Ennis and Dillon have created a cast of characters and a chain of events in "Preacher" that all feed one another in their own wonderfully twisted psychotic eco-system. In this series, every thing happens for a reason (even if it's a sick one) and no story is told simply for the hell of it.

Except for two stories in this volume.

All the stories in this volume existed outside the regular run of the monthly "Preacher" series. While the Saint miniseries revealed the origin of our favorite modern-day Angel of Death with all the gunpowder and brimstone you'd hoped for, the Arseface and Jody & T.C. oneshots reprinted here must've been some kind of bizarre contract-fulfillment that Ennis clearly had no interest in writing. I swear on a stack of Bibles that there is no reason to waste your time reading either the Arseface origin story and the Jody & T.C...whatever it is.

In short, an essential volume in the series with some non-essential hangers-on.


Mary Whitehouse hold on to your seat!   December 7, 1998
 5 out of 5 found this review helpful

Whilst the ongoing adventures of Texas Preacher Jesse Custer and the strange world of violence and supernatural happenings is consistently witty, intelligent and shocking, writer Garth Ennis really shows his ingenuity and flexibility with this collection of spin-offs from this superb series.

"Saint Of Killers" follows the origin of Jesse's most powerful and terrifying enemy yet. This four-part story explains how a mean-spirited bounty hunter became an immortal one-man kill machine. A superb, compelling and disturbing story of a man who was so mean that hell had to spit him out.

"The Good Old Boys" Displays a few days in the extraordirinary lives of Jesse's sick, twisted and thoroughly unpleasant uncles out in the swamps of Texas. It's a wonderfully clever and witty (and bloody and gory...) spoof of all those OTT action movies, starring two of the comic's most enduring characters.

Finally, "The Story of You-Know-Who" is much darker fare. No vampires, no angels, no demons nor cowboys, just the backstory of the poor disfigured teenager called "Arseface" and the terrible chain of events which led to his attempted suicide. A bit of a shock to the system if you read "Good Old Boys" first.

A superb spin-off collection which, despite losing Steve Dillon's superb artwork, is a must-have for anyone with a strong stomach and a taste for dark humour.


Worth getting if you want to be complete   June 2, 2000
 4 out of 4 found this review helpful

The extingencies of deadlines often force comic publishers to farm out a couple issues to backup artists in order to give the main crew a break and time to catchup on the main storyline. This represents such a collection of stories.

A different set of artists is used for each story. (In one story about the Saint of Killers - the backup artist couldn't meet the deadline and a backup-backup artist had to be called in to finish the story!).

The stories vary in quality - particularly in the drawing and coloring. The plots concern background information about the Saint of Killers and Arse-face. Whereas the main Preacher storyline is brilliant, this particular collection is just average.

I recommend buying it if, like me, you have to own every Preacher graphic novel. If you are not so obsessive, then rest assured that you can continue to enjoy the Preacher series without reading this collection.


The trees instead of the forest? Works here   June 22, 2004
 4 out of 4 found this review helpful

As some of the longer graphic novel series are wont to do at times (see Sandman, for example), Ennis introduces a `break' to the Preacher arc with "Ancient History," temporarily halting plot development and placing several Preacher characters outside the timeline. "Ancient History" contains two origin stories, one of Saint of All Killers and one of Arseface, respectively, and a broad-brush satire of the action movie genre, featuring those rapscallion down-home boys, Jody and T.C.

The two origin stories speak to the past pain and anger that the Saint and Arseface experienced, and how these emotions molded their desire to mete out vengeance. Saint is the `simpler' of the two characters. As Ennis himself acknowledges in his excellent Foreward, Saint is the virtual embodiment of the Clint Eastwood movie-western archetype, an innately violent man unable to contain the demons within when the good in him vanishes. Arseface, however, is painted with a subtler brush: a sad and isolated loner whose physiological transformation `triggers' (pardon the pun) a paradoxically sunnier and more violent outlook on life. Note also how Arseface comes to relate and sympathize with the things he most fears. Although these tales are both downers, the book finishes with a rousing send-off, thanks to the fanciful "Good Ole Boys." The unlikeliest of heroes save the day and get the girl, and, er, dog. A bumbling Middle Eastern terrorist who utters a constant stream of scatological malapropisms `leads' the bad guys. People (and animals) are killed, mutilated, and abused. Hilarious, violent, offensive, politically incorrect; in short, Ennis at his crackling best.

For the first time in the series, Dillon is not involved with the art. However, Steve Pugh's rich illustrations, the masterful Carlos Ezquerra's evocative imagery, and Pamela Rambo's skillful colouring, among others, ensure the visuals are up to par with the story.

Although I'm not generally a fan of graphic novels that wander from the series arc, I have to admit that the book was very well written and a heckuva lot of fun to read.