Comic Info
Comic Name: Preacher
Publisher: DC Comics/Vertigo
Writer: Garth Ennis
Artist: Steve Dillon
# of Issues: 10
Release Date: 1997
Preacher #9
Reprints Preacher #8-17 (November 1995-September 1996). Jesse and Tulip have been reunited, but the reunion could be short-lived when Jesse past comes back to haunt him. Tulip is about to learn why Jesse first left her, and Tulip might not survive the encounter. Plus, an organization called the Grail is searching for Jesse Custer, but when they mistake Cassidy for the preacher, they get more than they bargained for.
Written by Garth Ennis, Preacher Volume 2: Until the End of the World is a DC Comics series released under the Vertigo imprint. Following Preacher Volume 1: Gone to Texas, the series features art by Steve Dillon. Issues in the collection were also included as part of Preacher—Book 1, Preacher—Book 2, Absolute Preacher—Book 1, and Preacher: The 25th Anniversary Omnibus—Volume 1.
Preacher was a real flashpoint series. It was Vertigo’s next big thing and was all anyone could talk about. I picked up the first couple trades and read them. While I enjoyed them, I didn’t love them like a lot of people. With the series long since over, and even the TV series finished, I decided to go back and finally work on pounding out Preacher…but I had to start at the beginning to do that.
The first volume introduced the basic characters and concepts of the series, but this entry expands on all three leads. The action primarily focuses on Jesse and his past with the more interesting (and twisted) origin of Jesse’s family. The in-bred Southern Gothic style of the story doesn’t quite match up with the dialogue or actions of the characters, but I do like dives into the Deep South.
Preacher #15
The second storyline has a reunion with Cassidy and an attempt to shock and disgust readers with the debauchery of the Sexual Investigators and Jesus De Sade. In this part of the story, it feels like it is trying too hard to shock and when compared to something like the Invisibles (which often went toward “sexual perversions”), the Invisibles and other series have done it better…most of the stories just have Jesse, Tulip, or Cassidy swearing and punching/shooting someone. It loses creativity.
This segues into the last story which is a set-up for a bigger story. It falls under The Last Temptation of Christ type of What If? story or more recently The Da Vinci Code which supposes that Christ didn’t die on the Cross and that his descendants live among man. It is an incomplete storyline and it does feel a bit for shock value than developed in this collection…but perhaps the full story will do more next volume.
Preacher 2: Until the End of the World is Preacher. If you’ve read any Preacher, you’ve read this volume. If you like it, you’ll like it. As a fair weather fan of Preacher, this collection is probably more memorable than the first collection, but still hasn’t won me in the many years…and the shock value is definitely lost by a more jaded and harder audience. Preacher 2: Until the End of the World is followed by Preacher 3: Proud Americans.
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