moodreader04's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
olichoreno's review against another edition
3.0
Better than its predecessor, with great visual style and realistic depiction of the events that shaped America today, it's not Alan Moore, but it's heading in that direction.
myeshatiara's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
informative
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Favorite Quote: “You might say the more you wave it [American Flag], the less it means. Less you think about what it means. Pretty soon it don’t mean nothin’ at all.”~Mother’s Milk aka M.M.
I love that this volume focuses on the backstory of Mother’s Milk, Frenchie, The Female and kicking Supe’ behind. The more action and backstory on characters I enjoy the quicker the read is for me.
I love that this volume focuses on the backstory of Mother’s Milk, Frenchie, The Female and kicking Supe’ behind. The more action and backstory on characters I enjoy the quicker the read is for me.
jcschildbach's review against another edition
4.0
This series must really be hitting its stride, because even the juvenile sexual material isn't getting to me (or perhaps there's just a lot less of it). Ennis is more focused on character development, deepening the back stories of the team, as well as showing how Vought American (the company that is essentially behind the "supes") has its hand in everything and does what it can to manipulate events--but with limited success, largely due to the involvement of people and groups with opposing agendas.
genmegusta's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
some_okie_dude27's review against another edition
Ennis got his start in the mid to late 90s, establishing a reputation as an extremist in the comics community alongside Warren Ellis, though Ennis would become the Grant Morrison to Ellis' Alan Moore, with Ennis sometimes going to extremes without letting his story threads come together in a natural way. Does that mean Ennis is a bad writer? Of course not. He wouldn't be a favorite of mine if that were the case. While The Boys doesn't entirely reach the heights of some of Ennis' finer outings like Preacher or Punisher MAX, The Boys proved itself to be another interesting series in Ennis' catalogue.
Garth Ennis is never one for the easily offended, the copious amounts of sex, violence and mayhem that inhabits this series can test even the most mentally and physically strong of people, as I said earlier Ennis is rather extreme with his content. Though luckily, Ennis does know how to pace himself and provide a good plot to keep you invested unlike some of the other artists and writers from the uber grimdark period of comics (cough cough, Rob Liefeld, cough cough, Frank Miller). Ennis, much like Alan Moore, makes a point to show that if superhumans were to exist in our world, they would bring about an apocalyptic sense of change to the world. Though unfortunately, I'm not quite as sure that Ennis is as thorough in his exploration as Moore was. He never fully goes deeper in his critique of superheroes, which is rather unfortunate. Though unlike Moore, Ennis pulls no punches when taking shots as superheroes, this is unsurprising given his well known disdain for the superhero genre, yet again, I don't find that his satire nearly goes far enough to make a grand point of it all.
While The Boys' satire is admittedly simplistic unlike something that is more nuanced like Watchmen, we see Ennis' reputation for characterization shine through, with Billy Butcher being a standout and even Ennis himself lamenting that he was his favorite character to write. Most of the characters in The Boys are strongly developed and their depth and likability is reminiscent of Preacher, but we also see how they change over time. Wee Hughie in particular changes from a mild mannered normal person into a hardened, but still well intentioned person. The satire of The Boys, while sometimes going overboard and becoming crude, usually does its job, with targets being of corporatism, crony capitalism, and the incompetence of government, in particular the Bush era.
I have often complained about how many modern comics have problems with pacing. But luckily Ennis doesn't have this issue, and I would lobby him alongside Ed Brubaker as having a mastery of pacing, as Ennis knows when he should slow things down and when to let things speed up. It is nice to find someone else to use as an example of how to pace your stories in a way to where you won't lose your audience, and Ennis definitely knows how to keep his audiences attention, for better or worse.
Few problems come through in the series, Ennis's writing teeters in quality near the end, with some unexpected twists coming in that shakes up the story at hold and not in a way that feels natural. Though luckily Ennis manages to make it work as best as he can and manages to wrap his story up in a satisfying way. While Ennis is ruthless in his mockery of the superhero genre and its conventions, some of his edgy, extreme humor doesn't really seem to go anywhere, which is a problem that pervades through much of his work. Though unlike Preacher or Punisher MAX where he manages to tamper it with volumes of excellent story, The Boys sometimes does get brought down by its over the top extremes. The art from Derrick Robertson, while very good and well drawn, I often compare to his extraordinary work on Transmetropolitan, and I found that he hasn't ever surpassed the strange and surreal visuals from that series.
Cruel and crass as The Boys may be, Ennis rarely forgets character motivation or good plotting to keep readers invested, while he may lose some of his steam by the end of the series, The Boys remains a strong and enjoyable outing from Ennis' catalogue.
Garth Ennis is never one for the easily offended, the copious amounts of sex, violence and mayhem that inhabits this series can test even the most mentally and physically strong of people, as I said earlier Ennis is rather extreme with his content. Though luckily, Ennis does know how to pace himself and provide a good plot to keep you invested unlike some of the other artists and writers from the uber grimdark period of comics (cough cough, Rob Liefeld, cough cough, Frank Miller). Ennis, much like Alan Moore, makes a point to show that if superhumans were to exist in our world, they would bring about an apocalyptic sense of change to the world. Though unfortunately, I'm not quite as sure that Ennis is as thorough in his exploration as Moore was. He never fully goes deeper in his critique of superheroes, which is rather unfortunate. Though unlike Moore, Ennis pulls no punches when taking shots as superheroes, this is unsurprising given his well known disdain for the superhero genre, yet again, I don't find that his satire nearly goes far enough to make a grand point of it all.
While The Boys' satire is admittedly simplistic unlike something that is more nuanced like Watchmen, we see Ennis' reputation for characterization shine through, with Billy Butcher being a standout and even Ennis himself lamenting that he was his favorite character to write. Most of the characters in The Boys are strongly developed and their depth and likability is reminiscent of Preacher, but we also see how they change over time. Wee Hughie in particular changes from a mild mannered normal person into a hardened, but still well intentioned person. The satire of The Boys, while sometimes going overboard and becoming crude, usually does its job, with targets being of corporatism, crony capitalism, and the incompetence of government, in particular the Bush era.
I have often complained about how many modern comics have problems with pacing. But luckily Ennis doesn't have this issue, and I would lobby him alongside Ed Brubaker as having a mastery of pacing, as Ennis knows when he should slow things down and when to let things speed up. It is nice to find someone else to use as an example of how to pace your stories in a way to where you won't lose your audience, and Ennis definitely knows how to keep his audiences attention, for better or worse.
Few problems come through in the series, Ennis's writing teeters in quality near the end, with some unexpected twists coming in that shakes up the story at hold and not in a way that feels natural. Though luckily Ennis manages to make it work as best as he can and manages to wrap his story up in a satisfying way. While Ennis is ruthless in his mockery of the superhero genre and its conventions, some of his edgy, extreme humor doesn't really seem to go anywhere, which is a problem that pervades through much of his work. Though unlike Preacher or Punisher MAX where he manages to tamper it with volumes of excellent story, The Boys sometimes does get brought down by its over the top extremes. The art from Derrick Robertson, while very good and well drawn, I often compare to his extraordinary work on Transmetropolitan, and I found that he hasn't ever surpassed the strange and surreal visuals from that series.
Cruel and crass as The Boys may be, Ennis rarely forgets character motivation or good plotting to keep readers invested, while he may lose some of his steam by the end of the series, The Boys remains a strong and enjoyable outing from Ennis' catalogue.
octoberrust1108's review against another edition
5.0
I love me some conspiracy stories, and man oh man do I love me some superhero conspiracy stories. Though the last half of this volume could totally be classified as an exposition dump, I care not. The despicable shenanigans of these deplorables were too trainwreck-ish, too Corpomerican Nightmareish for me to put the book down. I’d laugh and I’d grimace. Then I’d laugh, and then I’d grimace. Power corrupts all. Love of profits makes you objectively evil because you will justify evil for the dollar. How would wearing a cape and having your own comic book run exempt you from this?
No, I will not elaborate. Go read some Commie literature like the New Testament if you wanna learn more.
No, I will not elaborate. Go read some Commie literature like the New Testament if you wanna learn more.
crookedtreehouse's review against another edition
2.0
There are some comic writers who have excellent ideas, and are superb at translating them into stories as long as they have complete free reign. If you put them under an editorial umbrella like Marvel or DC's, their work suffers. And there are some comic writers who have excellent ideas who need editorial oversight or else their otherwise great story goes off the rails, or contains some unpleaant elements that an editor would have removed or altered.
Ennis falls in the latter category. His work on Punisher is far better than any of his indie work. There are certain knives he likes to twist that do his plots a disservice.
Volume two of the series contained deliberately provocative laguage to illustrate character growth, and decry its usage, so now whenever it's used, it stings more. A better writer would have used it more sparingly after volume two, but Ennis isn't a better writer here.
The main problem with this volume, though is The Legend. Having a Stan Lee or Julie Schwarz type character involved in this story could have been interesting, but instead you might as well call the character Captain Exposition. He provides a dull way to expand the mythology that Ennis has set as the back story.
I'd rather he had just done a side series that showed us the events than had a character tell the events with occasional flashbacks.
Also the 9/11 angle is just tacky. I know it's the lynchpin of this comic, that this is superheroing in a post 9/11 world, but it's so clumsily handled in this book.
I have my fingers crossed that they're not going to introduce The Legend in Season 2 of the TV series (if they do, I hope it's brief). And I imagine they've cut out the whole 9/11 angle, and will let the plane episode from Season 1 sit in its place.
Ennis falls in the latter category. His work on Punisher is far better than any of his indie work. There are certain knives he likes to twist that do his plots a disservice.
Volume two of the series contained deliberately provocative laguage to illustrate character growth, and decry its usage, so now whenever it's used, it stings more. A better writer would have used it more sparingly after volume two, but Ennis isn't a better writer here.
The main problem with this volume, though is The Legend. Having a Stan Lee or Julie Schwarz type character involved in this story could have been interesting, but instead you might as well call the character Captain Exposition. He provides a dull way to expand the mythology that Ennis has set as the back story.
I'd rather he had just done a side series that showed us the events than had a character tell the events with occasional flashbacks.
Also the 9/11 angle is just tacky. I know it's the lynchpin of this comic, that this is superheroing in a post 9/11 world, but it's so clumsily handled in this book.
I have my fingers crossed that they're not going to introduce The Legend in Season 2 of the TV series (if they do, I hope it's brief). And I imagine they've cut out the whole 9/11 angle, and will let the plane episode from Season 1 sit in its place.
rebus's review against another edition
3.5
I found it a little incohesive at first because of the long gap between volumes and having viewed the TV Series, but the book is still very good and one of the best series from the last 30 years.
ria_mhrj's review against another edition
5.0
I'm really loving this series, very compulsive and dark and extremely funny. Volume 3 featured a few key pay offs from earlier episodes as well as sowing some interesting seeds for future instalments (what on earth happened with Mother's Milk's mother?!). Still ultra violent, rude, twisted and outrageous, and I am completely hooked now.