Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 741
EAN: 9781563892615
ISBN: 1563892618
Label: Vertigo
Languages: Array
Manufacturer: Vertigo
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 200
Publication Date: 1996-03-01
Publisher: Vertigo
Release Date: 1996-03-01
Studio: Vertigo

Here's a book guaranteed to offend a bunch of people, not only because of its profuse profanity and graphic violence, but because it's the epitome of iconoclasm. Like a brutal accident, you can't watch but you can't turn away. The story follows an ex-preacher man, Jesse, who has become disgusted with God's abandoning of His responsibilities. So Jesse starts off into the wilds of Texas with his hitman girlfriend and new best friend (a vampire) to find God so that he can give Him a piece of his mind. Despite its superficial perversity, this book contains what may be the most moral character in mainstream comics. A cult hit in the making. Fans of Quentin Tarantino take note.
Here's a book guaranteed to offend a bunch of people, not only because of its profuse profanity and graphic violence, but because it's the epitome of iconoclasm. Like a brutal accident, you can't watch but you can't turn away. The story follows an ex-preacher man, Jesse, who has become disgusted with God's abandoning of His responsibilities. So Jesse starts off into the wilds of Texas with his hitman girlfriend and new best friend (a vampire) to find God so that he can give Him a piece of his mind. Despite its superficial perversity, this book contains what may be the most moral character in mainstream comics. A cult hit in the making. Fans of Quentin Tarantino take note.

Customer Rating:
Summary: Schlock Pulp of the Highest Calibre
Comment: I'm not going to go into a complex deconstruction of this great book, its influences, themes and relevance... might save that for one of the follow ups. I just want to discuss it's merit as a piece of literary entertainment.

Being the fist in the series, I know if you are reading a review you want to know whether you should take the plunge or not. If you are considering it, then I can't recommend Preacher more highly.

Firstly this is NOT Watchmen!! But is the second best graphic novel I have read, but comparing it to Watchmen is like comparing 'Dusk 'til Dawn' to 'the Godfather'.

No the Preacher is just a rollicking ride, the best kind of exploitation story telling: violent, gory, funny, scary and clever; think Buffy if she had been a smack addict stripper and Giles had been brought up in the Bronx.

If you're a fan of John Carpenter, Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez and Kevin Smith you will love this. Now I'm off to get into vol.2!!

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Ennis & Dillon at their best (still!)
Comment: Sometimes you reread titles and are disappointed. Other times, they've not faded at all. As much as I enjoy all..er... most of Ennis and Dillon's collaborations, they've never topped Preacher.

Any single volume of Preacher makes for a self-contained read, but this, the first in the series, is still the best. Jesse and his band of merry pals are all introduced and the overall plot ('find God') is thrown up on the table within the first few pages. The rest is joyous wackytime, cluttered with some of the most memorable characters in all comics history - from the truly scary (The Saint of Killers) to the real monsters (Sheriff Root).

Offensive, disturbing and a thoroughly satisfying story.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Good but not at that price.
Comment: Blood and Rain
Blood for the Masses

Originally Published in SavageNight Ezine

The Preacher: Gone To Texas
Book 1
By
Garth Ennis & Steve Dillon

Reviewed by
B.L.Morgan

3 Stars

I read graphic novels because it's a quick painless way to absorb some books that I otherwise would not get around to reading. The day I bought Preacher Book 1 I'd just finished reading two large novels and with my work schedule my head needed a rest. When I told the guy at the store I wanted something wild that wouldn't tax my brain he told me that Preacher was the best thing going.

He gave me a non-stop sales pitch for at least the next half hour that was so intense that I ended up saying to him, "Alright, alright just shut up and I'll buy the thing!"

I had to get out of there as quick as I could.

Preacher: Gone To Texas was not as good as the book sales guy said it was. It was good, just not the masterpiece he made it out to be.

The Preacher in the title gains god-like powers by merging with Genesis. After that he teams up with an ex-lover who's a healthy trash-talking woman, and an Irish Vampire. Together they wander across the country and get into trouble. That's about it.

The problem with calling this a graphic novel is that it doesn't have a structure like a novel. There is no ending at all. Preacher: Book 1 is the first of eight issues of The Preacher comic book so there's no end in sight.

That's alright if you're reading a comic book and don't really expect an ending. I however, was disappointed. That said, the dialogue in this book was frequently clever and funny. The artwork was very good. Not the very best I have seen, but very good.

The first Preacher book was good enough so that when I spotted another, #5 in the library, I checked it out. I do expect it to entertain me some.

I would recommend The Preacher: Gone To Texas, Book 1 if you find it at a used book store for under five bucks. I paid $14.95. That salesman caught me in the right mood with some money to burn.

It won't happen again.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: THIS COMIC WILL OFFEND
Comment: As stated in the title, this comic will offend many people that read it, but if you look past all the blasphemys you will find one of the greatest comic book stories ever written. A must have for any comic book collector.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: A graphic novel series of biblical proportions
Comment: Preacher was my first foray into graphic novels. It was like waking up in technicolor after living in black and white all my life. When I'd finished reading the series, a process that took less than a week and involved many sleepless nights, I couldn't wait to get my hands on a new series to sink my teeth into. Imagine my surprize and disappointment when I learned that Preacher is in a class of it's own.
It's completely unique, intelligent, hilarious, disturbing, gory, violent, epic, and did I mention violent? How about gory, did I mention that? Because it bears repeating. Carnage is practically a starring character in this series. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll want to tear your eyes out... but you'll be nothing if not entertained.

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