Preacher: Gone To Texas (Book 1)

Preacher: Gone To Texas (Book 1)

 Preacher is a series that began in 95' for DC Comics Vertigo label created by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon. Took me some time to get to Preacher because typically when I grab a comic or graphic novel I want my superheros. Cap Am, Ghost Rider, Batman, Flash, and the X-men to name a few of my favorites. However, the last two I read are Preacher and 100 Bullets which is also a Vertigo published book.
 Preacher tells the story of....you guessed it, a preacher. It appears our preacher is pretty young too. Late 20's perhaps. Early 30's maybe. His name is Jesse Custer and he happened to bounce on his girl 5 years ago. We don't know why he left. His ex Tulip asks him several times but he never tells her why. I don't know much of a back story here since I have only read Book 1, but it appears they were a Bonnie and Clyde type of couple. I assume this because the first part of the book shows Tulip attempting to murder somebody. She fails, only injuring a passenger sitting next to the target in the backseat. She blasts this dude in the face and blows his chin off. Go ahead and insert joke now. Moving forward, I guess Custer had enough one day and bounced. So overwhelmed with guilt, he became pastor of a tiny church in a small Texas town. Guess you can become a pastor overnight. One morning in a church full of people, an entity called Genesis comes crashing through the walls and attaches itself to Custer in the meantime destroying the church and killing everyone inside by way of a big explosion and fire. Genesis is the offspring of a demon and an angel who had mated. They were killed once the truth was discovered about their love affair and new born child. The day Genesis was born, God quit as lord in heaven and all we know is that he went to Earth. Genesis now connected to Custers mind, spirit and soul is what gives the preacher his powers. His main power is The Word Of God. So basically he can make anyone do anything by speaking to them. For example, he can make you step out of the shower and get him a soda without putting on a towel just by telling you to do so. In addition to Tulip, he has right hand man whom he clashes with named Cassidy. Cassidy is a vampire of Irish descent who is about 200 years old. They're an unlikely pair who work very well together. In a way, Cassidy is Jesse's bodyguard. Cassidy is actually pretty tame and compassionate for being an indestructible, super strong blood sucker. He is the standard sidekick who delivers much of the comic relief.
 At first thought the title told me Ill be reading a story revolving around religion or a church. Likely themes of hell, heaven and Earth and back and forth which I don't care for when it comes to light reading and entertainment which is why it took so long for me to start Preacher. Once I got in to it though I enjoyed it. Its actually pretty funny. There are a couple of cops who talk smack to each other and its clever. Something along the lines of cop 1 saying the coffee sucks, and cop 2 replies its because I jerked off in it before you got here. As you can imagine there is lots of blasphemy here and religion talk which I don't like, but a lot of smack talk and racial cracks which I do like. I find that funny most of the time. Its not that I'm mean or not sensitive, I just think its brave in our present time of everyone being so politically correct. It's actually the only thing that's real in this book. There's this one character who is a real bad ass known as the Saint Of Killers. This cowboy shoots first and asks questions later. He is sent to capture the entity Genesis.
 As mentioned, I much enjoyed this for not being my usual cup of tea. Nice cast of characters with a couple of left turns I did not enjoy such as the sheriffs son. A Nirvana lover and Cobain follower who tried taking his own life the same way Kurt did. Kurt passed in 94', this series began in 95'. I like the relevance. Very sad though and could have been done another way perhaps. But also very strong and solid. I like the art and coloring of this mid nineties work. Now, nearly 20 years later it feels current and not outdated. There are new ideas which are great such as the demon angel baby. And by the end of the story, the protagonist is off to find God who has taken a trip to Earth. You can purchase Book 1 at Amazon.
 Preacher Book 2 was published on October 1st, 2013. I am looking forward to reading it and putting up my thoughts. Book 3 will be released January 28, 2014.

 -Alan Tooma
Panel Yap rating 3/5
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