akodoken's review
2.0
This series is going downhill fast. I am starting to think Ennis is a lot like Tarantino. He is full of a lot of good ideas which quickly get drowned by an obsession with pointless violence.
booknooknoggin's review
3.0
Origin stories for Saint of Killer's, and Assface. Plus a background story for L'Angelles bodyguards. The Saint story made this whole volume, and even Assface's. But the ending was a story they didn't need to add. I really liked the Western feel of the Saint's origin, and could easily see this being translated to tv.
sai_deschain's review
3.0
Only thing worth it in this volume is the Saint of Killers miniseries, the stand-alone issues for Arseface and Jody and TC aren't that good.
ponch22's review
3.0
Preacher Vol 4 Ancient History doesn't deal with Jesse's attempt to find God with Tulip & Cassidy at all, but is rather a collection of spin offs. Here, we have three Preacher Specials which expore the backstory of some other second tier characters.
The first special, Saint of Killers, gives us the story of...the Saint of Killers. The preface explains the different look to the comic due to new artists brought onboard while Preacher' still was being published. There are some bits that look better than usual, but it was odd seeing such a different Saint (at times). The story is 4* and could have been 5* had it gone back to the Civil War days for more than a splash page to explain a little more about this man before he became the Saint. His time in hell was beautifully drawn and written, and his revenge on earth as the newly ordained Saint was brutal and bloody.
The Story of You-Know-Who gives the back story of Arseface and is a solid 5* story. It's only half the length of SoK but still gives a damn fine arc. Set in the days of Nirvana, it introduces us to Root's teenage son before his botched suicide attempt. We meet his Cobain-loving friend; we see Root beat up his son; we see Mrs Root drink her way to oblivion; we see the struggles of being the son of a sheriff who makes the lives of every big jock miserable; we see the awkward attempts to talk to girls. It's all written so well with hints of the "future" (Columbine) and bombs from the "present" (Kurt's suicide). I'm anxious to see if Arseface will actually appear in future stories as he tried to take revenge on the man he feels is responsible for his father's death or if this is all we'll get.
The Good Old Boys takes us back before Jody & T.C. crossed paths with Jesse for their last time & gives us a little story about them. It seems like it might have been written in a day. Here's an example of how two new characters are introduced on page 4: "Hey, don't mess with me lady! I'm a cop on the edge!" / "You watch how you talk to me, then! Remember, I'm a supermodel-turned-lawyer with a dangerous secret!" Page 4 is filled with even more horribly-written exposition and these characters and their whole story just stunk. Jody's a pretty bad ass character, but he was the bad guy in previous issues so it feels weird to root for him as he kills dozens of terrorists (oh yeah, there are terrorists chasing after the cop and model-cum-lawyer). And the continuity is absolute shit. On one page, our macho cop gets covered in shit (don't ask), and on the facing page, with no break in the action, he's completely clean. If I could give this less than 1* I would. But I can't, so it, plus the other two average out to a 3* overall. Here's hoping I still remember the important story when I (hopefully) get back to it in Vol 5.
The first special, Saint of Killers, gives us the story of...the Saint of Killers. The preface explains the different look to the comic due to new artists brought onboard while Preacher' still was being published. There are some bits that look better than usual, but it was odd seeing such a different Saint (at times). The story is 4* and could have been 5* had it gone back to the Civil War days for more than a splash page to explain a little more about this man before he became the Saint. His time in hell was beautifully drawn and written, and his revenge on earth as the newly ordained Saint was brutal and bloody.
The Story of You-Know-Who gives the back story of Arseface and is a solid 5* story. It's only half the length of SoK but still gives a damn fine arc. Set in the days of Nirvana, it introduces us to Root's teenage son before his botched suicide attempt. We meet his Cobain-loving friend; we see Root beat up his son; we see Mrs Root drink her way to oblivion; we see the struggles of being the son of a sheriff who makes the lives of every big jock miserable; we see the awkward attempts to talk to girls. It's all written so well with hints of the "future" (Columbine) and bombs from the "present" (Kurt's suicide). I'm anxious to see if Arseface will actually appear in future stories as he tried to take revenge on the man he feels is responsible for his father's death or if this is all we'll get.
The Good Old Boys takes us back before Jody & T.C. crossed paths with Jesse for their last time & gives us a little story about them. It seems like it might have been written in a day. Here's an example of how two new characters are introduced on page 4: "Hey, don't mess with me lady! I'm a cop on the edge!" / "You watch how you talk to me, then! Remember, I'm a supermodel-turned-lawyer with a dangerous secret!" Page 4 is filled with even more horribly-written exposition and these characters and their whole story just stunk. Jody's a pretty bad ass character, but he was the bad guy in previous issues so it feels weird to root for him as he kills dozens of terrorists (oh yeah, there are terrorists chasing after the cop and model-cum-lawyer). And the continuity is absolute shit. On one page, our macho cop gets covered in shit (don't ask), and on the facing page, with no break in the action, he's completely clean. If I could give this less than 1* I would. But I can't, so it, plus the other two average out to a 3* overall. Here's hoping I still remember the important story when I (hopefully) get back to it in Vol 5.
strikingthirteen's review
4.0
There have been a lot of strange people that we've met so far in this series. This volume collects stories about four of them. We meet the Saint of Killers and get his origin story (Which is amazing), get to know Arseface (which I also enjoyed for it's wonderful 90s feel and just the insane amount of teen angst), and our two good old boys from the bayou (which I was indifferent about). No furthering the main story here of course but I did like the detour here.
abdullahi's review
5.0
The Saint of Killers story was great as expected. However, I wasn't expecting The Arseface story to be told this early, so it made me happier to see him here along with The Saint of Killers. One of my favorite volumes in the series.
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