What do you think?
Rate this book
All-Star Section Eight #0.9, 1-6
All-Star Section Eight
From the world and the creators of HITMAN—Garth Ennis (PREACHER) and John McCrea (THE DEMON) bring you a comics legend, reborn!
In a universe of heroes, he was the mightiest of all—Sixpack, leader of the legendary super-team Section Eight. His band of misfits took on the forces of interdimensional Hell, and gave their lives to save the world. Last to fall was Sixpack himself—or was he?
Waking up in Noonan’s Sleazy Bar, Sixpack finds that his memory of that fateful day is somewhat hazy. What he does know for certain is that a grave new threat is coming—and only a reborn Section Eight can stop it.
Who can fill the storied shoes that contained such legends as Friendly Fire, the Defenestrator, Flemgem, and Jean De Baton? To face the oncoming peril, Sixpack must gather friends both old and new to fight at his side—Bueno Excellente, Baytor, a brand new Dogwelder, Powertool, Guts, and (try as we might to forget him), the Grapplah!
But Section Eight is still one member short, and Sixpack needs a heavy hitter to round out the team. Will it be Batman? Green Lantern? The Martian Manhunter? Wonder Woman? Or will the new Section Eighter come from the realms beyond life itself?
Collects ALL-STAR SECTION EIGHT #1-6 and HARLEY QUINN #2.
In a universe of heroes, he was the mightiest of all—Sixpack, leader of the legendary super-team Section Eight. His band of misfits took on the forces of interdimensional Hell, and gave their lives to save the world. Last to fall was Sixpack himself—or was he?
Waking up in Noonan’s Sleazy Bar, Sixpack finds that his memory of that fateful day is somewhat hazy. What he does know for certain is that a grave new threat is coming—and only a reborn Section Eight can stop it.
Who can fill the storied shoes that contained such legends as Friendly Fire, the Defenestrator, Flemgem, and Jean De Baton? To face the oncoming peril, Sixpack must gather friends both old and new to fight at his side—Bueno Excellente, Baytor, a brand new Dogwelder, Powertool, Guts, and (try as we might to forget him), the Grapplah!
But Section Eight is still one member short, and Sixpack needs a heavy hitter to round out the team. Will it be Batman? Green Lantern? The Martian Manhunter? Wonder Woman? Or will the new Section Eighter come from the realms beyond life itself?
Collects ALL-STAR SECTION EIGHT #1-6 and HARLEY QUINN #2.
144 pages, Paperback
Published June 21, 2016
6 people are currently reading
101 people want to read
About the author
Garth Ennis
2,624 books3,169 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 43 reviews
August 29, 2016
All-Star Section Eight is the funniest comic I’ve read all year. It’s Garth Ennis and John McCrea once more gleefully pissing on superheroes and I laughed all the way through!
Spinning off from Hitman, Sixpack is somehow still alive and the only surviving member of Section Eight. But a new threat is coming and only they can stop it - Section Eight Assemble! Meet the new Dogwelder (a lunatic who welds dogs to things), Powertool (a prat with a drill in his face), Bueno Excellente (the world’s biggest pervert), Guts (supposedly a female whose guts are on the outside), Baytor (a thing that yells I AM BAYTOR!), and The Grapplah (The Grapplah!). Except together they are only seven - who will be the eighth in the new Section Eight?
This book is partly a fuck-you to superheroes though it’s mostly a bawdy comedy which is a genre you wouldn’t necessarily equate with Ennis but it’s one he does really well. Right away the piss-take begins with the title: All-Star, usually reserved for top tier characters like Superman and Batman, gets slapped onto this band of fuck-ups! The term “Section 8” is also used when someone is mentally unfit to serve in the military, so this is a book starring nutters!
The main storyline is Sixpack - an overweight alcoholic whose catchphrase is “Damn this spastic colon!” - trying to recruit members of the Justice League to be the eighth in Section Eight, leading to Batman, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, and Wonder Woman getting smeared with the shitstick. J’onn gets the worst of it when he sees Bueno and Guts going at it in the Ladies’ bathroom!
The others have some utterly bizarre moments that are really funny. Dogwelder’s mask is possessed, The Grapplah jumps into random scenes to yell his line “The Grapplah!”, and Bueno has to battle a giant tapeworm in an Arthurian setting for Guts’ affections - everything about this is gross and hilarious. Bueno is sick, Guts is even worse, and praise Jeebus McCrea never once showed us what those two porking each other looked like!
Ennis breaks the fourth wall with commentary on comics writers/readers/reviewers, but the most notable moment is when Sixpack watches The Phantom Stranger and Etrigan do a battle rap demanding DC publish a collected edition of Ennis/McCrea’s mid ‘90s run on The Demon (and it worked)!
Superman is the one character who escapes untarnished as Ennis ends Sixpack’s deranged odyssey on a surprisingly poignant note. It is a largely chaotic story but there is a clear arc once you reach the end and it’s to Ennis’ credit that he can do something this bananas and still have it not just make sense but also seem arty too.
All-Star Section Eight is a filthy, genuinely hilarious comic that you probably shouldn’t read and might even offend a few people. I thought it was an absolute riot though and I’m glad DC has enough of a sense of humour about itself and its characters to allow Ennis/McCrea to do something like this.
In being as over-the-top gross and silly as possible, Garth Ennis and John McCrea have inadvertently also continued the quality associated with the All-Star title in All-Star Section Eight. If you decide to read this, pace yourself - read a couple issues a day rather than gobble it up in one go otherwise the filth might overwhelm you! I had an absolute blast with this one - recommended to everyone who loves toilet humour and superhero parodies!
Spinning off from Hitman, Sixpack is somehow still alive and the only surviving member of Section Eight. But a new threat is coming and only they can stop it - Section Eight Assemble! Meet the new Dogwelder (a lunatic who welds dogs to things), Powertool (a prat with a drill in his face), Bueno Excellente (the world’s biggest pervert), Guts (supposedly a female whose guts are on the outside), Baytor (a thing that yells I AM BAYTOR!), and The Grapplah (The Grapplah!). Except together they are only seven - who will be the eighth in the new Section Eight?
This book is partly a fuck-you to superheroes though it’s mostly a bawdy comedy which is a genre you wouldn’t necessarily equate with Ennis but it’s one he does really well. Right away the piss-take begins with the title: All-Star, usually reserved for top tier characters like Superman and Batman, gets slapped onto this band of fuck-ups! The term “Section 8” is also used when someone is mentally unfit to serve in the military, so this is a book starring nutters!
The main storyline is Sixpack - an overweight alcoholic whose catchphrase is “Damn this spastic colon!” - trying to recruit members of the Justice League to be the eighth in Section Eight, leading to Batman, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, and Wonder Woman getting smeared with the shitstick. J’onn gets the worst of it when he sees Bueno and Guts going at it in the Ladies’ bathroom!
The others have some utterly bizarre moments that are really funny. Dogwelder’s mask is possessed, The Grapplah jumps into random scenes to yell his line “The Grapplah!”, and Bueno has to battle a giant tapeworm in an Arthurian setting for Guts’ affections - everything about this is gross and hilarious. Bueno is sick, Guts is even worse, and praise Jeebus McCrea never once showed us what those two porking each other looked like!
Ennis breaks the fourth wall with commentary on comics writers/readers/reviewers, but the most notable moment is when Sixpack watches The Phantom Stranger and Etrigan do a battle rap demanding DC publish a collected edition of Ennis/McCrea’s mid ‘90s run on The Demon (and it worked)!
Superman is the one character who escapes untarnished as Ennis ends Sixpack’s deranged odyssey on a surprisingly poignant note. It is a largely chaotic story but there is a clear arc once you reach the end and it’s to Ennis’ credit that he can do something this bananas and still have it not just make sense but also seem arty too.
All-Star Section Eight is a filthy, genuinely hilarious comic that you probably shouldn’t read and might even offend a few people. I thought it was an absolute riot though and I’m glad DC has enough of a sense of humour about itself and its characters to allow Ennis/McCrea to do something like this.
In being as over-the-top gross and silly as possible, Garth Ennis and John McCrea have inadvertently also continued the quality associated with the All-Star title in All-Star Section Eight. If you decide to read this, pace yourself - read a couple issues a day rather than gobble it up in one go otherwise the filth might overwhelm you! I had an absolute blast with this one - recommended to everyone who loves toilet humour and superhero parodies!
March 11, 2023
Garth Ennis does another of his satirical takedowns of superheroes in this spin-off from his old Hitman series. It's got the usual meta stuff, toilet humor, and general grossness, but it doesn't really feel like it has much edge or purpose.
In trying to reform his group called Section Eight, Sixpack needs one more member to make the full roster count. Each issue cycles through a DC superstar like Batman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, etc. and shows us why they refuse or don't work out in that final slot.
And after slogging through the whole thing, the final issue hits us with some dream crap, which I always hate.
For Garth Ennis completists only.
In trying to reform his group called Section Eight, Sixpack needs one more member to make the full roster count. Each issue cycles through a DC superstar like Batman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, etc. and shows us why they refuse or don't work out in that final slot.
And after slogging through the whole thing, the final issue hits us with some dream crap, which I always hate.
For Garth Ennis completists only.
January 2, 2017
Yet another Garth Ennis book of superhero satire. You'd think, if the guy hates superheroes so much, maybe he shouldn't write them so often, eh? Still, it's a hilarious book, if you can look past all the shit, piss and vomit that seems to plague almost every comic by Ennis. The Batman issue was especially laugh-out-loud funny, with all the homages to classic Batman images in the context of him getting a fine for parking in the wrong place. If you're an Ennis fan, check it out!
February 18, 2017
It may not be Garth Ennis' best work, but it's still funny and he parodies some big characters in DC. Maybe I enjoyed it more because I'm not a fan. The artwork is as disgusting as you might expect - we're talking about Sixpack, a character who is a drunkard - but the exaggerations are welcome and fitting.
After a return to alcohol, respected art critic Sidney Speck transforms into our beloved Sixpack. He knows about a deadly threat which is totally not coming from his booze-induced haze. He decides to rebuild Section 8, but the 8th member should be a heavy-hitter, a big name.
After a return to alcohol, respected art critic Sidney Speck transforms into our beloved Sixpack. He knows about a deadly threat which is totally not coming from his booze-induced haze. He decides to rebuild Section 8, but the 8th member should be a heavy-hitter, a big name.
February 14, 2017
4 1/4 stars
August 30, 2016
A very effective trick of Garth Ennis' and John McCrea's excellent HITMAN series was to establish a space within a superhero universe where superheroes would simply look out of place. Sure, Hitman and his cast would (and did) seem absurd dealing with the crossover du jour, but Noonan's Bar was a zone where they could turn the tables and present a world in which Green Lantern or Batman would come across as dickheads. In doing so they gave their comic a dignity not generally afforded to minor titles.
Of course, Noonan's did have its own superheroes - the drunk Sixpack and his friends in Section Eight, a recurring and hilarious slice of Hitman's supporting cast. There have been quite a few superhero teams where the gag is that they're terrible - Section Eight took that joke to a glorious endpoint. They aren't just bad superheroes, they're actively repulsive, and the sweet twist on the joke is that they're the only ones who take the REST of DC's superheroes seriously.
Hence the plot (such as it is) of this unlikely return in the twilight of DC's New 52 era - needing to fill out Section Eight's roster, Sixpack, with a drunkard's conviction, offers the gig to DC's great and good. It's an episodic comic, a series of scabrous one-issue farces, which Ennis and McCrea romp through, Ennis enjoying himself setting up darker than ever payoffs, and McCrea's art rougher and wilder than it was in the Hitman days. Some individual moments are glorious, but what holds the series together is Sixpack, perpetually pickled, swinging between absolute confidence and terrible doubt and carrying the series against the odds. And if the final, oddly Morrisonian issue is true, he's a better guy to credit or blame for the state of DC than Doctor bloody Manhattan.
Of course, Noonan's did have its own superheroes - the drunk Sixpack and his friends in Section Eight, a recurring and hilarious slice of Hitman's supporting cast. There have been quite a few superhero teams where the gag is that they're terrible - Section Eight took that joke to a glorious endpoint. They aren't just bad superheroes, they're actively repulsive, and the sweet twist on the joke is that they're the only ones who take the REST of DC's superheroes seriously.
Hence the plot (such as it is) of this unlikely return in the twilight of DC's New 52 era - needing to fill out Section Eight's roster, Sixpack, with a drunkard's conviction, offers the gig to DC's great and good. It's an episodic comic, a series of scabrous one-issue farces, which Ennis and McCrea romp through, Ennis enjoying himself setting up darker than ever payoffs, and McCrea's art rougher and wilder than it was in the Hitman days. Some individual moments are glorious, but what holds the series together is Sixpack, perpetually pickled, swinging between absolute confidence and terrible doubt and carrying the series against the odds. And if the final, oddly Morrisonian issue is true, he's a better guy to credit or blame for the state of DC than Doctor bloody Manhattan.
December 4, 2015
Delusional alcoholic superhero Sixpack and his compadres (well, such of them as survived their original appearances, anyway) return, thanks to a brief window of relaxation in DC's recent obsession with consistency and house style. Given Garth Ennis hates superheroes, John McCrea makes everything look disreputable, and the other team members include Bueno Excellente (who fights crime through the power of perversion) and Dogwelder (who does what it sounds like), you can guess the general tone. But as Sixpack doggedly tries to recruit the DCU's big hitters to fill out his roster, something more creeps in - sneakily meta, surprisingly moving, and at times somehow almost inspirational.
April 26, 2022
I read these books because one of my students brought up the hero “dog welder”. I was intrigued by the utter weirdness of the idea and by the concept of lesser-than DC heroes. But I was essentially disappointed. These comics don’t really go anywhere and they don’t do much to develop the characters (hardly even origin stories!) for the misbegotten heroes. There was some fun to be had but ehhhh. You could skip these.
August 11, 2019
Slightly tarnishes the memory of the mighty Sixpack and tramples all over the legacy of Bueno Excellente, the world’s perviest superhero. The first Dogwelder must be turning in his grave while Baylor gets to expand his vocabulary. It also features some other guy who does something with a grappling hook. I forget his name.
Ennis seems to have more disgusting fun writing comics than anyone else.
Ennis seems to have more disgusting fun writing comics than anyone else.
April 7, 2016
I was a huge fan of Hitman back in the day and was very excited to see that Ennis and McCrea would be revisiting some of those characters!! This series really won't disappoint you if you're looking for more of that kind of stuff! While it contains a smattering of Justice League appearances (yeah, don't look for those characters to be handled in ANY way like you've seen before!), this series is firmly centered on Six-Pack and his band of idiots.
The first few issues felt a little typical, if enjoyable, in humor - but we did get some compelling moments - such as the origin of the new Dogwelder and a glimpse into the potential backstory of Six-Pack himself. But the humor really runs aground with the Wonder Woman appearance (just a little too over the top and silly on her part - very Warner Brothers cartoon or '60s era sitcom). From there we get more typical humor expected from Ennis, with a lot of Meta comments on the comic industry and superhero comics in particular, commentary on comic readers (and writers!), and even a bit of social commentary to round things out.
There are some tremendous gags thoughout - rapping version of the Phantom Stranger and Etrigan really had me cracking up - as well as some truly stomach-wrenching obscenities, in the funniest of ways, or course! With a Capra-esque round-up featuring Superman, Ennis really caps the series off nicely.
Overall, I'd say this miniseries exceeded its target of just being funny. Some neat things going on here.
The first few issues felt a little typical, if enjoyable, in humor - but we did get some compelling moments - such as the origin of the new Dogwelder and a glimpse into the potential backstory of Six-Pack himself. But the humor really runs aground with the Wonder Woman appearance (just a little too over the top and silly on her part - very Warner Brothers cartoon or '60s era sitcom). From there we get more typical humor expected from Ennis, with a lot of Meta comments on the comic industry and superhero comics in particular, commentary on comic readers (and writers!), and even a bit of social commentary to round things out.
There are some tremendous gags thoughout - rapping version of the Phantom Stranger and Etrigan really had me cracking up - as well as some truly stomach-wrenching obscenities, in the funniest of ways, or course! With a Capra-esque round-up featuring Superman, Ennis really caps the series off nicely.
Overall, I'd say this miniseries exceeded its target of just being funny. Some neat things going on here.
Read
February 20, 2021Spinning out of Hitman, All-Star Section Eight is another superhero satire by Garth Ennis (with Hitman co-pilot John McCrea), and a pretty damn funny one at that. Six Pack is somehow still alive and wants to get Section Eight back together. He tries to recruit JLA members to fill the last spot while having an existential crisis about what it all means. This book is filled with gross-out gags, potty humor, fourth wall-breaking, and yeah I laughed. The first four issues, each focused on skewering a different DC hero, are okay, but the fifth is an absolute riot. The Phantom Stranger and Etrigan battle rap. You read that right. The final issue, too, is bizarrely brilliant and even poignant (Ennis being no stranger to poignant endings).
So yeah, this was a fun hour spent. Ennis’ humor books are among his least rewarding, and while I wouldn’t call this great or anything, it’s certainly entertaining.
So yeah, this was a fun hour spent. Ennis’ humor books are among his least rewarding, and while I wouldn’t call this great or anything, it’s certainly entertaining.
June 11, 2019
I have to respect Garth Ennis; he got DC to pay him for writing this, and he must have been laughing all the way to the bank.
This was a horrible read. Admittedly, I have no fondness for the Section Eight characters, but I can usually appreciate absurdist humor and indictments of the Super Hero genre. But this book bugged me for every page I read (issue four with Wonder Woman was the absolute nadir - having your characters be aware of how bad something looks doesn't actually make the mistreatment of the character any better); there are a number of scattered threads, few of which are ever really justified in any way. A battle with an amorous tapeworm, a man held possessed by welding tools, and a string of JLA appearances that start off bad but manage to find a way to dig deeper into the muck (including a standing 'joke' about how Martian Manhunter smells, and an issue dedicated to Vertigo titles that is told almost entirely in verse. Bad verse. Maybe bad rap?). None of the JLA heroes are present in a way that is true to their characters, and none of the Section Eight characters is interesting enough to support the series. Six-Pack is the main protagonist, and it's entirely possible the whole thing is just him dying of frostbite in the street. If so, I think I might give it an extra star, just for shuffling these characters back out of continuity. The art was for the most part clear, although considering the amount of viscera and gore on display, I don't know if that was a positive.
I'm usually a big fan of Ennis - Preacher, The Boys, even his War Stories stuff. But this just felt like a chance for him to phone in a few issues and spread vomit across the DC Universe (literally). I wouldn't wish this book on anyone.
This was a horrible read. Admittedly, I have no fondness for the Section Eight characters, but I can usually appreciate absurdist humor and indictments of the Super Hero genre. But this book bugged me for every page I read (issue four with Wonder Woman was the absolute nadir - having your characters be aware of how bad something looks doesn't actually make the mistreatment of the character any better); there are a number of scattered threads, few of which are ever really justified in any way. A battle with an amorous tapeworm, a man held possessed by welding tools, and a string of JLA appearances that start off bad but manage to find a way to dig deeper into the muck (including a standing 'joke' about how Martian Manhunter smells, and an issue dedicated to Vertigo titles that is told almost entirely in verse. Bad verse. Maybe bad rap?). None of the JLA heroes are present in a way that is true to their characters, and none of the Section Eight characters is interesting enough to support the series. Six-Pack is the main protagonist, and it's entirely possible the whole thing is just him dying of frostbite in the street. If so, I think I might give it an extra star, just for shuffling these characters back out of continuity. The art was for the most part clear, although considering the amount of viscera and gore on display, I don't know if that was a positive.
I'm usually a big fan of Ennis - Preacher, The Boys, even his War Stories stuff. But this just felt like a chance for him to phone in a few issues and spread vomit across the DC Universe (literally). I wouldn't wish this book on anyone.
June 22, 2020
I forgot to take “Rebecca” on my commute this morning (the downsides of reading a physical edition, I suppose), so I thought I’d read something that would not take me out of my reading rhythms – I’m bad at reading several things at the same time. Good thing I have a big ass comic backlog that’s not always entirely serious or requires a lot of investment. Hello there, All-Star Section Eight!
As an unabashed Ennis (and especially Hitman) fangirl I had mixed feelings going in: I love the crew at Noonan’s, but Sixpack was always my least fave. How was he going to get a whole mini out of it?
Ehhh sorta.
The best bits were definitely Ennis as usual taking the piss out of DC/comics continuity and trends in general (“Vertigo dark and mature? Half these motherfuckers wear capes!”).
I like the idea that editorial doesn’t give enough of a fig about Sixpack that they let Ennis do a non-Elseworlds story that suggests that the whole DC universe is possibly a Creation Dream of the god entity Sidney Speck, so he has to remain soused for all time for the DCU to survive.
The actual jokes are hit-and-miss (don’t let Ennis write full-on comedy) but holy fuck did I just about piss myself laughing with the resolution of DA GRAPPLAH storyline.
An inessential addition to the Hitman canon, but if you like farts and puke and you forgot your real book I guess?
As an unabashed Ennis (and especially Hitman) fangirl I had mixed feelings going in: I love the crew at Noonan’s, but Sixpack was always my least fave. How was he going to get a whole mini out of it?
Ehhh sorta.
The best bits were definitely Ennis as usual taking the piss out of DC/comics continuity and trends in general (“Vertigo dark and mature? Half these motherfuckers wear capes!”).
I like the idea that editorial doesn’t give enough of a fig about Sixpack that they let Ennis do a non-Elseworlds story that suggests that the whole DC universe is possibly a Creation Dream of the god entity Sidney Speck, so he has to remain soused for all time for the DCU to survive.
The actual jokes are hit-and-miss (don’t let Ennis write full-on comedy) but holy fuck did I just about piss myself laughing with the resolution of DA GRAPPLAH storyline.
An inessential addition to the Hitman canon, but if you like farts and puke and you forgot your real book I guess?
October 5, 2017
2-3 Stars. Garth Ennis has made it clear that he doesn't like Superheroes (see Hitman and The Boys). Garth Ennis is also someone whose works can be beautific (Preacher, War Stories, Heartland) and then just revel in low-brow shits and giggles.
I tend to not like that Garth Ennis.
As such, All-Star Section Eight kind of straddles the two--the commentary is generally not overtly clever, but each issues basically teases the the thought and sensibilities of each member of justice league (Batman, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Wonder Woman, etc.)
Except...for Superman. The one who Garth Ennis does unabashedly love. Superman is the concept at its most romantic and noble. Superman is a not important because he's invincible, but because he's an Super Man, who will always do what's right.
I tend to not like that Garth Ennis.
As such, All-Star Section Eight kind of straddles the two--the commentary is generally not overtly clever, but each issues basically teases the the thought and sensibilities of each member of justice league (Batman, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Wonder Woman, etc.)
Except...for Superman. The one who Garth Ennis does unabashedly love. Superman is the concept at its most romantic and noble. Superman is a not important because he's invincible, but because he's an Super Man, who will always do what's right.
January 17, 2018
If this was by somebody else than Ennis, this would be brilliance. But as I expect more from Ennis, this is just so-so. So sick funny bits, more misses but still nice and fluent read.
But the main thing for me: John McCrea art after quite awhile. He is one of the best, so grim and funny art. His art should come to my hands more.
But the main thing for me: John McCrea art after quite awhile. He is one of the best, so grim and funny art. His art should come to my hands more.
April 27, 2018
Garth Ennis doesn't like superheroes, so why go back to them? Did he want to just mock them again with some gross jokes? Maybe. But then it turned into something else, where Ennis could maybe express his frustrations with the genre and give it a weird twist. Maybe. It ended better than it started, anyway.
April 8, 2024
WTF did I just read?!
One of the funniest superhero comics I've ever read. The alcoholic Sixpack has really created a fun world, a world that involves big superheroes in madness. So glad I got to read this. The first issue of the comic really made an impression on me. I've never seen Batman that ridiculous.
One of the funniest superhero comics I've ever read. The alcoholic Sixpack has really created a fun world, a world that involves big superheroes in madness. So glad I got to read this. The first issue of the comic really made an impression on me. I've never seen Batman that ridiculous.
May 18, 2024
Ça.. c’était vraiment étrange! Humour irrévérencieux et vulgaire!
On comprend la satire, mais bon, je ne suis pas le public cible.
Le viol dans les toilettes, c’était vraiment dégeux.
Le caméo de Green Lantern qui combat un tyrannosaure, c’est clairement les meilleures de cette courte série.
Finale prévisible.
On comprend la satire, mais bon, je ne suis pas le public cible.
Le viol dans les toilettes, c’était vraiment dégeux.
Le caméo de Green Lantern qui combat un tyrannosaure, c’est clairement les meilleures de cette courte série.
Finale prévisible.
September 30, 2018
Pretty typically grubby as you'd expect from Ennis, but it really felt like he was phoning it in a bit. A lot of it is crass for the sake of shock value. But even lazy Ennis can be provocative in the right way.
January 26, 2019
Czuję, że nie powinnam rate'ować tego komiksu, bo zaczynając go czytać doskonale wiedziałam, że czytam go tylko dla Supermana, który pojawił się na samym końcu. Dlatego moja ocena to w części niechęć do komiksu, a w części fakt, że Superman był napisany w miarę spoko. Razem wyszło na "ech".
April 1, 2020
Lots of gross-out humour and meta jokes (Phantom Stranger rapping was pretty hilarious, as was a shameless plug for Ennis & McCrea's Demon series) segue smoothly into meta pathos. Kinda interesting and pretty entertaining.
August 1, 2017
Some of this is great (particularly when it gets grim), and McCrea's art is A+ throughout, but a lot of the jokes are misses.
March 8, 2018
Were the jokes a little cheap? More than a little.
Still it was a fun book with sympathy for underdogs (and some unbecoming hatred of the overdogs.)
Still it was a fun book with sympathy for underdogs (and some unbecoming hatred of the overdogs.)
May 22, 2018
Oh god... what did I just read?
February 5, 2019
Místy vtipné, místy vážné, celkově ale převládá "meh".
February 9, 2019
Equal parts funny, sad and gross.
June 25, 2019
dId YoU kNoW tHaT gArTh EnNiS dOeSn'T lIkE sUpErHeRoEs???????????????
February 5, 2020
3 and 1/2 stars.
Silly and stupid, more from the Hitman section of the DC universe and I'm into it.
Silly and stupid, more from the Hitman section of the DC universe and I'm into it.
June 6, 2020
Typical Garth Ennis irreverence.
Probably would have been more enjoyable had I re-visited Hitman.
Probably would have been more enjoyable had I re-visited Hitman.
November 29, 2020
Batman homage panels, rapping phantom stranger are the highlights of this book of shits and giggles.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews