Award-winning creators Garth Ennis (Preacher, Punisher) and Carlos Ezquerra (Judge Dredd) return to chronicle the continuing saga of the Pilgrim. In Garden of Eden, it is now 12 years after "The Burn," when the sun enlarged, drying all the world's oceans and sending human civilization into ruin. The Pilgrim, who has walked over 10,000 miles across the dry wasteland that remains of the Earth, comes upon a gigantic trench which reaches miles into the ocean floor, where he encounters hellish undead vermin preying on a new group of human survivors looking for a hero.
Ennis 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).
In the second Just a Pilgrim series, Ennis gets rid of the zany characters and juvenile humor for a straight up horror story. The Pilgrim has travelled to the last bastion of humanity, located in the Marianas Trench. This Garden of Eden in the midst of a ravaged Earth is beset by a new threat, creatures that animates the dead, using us as puppets. Much better than the first volume.
Garth Ennis - Author Carlos Ezquerra - Illustrator
3/5 stars
It is eight years after "The Burn" - when the sun began to die, first greatly swelling in size and vaporizing the Earth's oceans, then slowly fizzling away leaving a barren, dessicated husk nearly devoid of life. Those unlucky enough to survive The Burn are beset by grotesque animal mutants caused by the changing rays of the sun and gangs of marauding men, intent on spending the last days of the human race pillaging and raping.
A group of farmers and ranchers sets out across the now-dry floor of the Atlantic Ocean, desperately searching for defensible, arable land. On their journey they are attacked by a gang led by the blind, quadruple-amputee pirate captain Castenado. Overwhelmed, the farmers would have been wiped out if not for the intervention of a mysterious stranger. The stranger, calling himself Pilgrim, offers to lead the group to safety. Begrudgingly, they follow him ... but something about this stranger isn't right, even though he may be the group's only hope for survival.
Given the premise, I was somewhat disappointed with this graphic novel. I have come to have high expectations for Garth Ennis (The Punisher, Preacher, The Boys) and, sadly, this story just did not live up to those expectations. To be sure, there is plenty of Ennis' trademark black humor as well as several shocking twists and turns that manage to surprise the reader. Still I was left with the feeling that this book could have been so much better than it is, particularly given the extremely enticing premise. Mr. Ezquerra's art is top notch, with expressive faces and sure-handed, strong forms reminiscent of longtime Ennis collaborator Steve Dillon. Recommended for fans of science-fiction, post-apocalyptic themes, or the writing of Garth Ennis.
Only slightly less enjoyable than the original story. This 4 issue mini closes the door in the Pilgrim story line in only a way the Garth Ennis can. Full of demented twists and darkly inspiring dialogue, I enjoyed it.
A disappointing follow up to the first volume. Not only because it's significantly shorter, but mainly because it's so much less interesting. The first volume had an eyeless, handless, legless sadistic pirate trying to slaughter a bunch of survivors, the Pilgrim's own cannibal backstory, grotesque mutations and shootouts gallore.
This has the main villain be mind/body controlling blobs of sludge, so it's naturally not even remotely as exciting. Plus it is my firm belief that anytime a series resorts to a body snatchers scenario, it's because it has run out of ideas.
Marianas Trench is like a Garden of Eden in the desolate lanscape that has become the Earth. A group of scientists built it and are now calling it their home. The also built a spaceshit capable of faster-than-light travel and plan to fill it up with a large cache of genetic samples and colonize another planet. Their settlement is continuously attacked by zombie-like things - a creature thought to have evolved from a jellyfish takes control of dead bodies and uses their own casualties agains them.
The Pilgrim's religious zealotry is as much a blessing as a curse. He is an able fighter that tries to help by risking his own neck, but it also blinds him to some obvious things. The Bible presents stuff cut and dried, but you still need to adapt some of it to the real world which is anything but black and white. By the end his faith is put to the test.
It's a quick and fun read very much in the same tone as the first volume. The events may be exagerrated and the main character is over-the-top, but it's worth reading at least as a break from something more serious. It's easy to recommend to fans of Preacher.
An excellent comic by writer Garth Ennis, illustrated by Carlos Ezquerra. The sun has gone nova, and the remnants of humanity struggle to survive in the barren wasteland left behind. Graphically violent, wry and bitter. The pilgrim is a man on a mission from god. Many such stories blend religion with science fiction, but the resolution of this spiritual journey is different from most.
Recommended for teen+ due to harsh language and graphic violence. No sexuality worth mentioning. Committed Christians probably won't like it.