Title: Preacher (1994 - 2000)

Publisher: Vertigo (DC Comics)

Format: Standard Comic
(Also available as collected edition trade paperbacks)

Reviewed by: Joe Doherty

Preacher: a comic book not for children

As a medium, I think comic books have yet to publicly earn the respect that they often deserve. Back in the mid-1980's, Frank Miller, John Byrne and Alan Moore were largely responsible for redefining comics for a more mature audience (Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Superman: Man of Steel, and Watchmen respectively). From that point, creator-owned characters were starting to replace iconic superheroes as the new generation of mature-theme comic books (or, graphic novels as they are sometimes called). Then come along the creative team of writer Garth Ennis and artist Steve Dillon and their creation, Preacher, who took this industry by the scruff of the neck and dragged it down a dark alley. (All right, no more metaphors …I promise).

Preacher is the story of a young Texan minister named Jesse Custer who is possessed by an entity known as "Genesis": a being of God-like power created by the union of an angel and a demon. Using the power of Genesis, Custer can command people with a voice that they cannot disobey. With his girlfriend, Tulip (a beautiful woman who is a perfect shot with a handgun) and his good mate Cassidy (an Irish vampire who seems to be more keen on Guinness than blood), Custer sets of to find God and confront Him about leaving Heaven.

Well, that's the underlying plot, anyway. This book is graphically violent, profane, borderline blasphemous, but also thought-provoking, clever, and often very funny. The supporting cast in the story are the ones to watch, as Ennis has even dedicated one-shot story lines to Herr Starr-a nazi-like commander of the Grail (a secret society which pretty much runs every major government and religion…a nod to the Illuminati); Custer's "Deliverance" family; The Saint of Killers-an agent of God's vengeance who resembles an 8-foot tall Clint Eastwood/Lee Marvin hybrid.

Perhaps Preacher isn't by definition a "horror" comic. More like comic's Pulp Fiction . But Pulp Fiction with vampires ripping people's throats out, and supernatural events powerful enough to send God running. Some scenes in this book have made me wince when I turn the page. Not unlike seeing an accident on the highway…you have to see what happened even "if it's just to see if they're okay…"

DC Comics have compiled the issues of Preacher into six (soon to be seven) collected editions of the first fifty issues. I'd recommend Gone to Texas, seeing as the beginning is usually a good place to start