Garth Ennis is a sick man. You may read that as a bad thing, but I don’t necessary mean it that way. I absolutely love what he did with The Punisher in WELCOME BACK FRANK. On the other hand, I couldn’t get into CROSSED after an honest attempt to do so. For me, THE BOYS fell somewhere in the middle of that spectrum.
THE BOYS, VOLUME 1: NAME OF THE GAME
Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson create a world where super humans are commonplace. Public perception of these super individuals is exactly what comic books normally build them to be – they are idolized, followed, celebrated, and are overall viewed as heroes.
Little does the public know that these super beings are some of the most flawed human that have ever existed. They are obscene and deranged. The majority seem to take their elevated status as a free pass to do whatever raunchy thing they can think of.
In comes “The Boys” – a group of loosely government-contracted people tasked with keeping the supers in line. Enhanced themselves, The Boys are the ones willing to cross lines and smash faces if it means the super humans remember they are not untouchable.
Oh, I nearly forgot my favorite part – SIMON PEGG! Simon Pegg wrote the introduction because his likeness is used for the character Wee Hughie. Reading Hughie’s lines in Simon Pegg’s voice brings some much needed charm to moments of genuine obscenity.
The premise is undeniably unique. It is ripe with Ennis’ crude humor and vibrantly brought to life with Darick Robertson’s visual talent. Certain aspects like supers having corporate sponsors or the interactions between members of the enhanced community are down right clever; I’d never thought of such real-world qualities in the usually pristine comic book hero environment. Overall I liked it a lot but it fell short of ‘loving it’. Enough momentum was generated to make me find the next volume (reviewed below).
My rating of THE BOYS, VOLUME 1: NAME OF THE GAME is a twisted 6.5 out of 10.
THE BOYS, VOLUME 2: GET SOME
I won’t spend much time on this one because I was quite disappointed. After things got going in volume one I expected this volume to really run with it. Instead, it seemed to put more effort into being a commentary on gay rights and then communism. Don’t get me wrong – both of those topics are incredibly important. The thing is, I generally want entertainment and geeky glee when I read a comic… NOT social/political commentary.
There were a few bright spots in this let down of a volume. The Russian character “Love Sausage” is hysterical. When he referred to large breasts as his Kryptonite I think I actually snorted out loud. Also, the fully depravity of Tek Knight was entertaining. If I find Volume Three for a good price at my favorite used book store then I’ll definitely pick it up, otherwise, The Boys have fallen lower on my priority list.
My rating of THE BOYS, VOLUME 2: GET SOME is a unfortunately MEH 5 out of 10.
I’ll throw another half in there because of how much I enjoyed Love Sausage.
Belligerent Barnes 