Is That A Gun In Your Pocket, Preacher, Or Are You Just Happy To See Me?

Alright, my month and a half sojourn back into the Preacher comic series has ended, and what a ride it was! First, some facts and stats: the series itself is 66 issues long, but with mini-series and specials that were coming out in parallel, it actually weighed in closer to 80 issues when it was all said and done. The run was published by DC Comics' Vertigo imprint from the mid-90s until the autumn of 2000, and has been collected in a series of trade paperbacks that may be currently available, but I don't know for sure. If the HBO series truly comes to pass, I'd imagine DC would ensure the TPBs were available for ordering, as it'd be just plain stupid not to.

Because of its subject matter, Preacher ain't for those who take their Christianity too seriously! It's actually more anti-God than anything else, but I'm sure no self-respecting devout follower would get any enjoyment out of the storyline presented in its pages. Unless they could separate fact from fiction, that is. But of course, if they could do that, then... (don't go there!)

So what's Preacher about? I'm going to try to answer that, with no spoiling of surprises in the event that you ever get to read, or watch, the series itself. It's full of twists and turns and revelations, none of which I'll cover here, because they're a good chunk of the fun you get from experiencing it yourself. But you should at least be able to get a sense of the series from this post.

Preacher's the story of a man named Jesse Custer, who's an actual ordained, collar-wearing minister, though not by choice! Just how that particular turn-of-events came about is one of those revelations I won't spoil, but suffice it to say there's a good reason for it, involving Jesse's family. What he really is, though, is a cowboy-at-heart, a lover, an occasional heavy drinker, and someone who likes to steal cars from the filthy rich! In an impressive feat of writing, author Ennis makes Jesse very likable, despite some of his questionable traits. He's essentially a good person who's had a terrible childhood, and he follows a code of honour that makes you root for him at every turn. Oh, and he's also a preacher whose entire congregation was killed in one moment of heavenly fire, when an entity called Genesis ripped through his church and settled into the mind of young Reverend Custer. The origin and why's and wherefore's of Genesis are revealed early in the series but all I'll say here is that Jesse ends up with a new ability from the host in his mind. It's something that I imagine most ministers would kill for: when he wants to, Jesse can speak with the Voice of God, such that anything he says has to be obeyed! In the comic, you can always tell when this is happening because the words appear in red, along with a subtle effect in his eyes. It's not a trick he uses as often as you'd think, though, because of that code of honour mentioned earlier.

The love of Jesse's life is one Tulip O'Hare, a woman after his heart and vice versa. Both characters are cut from similar cloth, in that they're not-quite-heroic but still show more morality than anyone else around them. Tulip also has some tragedy in her childhood, and Jesse's the first man she's ever met who treats her like an equal and isn't intimidated by her. When the story begins, they've been separated for years - yet another interesting backstory that's unwoven over the course of the series, in the fashion of Lost - but meet up again, while Tulip's on the run from some criminals she'd gotten on the wrong side of. In typical Ennis fashion, she's far more than just a love interest for the main character, as we learn throughout the series. She's got a lot going on in her life, and it's pretty clear that she's not just there to play the role of Girl Hostage. In fact, she's downright scary with a gun!

While a slew of other characters come and go throughout the series, the only other main player is Cassidy. He comes into the story in the first issue, as Tulip's on the run and carjacks him and his vehicle! It'd be hard to hear much about this series and not learn that Cassidy's a vampire, and I've even spoiled that in the past. There's about an issue or two, though, before that becomes apparent. One imagines Tulip would've picked a different victim to point a gun at, had she known, for example! As it turns out, the fact that Cassidy goes along with her, when he actually has little to fear from her firearm, becomes a central point of the story as it rolls along. Was he just looking for an adventure? Did he like the looks of her, either as a potential lover, or as a meal? All is revealed, but over time. For the moment, it's the two of them who then bump into Rev Custer, at which point we discover that Jesse apparently ran out on Tulip several years ago, and she's still carrying a grudge.. and a gun!

After Jesse recounts the experience from the church to his two companions, he informs them that he's on a mission to track God down and demand He explain a whole lot of things, including why the world's so screwed up, how come all those people in his church had to die, and where his new power came from. Tulip and Cassidy, like the reader, think Jesse's nuts, but before long we all start to see things differently.

Over the course of their adventure, we meet all kinds of bizarre characters who take on lives of their own in the series. There's Arseface, the teenager who tried to follow his hero Kurt Cobain's example and kill himself with the help of a shotgun. However, instead of putting the barrel in his mouth, the misguided youth shoved it up against his face, such that the recoil caused the payload to rip across his face, instead of going into his brain. He survives, but emerges from the hospital with a face that looks like an ass, crack and all! He talks in a sloppy, slurred fashion that requires sub-titles whenever he speaks, which of course just adds to the dark humour of his presence.

Herr Starr, and the mysterious and immensely powerful Grail organization that he represents, becomes the main protagonist for a good portion of the series. Rather than having him as a cardboard villain, though, Ennis provides all kinds of background to help us understand his point-of-view, and he's also progressively degraded as events move along, ala Chief Inspector Dreyfus, in the Pink Panther movies. The comic misadventures of Herr Starr are counterpointed by the Grail's impending goal: to bring about the Apocalypse!

As force of nature threats go, they don't come much more frightening than the Saint of Killers. Again, we eventually learn just how it is that this shadowy figure, who looks like he just stepped out of Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven, can kill, with a single shot, anything he fires his six-shooters at, no matter who or what they are. His story is one of the saddest in the series, although it's awfully hard to feel much sympathy for the terrifying son of a bitch!

And then there are Granma, Jodie and T.C.; Hoover and Featherstone; the Sexual Investigator pair of buffoons; the odious Odin Quincannon; and of course, God Almighty Himself!

In the end, it's a story that works very well, as long as you're able to get past the sacreligious aspect. Ennis populates the comic with such a colourful cast that it can be a hard book to put down at times. I found myself deeply involved in the trials and tribulations of several of Preacher's entourage. And, despite it coming out in so many monthly pieces, it feels like a complete story, and one that in hindsight moved unveeringly toward its conclusion, no matter how much it seemed to wander while you were in it. I'd forgotten enough details over the six years since it ended, that re-reading it was almost as much fun as the first pass had been. I'd dearly love to see the TV series be well-done, and well-received enough to get completed. While Preacher doesn't get talked about that much these days, for years it was regarded as the logical followup to Sandman, in terms of being DC's flagship non-superhero title. And that's no faint praise! It was just that good.