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October 11, 2006
The Boys: Garth Ennis Unleashed Against Superheroes!
Back in the Epic days, there was a comic that I really loved, called Marshal Law. Written by Pat Mills and drawn by Kevin O'Neill, the titular character was a cop who policed a city full of superheroes. He took on a Superman type character who killed his girlfriend during the first mini-series; later on he took apart a super-team that was populated with characters resembling Captain America, The Flash, etc. I read somewhere that Mills really hated superheroes!
I have the feeling that Garth Ennis really thinks superheroes are ridiculous, after I finished reading The Boys 1-3. The Boys are a team of spooks hired by the CIA to put the brakes on a number of super-freaks. In this world, they cause a lot of problems. Hughie (the newest member and our POV character) watches his girlfriend die when a super-speedster called A-Train runs through her body. The leader of the Boys, the Butcher, recruits Hughie to his team of spooks, but he's not really sure what he's getting into. The other spooks (Mother's Milk, The Frenchman, The Female) are pretty wacky. They are going after a teenage superhero group first, but there's a Justice League equivalent waiting in the wings. The tone of the book reminds me of a comedy like "Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels". I laughed out loud several times, but you have to have an appreciation for dark humor. Nuff said.
External Link:
Fanboy Radio Podcast Interview with Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson on The Boys
Newsarma Interview with Ennis and Robertson on The Boys
