Propovjednik: knjiga druga

Preacher Deluxe #3-4

by Garth Ennis (Writer), Steve Dillon (Illustrator)

Sjedinjen s bizarnom spiritualnom silom po imenu Geneza, teksaški propovjednik Jesse Custer posve je razočaran u vjeru kojoj je posvetio čitav život. Sad ima moć "riječi", sposobnost natjerati ljude da čine sve što on naredi, pa započinje nasilno i buntovničko putovanje preko Amerike. Pridružuje mu se njegova djevojka Tulip, koja voli vatreno oružje, i irski vampir Cassidy, uglavnom pijan. Propovjednik gubi vjeru u ljude i Boga jer dok istražuje Ameriku, svjedoči mračnim grozotama i nevjerojatnim opasnostima.

Ovo kultno remek-djelo nasilja, izopačenosti, ljubavi i iskupljenja hvaljenog scenarista Gartha Ennisa i obožavanog crtača Stevea Dillona, Fibra ponosno predstavlja prvi put na hrvatskom jeziku. U drugoj knjizi donosimo epizode 27-40, kao i specijale "Svetac ubojica", "Cassidy: Krv i viski", "Rat jednog čovjeka", "Dobri stari dečki" i "Priča o znaš-već-kome".

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Dc Comics, Horror, Supernatural, Fiction

704 pages, Hardcover

First published May 9, 2017

About the author

Ennis began his comic-writing career in 1989 with the series Troubled Souls. Appearing in the short-lived but critically-acclaimed British anthology Crisis and illustrated by McCrea, it told the story of a young, apolitical Protestant man caught up by fate in the violence of the Irish 'Troubles'. It spawned a sequel, For a Few Troubles More, a broad Belfast-based comedy featuring two supporting characters from Troubled Souls, Dougie and Ivor, who would later get their own American comics series, Dicks, from Caliber in 1997, and several follow-ups from Avatar.

Another series for Crisis was True Faith, a religious satire inspired by his schooldays, this time drawn by Warren Pleece. Ennis shortly after began to write for Crisis' parent publication, 2000 AD. He quickly graduated on to the title's flagship character, Judge Dredd, taking over from original creator John Wagner for a period of several years.

Ennis' first work on an American comic came in 1991 when he took over DC Comics's horror title Hellblazer, which he wrote until 1994, and for which he currently holds the title for most issues written. Steve Dillon became the regular artist during the second half of Ennis's run.

Ennis' landmark work to date is the 66-issue epic Preacher, which he co-created with artist Steve Dillon. Running from 1995 to 2000, it was a tale of a preacher with supernatural powers, searching (literally) for God who has abandoned his creation.

While Preacher was running, Ennis began a series set in the DC universe called Hitman. Despite being lower profile than Preacher, Hitman ran for 60 issues (plus specials) from 1996 to 2001, veering wildly from violent action to humour to an examination of male friendship under fire.

Other comic projects Ennis wrote during this time period include Goddess, Bloody Mary, Unknown Soldier, and Pride & Joy, all for DC/Vertigo, as well as origin stories for The Darkness for Image Comics and Shadowman for Valiant Comics.

After the end of Hitman, Ennis was lured to Marvel Comics with the promise from Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada that he could write The Punisher as long as he cared to. Instead of largely comical tone of these issues, he decided to make a much more serious series, re-launched under Marvel's MAX imprint.

In 2001 he briefly returned to UK comics to write the epic Helter Skelter for Judge Dredd.

Other comics Ennis has written include War Story (with various artists) for DC; The Pro for Image Comics; The Authority for Wildstorm; Just a Pilgrim for Black Bull Press, and 303, Chronicles of Wormwood (a six issue mini-series about the Antichrist), and a western comic book, Streets of Glory for Avatar Press.

In 2008 Ennis ended his five-year run on Punisher MAX to debut a new Marvel title, War Is Hell: The First Flight of the Phantom Eagle.

In June 2008, at Wizard World, Philadelphia, Ennis announced several new projects, including a metaseries of war comics called Battlefields from Dynamite made up of mini-series including Night Witches, Dear Billy and Tankies, another Chronicles of Wormwood mini-series and Crossed both at Avatar, a six-issue miniseries about Butcher (from The Boys) and a Punisher project reuniting him with artist Steve Dillon (subsequently specified to be a weekly mini-series entitled Punisher: War Zone, to be released concurrently with the film of the same name).

Taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garth_Ennis

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolute Preacher Volume 2 collects Preacher #27-40 plus the Cassidy miniseries, the Saint of Killers miniseries and the specials featuring Starr, Arseface, and Jody & TC.

For a few lean years, Preacher was one of the only comics I read. I've made a few trips to Half Price Books lately in my effort to decrapify the house and somehow ended up with this.

Jesse Custer's quest to find the almighty and take him to task for the sorry state of humanity continues in this volume. Jesse and the gang go up against Starr and the Grail, the Saint of Killers, a vampire cult, and worst of all, a serpent in their midst.

It's been at least fifteen years since I've read these stories and I have to say this volume holds up better than the last one. The first volume relied on shock value a bit too much. This one has better writing and all of the groundwork has already been lain. This one is all meat.

The characters continue to develop. I actually feel a little sorry for Starr on this go-round. He's trying to make order out of chaos and the shit keeps on hitting the fan. Certain aspects hit differently as an adult rather than being twenty-something as I was originally reading it. Cassidy seems like even more of a sleaze now, for instance. Is Preacher Garth Ennis' examination of two American obsessions, namely guns and Jesus? Possibly. It still feels like a majestic modern Western more than anything else.

The Absolute edition makes this seem like seeing a well loved movie on the big screen for the first time after years of only seeing it on television. Steve Dillon's art is more impressive in this format. I wish he'd also drawn all the specials but the man could only do so much, although Carlos Esquierza did a great job and Steven Pugh is always good.

Absolute Preacher volume 2 is absolutely great. Five out of five stars.

[Lukas Sumper · Rating 4 out of 5]

With Preacher you kinda have to read it for yourself, watching the show doesnt do it justice because it falls short on many fronts compared to the source material. Fun, brutal, weird and those characters really grow on you but the filler issues which I found were plenty of kinda drag the overall rating down. Then again with so many pages you understand its hard to allways get the best story to the page.

About the quality of the absolutes I have to say it again, they steal the show... absolutley gorgeus looking!

4.0 out of 5 stars

[Max's Comic Reviews and Lists · Rating 4 out of 5]

Holy Shite City
Damn man talk about twists and turns. Like Jesus book gave me anxiety sometimes. ANYWAY. The story continues in the 2nd amazing Absolute edition which collects #27-40, and a shit ton of spin off specials. I’ll go over the main story first and talk about each Preacher Special later in the review. I’ll try to keep this one under 2000 words this time.

The reason this story is almost 99.99% gonna stay timeless is because the way the characters are written are in the most human, relatable, and compelling way possible. I can’t say enough about these characters. They are at heart good people with flaws and problems that we all have. Okay, well maybe we all haven’t gotten possessed by God like entities, but just for those of us who have. These characters have momentary lapses, dumb thoughts, stutters, relatable conversations, and many moments of emotion. They aren’t my favourite characters ever, but damn it if they aren’t up there. Even characters like Arse face get a lot of attention in this book. Issue #40 is called Arse Face World. Genius. In fact the new heights Ennis takes the characters to in these issues remind me of why he is one of the top 3 character writers in comics. I almost fucking teared up in one part. Yes I was reading a comic and almost teared up. The only other times thats happened was Watchmen, and Ennis’s Hellblazer run. And twice I said out loud, “OH SHIT! WHAT THE F***********!” I think we all know which parts of the story. Everybody here is an imperfect person. That's why they are so compelling. Like Tulip says something to Cassidy in maybe the final issues, and damn I was like “Thats fucked up there Tulip.”

The thing I can't get out of my head about the main story issues collected in this volume is that I know none of it was absolutely incredible like the first book. I actually experienced a bit of euphoria reading the first book. But I gotta say, the book wasn't all that interesting from #30-33. Once #34 hit we got on track, and the last 3 issues are some of my favourites in the entire series. The reason it slowed down at #30 is because there was many elements that moved at a snail's pace. With the voodoo thing, the boring vampire cult stuff (Which was ripped from Hellblazer Tainted Love by the way), and Cassidy’s past deeds that we never really find out. I’m not saying any of this was bad, but to me the quality dipped. Another thing that I can’t stand is how many goddamn people Tulip kills. Not to be sexist or anything but Jesse I can sort of understand. He had a shit past and probably is a little less empathetic. Even though when he killed a shit ton of soldiers in the last volume I did approve of that. But man Tulip what is the matter with you and your gun? Killing takes a mental toll. But shit she mows down people with zero issue. And I’m serious, Zero issue. I just can't stand that. Ya sure it’s bad-ass sometimes but she is the most well grounded of the 3 mains and she is slowly becoming….not. After the War in the Sun arc the last 3 issues I really loved. Emotional, hilarious, and is a calm after the storm. Also Herr Starr is continuing to be a fantastic villain.

Saint of Killers
Aight so this book is I think majority spin off Preacher specials. And I’m not gonna lie they weren’t all great. Especially this one. The origin of the Saint of Killers. Not much worked for me in this one. It was a very dry and boring origin to a best left ambiguous character. The way Satan is presented is far less interesting and sinister than Garth Ennis’s other interpretation of Satan in….. y’know. It wasn't all bad, but overall it was just zzzzzz. The art is admittedly good. Very very heavy on the inks though.

Cassidy Blood and Whiskey
Now this is what you’d call an entertaining ass little story. I think most of us would agree this is the best Preacher special in this Absolute. It’s also the best thing that's come out of the vampire cult. I didn’t love this story by any means but I was very entertained and I was very satisfied at the end. Plus the line “fuckin groovy” will be quoted everyday now by me. Steve Dillon kills it with the art of course.

One Man’s War
Like I said before Herr Starr is a legit great villain. But this special was okay at best. It got way better in the second half but the text heavy first half was a definite bore. The meeting between Starr and The Almighty could have been infinitely more interesting as well. So yeah it was fine. The penciling is serviceable but the colouring is pretty good.

The Good Old Boys
Holy shit was this a corny ass story. I mean it's entertaining as hell but this was definitely the biggest slab of cheese in this entire book. Following Jody, T.C. and 2 straight up memes, we get a story about a mob boss being put against the 4 of them. I can see it now, Ennis drunk off his ass eating Chinese takeout and making the most over the top script he could. It was a fun read. The art was kinda strange but very well done especially with the penciling of a giant ass ape.

The Story of You Know Who
Damn this was fuckin dark. The origin story of Arse-Face. This was great. Pretty much tied with the Cassidy Special but Steve Dillon’s art trumps it. Hugo Root is such a piece of shit and you could call this story completely over the top and overly dark but I was thoroughly entertained.

Steve Dillon’s art is some of my favourite. Ever. Every since his art in Hellblazer, his art is up there with the best in my humble opinion. To a lot of people, his art is mostly just serviceable. I disagree. I think it’s some of the most vivid, beautiful, and expressive art ever put to the pages. There are so many panels in this book that belong in an art gallery. And if there was ever anybody who is good at drawing the over the top shit in this story, I’d say it’s Mr. Steve Dillon. NOW I know his art does eventually get much less detailed near the end of the series which is very very disappointing for sure. So I made sure to definitely enjoyed the living shit outta the visuals in this volume. Not all of the art was Dillon’s but none of it was bad.

SO in the end I am really excited to continue this journey in the last absolute and see how this all ends. Except I don’t know if I’m gonna want it to end. I had a blast with this book but it’s not as amazing as the last collection of course. With a few issues unfortunately being uninteresting and most of the book being specials, there was a bit of a quality dip. But damn it if there wasn't at least 3 “oh shit” moments that I loved. Plus the frickin cliff hanger man, Jesus Christ hurry up amazon!!!

Letter Grade: (A-)

Book Construction:
The actual construction of this Absolute Edition is an A+ however. The only Absolutes that rival these Preacher books are the Sandman Absolutes. The black leather texture with the gold inlay on the spine and the front is just frickin incredible. The binding is immaculate, no gutter loss, bear trap, or page issues. Seeing Dillon’s art blown up in such a big format really improved the reading experience. And the slip case is reeeeeaaaall nice.

[Margarita Bulgakova · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hmmm, za nijansu lošiji od prve knjige, specijali su mi većinom bili nezanimljivi.

[Chris Greensmith · Rating 4 out of 5]

"It doesn`t matter who you are,or how good you got things. Sooner or later,shit goes wrong for everybody. Sooner or later,there comes a time when all you want to do is shout Fuck you to the world."

[Charlie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read best damn graphic noel ever

[OmniBen · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Zero spoiler review) 3.75/5
The weird middle child of the series. I read this in omnibus format, so the mapping of these three books is slightly different to my experience, though this would undoubtedly be the lesser of the three volumes. This neither collects the rollicking opening, nor the amazing conclusion to the series, instead, mostly compromising the indifferent 'end to the omnibus arc', that really was a bit of a downer after the brilliance that preceded it. As well as the pretty good, but slight wheel-spinning opening to the second omnibus. Something of a return to form, although whilst not going anywhere in particular, it did stall the main story a little longer than it should have.
With the series mapped this way, you could easily skip a considerable amount of this on a re-read for a punchier experience, without missing any of the best bits. Kind of like The Boys in that Ennis odes seem to drop the ball a fair bit in the middle. It might not be as good as the book ends to this volume, but it's still pretty decent, all things considered. 3.75/5


OmniBen.

[Michael Sorbello · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a review of the entire series.

Preacher follows a gang of three washed-up misfits that have all been dealt cruel hands by fate. First there’s Jesse Custer, a vulgar, foul-mouthed yet all-around upstanding and gentlemanly preacher living a dull life in a small Texas town called Annville. He wears the mantle of a preacher while exuding the aura of a gritty, spaghetti western antihero. He spends more time praying to John Wayne and channeling Clint Eastwood than he ever spends seeking guidance from God.

Things take a major turn for Jesse when he accidentally gets possessed by the spirit of a supernatural entity called Genesis, the cursed child born out of the forbidden fornication between an angel and a demon. The entity contains the essence of absolute goodness and absolute evil, fusing together with Jesse’s soul and granting him unimaginable power. Now a force to be reckoned with, Jesse makes himself quite a few dangerous enemies and he doesn’t plan to let his newfound powers go to waste. He has a bone to pick with the scum of the earth and plans to use his powers to make amends with his past trauma and regrets. Most of all, he has it out for God more than anyone else for allowing all the chaos and evil in the world to spiral out of control in the first place. He goes on a journey to find God and give him a piece of his mind.

Along his journey, Jesse reunites with his ex-girlfriend Tulip and befriends an Irish, vampire junky named Cassidy. Tulip is a hotheaded gunslinger that was raised by her tough-as-nails yet affectionate, sharpshooting father who taught her how to hunt, stand on her own two feet and take no nonsense from anybody. She’s a wild tomboy with a lot of heart and has quite a bit of catching up to do with Jesse after he abandoned her for unknown reasons at the peak of their relationship.

After hearing Jesse’s story about fusing with Genesis and going on a mission to find God with his newfound powers, Cassidy happily joins the preacher on his quest while Tulip works on patching things up with Jesse after learning of the dark secrets behind his sudden disappearance. Cassidy also has some demons of his own to work out as he battles with alcoholism, drug addiction and a wavering moral compass on top of never being able to walk around in broad daylight because of the curse of vampirism placed on him as a young boy. Despite their numerous imperfections, the three come together in hopes of finding God. Not in the metaphorical sense, but to kick his ass for abandoning his throne in heaven, neglecting his duties and letting humanity drown in the cesspool he created with his own hands. The three outlaws seek to set things right through very unsavory means.

Jesse, Tulip and Cassidy encounter some incredibly disturbed villains along the way, including Jesse’s own family of backwater devils that include a tyrannical religious grandmother obsessed with maintaining pure bloodlines, a violent psychopath that brutally murdered anything Jesse dared to love as a child, and a crazed hillbilly with a fetish for farm animals. Then there’s a secret religious order akin to the Illuminati called The Grail, which includes the outrageous Klaus Starr whose violent antics along with his obsession of trying to use Jesse’s powers to fulfill his own plans usually end up leaving him with a few missing limbs and making a mockery of himself. There’s even a KKK loonie that built himself a giant sex doll made out of the severed, bloody body parts of butchered livestock. The violence is so outrageously gruesome that it somehow manages to be equally horrendous and hilarious. A lot of the dark and shocking moments in this series are delivered with heavy undertones of black comedy, making you laugh, cringe and gag all at the same time. It’s a wild ride that pulls no punches, and the scares are absurdly creative if nothing else.

The three protagonists have a lot of depth to them, every villain is a wicked bastard and the side characters all have their own heartwarming struggles to overcome. The most notable minor character that I was rooting for from beginning to end was a mentally disabled boy nicknamed Assface. The boy idolized Kurt Cobain to an unhealthy degree and unfortunately, he thought that following in his idol’s footsteps by blowing his head off with a gun would earn himself the love and admiration he always wanted. After his failed suicide attempt, he’s left with a gaping hole that continuously oozes fluid from his now deformed face, which earned him the nickname Assface. Instead of letting his deformity bring him down, he goes on his own personal journey of self-discovery and finding comfort and acceptance through rock music. This is just one of many touching tales throughout the series.

Preacher is outrageous, shocking, and it isn’t afraid of offending anybody with its sharp-edged humor, but it also captures the personal flaws and imperfections that every single person carries. The action is spectacular, the characters are heroic and monstrous in equal measure, and you can never prepare yourself for whatever bizarre travesties it will throw at you next. Stephen King even cited Preacher as being a big inspiration behind his surreal fantasy masterpiece The Dark Tower, and it’s not hard to see how. It’s the perfect blend of gritty western, dark fantasy, shock humor and over the top horror-fueled action sequences. It’ll definitely send you through an unforgettable trip through the wild west.

***

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[Britton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Religion tends to be an easy touch point for satirists, so much so that it becomes boring rather quickly. We get it, religion has some rather silly concepts behind it, so much so that it almost makes fun of itself. With that in mind, I avoided Preacher for a while, fearing it would be another 'fuck religion' polemic disguised as a story (a la His Dark Materials), and while there are the 'fuck religion' moments layered in Preacher from time to time, Ennis' storytelling chops makes Preacher an engaging read. It can be crude, mean, uproarious, strange, and sometimes touching, especially where you least expect it. Religious satire died with Preacher for me, as few others could ever get quite get as madcap, as strange, nor as deviously imaginative as Ennis' opus on religion was, and still very much is.

I should hate Ennis, on principle. He doesn’t like superheroes. His disdain for religion has the sophistication of a 15 year old on Reddit (at least sometimes). He often can be edgy for edgy’s sake. But damn it, the man is too compelling a storyteller to ignore. He’s basically if Mark Millar could actually write a story that’s worth a damn. His insights on human nature and the darkness that lies within the heart of man borders on the uncanny. I won’t pretend Preacher is the deepest when it comes to that subject, and many can argue that he’s written better. But what makes Preacher so unique and what keeps me coming back to it is that it’s a series that’s pure, unadulterated Ennis. Like with Transmetropolitan from his old friend Warren Ellis, Preacher is the purest examination of everything Ennis cares about as an artist and as a human being and I can’t casually dismiss something that comes this much from the heart as Preacher does.

Oh sure, it’s offensive. It’s even quite ridiculous at times. This is a comic about a preacher (our titular one) who was abused viciously as a child, to the point of absurdity. This includes him watching his father get shot to death by his insane cousins and being sunk to the bottom of a river as a form of punishment. Our titular main character also runs across a perverted lunatic who indulges in every depravity known to man, including pedophilia and zoophilia, two idiotic private eyes known as the ‘sexual investigators,’ a secret society of increasingly deranged religious zealots, and an extremely vain, narcissistic version of God…and that’s not even mentioning Arseface. I’ve never claimed Ennis was for everyone and it takes a particular kind of animal to appreciate the charm that Ennis brings to whatever he touches.

Preacher, despite its title, isn’t so much about religion. It takes its share of potshots at religion (particularly Christianity), but it quickly proves that it’s so much more than that. It’s at once a cynical, Biblical supernatural story akin to Hellblazer, a disturbingly straight tale of abuse and overcoming the past, a gritty crime western, a black comedy, Ennis and Dillon’s bipolar love letter to America, with a tinge of religious horror. But Ennis and Dillon take all these elements and create a deeply compelling yarn that never loses its step. From beginning to end, Preacher never lets its foot off the gas, creating one of the most memorable comics I’ve ever read. Once you read Preacher, it’ll be hard to not think about it afterwards.

Far as I can see it, Ennis has three major obsessions, ones that have haunted him throughout his career: friendships between men, soldiers, and vigilantes. Time and time again he comes back to these subjects when he sits down to write a book and he writes about said things with such depth, care, and nuance. If Punisher MAX is his treatise on vigilantes and The Boys is his treatise on superheroes, then Preacher is his treatise on male friendship. Ennis has a keen understanding of the psychology and politics that comes from friendship, particularly between men and we see that explored to its fullest potential here in Preacher. Men can fight, fuck with each other, can say the most horrific, meanest shit to each other, and then go back to laughing and joking like nothing’s wrong. It’s hard to explain in words, but Ennis’ particular gift is getting to the essence of things, showing things in their purest, ‘no-fucking-about’ form and here he shows us the essence of what it’s liking being a friend, being a male friend in particular.

But if I can go a step further, there is also Ennis’ gift with character. Once I got past the edgy humor and angsty ranting about religion, I discovered that Preacher is a character drama disguised as a black comedy. Few can do character voice like Ennis can and fewer can do it so well in comics. One of the greatest pleasures of Preacher was digging past the layers and finding the complexity and sensitivity that Ennis can be capable of in the right circumstances. Many of the characters here are iconic, but what is most surprising about them is their heart and their desire to do good, even in a world as strange and depraved as this one.

Steve Dillon's art is whole other thing entirely, and while I'm not always fond of his style (his characters often look similar for one thing), I find that the way that he and Ennis worked together was almost magical, something Ennis would lament. Ennis and Dillion's creative partnership is one of the great partnerships in comics, with few others being comparable: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely. Dillon perfectly captures the depravity, as well as the heart that lies within Preacher. As I've noted before, there are artists who compliment a writer's sensibility perfectly and Steve Dillon is that lucky man for Garth Ennis. Ennis can throw whatever wacky and bizarre idea he has and Steve can match him without peer. Sure, there are several other artists who have complimented Ennis' hard-edged style: Jacen Burrows, John McCrea, Goran Parlov, Darick Robertson. But I find Dillon is the best and their creative relationship was the purest. Their apotheosis as a creative team is with Preacher, with Dillon’s oddball art style perfectly complimenting Ennis’ strange, edgy vision.

People often mock Ennis for being immature and edgy. They especially mock Preacher for said immaturity. But I think the sometimes puerile humor adds to Preacher's odd charm and what it's exploring. Preacher is all about letting go. Jesse lets go of the trauma that's defined his life and his fear of his family and commitment. Cassidy lets go of the toxic habits that's held him back from his potential for so long. Tulip lets go of the unrealistic expectations of her romance with Jesse and her outlaw life. In the strangest way, Preacher is very much a coming of age story, where our main characters finally put away their childish things and learn what it means to be ‘grown up.’ As Cassidy says at the end of the series, it's time for him to be a man and ultimately, Preacher shows us how to do that.

So why is Preacher so high on my list of my favorite comics? Why so high on my list of Ennis’ work? He has done better and he has written better. For me, Preacher is Ennis’ heart laid out to bear for all to see. It shows that despite the edginess, all the anger, all the dark humor, that Ennis is a writer of profound insight and intensely deep feeling. Everything that Ennis is as a person is shown here and it’s a joy to witness. There’s some disgust, heartbreak, and even a little anger thrown in for good measure, but joy is never far behind. The Punisher might be Ennis’ best work, but Preacher is Ennis’ heart.

Preacher is one of those comics, among others, that shows me the magic of what comics can do. There was nowhere else where Preacher could have existed. It would have been too silly for film, too strange for TV. As it’s been noted (and should be repeated for all to hear), comics is a medium that can do anything and Preacher is the one of the top contenders of showing just what comics can do under the right circumstances. Is Preacher high art? No, I don't think so, yet I often look back to a particular satirical fantasist when I'm asked such inane questions:

"Susan hated literature, she'd much prefer to read a good book."

[Drew Canole · Rating 5 out of 5]

The amount of special issues kind of bogs this collection down. It's got to be nearly half the content here. But I guess they had to put all of those issues somewhere - so it's not really a real complaint.

I'm really glad I'm enjoying this book as much as I remember. I'm excited to read the third volume especially since that book is just the main storyline without any more tie-in issues.

[Goran K · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection contains issue #27-40, five special editions and extra gallery. Hardcover edition weighing just above 2 kgs, obviously it can't keep constant quality. While I like the regular storyline and they've done a good job inputting specials in the beginning and the end so the story has certain flow, there are few different illustrators, story quality oscillates a bit as well, and this edition isn't as rounded up as first book.

Drawings are still top quality, once again Glenn Fabry shines with his covers, but twists and turns the story makes, sudden jumps that characters do from their usual self are a bit too much to grant it top rating. It's still excellent, IMO best read in late teens, but there's certain appeal to it, maybe even nostalgia at this point. One specific thing that annoys me a bit is illustration of bullet hits which just don't do it for me, regardless of the author.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

The carnage and perversion continue in the world of "Preacher". A world where anything can happen and usually does.
An atomic bomb is aimed at a national park, the horrible looking and completely unintelligible "Arseface" becomes a Rock n' Roll superstar, a trio of cannibalistic brothers thrive in the desert and the "Saint Of Killers" proves himself truly unkillable.
These are just a few of the bizarre goings-on in store in this deluxe edition.

[Chr*s Browning · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn’t like the Cass/Tulip plotline when I read it for the first time, still don’t like it. I can abide all the other shit here, but that just rubs me the wrong way, as vital for the plot as it ends up being.

[Du4 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Coloring gets fixed this volume with original 1990s transition from analog to digital coloring processes. Beautiful work from Rambo on “War in the Sun.” Loses a star for the terrible, terrible and inconsistent artwork in the Saint of Killers chapter. Still love revisiting those lettercols.

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

A rollercoaster road trip for Jesse, Cass and Tulip as they encounter "good ole boys," the saint of killers, nukes and Arseface as he becomes a rock star. Can't wait for vol 3. Highly recommended!

[Vasilis Manias · Rating 5 out of 5]

Πάμε για ΤΟ ΚΛΕΙΣΙΜΟ ΤΟΥ ΕΠΟΥΣ ΤΩΡΑ!

[Filip Mladenovic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nastavak u stilu prve knjige. Veoma dobro odradjeni brojevi specijala sa gostima na crtezu.

[Marko · Rating 4 out of 5]

I dalje sjajan serijal iako ima mali pad u kvalitetu priče u odnosu na prvu knjigu.

Ova knjiga sadrži dosta priča iz prošlosti i nekih spin off serijala gde je kvalitet nekad jači a nekad slabiji.

Imamo priču o nastanku sveca ubica, zatim priču o Cassidyju koji upoznaje drugog vampira (po meni najzabavnija priča u knjizi), spin off specijal o Jodyu i T.C.ju i specijal o nastanku Pakšua (isto bolja priča u knjizi).

Mimo tih iskoraka postoji i glavni narativni tok koji je ipak malo razvodnjen sa Starrom, Pakšuom, vampirima, itd. To ne navodim kao nešto nužno loše. Određeni delovi tih skretanja sa glavnog toka priče su sjajni a neki manje sjajni i i dalje je ovo vrlo zabavan serijal, iako druga knjiga nudi jako malo toga što ide ka nekom razrešenju glavnog toka priča a to je da Jesse nađe Boga.

Postoje i oscijalcije u crtežu obzirom da se crtači smenjuju, ali ni u jednom slučaju to nije bilo nešto loše. Novi crtači u specijalima su bili vrlo prijatno osveženje i time su dali i vizelno odstupanje od glavnog narativnog toka.

[Mario Mikon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Comparado com o ritmo frenetico do primeiro volume, esse aqui dá um pouco mais de importancia a diálogos. No entanto, enriquecimento das personalidades de cada personagem principal em nada atrapalha a ação maluca.