K: Dude, everything I see on your nerd websites…
D: I TOTALLY CLEARED MY BROWSER HISTORY!!
K: … I said your NERD websites (ick!).
D: …Oh… right.
K: All of the buzz on the Internets seems to be about AMC developing a PREACHER TV show. Isn’t that the 700 Club?
D: Uh, no. This is a comic and, god willing, a TV show that Pat Robertson will never, ever, read or watch.
::Pulls PREACHER: GONE TO TEXAS off the bookshelf::
K: ::looks at cover with 2 tough looking men and a woman in a halter top walking over dead bodies:: This doesn’t look like anything I read in Sunday school. I think that’s the book that may have led Jim Bakker astray.
D: It sure would have made Tammy Faye weep, that’s for sure. Garth Ennis doesn’t write anything that you’d read in bible study. This is a different kind of preacher. Check it out. ::slides PREACHER across the table::
…
K: You were right. I did not read anything like this during catechism class. The class had a lot less guns and swearing and guns and weird angel on demon action and guns. And swearing. And vampires.
D: I bet that would have made that class way more interesting! Ennis pretty much grabs you from the first page and doesn’t let go. The book opens with our Preacher, Jesse Custer, eating at a Texas diner with his ex-girlfriend Tulip and an Irish vampire, Cassidy. Ennis uses this “recap in the diner” scene to introduce the characters and storyline as flashback pieces.
K: And I think it’s because of this smooth and easy intro, just three friends hanging at a diner, that makes the fantastic elements of the story seem ok. I mean, if you just jump into the deep end and let the story scream “DEMON AND ANGELS AND SWEARING AND SEX AND GUNS AND TOWN MASSACRE AND MORE SWEARING AND SEX” I just don’t think anyone would give a good goddamn.
D: Hey!
K: See? Language counts.
D: We’ve been dancing around it for a while now. Let’s get to the story beats.
K: ::starts beat boxing::
D: Phat beats? You rock them.
K: Ok, here goes: In 1995, the ultra-hot creative team of writer Garth Ennis, artist Steve Dillon, and cover artist Glen Fabry had wrapped up there run on Vertigo comic’s HELLBLAZER, and then went and launched their own concept of Preacher. They produced all 66 issues of the regular series.
D: Jesse Custer is preacher in the tiny Texas town of Annville. He’s having a bit of a crisis of faith, and ends up spouting off at the mouth in the local saloon one night. This ends in a bit of an…
K: … ass-kicking?
D: Ass-kicking. So naturally, the whole darn town shows up at church the next morning to see what happens next.
K: Oooo… CONTROVERSY!
D: Meanwhile, Jesse’s ex-girlfriend (who is now a hit man, er, hitWOMAN, er… mercenary. Because of course) ends up hitching a ride with a charming Irish rogue who we strongly suspect is a vampire. BECAUSE OF COURSE I SAID.
K: Meanwhile part 2!
D: Right. Again with the meanwhile…Meanwhile, in Heaven (wow, that was awesome to say) the being known as Genesis has escaped and the angels are panicking like you wouldn’t believe
K: Genesis like in STAR TREK 2? ‘Cause Khan is my favorite.
::clears throat:: “Rich, Corinthian leather.”
D: Nice, but this isn’t the Genesis Device. It’s the unholy offspring of the forbidden coupling of an angel and a demon. Thrillingly brought to us by the pencils of Steve Dillon.
K: I’m not old enough to see that page
D: No you are not. The angels decide to call in the Saint of Killers to help them track down and recover Genesis. Little to they know that Genesis…
K: SPOILERS!
D: The book is over 15 years old. It’s not a secret that Genesis has joined with Preacher Jesse’s soul. This will make the recovery of Genesis a little more difficult. Oh yeah, and Genesis atomizes the town after merging with his soul.
K: Word. Don’t forget that while all of this craziness with angels and mortals, the Annville sheriff is investigating the destruction at the Preacher’s church. All of these beings are converging on Texas for an epic battle between Heaven and Earth.
D: This issue kicks off a series that had never been done before. The mix of thought provoking ideas, shocking language and violence, comedy, and immense heart make PREACHER my favorite book ever. They’ve been talking TV for years. The fanboy in me wants it to happen, I just hope it’s a faithful adaptation.
K: ::grabs remote, pops popcorn:: Bring on the PREACHER!
