Basically, "Preacher" posits that God Almighty is just some wanker who has enjoyed lording it over his subjects, but that the moment a challenge arose, he scarpered off like a schoolyard bully. So now it's up to Jesse Custer (the preacher of the title, although he has no apparent interest in his religion) to hunt down God and bring him to trial for his myriad failings.

Of course, in God's absence, Heaven itself isn't doing too well. The archangels are arrogant and uncaring, while the lesser angels are a pack of self-aggrandizing conspirators, most of whom are drunk and foul-mouthed stumblebums. Custer later points out that Heaven and Hell are not the same as good and evil, and that the forces of Heaven fear new ideas.

On Earth, Custer becomes infused with Genesis, an entity that's escaped captivity in Heaven. As a consequence of this merger, Custer's entire congregation of 200 people gets burned alive, but that seems to be of little import. Ennis makes sure to depict the townspeople as being narrow-minded and venal bigots, so I guess they got what they deserved.

Custer survives and coincidentally links up with his former girlfriend Tulip, who has taken on a new job as hitwoman, and with Cassidy, a punked-out and laidback Irish vampire. The trio gets chased across Texas by the local constabulary and by the Saint of Killers, an ustoppable death machine in the guise of an Old West gunslinger, who has been unleashed by the angels to recover Genesis. Several massacres ensue, but again, we don't have to care, because the sheriff and all of his deputies are backwoods idjits and racists, so it's okay that they all get gunned down. (Evidently, Ennis believes that everyone in rural Texas is a gov'mint-hatin' inbred member of the KKK.)

Mostly, Jesse Custer (whose name is an anagram) is concerned with getting Tulip in bed, with an occasional pause to grumble about that ol' meanie, God. Tulip is pretty much just a cipher. But the character of Cassidy is actually quite engaging.

Be warned that the violence in this book is not the old-fashioned "biff bam pow" sort that you would find in the comics of yesteryear. The depictions are...well, extreme. You'll see:

--a man get his face flayed off and then nailed back on

--a man get his lower jaw exploded by a bullet

--a teenage survivor of a failed suicide attempt (shotgun blast through the bottom of his chin)

--an angel get the back of his head blown out so that the contents slowly slush out the back in a steaming pile

--and several dozen other men, women, and children get slain by shots to their heads, necks, and faces (the artist is extraordinarily fascinated with the vaporization of people's heads)

I alternated between being offended, dismayed, and disgusted, but I suppose that this material will work for a lot of other people. It's not, however, for those with weak stomachs. It's too late for me, so save yourselves.


You have never seen anything like it before.   June 14, 2005
 18 out of 22 found this review helpful

Garth Ennis, Preacher: Gone to Texas (DC Comics, 1996)

I wonder if the person who put this in the "youth services" section of my local library ever got fired? After all, right on the back, it says "suggested for mature readers." Someone must have missed a memo about what "mature" means.

Gone to Texas is the beginning of the Preacher saga, which involves the title character, whose church went up in flames while the whole town was inside; his ex-girlfriend Tulip, whom he ran out on five years ago for reasons we don't know; and Cassidy, a drifter who rescued Tulip from a bad situation. The plot twists come fast and thick, so it's pretty much impossible to tell you what goes on, but the basis of the story (or the framework from which Ennis created this delightfully twisted tale) is that Jesse, the preacher, is suffering a major crisis of faith, and needs to find his way back to God. Over the course of the story, however, Jesse realizes that his crisis of faith isn't all internal, and that finding his way back to God may take a little more doing than he originally thought it would. Oh, and did I mention he's being stalked by a killer not of this earth, and talks to John Wayne? Didn't think so.

Even if the artwork wasn't top-notch, the simple weirdness of the story, and the way Ennis twists it, would make reading this like staring at a particularly gruesome car accident (and the quote is especially appropriate here; Ennis' way of bending cliches and Biblical references to make completely new things out of them should be putting the reader very much in mind of Clive Barker's early short stories). But the artwork is top-notch, indeed, and the two combine to make for a particularly compelling read. You will find yourself wanting to read this in one sitting. And take my advice-- that's not something you want to do if your library system doesn't happen to have the next book in the series. Now I have to wait for it to show up in my mailbox... ****


Lots of Hype   December 5, 2001
 10 out of 22 found this review helpful

Preacher Gone to Texas begins the tale of a wayward ex-preacher, his girlfriend that he left out of the blue years before, an alcoholic vampire, and a wide array of supernatural beings and misfits. The story is quite inventive, especially the origins of Genesis, the spirit being that has escaped from heaven and into the preacher. The artwork is suited to the story's characters and it's probably the best part of the graphic novel.

Most of the reviews I've read stated that this work is extremely violent and hilarious. They are all right on the first point but I profoundly disagree with the second. I couldn't even crack a smile to tell the truth. The dialog fell flat, especially any attempts at portraying human relationships (such as the preacher and the woman he suddenly left). The scenes between those two were especially lackluster and never once rang as true or insightful on an emotional level. The most interesting character was actually the saint of murderers, a most unsavory and irredeemable creature that doesn't say too much but wreaks havoc just about everywhere he goes.

I grew up on comics, I am one of the few women I know who has a taste for the medium. But I have to admit, I love comics that are equals to great literature such as the works of Neil Gaimen, Alan Moore, even Dave Sim. Preacher had a promise that was never fulfilled. I expected to be laughing out loud (Arseface is just not that funny), I really wanted to like this story but the characters did not have enough real depth to ever make me care. I'm not expecting Shakespeare every time I pick up a comic but I do expect to have at least a small part of my world and the way I see things altered for the better. Is that too much to ask for the money, time, and effort?

Preacher, or maybe my reaction to it, reminds me of Guy Ritchie's movies, which many people find quite funny and almost profound. I sat through two of them yawning, scratching my head, asking my friends "What the heck did they say", and looking at my watch way too much. That's exactly how I felt reading Preacher.

This is not a feminist review but I don't recommend this series for women or anyone who is expecting "great" writing. Even women that have a high tolerance for the usual violence, swearing, and cookie cutter misogyny that is unfortunately a trademark of the mainstream comic will find that it does get old.


sick, funny violence, and twisted religion   March 13, 2001
 9 out of 10 found this review helpful

My God, this is sick! It's also funny as hell, even though I still feel slightly disturbed that I actually laughed at some of the things that happen.

"Preacher: Gone to Texas," is the first of the trade paperback collections of the comics series. I haven't read any of the others, so I really have no idea what happens later, but after reading this first volume, I plan to buy the next ones in the very near future, and continue to not believe I'm laughing. This stuff is addictive.

From what I can tell so far, "Preacher" is the story of preacher Jesse Custer, his ex-girlfriend Tulip, and Cassidy, an Irish vampire. At some point, an angel and a demon had a child named Genesis. Genesis was a new idea, as powerful as God Almighty; it has escaped its heavenly prison and bonded with Jesse. Now Jesse, a moral person despite his many flaws, is searching for God. He plans to ask some serious questions.

"Gone to Texas" falls roughly into two parts. First there's the introduction, where we meet the three main characters, and others, such as the Saint of Killers. Then the three hitchhike to New York City, where they start looking for God and get involved in a serial murder case.

There are times when the gore and cursing get too thick, so they're tiresome instead of funny; that's why I'm not giving this five stars. Still, "Preacher" is one of the best comics I've read in a while, and I'm looking forward to the next collected volumes.