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Preacher- AMC Comic Adaptation


Morpheus

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2 hours ago, Manhole Eunuchsbane said:

 Yeah, that's a common criticism of a lot of Ennis's work that I find to be annoying. Yes, his sense of humor can be quite sophomoric and shock-jockeyesque, but there is usually a really solid plot that holds all of that stuff together. I think he runs into problems when a series he is working on outlives his first big plot arc.

I think you're right. I suspect my mind tries to separate the two styles but in actual fact Ennis often blends the two pretty well. I always think it's a shame I read the initial Ennis/Dillon Preacher comics and was put off by Ennis' later Max stories - even though he dropped most of the silliness by that stage. Regarding Preacher, it's probably more down to the

injuries Herr Starr gains over time

and the depiction of characters who see things in an inverted way that clouds my judgement a lot. That and Arseface.

I've heard the same thing about the Boys but I've yet to properly get into it. I think that's more because I've read a lot of his superhero books where it's clear he hates the genre. It probably works better in "the boys" as he provides plenty of reasons for hating superheroes.

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7 hours ago, red snow said:

I think you're right. I suspect my mind tries to separate the two styles but in actual fact Ennis often blends the two pretty well. I always think it's a shame I read the initial Ennis/Dillon Preacher comics and was put off by Ennis' later Max stories - even though he dropped most of the silliness by that stage. Regarding Preacher, it's probably more down to the

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injuries Herr Starr gains over time

and the depiction of characters who see things in an inverted way that clouds my judgement a lot. That and Arseface.

I've heard the same thing about the Boys but I've yet to properly get into it. I think that's more because I've read a lot of his superhero books where it's clear he hates the genre. It probably works better in "the boys" as he provides plenty of reasons for hating superheroes.

 The Boys is one of those series that I think kind of outlived his initial vision of it. The first 25 or so issues are really good, but it kind of starts eating itself before he ties up the first big arc. It kind of suffers as well for the primary artist (Darick Robertson) coming in and out of the series. I've been collecting the trades for awhile now. I would recommend 1-4, and 6-7. The thing about that series is he is typically deconstructing one cape stereotype at a time in the mini-arcs (like say The Teen Titans in the first, Batman in the second, etc, etc) and that pattern gets a little tired, especially if you're not a fan of the book he's deconstructing. That and the overarching theme is basically the same thing, only centering on The Justice League. His predilection for shock humor can be over the top for sure, but he's still a very good writer with the ability to breathe life and realistic motivations into his characters. I still hold his Hellblazer stuff (Dangerous Habits and Rake at the Gates of Hell) as the two best Hellblazer arcs ever, and that pits him against legends such as Warren Ellis, Jaime Delano and Brian Azzarello. The guy is a hell of a comics writer, period. I think he's better than most at collaboration with his artist, which I think is a facet of the game that a lot of writers underplay.

 

/Edited to add: I don't believe he hates the cape genre truly. There is so much insightful criticism of the genre packed into The Boys that I don't think someone who hated it could write. I think he despises what it has become on some level and he certainly despises some of the iconic characters.

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6 hours ago, Manhole Eunuchsbane said:

 

 

/Edited to add: I don't believe he hates the cape genre truly. There is so much insightful criticism of the genre packed into The Boys that I don't think someone who hated it could write. I think he despises what it's become on some level and he certainly despises some of the iconic characters.

I think you're right - it's a criticism of superheroes from the late 90s onwards. It's a shame he never tried to do them the way he'd like to see them but maybe he knew no-one would be interested?

I really need to read the Hellblazer trades at some point. It seems like the place where a lot of writers do their best work - a bit like Daredevil.

I also agree that writers who understand their artist and vice versa are a key part of a comic writer's skill set. I also think there's a reason why strong collaborators and writers who are artists tend to be the ones that get adapted to screen because they are essentially getting storyboards.

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1 hour ago, red snow said:

I really need to read the Hellblazer trades at some point. It seems like the place where a lot of writers do their best work - a bit like Daredevil.

 You really should. Lots of good stuff in there. Jaime Delano had two separate runs, both of which were really good. I think Ennis had two long ones and a short one. Warren Ellis had a nice one as well. Outside of Alan Moore's Swamp Thing, it's probably the most consistent Horror/Supernatural comic ever published.

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  • 6 months later...

Cool. Netflix has me so hooked on bingeing that I find it so hard to have to wait a week between shows. Good discipline though to get back to having patience. But should it be 13 weeks of patience not watching and then binge watch or watch one episode per week?

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  • 3 weeks later...

Just binged the first season over the last week or so. Really enjoyed it. Delightfully ridiculous. I have never read the comics (never really read any comics apart from Saga and Y: The Last Man) so I have nothing to properly compare it to but it somehow felt very comic-bookish if that makes sense. The way the action scenes and such were shot. 

Didn't realize season 2 was out so soon. Looking forward to it. 

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  • 1 month later...
On 8/5/2016 at 0:11 PM, Talleyrand said:

Not a comic book reader so just random guessing, maybe death in Hell is final? 

I hadn't thought much about the Lady-Angel not coming back given that coming back can take a bit but the fact that Gallows is pointing it out makes me think there's probably something up.

His Walker Colts are cast from The Angel of Death's sword. He can kill anything with them, God and the Devil included. You don't come back from a Saint of Killers shooting.

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49 minutes ago, Manhole Eunuchsbane said:

His Walker Colts are cast from The Angel of Death's sword. He can kill anything with them, God and the Devil included. You don't come back from a Saint of Killers shooting.

However they have not clarified this at all in the show. In fact the Saint is seemingly a lot less Saint-like in the show, as so far he only seems like a guy that has been snuck out of hell and not an actual Saint of Killers.

Hopefully they'll expand a bit on him to add all the extra bits.

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  • 2 weeks later...
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First episode was great. Much more in line with the comic and gory as hell. I think the shift to "road movie" is going to really keep the story moving along. If it can keep up the current pace it's going to be a great season.

Saint of Killers is the terrifying force of nature he ought to be. He's maybe even more terrifying in the show as I don't recall SoK being so eager to kill everyone, it was usually more reserved for anyone standing in his way.

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I like the premise of this season better than the last one.  Those first episodes were intensely violent though.  I'm unsure why the SoK's seems to be more interested in killing everybody but our three protags.  All of them making it out of that opening scene on the highway alive made zero sense as he was picking off the sheriffs with ease.  Cassidy and Fiore was pretty great.  The bullet that was stuck in Tulip's car burning Jesse's fingers was interesting.

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I didn't realize the SoK was Dougal McKenzie until talking Preacher....lol

Looking back, I think S1 was really smart... the comic book prequel really set up S2 and gave everything context...  without the basic framework, --if we just started the show with Jesse, Tulip and Cassidy in the diner-- the show would make much less sense.... as it is, first two episodes were balls to the wall fun.

All three of the main cast are terrific in their respective roles... especially Ruth Negga.... she is a monster

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That was good I guess. It's nice that they finally hit the road, but I still can't help but feel like they should have gotten to it a lot sooner. The good stuff is still good though. Joseph Gilgun continues to be the best part of the show and they occasionally manage to capture some of the zany insanity of a Garth Ennis comic.

While I do like Jesse and Tulip, I have a hard time seeing the comic book characters in them. As for the Saint, the scene with the cops was good and managed to capture him well, but he also felt a lot more cruel than his comic book counterpart. He'd definitely shoot someone for not providing him with answers but I don't think he'd rip someone's tongue out, or whatever he had in mind for the preacher. I feel they mishandeled the Saint in season one so, I remain a bit sceptical when it comes to him.

And on another note, it's kinda funny how they can have people get half their heads blown off and tongues ripped out but they cant show any nudity at the strip club.

Spoiler

And no John Wayne. For fucks sake!

 

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