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The Boys (Trade Paperbacks) #4
The Boys, Vol. 4: We Gotta Go Now
They're outcasts. Renegades. Rogues. Outsiders. They're the world's most profitable superheroes. They're the G-Men. But all is not well with mysterious millionaire John Godolkin's band of misfits. Silver Kincaid, one of the original G-Men, has just committed suicide in the most public and grotesque way imaginable. That's not good news for Vought-American's number one franchise, with G-Force, G-Coast, G-Style, G-Wiz, the G-Brits and the G-Nomads all depending on their slice of the G-pie. There's far too much at stake for anyone to go poking around the G-Mansion now. Who knows what dirty secrets might be waiting down there in the dark? So it's just too bad that Butcher, Hughie, Mother's Milk, the Frenchman and the Female have decided to do precisely that. Even it they risk finally biting off much, much more than they can chew... Collects issues 23-30 ("WE GOTTA GO NOW") of the acclaimed series and features a complete cover gallery including all of the alternate covers from the run (along with the covers by Darick Robertson): John Cassaday, Howard Chaykin, John Higgins, David Lloyd, Dave Gibbons, Gary Erksine, Steve Dillon and Jim Lee!
201 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2009
262 people are currently reading
1060 people want to read
About the author
Garth Ennis
2,625 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
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 279 reviews
May 1, 2025
The Boys plan to flush out more nefarious doings in the superhero world, and this time it's knock-off Charles Xavier who's on the hot seat.
Hughie goes undercover as a member of...well, basically a Great Value version of the New Mutant team.
Of course, being Wee Hughie he finds himself wanting to help the crazy kids instead of just fuck them up. The plot is a mash-up of Animal House plus {insert random teen X-team here} and a Michael Jackson level of turning a blind eye to the obvious hero worship.
While The Boys continues to be a title that I'm extremely interested in, I'm hoping the plot stays strong and it doesn't devolve into one big dick/shit/gore-fest that relies on shock value to keep the reader coming back.
I've got my fingers crossed for Hughie and the gang.
Still fun, still highly recommended!
Hughie goes undercover as a member of...well, basically a Great Value version of the New Mutant team.
Of course, being Wee Hughie he finds himself wanting to help the crazy kids instead of just fuck them up. The plot is a mash-up of Animal House plus {insert random teen X-team here} and a Michael Jackson level of turning a blind eye to the obvious hero worship.
While The Boys continues to be a title that I'm extremely interested in, I'm hoping the plot stays strong and it doesn't devolve into one big dick/shit/gore-fest that relies on shock value to keep the reader coming back.
I've got my fingers crossed for Hughie and the gang.
Still fun, still highly recommended!
March 31, 2023
An Ennis tour de force of satire, dark humour and the darkness of power! From the CIA's orders, it's agreed that Hughie will have to go undercover with a b-list super team based upon the X-Men, called the G-Men. In a biting and vicious parody Ennis builds the rationale for the G-Men from a really dark place, but a place that would make sense looking at the outcomes of the teams, and the way they are built and structured.
We get to see and understand the corporate handlers , Vought American and at last get the name of the mysterious handler first seen in Russia. On top of this is some wonderful sub-arcs involving all members of the team. 9 out of 12, Four Stars.
2019 and 2017 read
We get to see and understand the corporate handlers , Vought American and at last get the name of the mysterious handler first seen in Russia. On top of this is some wonderful sub-arcs involving all members of the team. 9 out of 12, Four Stars.
2019 and 2017 read
October 10, 2017
In his series The Boys, Garth Ennis and illustrator Darick Robertson take down, deconstruct, rip apart and flush down the toilet (but something less refined than that, truthfully) superhero culture. These are not good people as we have been led to believe, Ennis says, and they dress funny. It's all marketing, and possibly something more sinister, needing more than just satire to address it. In this volume, he focuses on the X-Men, or G-Men, and in particular a young group of G-Men in training, G-Wiz, arrogant and shallow frat boy types (see the Animal House cover) infiltrated by Hughie, who gets a ridiculously funny costume. There’s a commentary on how the Irish might view the American St. Patrick Day celebration I enjoyed, too.
But the good clean laughs are few in this volume, the darkest one yet, with bad taste (see a guy named Blowchowski whose superpower is projectile vomiting, for instance) and slaughter abounding. There’s a tender moment near the end with the traumatized Wee Hughie in the arms of Annie, as if Ennis were going to create some sense of catharsis after all the vulgarity and violence—there’s tender love, after all, but this scene is quickly followed by an angry and violent sexual scene with Butcher and Rayner that makes it clear Ennis is taking no prisoners in his tale.
Overall: Vulgar, crass, and it was (too) long enough in the G-Wiz sections to aggravate me, but I have to say the conclusion was. . . . engaging. I have to say I was surprised by what happens, though I should never be surprised at anything Ennis does, really. That’s really the point of Ennis. Just when you think he is crossing the line for you, he keeps reminding you: There are no actual lines to cross for him. It pushed me in places to my limit, I’ll admit it, but I have to say it is still quite a feat of storytelling, overall. I will read on. I’m sorry, Mom! Garth made me read it!
But the good clean laughs are few in this volume, the darkest one yet, with bad taste (see a guy named Blowchowski whose superpower is projectile vomiting, for instance) and slaughter abounding. There’s a tender moment near the end with the traumatized Wee Hughie in the arms of Annie, as if Ennis were going to create some sense of catharsis after all the vulgarity and violence—there’s tender love, after all, but this scene is quickly followed by an angry and violent sexual scene with Butcher and Rayner that makes it clear Ennis is taking no prisoners in his tale.
Overall: Vulgar, crass, and it was (too) long enough in the G-Wiz sections to aggravate me, but I have to say the conclusion was. . . . engaging. I have to say I was surprised by what happens, though I should never be surprised at anything Ennis does, really. That’s really the point of Ennis. Just when you think he is crossing the line for you, he keeps reminding you: There are no actual lines to cross for him. It pushed me in places to my limit, I’ll admit it, but I have to say it is still quite a feat of storytelling, overall. I will read on. I’m sorry, Mom! Garth made me read it!
September 2, 2016
Ennis shows his sensitive side in his depiction of teen superhero group G-Wiz. if you've been following this series, you already know that The Boys is Ennis' full frontal attack on superhero templates, tropes, and archetypes. he can't stand them so he not only deconstructs them, he mercilessly debases them as well. it's enjoyable if you can stomach all of the nastiness, pessimism, and the understanding that Ennis looks at the world in an exceedingly narrow way. fortunately I have a cast-iron stomach, thank you Filipino genes. so far we've had hideous versions of the Justice League, the Teen Titans, Batman, and whoever that one Russian spy lady is supposed to be (Black Widow? I hope not). this collection has Ennis eviscerating the X-Men and their mind-numbingly large number of offshoot groups.
G-Wiz are teen superheroes in training to be full-fledged G-Men. obviously a stand-in for New Mutants or whatever. this all-boy group is basically a frat (I love the Animal House homage cover); their preferred pastimes are getting wasted, making prank calls, and circle jerks. they're pretty gross. and yet they are not cynical, they're not evil. they may have scenes with them running around in togas, pissing on each other in showers, and giving each other a hand while watching (straight) porn, but it's not like they are malicious. finally Ennis is comfortable admitting that not everyone is a piece of shit! although it is amusing to me that even his sweet young innocents are portrayed as entirely repulsive.
there's more sweetness to be had in the ongoing relationship between series protagonist Wee Hughie and Christian heroine Starlight (although the fact that Hughie looks like a giant hairy baby is a wee bit discomfiting), as well as in a very supportive friendship between The Frenchman and The Female. and there are some wonderfully uncomfortable moments in the depiction of gangsta superhero teams G-Coast and G-Style. (Some have claimed racism in the dialogue coming from those characters, which is a naive perspective given that Ennis has an axe to grind against ALL stereotypes - not just ones involving black characters - and he's just as derisive of the people who believe in them as he is of those who enact them.)
so perhaps to balance out the sweetness and the humor, We Gotta Go Now involves the darkest plot line yet, one where pedophilia and cycles of abuse are front and center. and in typical Ennis fashion, he doesn't attempt to come up with a solution, he just ends up . sigh. oh, Ennis.
G-Wiz are teen superheroes in training to be full-fledged G-Men. obviously a stand-in for New Mutants or whatever. this all-boy group is basically a frat (I love the Animal House homage cover); their preferred pastimes are getting wasted, making prank calls, and circle jerks. they're pretty gross. and yet they are not cynical, they're not evil. they may have scenes with them running around in togas, pissing on each other in showers, and giving each other a hand while watching (straight) porn, but it's not like they are malicious. finally Ennis is comfortable admitting that not everyone is a piece of shit! although it is amusing to me that even his sweet young innocents are portrayed as entirely repulsive.
there's more sweetness to be had in the ongoing relationship between series protagonist Wee Hughie and Christian heroine Starlight (although the fact that Hughie looks like a giant hairy baby is a wee bit discomfiting), as well as in a very supportive friendship between The Frenchman and The Female. and there are some wonderfully uncomfortable moments in the depiction of gangsta superhero teams G-Coast and G-Style. (Some have claimed racism in the dialogue coming from those characters, which is a naive perspective given that Ennis has an axe to grind against ALL stereotypes - not just ones involving black characters - and he's just as derisive of the people who believe in them as he is of those who enact them.)
so perhaps to balance out the sweetness and the humor, We Gotta Go Now involves the darkest plot line yet, one where pedophilia and cycles of abuse are front and center. and in typical Ennis fashion, he doesn't attempt to come up with a solution, he just ends up . sigh. oh, Ennis.
February 27, 2022
Sigue entretenido, en este caso va a ser una sátira de los x-men y sus x-force x new mutantes y demás.
Meten a Hughie, infiltrado en un grupo de super para ver si hay algún trapo sucio y lo que descubren los pone en movimiento a The boys. Un final sorprendente de volumen.
Meten a Hughie, infiltrado en un grupo de super para ver si hay algún trapo sucio y lo que descubren los pone en movimiento a The boys. Un final sorprendente de volumen.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 18, 2011
"We Gotta Go Now" is Ennis and Robertsons' take on the X-Men and that whole brand of heroes with younger X-Men like X-Factor, etc. "Orphans" get taken in and trained by a creepy benefactor who uses them to profit off and continue the cycle. Then one of them kills themselves and another who is supposed to be dead turns up "alive" and things turn out to be not as they were. The usual debauchery, ultra-violence, and bad taste are in abundance with the added delight of Wee Hughie dressing up as a supe. I'm sure Ennis' note on that page was "make Hughie as gay as you can" and Robertson just ran with it. It's a joy.
"The Boys" is one of the most enjoyable series of recent years and making fun of superheroes is an utterly fun subject, far more enjoyable than Moore's drab and overrated "Watchmen" makes out. I loved Tek Knight (a Batman spoof) from "Get Some" and how that ended showing Ennis and Robertson at their most cheeky (what Tek Knight did to his wimpy, gay sidekick for example, and Ennis/Robertson's solution to Tek Knight's "troubles"). Similarly the brilliantly written and drawn alternate take of 9/11 in "Good for the Soul" which showed a completely overwhelmed superhero team floundering and failing. What a great counterpoint to all the comics in the aftermath of that day where people were asking the likes of Spiderman and Superman "Where were YOU?". Ennis' response is to show how idiotic they are as a creation and how ridiculous a world is that relies on a man wearing underpants on the outside flying about the place.
The whole point of "The Boys" is to make fun of the most popular characters and genre in comics through comics and counter them with a group of psychos who are perversely the heroes. Another way to look at it is to say we don't need superheroes, they're arrogant b*st*rds who cause more damage than they save. But it's mostly just good fun and they always keep that in perspective (the next book is titled "Herogasm").
It's clear Ennis and Robertson are having a ball with this series and it's a pleasure to read each book. The writing is snappy and the plot coming thick, fast and edgy. Robertson's always been a maverick artist with his work adding to much of the appeal of "Transmetropolitan" and "The Boys" continues to show his work as good as ever.
Catch these books as they come out, it shows two artists at the top of their game, never better.
"The Boys" is one of the most enjoyable series of recent years and making fun of superheroes is an utterly fun subject, far more enjoyable than Moore's drab and overrated "Watchmen" makes out. I loved Tek Knight (a Batman spoof) from "Get Some" and how that ended showing Ennis and Robertson at their most cheeky (what Tek Knight did to his wimpy, gay sidekick for example, and Ennis/Robertson's solution to Tek Knight's "troubles"). Similarly the brilliantly written and drawn alternate take of 9/11 in "Good for the Soul" which showed a completely overwhelmed superhero team floundering and failing. What a great counterpoint to all the comics in the aftermath of that day where people were asking the likes of Spiderman and Superman "Where were YOU?". Ennis' response is to show how idiotic they are as a creation and how ridiculous a world is that relies on a man wearing underpants on the outside flying about the place.
The whole point of "The Boys" is to make fun of the most popular characters and genre in comics through comics and counter them with a group of psychos who are perversely the heroes. Another way to look at it is to say we don't need superheroes, they're arrogant b*st*rds who cause more damage than they save. But it's mostly just good fun and they always keep that in perspective (the next book is titled "Herogasm").
It's clear Ennis and Robertson are having a ball with this series and it's a pleasure to read each book. The writing is snappy and the plot coming thick, fast and edgy. Robertson's always been a maverick artist with his work adding to much of the appeal of "Transmetropolitan" and "The Boys" continues to show his work as good as ever.
Catch these books as they come out, it shows two artists at the top of their game, never better.
September 24, 2010
2.0 stars. I hated most of this story arc of the Boys and it was headed for one star the entire time until the end (which was excellent) save it and pushed it up to at least okay. I am a huge fan of Garth Ennis and thought The Boys, Volume 1: The Name of the Game was amazing and The Boys, Volume 2: Get Some and The Boys, Volume 3: Good For the Soul were good to very good.
However, in this volume the raunchiness and vulgarity seemed pointless and actually began to get irritating. Maybe I missed something because Ennis is good at high level parody, but the message here escapped me. That said, the end of the story did save it somewhat and I do not intend to give the next volume a try before I decide to give up on the series but this one came dangerously close to "jumping the shark" for me.
However, in this volume the raunchiness and vulgarity seemed pointless and actually began to get irritating. Maybe I missed something because Ennis is good at high level parody, but the message here escapped me. That said, the end of the story did save it somewhat and I do not intend to give the next volume a try before I decide to give up on the series but this one came dangerously close to "jumping the shark" for me.
April 6, 2021
Este volumen me pareció algo repetitivo, no ofreció elementos nuevos. Lo que no me termina de cuadrar es que casi todos los super-humanos encapuchados sean unos perfectos idiotas, que ninguno tenga buenas intenciones de ayudar a las personas (bueno solo una a medias) y que la forma en que se benefician los dueños de todos estos grupos de super sea mediante la venta de comics. La trama me está perdiendo un poco.
December 22, 2023
Este volumen pudo ser más corto de lo que fue. Se sintieron muchas partes aburridas por redundar en el mismo tema. Pero no estuvo mal.
Reseña completa más adelante.
Reseña completa más adelante.
January 8, 2023
Two steps forward, one step back. I’d like think these books couldn’t surprise me anymore but there is a joke here that I thought was so unbelievably dark that I was stunned. This is another comics-only story, one stretched out a little too long for my taste. Hughie goes undercover at an X-Men style compound for teen heroes where everything looks ok at face value but turns out to be another very horrible, fucked up situation. Maybe this is trying a little too hard, or I have zero connection to frat culture, but this one didn’t do a lot for me. It’s an easy read, Ennis can be surprisingly intellectual when he wants to be, and the art has found a good balance where it can make the drunken revelry look disgusting amid an otherwise cleaner style. There are some establishing pages that are almost beautiful. The climax of the story is genuinely shocking and brutal, just in case you forgot what book your reading, and even the most hardened edge lords are gonna go, “Jesus Christ”. But this was just not the most consistent collection, and kind of feels like a tangent. X-Men fans, maybe teen avengers or something, can enjoy seeing some cliches being perverted on the alter of bad taste. And that’s all they’re really trying to do.
March 22, 2016
Things started moving again. A good volume.
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October 7, 2016
I didn't care for the first volume of The Boys, but the next two volumes were starting me into the groove. Ennis' black comedy/superhero deconstruction certainly had its faults there, but it was also entertaining as you found out more about the world, and though I was hesitant about this volume tackling the G-Men (The Boys' version of the X-Men, naturally), I was still ready for it and the shower I'd need to take afterwards.
But boy howdy, a shower can't wash away the stink of this book.
I feel like a lot of Ennis' true colors show here. The book is almost delightfully misogynistic, racist, and homophobic. It tries to hide it as awful people saying and doing awful things, but at some point it becomes obvious enough that it bleeds into the story. Somehow the skewering of the X-Men includes only two notable female characters, one whose death kicks off the book, one who's basically lobotomized. And yes, the one who dies is obviously the Jean Grey stand-in, but it's hard to see past the winking when...he still just kills off a female character and then it's all about the men. It's notable that The Female also gets almost nothing to do in this book. The other four boys all have roles, The Female spends most of the time sitting around and continuing to be silent.
And then there's G-Style and G-Coast, two gangsta versions of the G-Men which...is nonsensical. There's so much to skewer with the X-Men, and instead Ennis decides to...be racist. It's that South Park or Family Guy style of "satire" where it so obviously crosses over into actual racism. Probably not coincidental that The Butcher also whines about how everybody in America has these labels that they need. We get it, Ennis, you're a cishet white man.
The story itself drags on across the entire book, as opposed to the other three volumes having two story arcs. There's just nothing interesting going on here to justify that. The X-Men parodies aren't fleshed out enough to actually be funny (the Wolverine parody just says "GONNA" the entire time, the Cyclops parody complains about how the Jean stand-in was a cocktease--yawn). It's the kind of thing a teenager who has some vague knowledge of the X-Men would find funny. I get that Ennis hates superheroes, but that shouldn't stop him from actually trying to, y'know, use some critical thought about the characters he's making fun of.
Darick Robertson's art is fine as always. I can't really complain about it. He draws everything well, especially the bodily functions that Ennis loves to include. He draws vomit well enough to make me nauseous just thinking about it. And this trade is filled with vomit and urine, to the point where almost anybody who likes gross-out humor will probably start to feel uncomfortable at some point.
It's not interesting, it's not funny, it doesn't make some grand point about how "superheroes are bad you guys". Rather than actually attempting to create an alternative to cape-books, all Ennis does here is have characters do naughty things and expect the readers to go "Wow, superheroes are bad!" But with such obvious bigotry and no actual care towards the subject he's parodying, he just comes across as the kind of fedora-wearing, woman-hating man who tries to get away with being offensive by saying that he hates everybody.
It doesn't work.
But boy howdy, a shower can't wash away the stink of this book.
I feel like a lot of Ennis' true colors show here. The book is almost delightfully misogynistic, racist, and homophobic. It tries to hide it as awful people saying and doing awful things, but at some point it becomes obvious enough that it bleeds into the story. Somehow the skewering of the X-Men includes only two notable female characters, one whose death kicks off the book, one who's basically lobotomized. And yes, the one who dies is obviously the Jean Grey stand-in, but it's hard to see past the winking when...he still just kills off a female character and then it's all about the men. It's notable that The Female also gets almost nothing to do in this book. The other four boys all have roles, The Female spends most of the time sitting around and continuing to be silent.
And then there's G-Style and G-Coast, two gangsta versions of the G-Men which...is nonsensical. There's so much to skewer with the X-Men, and instead Ennis decides to...be racist. It's that South Park or Family Guy style of "satire" where it so obviously crosses over into actual racism. Probably not coincidental that The Butcher also whines about how everybody in America has these labels that they need. We get it, Ennis, you're a cishet white man.
The story itself drags on across the entire book, as opposed to the other three volumes having two story arcs. There's just nothing interesting going on here to justify that. The X-Men parodies aren't fleshed out enough to actually be funny (the Wolverine parody just says "GONNA" the entire time, the Cyclops parody complains about how the Jean stand-in was a cocktease--yawn). It's the kind of thing a teenager who has some vague knowledge of the X-Men would find funny. I get that Ennis hates superheroes, but that shouldn't stop him from actually trying to, y'know, use some critical thought about the characters he's making fun of.
Darick Robertson's art is fine as always. I can't really complain about it. He draws everything well, especially the bodily functions that Ennis loves to include. He draws vomit well enough to make me nauseous just thinking about it. And this trade is filled with vomit and urine, to the point where almost anybody who likes gross-out humor will probably start to feel uncomfortable at some point.
It's not interesting, it's not funny, it doesn't make some grand point about how "superheroes are bad you guys". Rather than actually attempting to create an alternative to cape-books, all Ennis does here is have characters do naughty things and expect the readers to go "Wow, superheroes are bad!" But with such obvious bigotry and no actual care towards the subject he's parodying, he just comes across as the kind of fedora-wearing, woman-hating man who tries to get away with being offensive by saying that he hates everybody.
It doesn't work.
April 23, 2017
Five stars may be a bit much, but four didn't seem enough. I finally went with five, figuring that gorgeous cover--an homage to the classic Animal House movie poster--was worth an extra star all by itself.
Hughie gets sent undercover to infiltrate the G-Men (clearly intended as an X-Men parody) and plant a new set of bugs in their mansion. He does so via G-Wiz, one of the myriad satellite teams, who live together in something of a frat house environment. Needless to say, there's a dark secret behind the various G teams ...
This volume successfully combines parodies/homages of both Animal House and the X-Men family of titles. There's even a chapter about celebrating St. Patrick's Day. The entire book is devoted to one story arc instead of the usual two. The extra length serves the story well. This series is just bunches of fun! Recommended!
Hughie gets sent undercover to infiltrate the G-Men (clearly intended as an X-Men parody) and plant a new set of bugs in their mansion. He does so via G-Wiz, one of the myriad satellite teams, who live together in something of a frat house environment. Needless to say, there's a dark secret behind the various G teams ...
This volume successfully combines parodies/homages of both Animal House and the X-Men family of titles. There's even a chapter about celebrating St. Patrick's Day. The entire book is devoted to one story arc instead of the usual two. The extra length serves the story well. This series is just bunches of fun! Recommended!
January 26, 2022
The Boys are back in town. Adventure #4. This time all in one seven comic arc. Killer cover, though the art inside varies and I believe it still has the same (different form the original) artist as the last book. It is disorienting and I kind of with the comics would stick with the same people. It’s like if the show suddenly changed actors midway through to the lookalikes. Sure, it makes the wee lad more handsome and distinctly less Simon Pegg-y, but you get used to one thing and then…
At any rate, in this adventure the wee lad goes undercover with a group of young superheroes stylized like a bunch of frat bros and all sorts of shenanigans ensue. As brash and brutal and raunchy as you’ve come to expect and just as fun too, though the fun does get somewhat tiresome after a while, which brings one to the inevitable conclusion that perhaps in this instance the show might have a leg up over the books.
It isn’t unheard of. The Umbrella Academy show is a huge supersized improvement upon the comics it’s based on.
With Boys the different is much less dramatic, but the show has more nuances, more intricacies and more tonal variety, wherein the books are just wild with testosterone and sass and vulgarity…and that’s basically the lot of it.
Nevertheless, it’s still plenty entertaining and I’ve every intention of reading more, but maybe not is such close succession.
The alternate covers addition is excellent and well worth checking out too.
This and more at https://advancetheplot.weebly.com/
At any rate, in this adventure the wee lad goes undercover with a group of young superheroes stylized like a bunch of frat bros and all sorts of shenanigans ensue. As brash and brutal and raunchy as you’ve come to expect and just as fun too, though the fun does get somewhat tiresome after a while, which brings one to the inevitable conclusion that perhaps in this instance the show might have a leg up over the books.
It isn’t unheard of. The Umbrella Academy show is a huge supersized improvement upon the comics it’s based on.
With Boys the different is much less dramatic, but the show has more nuances, more intricacies and more tonal variety, wherein the books are just wild with testosterone and sass and vulgarity…and that’s basically the lot of it.
Nevertheless, it’s still plenty entertaining and I’ve every intention of reading more, but maybe not is such close succession.
The alternate covers addition is excellent and well worth checking out too.
This and more at https://advancetheplot.weebly.com/
June 13, 2022
Bullet Review:
Foul-mouthed. Violent. Gory. Obscene. Graphic. By this point, if those things don't bug you, you are in for a penny, in for a pound. I won't lie, it's at times too graphic for me, but I'm rather invested in Hughie's journey (him looking like Simon Pegg helps too).
In this volume, it's a direct hit at the X-Men and all the X-properties. On a good day, I barely know my way around Marvel or DC, but I didn't even attempt to touch any X-Men other than some of Storm's single issues, so I probably miss 90% of the digs (I did get the Wolverine knockoff though).
It's almost prescient how these comics were (and telling how this became a series on Amazon Video). The 00's and 10's saw the rise of the comic book movies, and I believe we may have just hit saturation peak with Avengers Endgame. I am no prognosticator, but everything comes in cycles, and it seems likely that the wave of squeaky clean superheroes will be making way for something more nuanced and sadly realistic. (I know, I know, I very much wanted to "hang out" with Robert Downey Jr's Tony Stark, Chris Evans' Captain America, Chris Hemsworth's Thor, and Tom Hiddleston's Loki too.)
Foul-mouthed. Violent. Gory. Obscene. Graphic. By this point, if those things don't bug you, you are in for a penny, in for a pound. I won't lie, it's at times too graphic for me, but I'm rather invested in Hughie's journey (him looking like Simon Pegg helps too).
In this volume, it's a direct hit at the X-Men and all the X-properties. On a good day, I barely know my way around Marvel or DC, but I didn't even attempt to touch any X-Men other than some of Storm's single issues, so I probably miss 90% of the digs (I did get the Wolverine knockoff though).
It's almost prescient how these comics were (and telling how this became a series on Amazon Video). The 00's and 10's saw the rise of the comic book movies, and I believe we may have just hit saturation peak with Avengers Endgame. I am no prognosticator, but everything comes in cycles, and it seems likely that the wave of squeaky clean superheroes will be making way for something more nuanced and sadly realistic. (I know, I know, I very much wanted to "hang out" with Robert Downey Jr's Tony Stark, Chris Evans' Captain America, Chris Hemsworth's Thor, and Tom Hiddleston's Loki too.)
May 20, 2014
Vol. 4 and we keep chugging along with our band on CIA-backed Supe-policers. Starting with the cover, this is a big tribute to Animal House, John Landis,and John Belushi (his character Blutarsky specifically). Hughie is sent undercover to investigate the G-Men (X-Men) and he starts by becoming one of the G-Wiz crew and he finds that they pretty much party all day and night like it's Animal House; they even wear Togas, and the gross guy is named Blowchowski (His superpower is to vomit acid).
This is a fun start, but Hughie is very uncomfortable with things in the house.
He got sent in because one of the G-Men killed herself in public, and that got the Boys wondering about things. Ennis just rips the X-Men to pieces here, with all the teams (G-Men, G-Street, G-Coast, G-Wiz, G-Britain, G-Unit (wait no, that's real life...oops)) and how much money they're worth in merchandising to V-A. There's also a rather disturbing 'what-if' type scenario about their Charles Xavier figure. Ennis has his character discuss how they're supposed to be 'edgy, anti-establishment, etc. totally letting us know what he really thinks of the X-universe. When the statue of fallen Kincade is put up, it even says something about "Phoenix" on it, mocking Jean Grey. The head of the G-Men is a Motorcycle Cop looking dude with red glowing goggles...hmmm Cyclops? lol.
The suicide of one Silver Kincade is investigated by Mother's Milk, who really breaks the story, and who has a great story line in the small town where things happen, and with someone connected to things. I loved this part, as we don't get enough usually of MM, and this humanized him even more for me. Butcher finds out some things about the CIA-director he doesn't like, and Frenchman tries to keep the Female in check from her violent urges.
The finale of the undercover op is pretty spectacular and it's the only time all series I've seen all 5 members of the Boys look speechless.
As with all so far, this is well worth reading.
This is a fun start, but Hughie is very uncomfortable with things in the house.
He got sent in because one of the G-Men killed herself in public, and that got the Boys wondering about things. Ennis just rips the X-Men to pieces here, with all the teams (G-Men, G-Street, G-Coast, G-Wiz, G-Britain, G-Unit (wait no, that's real life...oops)) and how much money they're worth in merchandising to V-A. There's also a rather disturbing 'what-if' type scenario about their Charles Xavier figure. Ennis has his character discuss how they're supposed to be 'edgy, anti-establishment, etc. totally letting us know what he really thinks of the X-universe. When the statue of fallen Kincade is put up, it even says something about "Phoenix" on it, mocking Jean Grey. The head of the G-Men is a Motorcycle Cop looking dude with red glowing goggles...hmmm Cyclops? lol.
The suicide of one Silver Kincade is investigated by Mother's Milk, who really breaks the story, and who has a great story line in the small town where things happen, and with someone connected to things. I loved this part, as we don't get enough usually of MM, and this humanized him even more for me. Butcher finds out some things about the CIA-director he doesn't like, and Frenchman tries to keep the Female in check from her violent urges.
The finale of the undercover op is pretty spectacular and it's the only time all series I've seen all 5 members of the Boys look speechless.
As with all so far, this is well worth reading.
December 6, 2017
Holy cow. Geez. Where do I even start with this book. I mean it’s got so many levels. It’s smart and intriguing and there’s great character building. But it’s also disgusting and debaucherous(if that’s even a word. I’ll go with it). It ridiculous and off the cuff and then it has purpose. It’s crazy how it’s all balanced but it works. And this is volume 4 I’m talking about. The next volume is called “herogasm” to give you an idea. I can only imagine what’s gonna come in the later chapters of this story. I will definitely be finding out though. 5 stars.
December 5, 2020
Let the depraved X-Men subversion commence.
Can’t say I enjoyed this as much as the last story arc. It isn’t bad at all, just a pretty straightforward subversion of the X-Men. Some of the shocking revelations of “mutant” depravity are easily guessed from the start. There really isn’t much character growth or revelations here. Plus, the suspenseful moments and pulse pounding fights are missing. Nope, it’s the usual vulgarity and sexual escapades of supes in this universe going on. At least the road to the ending had a few twists and turns to keep you interested though.
Can’t say I enjoyed this as much as the last story arc. It isn’t bad at all, just a pretty straightforward subversion of the X-Men. Some of the shocking revelations of “mutant” depravity are easily guessed from the start. There really isn’t much character growth or revelations here. Plus, the suspenseful moments and pulse pounding fights are missing. Nope, it’s the usual vulgarity and sexual escapades of supes in this universe going on. At least the road to the ending had a few twists and turns to keep you interested though.
June 28, 2022
This was so ridiculously inappropriate and yet still.
I am disgusted with how much I'm thoroughly enjoying all this ridiculousness.
There is definitely a better story shaping up, though I'm still incredibly confused about who's who on the government side of things. I really enjoyed the background of this one, and it was important I think to have Hughie's insights in this issue. He takes Ennis's crassness and tames it with empathy, whilst explaining away all the messed up sh*t that's going down around him.
The art is all over the top and the style is not my normal preference, but I do really love the colour and creativity of all the supes so I think that's been enough to keep me happy. And the sheer magnitude of these things in this particular issue had me very happy indeed.
Really enjoying the way this story is shaping up and looking forward to going deeper again next issue!
I am disgusted with how much I'm thoroughly enjoying all this ridiculousness.
There is definitely a better story shaping up, though I'm still incredibly confused about who's who on the government side of things. I really enjoyed the background of this one, and it was important I think to have Hughie's insights in this issue. He takes Ennis's crassness and tames it with empathy, whilst explaining away all the messed up sh*t that's going down around him.
The art is all over the top and the style is not my normal preference, but I do really love the colour and creativity of all the supes so I think that's been enough to keep me happy. And the sheer magnitude of these things in this particular issue had me very happy indeed.
Really enjoying the way this story is shaping up and looking forward to going deeper again next issue!
Read
January 14, 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.
October 24, 2020
The action was very entertaining, but my god, has Garth Ennis ever spoken to an actual black person? Because the way he handled the G-Style and G-Coast heroes was egregious. I really don't understand why he found it necessary constantly to feature elements in the comics that would alienate any reader who isn't a straight, white guy.
November 10, 2019
This was nice!
I liked it a lot better than the previous one, I hated the short old creepy guy, mainly because of the whole nonsense, too much info, talking nonstop and everything he was explaining to Hughie was boring to me.
Anyway, this one was great. Especially towards the end! Finally something's happening and it's getting interesting. Great dialogue, great artwork and some good twists happening.
On to the next one!
I liked it a lot better than the previous one, I hated the short old creepy guy, mainly because of the whole nonsense, too much info, talking nonstop and everything he was explaining to Hughie was boring to me.
Anyway, this one was great. Especially towards the end! Finally something's happening and it's getting interesting. Great dialogue, great artwork and some good twists happening.
On to the next one!
February 21, 2024
The Boys mais uma vez consegue mesclar seriedade com a bizarrice, produzindo uma historia com tom sombrio, no que tange a origem dos G-Men, e escatológico quando se trata do desenvolvimento dos personagens, lutas e algo mais exposto dos supers.
Nesse volume, temos a história voltada para um novo grupo de supers, que é mais lucrativo que os 7 inclusive, os G-men, uma parodia dos X-men da Marvel.
Assim, temos os The Boys estudando o grupo de supers, visando entender seu funcionando e o que os mesmos fazem de errado. Para isso, Hughie entra infiltrado em uma sub equipe dos G-men, os G-wiz, um grupo que mais parece uma república de American Pie.
Dessa forma, a história se propõe em mostrar e expor os podres por trás do líder dos G-Men, como a formação do grupo.
Nesse volume, temos a história voltada para um novo grupo de supers, que é mais lucrativo que os 7 inclusive, os G-men, uma parodia dos X-men da Marvel.
Assim, temos os The Boys estudando o grupo de supers, visando entender seu funcionando e o que os mesmos fazem de errado. Para isso, Hughie entra infiltrado em uma sub equipe dos G-men, os G-wiz, um grupo que mais parece uma república de American Pie.
Dessa forma, a história se propõe em mostrar e expor os podres por trás do líder dos G-Men, como a formação do grupo.
January 1, 2023
For real… all I can say on this one is: viewer beware.
January 19, 2023
Well, at least that's over, even the pedophiles getting killed wasn't even cathartic for me this time, hit home harder, wanna puke, need something else next, please, please, please...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 7, 2015
It's easy to miss all the sublime complexity and order in this book behind the mountains of shit, piss, vomit, hatefucking, murder, and other generally disgusting things, but it's right there- some sublime complexity and order. Now I know that Ennis can be really crass in his other work (I think the word crass is actually in his letterhead?), and that can work for or against the work in question. But for the Boys it works so well and ties in so completely with the themes of the story, that I actually couldn't imagine the story to be as effective without the ugliness.
Unfortunately for Ennis, this ugliness can turn away a wider, more sophisticated audience who could really appreciate his work. Fortunately for Ennis, it seems that his audience is pretty wide anyway.
This installment begins with a mysterious prologue. Someone has ordered a great deal of firepower for some purpose. We find out why towards the end and it is not mentioned again, but Vought-American's logo is clearly printed on the box, so we know it's going to come back to our boys.
In this short scene, Ennis plays on one of his favorite themes in the series- having the two soldiers moving depleted uranium as they talk about how dnagerous their job is and how little they know about the ultimate purpose of what they're doing. They're just cogs in the machine. So whatever else is or is not different since the WWII flashbacks in volume 3, for the common soldier little has changed.
The story opens with Hughie and Annie in bed expressing love to one another. Then it goes directly to Butcher and Rayner having a meeting which ends in some hate-filled bathroom sex. The story ends with Hughie and Annie in bed sharing an emotional, post coital moment which directly cuts to Butcher and Rayner having another spirited hate-fuck in the middle of which Butcher threatens to kill her family before killing her if she puts his team in danger again.
But it's not just a cheap comparison- through the series and in this book, Hughie's main role is of the good-hearted new guy whom Butcher is training up to be him. One of the driving forces of their relationship is the way this continuously fails to work. Hughie kind of keeps screwing up his harsh orders because of his moral compass. So showing the difference in their sex life doesn't only advance the relationships of the characters in the sex scenes, but it also highlights the ways in which Hughie is failing to be Butcher; or the ways in which Hughie has already surpassed Butcher, depending on your point of view.
Butcher and Rayner's meeting concerns a strange suicide from a prominent member of the G-Men, Earth's most profitable heroes. At this point the story spreads itself out beautifully into several character appropriate strands which unite again at the end. I can't stress enough about how good Ennis is at this.
Wee Hughie is sent to bumble around and plant bugs and gather information- too much of a good-hearted sweetheart to ever be suspected. The Frenchman and The Female are sent as backup and observation, in case he needs extraction. Mother's Milk is sent to work the case and see if he can figure out what happened. Meanwhile Butcher is using his brutally intelligent violent streak to figure out why any of these developments are surprising him. (He plays dumb, but he always stresses planning and intelligence.) A final strand is added when we see Vought-American is having their mystery executive who so troubles Butcher investigate the G-Men as well.
Each of these strands maintains its strength as a complete story, but by the finale, the different stories these strands told, added into something better than their sum. It was a detective story, a political thriller, a re-imagining of Animal House, a story of dedication, and a story of consequences that ended on a chilling note of escalation.
But these threads don't just move the plot along better, nor do they only fill in backstory and context. In each of these threads we get to know the characters better as human beings; the things they care about and what actions they'll take... How they feel to know. It's rare for something to be so plot-heavy, yet still be so character driven.
The whole story in this volume also reflects the general structure of the series in that it begins very light-hearted and comically and descends into brutality and murder. The foreshadowing within and between volumes continues to be so heavy in hindsight even though it's almost invisible on a first read through. It's just good writing is all I want you to know.
So yeah, I left out all the face pissing jerk off humor, and a lot of the interesting meta statement on the comics industry, but, I mean, if I was going to tell you everything, I might as well just read the whole thing aloud and punch you everytime I want you to notice something. Which, now I think of it, is kinda what Ennis and Robertson do a lot of anyway.
Unfortunately for Ennis, this ugliness can turn away a wider, more sophisticated audience who could really appreciate his work. Fortunately for Ennis, it seems that his audience is pretty wide anyway.
This installment begins with a mysterious prologue. Someone has ordered a great deal of firepower for some purpose. We find out why towards the end and it is not mentioned again, but Vought-American's logo is clearly printed on the box, so we know it's going to come back to our boys.
In this short scene, Ennis plays on one of his favorite themes in the series- having the two soldiers moving depleted uranium as they talk about how dnagerous their job is and how little they know about the ultimate purpose of what they're doing. They're just cogs in the machine. So whatever else is or is not different since the WWII flashbacks in volume 3, for the common soldier little has changed.
The story opens with Hughie and Annie in bed expressing love to one another. Then it goes directly to Butcher and Rayner having a meeting which ends in some hate-filled bathroom sex. The story ends with Hughie and Annie in bed sharing an emotional, post coital moment which directly cuts to Butcher and Rayner having another spirited hate-fuck in the middle of which Butcher threatens to kill her family before killing her if she puts his team in danger again.
But it's not just a cheap comparison- through the series and in this book, Hughie's main role is of the good-hearted new guy whom Butcher is training up to be him. One of the driving forces of their relationship is the way this continuously fails to work. Hughie kind of keeps screwing up his harsh orders because of his moral compass. So showing the difference in their sex life doesn't only advance the relationships of the characters in the sex scenes, but it also highlights the ways in which Hughie is failing to be Butcher; or the ways in which Hughie has already surpassed Butcher, depending on your point of view.
Butcher and Rayner's meeting concerns a strange suicide from a prominent member of the G-Men, Earth's most profitable heroes. At this point the story spreads itself out beautifully into several character appropriate strands which unite again at the end. I can't stress enough about how good Ennis is at this.
Wee Hughie is sent to bumble around and plant bugs and gather information- too much of a good-hearted sweetheart to ever be suspected. The Frenchman and The Female are sent as backup and observation, in case he needs extraction. Mother's Milk is sent to work the case and see if he can figure out what happened. Meanwhile Butcher is using his brutally intelligent violent streak to figure out why any of these developments are surprising him. (He plays dumb, but he always stresses planning and intelligence.) A final strand is added when we see Vought-American is having their mystery executive who so troubles Butcher investigate the G-Men as well.
Each of these strands maintains its strength as a complete story, but by the finale, the different stories these strands told, added into something better than their sum. It was a detective story, a political thriller, a re-imagining of Animal House, a story of dedication, and a story of consequences that ended on a chilling note of escalation.
But these threads don't just move the plot along better, nor do they only fill in backstory and context. In each of these threads we get to know the characters better as human beings; the things they care about and what actions they'll take... How they feel to know. It's rare for something to be so plot-heavy, yet still be so character driven.
The whole story in this volume also reflects the general structure of the series in that it begins very light-hearted and comically and descends into brutality and murder. The foreshadowing within and between volumes continues to be so heavy in hindsight even though it's almost invisible on a first read through. It's just good writing is all I want you to know.
So yeah, I left out all the face pissing jerk off humor, and a lot of the interesting meta statement on the comics industry, but, I mean, if I was going to tell you everything, I might as well just read the whole thing aloud and punch you everytime I want you to notice something. Which, now I think of it, is kinda what Ennis and Robertson do a lot of anyway.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 8, 2020
Funny, smart and super raunchy. This volume has some of the highest highs in the series yet, and propels the story forward. I’m pretty hooked.
December 13, 2020
As with Vol. 2, this series came close to losing me with this instalment - but it pulled it back in the end.
Vol. 4 focusses primarily on the G-Men, a faction of supes previously mentioned but not explored within the storyline. There are content warnings for racism, paedophilia and (as ever) gory violence.
It was interesting to learn more about a largely unknown faction of the supes, but this volume was far from impervious to problems and I noted several. Chief among them was the sheer amount of characters introduced in this volume. G-Men are the largest of the supe groups (as I've dubbed them), which inevitably meant that we met dozens of characters in a short space of time. Add to that the fact that many of the characters go by two names (a given name and a superhero moniker), and there were points when confusion abounded. Be assured that it turns out many of the characters are peripheral to the storyline, and you do gain familiarity with the ones you need to know in order for the story to make sense. But I could have done without the headache, to be honest.
I'm also beginning to question Wee Hughie's role as the main character in this series. He's bland and boring. Sure, he's a nice guy, but he's overshadowed by almost every other character. I understand that Hughie's introduction to the shadier side of superhero HR runs parallel to our own as the audience, so he needs to be clueless at the beginning. But I'm now thirty individual issues into the series and despite all of the focus on his character development during this time, he remains naïve, hopelessly optimistic and dull as dishwater. I guess I like my characters more resigned to despair, or fiercely violent and on the warpath. I should probably see a counsellor about that.
On the positive side: the action was good, the art style was solid and the plot served a purpose. But the series needs to step it up from here to keep me invested. Fingers crossed for Vol. 5.
Vol. 4 focusses primarily on the G-Men, a faction of supes previously mentioned but not explored within the storyline. There are content warnings for racism, paedophilia and (as ever) gory violence.
It was interesting to learn more about a largely unknown faction of the supes, but this volume was far from impervious to problems and I noted several. Chief among them was the sheer amount of characters introduced in this volume. G-Men are the largest of the supe groups (as I've dubbed them), which inevitably meant that we met dozens of characters in a short space of time. Add to that the fact that many of the characters go by two names (a given name and a superhero moniker), and there were points when confusion abounded. Be assured that it turns out many of the characters are peripheral to the storyline, and you do gain familiarity with the ones you need to know in order for the story to make sense. But I could have done without the headache, to be honest.
I'm also beginning to question Wee Hughie's role as the main character in this series. He's bland and boring. Sure, he's a nice guy, but he's overshadowed by almost every other character. I understand that Hughie's introduction to the shadier side of superhero HR runs parallel to our own as the audience, so he needs to be clueless at the beginning. But I'm now thirty individual issues into the series and despite all of the focus on his character development during this time, he remains naïve, hopelessly optimistic and dull as dishwater. I guess I like my characters more resigned to despair, or fiercely violent and on the warpath. I should probably see a counsellor about that.
On the positive side: the action was good, the art style was solid and the plot served a purpose. But the series needs to step it up from here to keep me invested. Fingers crossed for Vol. 5.
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