer. Lordy.
I can't quite decide which was worse, the guy from this comic or the iteration in the TV. Both were pretty damn awesome, and there are just a few things you can't quite do on TV but you can in a comic.
Oh, who am I kidding. The one in the comic was freaking amazeballs. I loved his lawyer, too.
Hell, the whole town of Salvation may have been just a stopover, a place to downshift, to let Jesse get his bearings after all the crap went down in the previous volume, but here's what amazes me most: It's a grand-style western. Stranger comes into town and picks up the badge and tries to put down the bad guys. It worked a hella-well, and I guess I feel kinda blessed now to have read this and see exactly where the entire feel of that short-run of Banshee got its gumption from. :)
Oh, yeah, and the reveals were pretty sweet, too, as were the sub-plots. Things are coming out and slapping us in the face pretty regular, now. :) Gotta love it.
August 9, 2016
Anyone who has not read the entire Preacher series but thinks that they might someday should heed this warning: Do NOT read this or any other review and/or summary for any of the volumes after War in the Sun. Even the best attempts to prevent spoilers will give away too much just by telling you the set up and this is one of those things that the less you know the better.
All I can safely say is that that this volume briefly turned me into a vegetarian after reading.
For those of you who have read it or just don’t care:
All I can safely say is that that this volume briefly turned me into a vegetarian after reading.
For those of you who have read it or just don’t care:
January 10, 2009
Man, if you have a story where a white guy saves a whole community of black people, and where a different black guy is totally grateful to a different (though related) white guy for saving his life and also teaching him important lessons about life, and where there is a black woman who's been on a police force for a long time but a white guy rolls into town, takes over the police department, and doesn't promote her- but gives her a totally sweet gun, so she falls in love with him and respects him as an officer, it doesn't make your comic book somehow not racist that you depicted the KKK as buffoons, or that, y'know, the heroic white paragon of american masculinity character is *nice* to black people. Is nobody else noticing this? Every person of color in this book is totally rescued by a white person, who we're then told deserves all the respect and deference he's given. Race has been pretty fucked for the whole series, but I feel like it boiled over in this one.
I keep wanting it to say something really interesting or insightful about its main theme- american masculinity- but all it keeps saying is that american masculinity is defined by a bunch racism, misogyny, a sense of entitlement, and violence. Which is fine, you're allowed to write that story (and I'm allowed to bitch about it), it's just frustrating when it gets framed as edgy. Y'know? It's the frame where "fuck political correctness" means "seriously guys, straight white men are oppressed more than anybody else."
So fucked I took stars off reviews of previous Preacher comics. Still gonna read the last one, though. I thought about buying this whole series when they came in, but I'm totally stoked I didn't.
I keep wanting it to say something really interesting or insightful about its main theme- american masculinity- but all it keeps saying is that american masculinity is defined by a bunch racism, misogyny, a sense of entitlement, and violence. Which is fine, you're allowed to write that story (and I'm allowed to bitch about it), it's just frustrating when it gets framed as edgy. Y'know? It's the frame where "fuck political correctness" means "seriously guys, straight white men are oppressed more than anybody else."
So fucked I took stars off reviews of previous Preacher comics. Still gonna read the last one, though. I thought about buying this whole series when they came in, but I'm totally stoked I didn't.
June 6, 2021
Amerika - Vietnam savaşı kullanılmasa şaşardım. Bu konuda çizgi roman görmek istemiyorum daha fazla, çok baydı beni. Hepsi de aynı. Kitabın son bölümüydü bir de, üzerimde iyi bir izlenim bırakamadan kapattım kapağını ama ondan önceki bölümler bayağı iyiydi. Yazarın altıncı kitapta yarattığı durumdan bu kitapta uzaklaşması kitabı sıkıcı kılmıyor hatta bi sonraki cilt için daha da meraklandırıyor.
December 24, 2022
Un volume più lento, dopo i fuochi d'artificio arrivati in precedenza.
Jesse, senza un occhio, tradito da Cassidy e da Tulip, vaga cercando di capire il senso del tutto, cosa fare e come farlo.
Ci sta un momento di pausa per raccogliere i pensieri, quando prendi troppe sberle.
E il destino lo porta a Salvation, amena cittadina texana che sorge nel mezzo del nulla, il posto dove la gente resta per abitudine e per mancanza di alternative.
Salvation dove ritrova vecchie conoscenze, tra cui una figura fondamentale per lui e che da tempo pensavamo morta.
Troverà anche, ovviamente, un piccolo e squallido imprenditore corrotto e malvagio, e i loro percorsi si andranno inevitabilmente a scontrare: del resto Jesse è ora lo sceriffo di Salvation, e ha deciso di restare per risolvere i problemi della città prima di proseguire verso il futuro, verso Tulip e verso Dio.
In più, una bella storia sul padre di Jesse in Vietnam.
Jesse, senza un occhio, tradito da Cassidy e da Tulip, vaga cercando di capire il senso del tutto, cosa fare e come farlo.
Ci sta un momento di pausa per raccogliere i pensieri, quando prendi troppe sberle.
E il destino lo porta a Salvation, amena cittadina texana che sorge nel mezzo del nulla, il posto dove la gente resta per abitudine e per mancanza di alternative.
Salvation dove ritrova vecchie conoscenze, tra cui una figura fondamentale per lui e che da tempo pensavamo morta.
Troverà anche, ovviamente, un piccolo e squallido imprenditore corrotto e malvagio, e i loro percorsi si andranno inevitabilmente a scontrare: del resto Jesse è ora lo sceriffo di Salvation, e ha deciso di restare per risolvere i problemi della città prima di proseguire verso il futuro, verso Tulip e verso Dio.
In più, una bella storia sul padre di Jesse in Vietnam.
May 15, 2020
This collection is part of a series and I strongly recommend reading them in order. In this one, Jesse takes a side trip after the devastating events of the last collection. Basically, this story is a character regroup story before continuing the overall fight.
This collection doesn't really add much to the overall arc. That being said, it is still an enjoyable collection especially the last issue. We have all seen or read where the main character suffers loss and needs time to regroup. That is this collection. There are some developments for the main character but I believe they really won't have any effect on his journey. Then why did I give this four stars? The last issue was absolutely amazing and in my top five for an individual issue. Ironically, this issue is actually filler as this issue concerns Jesse's father and is an anecdote of his time in the war. This issue raised my rating as it is powerful and emotional.
This isn't the most essential collection for the overall story arc. In fact I bet a reader could skip this collection and not be lost at all. That being said, I enjoyed it and I believe it should be read just for the last issue. The last issue is definitely worth the price of admission.
This collection doesn't really add much to the overall arc. That being said, it is still an enjoyable collection especially the last issue. We have all seen or read where the main character suffers loss and needs time to regroup. That is this collection. There are some developments for the main character but I believe they really won't have any effect on his journey. Then why did I give this four stars? The last issue was absolutely amazing and in my top five for an individual issue. Ironically, this issue is actually filler as this issue concerns Jesse's father and is an anecdote of his time in the war. This issue raised my rating as it is powerful and emotional.
This isn't the most essential collection for the overall story arc. In fact I bet a reader could skip this collection and not be lost at all. That being said, I enjoyed it and I believe it should be read just for the last issue. The last issue is definitely worth the price of admission.
August 9, 2013
I feel like I shouldn't like this volume as much as the earlier volumes, since it is basically filler material that doesn't move the overarching plot forward. But since it is totally awesome bad-ass filler, I was totally okay with it. I would follow the serialized adventures of Sheriff Jesse, if they made them. Actually, now that I think about it, there are similar adventures on the television that I do follow, in Justified, which is one of my favorite shows. Maybe that explains why I liked this volume so much.
March 15, 2015
The cover is hideous and makes this look like a stupid volume.
Luckily, the stupidity is toned down in this one, and actually, is more enjoyable than the last few were...no fat jokes, no crazy interactions with God, spirits, religion or otherwise.
Oh, and did I mention, there's no Irish vampire and no trigger happy blonde girlfriend in this one? That might actually be the best part of this...
Without all that baggage weighing him down, Jesse Custer can get back to business...which is to totally avoid his mission in a Podunk Texas town called...Salvation...how appropriate.
We get a lot of new characters, who are actually interesting for the most part, and only a little ridiculous in places. the insane sex is toned down, and that's a good thing.
This one just feels like a quirky version of Walking Tall, with some rather larger revelations for Jesse, especially regarding his family.
I have no idea where things go from here, but in my opinion, this could have been a place to end things on short notice if they'd had to.
Instead we get treated to Sheriff Jesse and the bad guys. This book saved his character for me, as I had come to almost despise his whiny nature and stupid companions...this book made me actually think Ennis took this one a bit more seriously than the last ones, and I appreciate that.
Certainly not a place to dive in, but a definite upswing for me.
Luckily, the stupidity is toned down in this one, and actually, is more enjoyable than the last few were...no fat jokes, no crazy interactions with God, spirits, religion or otherwise.
Oh, and did I mention, there's no Irish vampire and no trigger happy blonde girlfriend in this one? That might actually be the best part of this...
Without all that baggage weighing him down, Jesse Custer can get back to business...which is to totally avoid his mission in a Podunk Texas town called...Salvation...how appropriate.
We get a lot of new characters, who are actually interesting for the most part, and only a little ridiculous in places. the insane sex is toned down, and that's a good thing.
This one just feels like a quirky version of Walking Tall, with some rather larger revelations for Jesse, especially regarding his family.
I have no idea where things go from here, but in my opinion, this could have been a place to end things on short notice if they'd had to.
Instead we get treated to Sheriff Jesse and the bad guys. This book saved his character for me, as I had come to almost despise his whiny nature and stupid companions...this book made me actually think Ennis took this one a bit more seriously than the last ones, and I appreciate that.
Certainly not a place to dive in, but a definite upswing for me.
July 2, 2016
It is somewhat fresh to read Preacher with Jesse and a new gang of people. No Cass, no Tulip. I cannot say if this volume is really necessary in terms of.plot development, but this one is essential to advance Jesse's character that would eventually help him confront whatever danger he will inevitably face in the last few volumes.
While still full of crazy shit and twisted ideals, Salvation is definitely scarce with blasphemous commentaries and instead turns almost 180 degrees in defense of African-Americans.
Volume 7 sets up the whole series for the finale in a quiet way. It doesn't end with a bang, but definitely gives Jesse Custer an emotional uplift and courage.
While still full of crazy shit and twisted ideals, Salvation is definitely scarce with blasphemous commentaries and instead turns almost 180 degrees in defense of African-Americans.
Volume 7 sets up the whole series for the finale in a quiet way. It doesn't end with a bang, but definitely gives Jesse Custer an emotional uplift and courage.
December 25, 2010
"Skeeter, why don't you just run along an' hide in the truck, huh? I'm just 'bout to swallow a big dose of hallucinogens an' things're apt to get a little strange around here..."
May 6, 2018
I would have given this five stars because it really is such a great volume, but ultimately it doesn't really have anything to do with the main plot of the series [except for issue ...49 I think] so four stars it is. Usually I complain when this series veers off-track [which is like ...literally all the fucking time. Focus, Ennis], but this was actually a really nice stop before we get to the final action in the last two volumes. Plus I'm pretty sure 'Nazi dominatrix' and 'meat sex doll' fills in several squares on your '90s Edgelord Bingo Card' ;)
Some highlights:
Some highlights:
July 14, 2020
They salivated...
August 1, 2009
Terrific Preacher, second only to volume 4. Salvation has by far the most amusing dialogue yet, despite several lines that were very poor. This is largely a diversion from the main Preacher storyline, populated by almost entirely new characters. Funny how, as with volume 4, the diversions are the most entertaining bits! Quirky and playful, while retaining that hard edge.
In fact it brings into relief what I like about Jesse Custer as a character. In every other issue, he has the supporting characters to counterbalance and obscure his nature. Here, he is naked (sorry ladies, I mean figuratively; see volumes 1 & 3 for the literal version). He is an uncompromising, tough, southern, overmasculine, one-dimensional, conservative redneck. How could I like such a character!? Against all odds. It's that first trait I listed. Uncompromising, the same thing I love about Rorschach of Watchmen (who is similarly conservative). Brutally uncompromising. I know the world is grey, but they force the world into black and white, right and wrong. It is comforting I suppose, as a fantasy, to see the world painted so clearly, and to see justice so fictitiously simple. Probably also the appeal of the Punisher and countless other "heroes" in and out of comics.
It'll be hard to list specifics, as it is one long, continuous stream of good, but here goes: the Odin Quincannon character--impossible not to love the vicious little bastard; some of Jesse and Cindy Dagget's exchanges; Lorena's bizarre visual condition; the Nazi connections, one comical (Oatlash) and one grave (Gunther); Jesse kicking his usual ass, be it Odin's henchmen, hoodlums, the KKK, crooked townsfolk, etc.; that brute sodomizing Billy (not a laughing matter, I know, but the ensuing dialogue just kills); John Wayne telling Jesse what he's gotta do; and finally, John Custer and Spaceman's trek through VC-occupied jungle. Great stuff.
In fact it brings into relief what I like about Jesse Custer as a character. In every other issue, he has the supporting characters to counterbalance and obscure his nature. Here, he is naked (sorry ladies, I mean figuratively; see volumes 1 & 3 for the literal version). He is an uncompromising, tough, southern, overmasculine, one-dimensional, conservative redneck. How could I like such a character!? Against all odds. It's that first trait I listed. Uncompromising, the same thing I love about Rorschach of Watchmen (who is similarly conservative). Brutally uncompromising. I know the world is grey, but they force the world into black and white, right and wrong. It is comforting I suppose, as a fantasy, to see the world painted so clearly, and to see justice so fictitiously simple. Probably also the appeal of the Punisher and countless other "heroes" in and out of comics.
It'll be hard to list specifics, as it is one long, continuous stream of good, but here goes: the Odin Quincannon character--impossible not to love the vicious little bastard; some of Jesse and Cindy Dagget's exchanges; Lorena's bizarre visual condition; the Nazi connections, one comical (Oatlash) and one grave (Gunther); Jesse kicking his usual ass, be it Odin's henchmen, hoodlums, the KKK, crooked townsfolk, etc.; that brute sodomizing Billy (not a laughing matter, I know, but the ensuing dialogue just kills); John Wayne telling Jesse what he's gotta do; and finally, John Custer and Spaceman's trek through VC-occupied jungle. Great stuff.
September 7, 2015
How we gonna deal with Cass' betrayal and general douchebaggery from the last volume, on which we ended on a tense note? There's a lot to be said for flawed characters and giving them a chance to live their lives in full view of the reader; then again, it's very dramatically satisfying to watch those who break the moral code (under which most of us live begrudgingly) get full, visceral comeuppance.
Which is it gonna be Garth, eh? What's your plan for the potato-eating vampire and all-around parasite?
Oh of course - first we're going to give Jessie a little adventure in backwater Texas - see about a bad man who's running roughshod over the good folks of small-town Texas. Maybe get to know some of the locals. Get to like a few of them, help them out like the omniscient superhero you are.
Sounds a little like classic movies like Groundhog Day.
Except with a villain who's happy getting dirty with piles and piles of meat.
And his sidekick who's into some pretty kinky/bizarre rituals and certain taboo cultural iconography.
And the visibly self-destructive rabble who aren't capable of standing firmly on two webbed feet, let alone getting one over on the hero.
Yeah, more I think about it the more I realize Jesse's absolutely a superhero. He's rarely beaten and never for long, he's always got a clever quip or retort for every situation, he's suave with the ladies but doesn't cross taboos (unless it's to "protect" them). From a writer who's famously ripped the shit out of traditional capes, he has an uncanny knack for echoing the usual themes and position of the spandex set.
Ennis wraps up this volume with one of his trademarks: a war story. Dude's got a hard-on about men's valour under life-and-death, especially pertaining to use of guns against your fellow man. They're good stories, but I'm eye-rolling as soon as I smell one coming...and then I feel like a goddamned shitheel for ever doubting it once I'm done.
Which is it gonna be Garth, eh? What's your plan for the potato-eating vampire and all-around parasite?
Oh of course - first we're going to give Jessie a little adventure in backwater Texas - see about a bad man who's running roughshod over the good folks of small-town Texas. Maybe get to know some of the locals. Get to like a few of them, help them out like the omniscient superhero you are.
Sounds a little like classic movies like Groundhog Day.
Except with a villain who's happy getting dirty with piles and piles of meat.
And his sidekick who's into some pretty kinky/bizarre rituals and certain taboo cultural iconography.
And the visibly self-destructive rabble who aren't capable of standing firmly on two webbed feet, let alone getting one over on the hero.
Yeah, more I think about it the more I realize Jesse's absolutely a superhero. He's rarely beaten and never for long, he's always got a clever quip or retort for every situation, he's suave with the ladies but doesn't cross taboos (unless it's to "protect" them). From a writer who's famously ripped the shit out of traditional capes, he has an uncanny knack for echoing the usual themes and position of the spandex set.
Ennis wraps up this volume with one of his trademarks: a war story. Dude's got a hard-on about men's valour under life-and-death, especially pertaining to use of guns against your fellow man. They're good stories, but I'm eye-rolling as soon as I smell one coming...and then I feel like a goddamned shitheel for ever doubting it once I'm done.
April 8, 2011
I can't decide with Preacher whether I prefer the main narrative of Jesse's journey to confront God or the stories that divert from this. Volume 7: Salvation sees Jesse Custer, heartbroken and alone, take up a sheriff position in the small town of Salvation. It has all the hallmarks of classic Western, the lone-ranger enters into a town and fights for what he believes is right for the benefit of all but a handful of bad guys.
Again, like Les Enfants du Sang, the main antagonist is a joke in the form of a meat-loving shriveled old man. There's never any doubt that Jesse will be unable to defeat him and his Klan buddies, but Meatman works as something against which to constantly define what is right and good and just. Jesse reunites with his mother, which was totally unexpected but offered a moving counterpoint to the violence and gore. Salvation is full of quirky smalltown characters, but none are really given much time to develop.
One thing that I really didn't understand was Jesse's reaction to Gunther's secret, especially after the spiel about second chances and what America stands for. Especially when the two of them are so similar, both of them acting, either currently or in the past, in the name of a questionable ideology. Forgiveness is impossible. (Especially, having now read further into the series, knowing how often the concept of a good ol' American "second chance" at life is championed.) Miss Oatlash's Nazi fascination is used for comic effect, but when Gunther's Nazi past is uncovered it apparently reveals him as a traitor to the American ideal upheld by Jesse. Maybe I just don't get it. Sometimes the moral lines are too severely drawn here and, it's never even addressed as a possible contradiction in Jesse's moral definitions. The limitations of his black & white morality is never explored.
Again, like Les Enfants du Sang, the main antagonist is a joke in the form of a meat-loving shriveled old man. There's never any doubt that Jesse will be unable to defeat him and his Klan buddies, but Meatman works as something against which to constantly define what is right and good and just. Jesse reunites with his mother, which was totally unexpected but offered a moving counterpoint to the violence and gore. Salvation is full of quirky smalltown characters, but none are really given much time to develop.
One thing that I really didn't understand was Jesse's reaction to Gunther's secret, especially after the spiel about second chances and what America stands for. Especially when the two of them are so similar, both of them acting, either currently or in the past, in the name of a questionable ideology. Forgiveness is impossible. (Especially, having now read further into the series, knowing how often the concept of a good ol' American "second chance" at life is championed.) Miss Oatlash's Nazi fascination is used for comic effect, but when Gunther's Nazi past is uncovered it apparently reveals him as a traitor to the American ideal upheld by Jesse. Maybe I just don't get it. Sometimes the moral lines are too severely drawn here and, it's never even addressed as a possible contradiction in Jesse's moral definitions. The limitations of his black & white morality is never explored.
August 8, 2020
It is most entertaining story arc in Preacher Series. Sometimes it makes fool out of itself as it shows our Hero challenging God almighty like that. If God can be challenged by a mortal like that then may be we are living in another universe.
Anyways I loved Jesse Custer as this time he had to beat some rednecks with a psychotic business tycoon.
Anyways I loved Jesse Custer as this time he had to beat some rednecks with a psychotic business tycoon.
August 5, 2019
Mostly filler storyline.
Great illustrations and panels! I loved all the bright skylines, especially the yellow ones. We meet a new unexpected character in this one! Looking forward to getting on with the series. Only two more to go!🙌🙌
Great illustrations and panels! I loved all the bright skylines, especially the yellow ones. We meet a new unexpected character in this one! Looking forward to getting on with the series. Only two more to go!🙌🙌
May 1, 2020
Hani şu klasikleşmiş söz var ya; elimden bırakamadan okudum ya da bir solukta bitirdim işte tam olarak böyle bir seri. Film seyreder gibi okumaya devam ediyorum. 8. Cilt ile ikinci yarıya geçiyorum.
November 21, 2017
This volume is mostly a diversionary episode amidst the epic where Jesse recuperates and gets his bearings as a new sheriff in a corrupt small town before he can remember what actually happened to him near the end of the last volume and realize what he needs to know in his quest. Overall, it's as good as usual. However, it might be the most disturbing visually in admittedly a quite disturbing series. And man, that cover! I'd like to forget I ever saw it.
November 30, 2019
Everybody starts off miserable in this one and the racial tensions run high, as is to be expected from the South. Jesse is taking a hiatus from his quest to find God in order to collect himself. He needs to get rid of his doubt before he can even think of his original mission. Thankfully, he does so by the end and leaves several dead, but also some good friends in his wake. He is also reunited with a few people from his childhood - by far the best part of this arc.
Jesse roams the USA a bit. He stumbles into Salvation, TX where he meets Billy-Bob's one-eyed sister Lorie who lives with Jodie, a hard woman who only later takes a liking to him. Jesse is offered the job of deputy, but he demands to be sheriff instead. The previous sheriff is only too happy to oblige and Jesse soon makes an enemy of Odin Quincannon, the man who owns the meat packing plant in the county.
Jesse roams the USA a bit. He stumbles into Salvation, TX where he meets Billy-Bob's one-eyed sister Lorie who lives with Jodie, a hard woman who only later takes a liking to him. Jesse is offered the job of deputy, but he demands to be sheriff instead. The previous sheriff is only too happy to oblige and Jesse soon makes an enemy of Odin Quincannon, the man who owns the meat packing plant in the county.
June 28, 2016
Plot points:
Preacher gets kind of derailed in Salvation, as Jesse wanders off to brood and find himself or something. He becomes sheriff of a small town, meets a one-armed amnesiac who happens to be the spitting image of his dead mom, and takes on an evil little local tycoon. Eventually he eats some peyote, recovers his post-nuke memories, and rediscovers his sense of purpose. Back to the main plot!
Worst cover of the entire series.
Preacher gets kind of derailed in Salvation, as Jesse wanders off to brood and find himself or something. He becomes sheriff of a small town, meets a one-armed amnesiac who happens to be the spitting image of his dead mom, and takes on an evil little local tycoon. Eventually he eats some peyote, recovers his post-nuke memories, and rediscovers his sense of purpose. Back to the main plot!
Worst cover of the entire series.
November 21, 2017
Still great But i think this was my least favorite volume So far
December 20, 2022
Videorecensione speciale di Halloween: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQRtd...
April 10, 2019
Feeling betrayed by his girlfriend Tulip and best friend Cassidy, Reverend Jesse Custer searches for meaning in the small town of Salvation, Texas. After fending off an attack against an old friend, he’s unofficially appointed sheriff of Salvation. His first big assignment is to do something about the Quincannon meat-packing family, who have run amok in Salvation with no consequences due to the patriarch Odin constantly paying off judges and officials. Jesse Custer cannot be bought or sold so easily and promises to do right by the people of Salvation.
While this installment of Preacher has its share of messed up moments, it doesn’t feel nearly as messed up as the previous volumes. Sure, there’s Odin’s little secret in the meat-packing plant. Sure, the villains are intolerably racist. But it just didn’t feel like the Preacher of old. Maybe I’ve become numb to it all after the first six volumes. Maybe I missed something along the way. Maybe I need to have this particular story explained to me. In any event, this seems more like a drama-driven story rather than a shock value extravaganza. While shock value doesn’t always mean good storytelling, Garth Ennis normally does it in a way that fits with the story perfectly. Don’t get me wrong, this is still a good story, but it’s just not the same.
But for all of this story’s faults, there’s no denying the heartstring-tugging moments that go along with it. This isn’t much of a spoiler since it happens early enough in the story, but Jesse does reunite with his mother after several decades apart. I won’t say how, but it does happen. And when it happens, tears flow from Christina Custer’s face like a running faucet. I’m sure Jesse cried somewhere during this reunion as well. Volume two was where Jesse’s sadistic upbringing and subsequent kidnapping was turned up to eleven. After enduring all of that trauma and never really recovering from it, Jesse and his mother have earned their tears and hopefully they’ll earn the reader’s tears too. This kind of hopefulness is what a dark and disturbing story needs every once and a while. Not too much of it, but this story had the right amount.
It’s also nice to see the sense of community among the residents of Salvation. It’s a small town, so everybody knows each other. I’ve lived in a small town before, so I know what that’s like. Coming together during a dire time of need is exactly what this town needed to feel credible. For years, Quincannon’s corporation has been terrorizing Salvation and getting away with it. It’s about time the citizens got sick and tired of being harassed. It’s about time they took Jesse Custer seriously as a sheriff. It’s about time they realized how badly they’re being wrecked by corporate interests. A nice little rebellion is what this story desperately needed. That too is heartwarming, probably just as heartwarming as Jesse’s reunion with his mother. I wish more small towns in America would stand up for their rights as much as Salvation ended up doing.
While I would have loved to see a continuation of the love triangle between Jesse, Tulip, and Cassidy (drug-induced hallucinations aside), I’m not giving up hope for that just yet as I have two more volumes to read before the canon is over. This was still an enjoyable volume to read, however. Yes, it didn’t feel as gritty as the previous volumes, but it didn’t have to be in order to earn my seal of approval. Imagine if I expected grittiness from every story I read outside of the Preacher series. That wouldn’t be fair, now would it? How does a passing grade sound, Mr. Ennis?
While this installment of Preacher has its share of messed up moments, it doesn’t feel nearly as messed up as the previous volumes. Sure, there’s Odin’s little secret in the meat-packing plant. Sure, the villains are intolerably racist. But it just didn’t feel like the Preacher of old. Maybe I’ve become numb to it all after the first six volumes. Maybe I missed something along the way. Maybe I need to have this particular story explained to me. In any event, this seems more like a drama-driven story rather than a shock value extravaganza. While shock value doesn’t always mean good storytelling, Garth Ennis normally does it in a way that fits with the story perfectly. Don’t get me wrong, this is still a good story, but it’s just not the same.
But for all of this story’s faults, there’s no denying the heartstring-tugging moments that go along with it. This isn’t much of a spoiler since it happens early enough in the story, but Jesse does reunite with his mother after several decades apart. I won’t say how, but it does happen. And when it happens, tears flow from Christina Custer’s face like a running faucet. I’m sure Jesse cried somewhere during this reunion as well. Volume two was where Jesse’s sadistic upbringing and subsequent kidnapping was turned up to eleven. After enduring all of that trauma and never really recovering from it, Jesse and his mother have earned their tears and hopefully they’ll earn the reader’s tears too. This kind of hopefulness is what a dark and disturbing story needs every once and a while. Not too much of it, but this story had the right amount.
It’s also nice to see the sense of community among the residents of Salvation. It’s a small town, so everybody knows each other. I’ve lived in a small town before, so I know what that’s like. Coming together during a dire time of need is exactly what this town needed to feel credible. For years, Quincannon’s corporation has been terrorizing Salvation and getting away with it. It’s about time the citizens got sick and tired of being harassed. It’s about time they took Jesse Custer seriously as a sheriff. It’s about time they realized how badly they’re being wrecked by corporate interests. A nice little rebellion is what this story desperately needed. That too is heartwarming, probably just as heartwarming as Jesse’s reunion with his mother. I wish more small towns in America would stand up for their rights as much as Salvation ended up doing.
While I would have loved to see a continuation of the love triangle between Jesse, Tulip, and Cassidy (drug-induced hallucinations aside), I’m not giving up hope for that just yet as I have two more volumes to read before the canon is over. This was still an enjoyable volume to read, however. Yes, it didn’t feel as gritty as the previous volumes, but it didn’t have to be in order to earn my seal of approval. Imagine if I expected grittiness from every story I read outside of the Preacher series. That wouldn’t be fair, now would it? How does a passing grade sound, Mr. Ennis?
July 3, 2023
This volume collects Jesse Custer's solo adventures in the rural town of Salvation. After the events from the previous volume where the good guys got their collective behinds kicked (with Cassidy and Tulip thinking Jesse is dead and Jesse discovering his two friends have moved on from mourning him), volume 7 is like the part of the movie where the hero licks his wounds and gets a pep talk and picks himself up for the fight with the Big Bad.
Jesse becomes Sheriff of Salvation and quickly runs afoul of the man who 'owns' the town, Odin Quincannon. Odin doesnt like the preacher because Jesse cannot be bribed. So Jesse must die. No prizes for guessing what happens next.
The bad guy and his minions in Salvation are pathetic but that's because they have never faced a real opponent before. They come off more amusing than threatening but like I wrote above, this volume is more about Jesse getting a wake up call in his quest to find an absent God.
As usual in a Garth Ennis book, depravity and blasphemy mixed with the darkest of humour are in spades in this collection.
Jesse becomes Sheriff of Salvation and quickly runs afoul of the man who 'owns' the town, Odin Quincannon. Odin doesnt like the preacher because Jesse cannot be bribed. So Jesse must die. No prizes for guessing what happens next.
The bad guy and his minions in Salvation are pathetic but that's because they have never faced a real opponent before. They come off more amusing than threatening but like I wrote above, this volume is more about Jesse getting a wake up call in his quest to find an absent God.
As usual in a Garth Ennis book, depravity and blasphemy mixed with the darkest of humour are in spades in this collection.
May 28, 2023
It’s pretty rad when your least favorite volume of a series is still fucking awesome. I get that some people don’t dig asides that deviate from the main story but for me it’s a nice little reprieve before the home stretch. Like a recharge. Jesse takes on Odin Quincannon here. Dude has some serious meat fucker issues. The final showdown was a bit of a letdown though. A lot of rad buildup that leads to basically nothing. Oh well, still khoul.
September 27, 2017
My first preacher book. Having had it lying around for a while I decided to pick it up. Was well worth it great storyline and easy to just Jump into having not had read the others. will definitely be getting the other volumes
March 30, 2022
My least favorite volume so far. I was tempted to give it a lower score, but what the hell, it did the job just fine. Really enjoying Preacher...
June 17, 2024
I’ll never forget that meat woman.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 273 reviews