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
2.0
Fine attempt at political intrigue. The introduction of X-Men is better constructed than previous comic attempts, but still relies too heavily on dialogue and doesn't leave much to interpretation of its compositions
myeshatiara's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Favorite Quote: “You said you were in love with me. I was scared o’ bein’ alone. That’s the only reason I said it.”~Starlight & Hughie
I want Hughie and Starlight to work out so much, I feel for both of them and love that their relationship is a huge focus of this volume.
I also enjoy Superduper, so I hope they make another appearance.
I want Hughie and Starlight to work out so much, I feel for both of them and love that their relationship is a huge focus of this volume.
I also enjoy Superduper, so I hope they make another appearance.
jcschildbach's review
4.0
I don't want to get into any spoilers since Ennis builds up a mystery of sorts on multiple fronts, and even works an empathetic angle for some pretty unpleasant characters. Despite some of the rather over-the-top content, I find myself liking this book more and more--perhaps because it also contains some pretty down-to-earth character development--or down-to-earth considering the over-the-top nature of the work.
genmegusta's review
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
some_okie_dude27's review
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.
crookedtreehouse's review
3.0
This could have easily been a four star book. The premise: a take down of the X-Men franchise from Marvel, and how it got out of control, is mostly well-handled.
And while I can always do without the Butcher/CIA angle in the comics (both the consenting sexual violence between the two leaders, and the Monkey is into disabled porn gag), they're not the cringiest part of this comic.
Dragging down the momentum of this comic is Garth Ennis's G-Force Vs G-Style subplot where he gets to type the N word a billion time to edgily critique the East Coast/West Coast US rap beefs that were resolved fifteen years before he poorly satirizes them.
Ennis has never and will never have a talent for writing voices who aren't white. He's terrible at it. And every time he makes what seems like a sincere and interesting look at race, such as Jamal lamenting that he is going to have to join one of the feuding teams and devolve into a cartoonish steteotype, he follows it up with racist garbage.
It's such a shame because, while it's not the only problem with this book, it is the Largest Problem in this book. And this isn't a case of looking at an old book from a more progressive perspective, his use of language and the plot points he lays out here weren't acceptable at the time they were published. Maybe if this had come out in the 70s or 80s you could feel gross about it but shrug it off, but this was put out when people Knew Better than this.
The positives are the X-Men satire. It's not particularly inventive, and its continuous desire to be Edgy is rooted deeply in the 90s, but that does play to the points Ennis is making. Also the swerve around the arc's resolution makes the overall story much more complex.
And while I can always do without the Butcher/CIA angle in the comics (both the consenting sexual violence between the two leaders, and the Monkey is into disabled porn gag), they're not the cringiest part of this comic.
Dragging down the momentum of this comic is Garth Ennis's G-Force Vs G-Style subplot where he gets to type the N word a billion time to edgily critique the East Coast/West Coast US rap beefs that were resolved fifteen years before he poorly satirizes them.
Ennis has never and will never have a talent for writing voices who aren't white. He's terrible at it. And every time he makes what seems like a sincere and interesting look at race, such as Jamal lamenting that he is going to have to join one of the feuding teams and devolve into a cartoonish steteotype, he follows it up with racist garbage.
It's such a shame because, while it's not the only problem with this book, it is the Largest Problem in this book. And this isn't a case of looking at an old book from a more progressive perspective, his use of language and the plot points he lays out here weren't acceptable at the time they were published. Maybe if this had come out in the 70s or 80s you could feel gross about it but shrug it off, but this was put out when people Knew Better than this.
The positives are the X-Men satire. It's not particularly inventive, and its continuous desire to be Edgy is rooted deeply in the 90s, but that does play to the points Ennis is making. Also the swerve around the arc's resolution makes the overall story much more complex.
rebus's review
3.75
It's getting a bit into Alan Moore territory, metatextual and riffing on almost every superhero trope from the deadly dull last 40 years, the plot getting deeper at every turn (and mocks the idiots in the convention and cosplay crowd while we're at it!). As it goes along I'm finding that the show-excellent as it is--has deviated from the plot of the first two books a great deal. I'm ok with that because this is great stuff too.