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Sixpack & Dogwelder: Hard Travelin' Heroz
Writer Garth Ennis (PREACHER) and artist Russ Braun ( The Boys ) combine the worlds of HELLBLAZER and HITMAN to somewhat startling effect in SIXPACK AND HARD-TRAVELIN’ HEROZ. With covers from the late, great Steve Dillon and a special sketchbook section from Braun, this once-in-a-lifetime collection is a thrill ride you’ll never forget—or believe!
A beer-gutted brawler whose powers increase as he drinks—but only in his imagination—and a masked, mute maniac with the uncanny ability to, uh, weld dead dogs to people, Sixpack and Dogwelder head up the world’s strangest superhero Section Eight. But with the Justice League hogging all the action, how can our heroes climb out of the gutter and reach the top of the super-heap—where Sixpack is sure they belong?
When space hyper-hero John Constantine comes calling, Dogwelder finds himself face to face with destiny, as the truth about his peculiar powers and mysterious origin suddenly seem to lie within his grasp. Could his journey of discovery be what Sixpack needs to snap Section Eight out of its funk?
Now the pair are off on the road trip from hell, leaving a trail of mayhem (and empty bottles and canine corpses) from Gotham to Egypt to outer space. But as real heavyweights like Power Girl and the Spectre come calling, the true nature of the quest becomes clear. There is a price to be paid for truth—and with the fate of the world at stake, one of our heroes will find himself facing a terrible choice.
Collects SIXPACK AND HARD-TRAVELIN’ HEROZ #1-6.
A beer-gutted brawler whose powers increase as he drinks—but only in his imagination—and a masked, mute maniac with the uncanny ability to, uh, weld dead dogs to people, Sixpack and Dogwelder head up the world’s strangest superhero Section Eight. But with the Justice League hogging all the action, how can our heroes climb out of the gutter and reach the top of the super-heap—where Sixpack is sure they belong?
When space hyper-hero John Constantine comes calling, Dogwelder finds himself face to face with destiny, as the truth about his peculiar powers and mysterious origin suddenly seem to lie within his grasp. Could his journey of discovery be what Sixpack needs to snap Section Eight out of its funk?
Now the pair are off on the road trip from hell, leaving a trail of mayhem (and empty bottles and canine corpses) from Gotham to Egypt to outer space. But as real heavyweights like Power Girl and the Spectre come calling, the true nature of the quest becomes clear. There is a price to be paid for truth—and with the fate of the world at stake, one of our heroes will find himself facing a terrible choice.
Collects SIXPACK AND HARD-TRAVELIN’ HEROZ #1-6.
144 pages, Paperback
First published August 22, 2017
3 people are currently reading
36 people want to read
About the author
Garth Ennis
2,624 books3,170 followersEnnis began his comic-writing career in 1989 with the series Troubled Souls. Appearing in the short-lived but critically-acclaimed British anthology Crisis and illustrated by McCrea, it told the story of a young, apolitical Protestant man caught up by fate in the violence of the Irish 'Troubles'. It spawned a sequel, For a Few Troubles More, a broad Belfast-based comedy featuring two supporting characters from Troubled Souls, Dougie and Ivor, who would later get their own American comics series, Dicks, from Caliber in 1997, and several follow-ups from Avatar.
Another series for Crisis was True Faith, a religious satire inspired by his schooldays, this time drawn by Warren Pleece. Ennis shortly after began to write for Crisis' parent publication, 2000 AD. He quickly graduated on to the title's flagship character, Judge Dredd, taking over from original creator John Wagner for a period of several years.
Ennis' first work on an American comic came in 1991 when he took over DC Comics's horror title Hellblazer, which he wrote until 1994, and for which he currently holds the title for most issues written. Steve Dillon became the regular artist during the second half of Ennis's run.
Ennis' landmark work to date is the 66-issue epic Preacher, which he co-created with artist Steve Dillon. Running from 1995 to 2000, it was a tale of a preacher with supernatural powers, searching (literally) for God who has abandoned his creation.
While Preacher was running, Ennis began a series set in the DC universe called Hitman. Despite being lower profile than Preacher, Hitman ran for 60 issues (plus specials) from 1996 to 2001, veering wildly from violent action to humour to an examination of male friendship under fire.
Other comic projects Ennis wrote during this time period include Goddess, Bloody Mary, Unknown Soldier, and Pride & Joy, all for DC/Vertigo, as well as origin stories for The Darkness for Image Comics and Shadowman for Valiant Comics.
After the end of Hitman, Ennis was lured to Marvel Comics with the promise from Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada that he could write The Punisher as long as he cared to. Instead of largely comical tone of these issues, he decided to make a much more serious series, re-launched under Marvel's MAX imprint.
In 2001 he briefly returned to UK comics to write the epic Helter Skelter for Judge Dredd.
Other comics Ennis has written include War Story (with various artists) for DC; The Pro for Image Comics; The Authority for Wildstorm; Just a Pilgrim for Black Bull Press, and 303, Chronicles of Wormwood (a six issue mini-series about the Antichrist), and a western comic book, Streets of Glory for Avatar Press.
In 2008 Ennis ended his five-year run on Punisher MAX to debut a new Marvel title, War Is Hell: The First Flight of the Phantom Eagle.
In June 2008, at Wizard World, Philadelphia, Ennis announced several new projects, including a metaseries of war comics called Battlefields from Dynamite made up of mini-series including Night Witches, Dear Billy and Tankies, another Chronicles of Wormwood mini-series and Crossed both at Avatar, a six-issue miniseries about Butcher (from The Boys) and a Punisher project reuniting him with artist Steve Dillon (subsequently specified to be a weekly mini-series entitled Punisher: War Zone, to be released concurrently with the film of the same name).
Taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garth_Ennis
Another series for Crisis was True Faith, a religious satire inspired by his schooldays, this time drawn by Warren Pleece. Ennis shortly after began to write for Crisis' parent publication, 2000 AD. He quickly graduated on to the title's flagship character, Judge Dredd, taking over from original creator John Wagner for a period of several years.
Ennis' first work on an American comic came in 1991 when he took over DC Comics's horror title Hellblazer, which he wrote until 1994, and for which he currently holds the title for most issues written. Steve Dillon became the regular artist during the second half of Ennis's run.
Ennis' landmark work to date is the 66-issue epic Preacher, which he co-created with artist Steve Dillon. Running from 1995 to 2000, it was a tale of a preacher with supernatural powers, searching (literally) for God who has abandoned his creation.
While Preacher was running, Ennis began a series set in the DC universe called Hitman. Despite being lower profile than Preacher, Hitman ran for 60 issues (plus specials) from 1996 to 2001, veering wildly from violent action to humour to an examination of male friendship under fire.
Other comic projects Ennis wrote during this time period include Goddess, Bloody Mary, Unknown Soldier, and Pride & Joy, all for DC/Vertigo, as well as origin stories for The Darkness for Image Comics and Shadowman for Valiant Comics.
After the end of Hitman, Ennis was lured to Marvel Comics with the promise from Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada that he could write The Punisher as long as he cared to. Instead of largely comical tone of these issues, he decided to make a much more serious series, re-launched under Marvel's MAX imprint.
In 2001 he briefly returned to UK comics to write the epic Helter Skelter for Judge Dredd.
Other comics Ennis has written include War Story (with various artists) for DC; The Pro for Image Comics; The Authority for Wildstorm; Just a Pilgrim for Black Bull Press, and 303, Chronicles of Wormwood (a six issue mini-series about the Antichrist), and a western comic book, Streets of Glory for Avatar Press.
In 2008 Ennis ended his five-year run on Punisher MAX to debut a new Marvel title, War Is Hell: The First Flight of the Phantom Eagle.
In June 2008, at Wizard World, Philadelphia, Ennis announced several new projects, including a metaseries of war comics called Battlefields from Dynamite made up of mini-series including Night Witches, Dear Billy and Tankies, another Chronicles of Wormwood mini-series and Crossed both at Avatar, a six-issue miniseries about Butcher (from The Boys) and a Punisher project reuniting him with artist Steve Dillon (subsequently specified to be a weekly mini-series entitled Punisher: War Zone, to be released concurrently with the film of the same name).
Taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garth_Ennis
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
September 11, 2017
Garth Ennis brings some absurdist humor to DC. Sixpack and Dogwelder are members of Section 8, a team of degenerates Ennis created years ago in Hitman. They were funny as one note jokes in Hitman, here given their own miniseries, the schtick gets old real fast. Constantine was very funny at first, with Ennis making all kinds of cracks at ending the Hellblazer book and neutering Constantine by bringing him into the DCU. But again, this is a one trick pony and the rest of the book just drags.
June 19, 2018
Garth Ennis, Russ Braun, John Kalisz
Why am I crying while reading an extremely tongue-in-cheek comic about a "superhero" who welds dead dogs to peoples' faces?
4/5 stars. Recommended ... really!
Why am I crying while reading an extremely tongue-in-cheek comic about a "superhero" who welds dead dogs to peoples' faces?
4/5 stars. Recommended ... really!
April 29, 2023
A sequel to All-Star Section Eight.
I'm so done with Sixpack and most of Section Eight, but Baytor and Dogwelder can make me laugh. I loved the stifled twist on the "I am Baytor!" catchphrase during the confrontation with Spectre. And Dogwelder's ties to Egyptian mythology and the ultimate reason for his existence are as inspired as the character himself. (FYI: He welds dogs to people's faces.)
Still, I think it is time to let the Section Eight gang slink away into the back alleys of Gotham forever.
p.s., LOL! Two out of my three Goodreads friends who also reviewed this book also ended their reviews with suggestions that Ennis write no more Section Eight books.
I'm so done with Sixpack and most of Section Eight, but Baytor and Dogwelder can make me laugh. I loved the stifled twist on the "I am Baytor!" catchphrase during the confrontation with Spectre. And Dogwelder's ties to Egyptian mythology and the ultimate reason for his existence are as inspired as the character himself. (FYI: He welds dogs to people's faces.)
Still, I think it is time to let the Section Eight gang slink away into the back alleys of Gotham forever.
p.s., LOL! Two out of my three Goodreads friends who also reviewed this book also ended their reviews with suggestions that Ennis write no more Section Eight books.
February 12, 2017
In which John Constantine gets back to his roots, leading a marginal hero on a quest that will unearth his true origins and dizzying potential. Except that this time Constantine has a flying surfboard and a ray gun on account of all the reboots about which he intermittently moans, and talks like an American trying to write Cockney. And the hero he guides is a man who welds dogs to people's faces. In short, Ennis is taking the piss again, and very funny it is too, until the end. When it becomes surprisingly moving for a comic about a man who welds dogs to people's faces.
December 26, 2018
Once upon a time, Garth Ennis wrote an offensive, funny, touching book called Hitman, and it included a group of anti-heroes called Section 8. This is their (second) return, sort of, and they're even more disgusting than before. And they've now been joined by John Constantine, who unfortunately shares about nothing in common with Garth Ennis' previous take on him.
The first plotline in this book is about protecting Baytor from Spectre. It's OK with one hiliarious line. The second plotline concerns the secret origin of Dogwelder and the universe-ending catastrophe that follows. It's a pretty good origin and a pretty good ending.
But this whole volume has the icky feel of Garth Ennis gone over the top. We apparently don't need any more Section 8.
The first plotline in this book is about protecting Baytor from Spectre. It's OK with one hiliarious line. The second plotline concerns the secret origin of Dogwelder and the universe-ending catastrophe that follows. It's a pretty good origin and a pretty good ending.
But this whole volume has the icky feel of Garth Ennis gone over the top. We apparently don't need any more Section 8.
October 5, 2017
This was a follow-up sequel to "All-Star Section Eight" that I didn't think I wanted, but actually ended up needing.
The first run, was a spoof of "All-Star" runs--evergreen stories that try to encompass all that is good about a character (all though we really only have All-Star Superman (one of the greatest Supes stories ever) and All-Star Batman and Robin (an abysmal failure that I really enjoyed as a guilty pleasure)--about the role of Section Eight in the DCU.
I actually rolled my eyes when I first heard about this, but when I read it--it was the ultimate satire and parody of and a good swan song for the DCU/Vertigo Universe.
It's the format of the classic Denny O'Neil "Hard Traveling Heroes" Green Lantern/Green Arrow run--but with Six Pack and Dog Welder. It subverts, quite humorously many Vertigo tropes--particularly those of Alan Moore and the British Invasion Gang.
It ulimatley says "At their time and place, they meant quite a bit to a lot of people, but now...don't they kind of look funny?"
Couldn't agree more.
The first run, was a spoof of "All-Star" runs--evergreen stories that try to encompass all that is good about a character (all though we really only have All-Star Superman (one of the greatest Supes stories ever) and All-Star Batman and Robin (an abysmal failure that I really enjoyed as a guilty pleasure)--about the role of Section Eight in the DCU.
I actually rolled my eyes when I first heard about this, but when I read it--it was the ultimate satire and parody of and a good swan song for the DCU/Vertigo Universe.
It's the format of the classic Denny O'Neil "Hard Traveling Heroes" Green Lantern/Green Arrow run--but with Six Pack and Dog Welder. It subverts, quite humorously many Vertigo tropes--particularly those of Alan Moore and the British Invasion Gang.
It ulimatley says "At their time and place, they meant quite a bit to a lot of people, but now...don't they kind of look funny?"
Couldn't agree more.
Read
July 25, 2021Like All-Star Section 8 before it, the joke here is stretched thin but does yield some funny moments. John Constantine, newly integrated into the mainstream DC universe and mad about it, got the most laughs from me. He essentially fills the role he did in Swamp Thing, guiding a supernatural character (Dogwelder) to discover his origin and save the world. In the end, Ennis pulls off his frequent trick of generating pathos from over-the-top absurdity. He’s damn good at that. Still, I think it’s time he put Sixpack and co. to rest.
January 2, 2018
To me, Garth Ennis is the high peak of comic writing. I have enjoyed his writing immensely. I have cried and laughed and been shocked and thrilled. I have trusted him not to fail.
And he did. Incredibly. This is just so bad. One trick pony and story that could've been told in about 50 pages. Maybe it would've been good that way.
I liked the ending and I loved those Dillon covers in this one. But I loathed the way US had censored curse words with ******. That made reading really hard and stupid. Grow some balls and let fuck and cunt be fuck and cunt.
But still, disappointed more than I could imagine.
And he did. Incredibly. This is just so bad. One trick pony and story that could've been told in about 50 pages. Maybe it would've been good that way.
I liked the ending and I loved those Dillon covers in this one. But I loathed the way US had censored curse words with ******. That made reading really hard and stupid. Grow some balls and let fuck and cunt be fuck and cunt.
But still, disappointed more than I could imagine.
March 12, 2018
It feels like this should have been collected as part of All-Star Section Eight. It flows directly out of that book.
At the end of the day, this is largely a joke on the reader. Parts of this feel like fair comment on our stupidity. But its' a little long for that.
I think Ennis has exceeded 100% of milking the name and concept of Dogwelder. Admittedly, it's a really funny name and concept.
At the end of the day, this is largely a joke on the reader. Parts of this feel like fair comment on our stupidity. But its' a little long for that.
I think Ennis has exceeded 100% of milking the name and concept of Dogwelder. Admittedly, it's a really funny name and concept.
May 21, 2019
Garth Ennis truly is the mad genius of comic writers. I love the way he brings his insane spin to the world of "serious" super-heroes, which is not parody, but definitely has an undercurrent of satire. I love every absurd moment of this. Russ Braun's artwork is better than most comic artist in DC and Marvel provides a fitting contrast to the absurd writing, which makes the whole thing all the more absurd.
September 30, 2018
Following on from All Star Section 8, it's a bit more of the same really, but again even lazy paycheck mode Ennis delivers enough wit and pathos to get by. His use of John Constantine is pretty brilliant here which gives it the edge over All Star.
March 2, 2018
The ending was great, but I'm just not a fan of these guys being used as satire material. Baytor, as per usual, is awesome.
April 5, 2019
Very silly and a ridiculous read. The back and forth with The Spectre and Section 8 alone is worth it.
June 25, 2019
dId YoU kNoW tHaT gArTh EnNiS dOeSn'T lIkE sUpErHeRoEs???????????????
November 29, 2020
4 stars for the Noonan's + Baytor vs spectre sequence. The 2nd arc is a bit ??? though has a nice ,if cliched, ending.
April 29, 2023
Hilarious!!!
October 19, 2023
I liked All Star Section Eight a bit more but still very good. Pretty solid mix of humor with some sweet moments.
December 5, 2023
Ennis in full on puerile mode. The historical Dogwelders were kind of funny though.
March 16, 2024
The censorship aka as fuck to **** is super annoying.
I wished they kept the fucking fucks where they fucking belong!
Besides this, this is a fun story ohne should not think to deeply about it.
I wished they kept the fucking fucks where they fucking belong!
Besides this, this is a fun story ohne should not think to deeply about it.
August 11, 2025
8/10
é muito mais uma hq cômica, n precisa se levar tão a serio e sinceramente? eu gostei demais disso! só achei o John Constantine meio jogado nessa historia mas de resto, foi muito divertida!!
é muito mais uma hq cômica, n precisa se levar tão a serio e sinceramente? eu gostei demais disso! só achei o John Constantine meio jogado nessa historia mas de resto, foi muito divertida!!
March 2, 2017
Read this one in floppy format. The first series was a mess. This one, with a focus more on the state of John Constantine in the DC Universe than on the title characters is a not as much of a mess, but it's not very good either. The art and writing are decent, my problem is with the fundamental readability. We all know that Garth Ennis is a potty mouth, and the characters in this are all completely foul mouthed. DC wont print swear words, so it's all censored with ******, and it makes for the book to be borderline unreadable since your brain is as interested and figuring out the censored words as it is in the weak plot.
So skip this one and the series. I got it mostly by accident, I wont be getting any more.
So skip this one and the series. I got it mostly by accident, I wont be getting any more.
January 26, 2017
It's fascinating that Ennis is still allowed to publish these books. Seriously. A team of degenerates where up 'til now really only one member properly speaks? A team of bit players from Hitman? And this is their second mini-series? And Ennis spends entire pages making fun of DC editorial decisions and "events" like what they did to John Constantine? And yet, it's funny as hell. Giving Dogwelder a mythology was both hilarious and absurd. The whole "I Am Spartacus" scene with the Spectre (including Batman!). Then it has the guts to end with some honest emotion. I'll read anything Ennis writes. Even if it's a lark, the man knows structure and dialogue.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews