Preaching to the Choir

Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon’s Preacher started soon after I stopped reading comics, when I turned 16. A fewyears later, when I started reading again it had just recently ended. Today it's probably the best selling Vertigo series besides Sandman. (I've been quite fascinated by comic sales recently). One of the things that I recall from my first reading is my initial reaction as a raised Catholic.

I get tired of people poking fun at religion in an angry, unintelligent and spiteful way (Tom Robbins's Another Roadside Attraction comes to mind as a work that far too maliciously attacks organized religion). To do so is to ignore the good that religion has given to mankind. I remember thinking about how angry Jesse Custer seemed to be, but not completely being able to follow it. The dreadful result that often comes from these types of attacks is something akin to what I imagine I would feel if I saw Fahrenheit 9/11: Great points skewed by the fact that they are so poorly delivered, that I have no urge to support them. They end up becoming sickly parodies of themselves instead of valid commentary.

Ennis and Dillon put together an interesting non-parody here. Though the story is far-fetched it hits several nerves that are close to the heart. They toe that line of making religion seem like the big bad enemy, until you realize that Jesse is a fine Christian. He lays down his life to save his friends, and he treats people fairly. So he gets a bit violent sometimes (ye without sin, yadda yadda); in his heart he is honest and good, if not, at points, grotesquely funny.

Garth Ennis does grotesque-funny well. He got big in the superhero world after writing Punisher, which, if you are like me, is the reason you read Preacher. The first story introduces most of the major players, and hooks the reader in quite well. The second storyline cements the series as a means of telling horrific stories, while still being able to make sex references, and dirty jokes. The third storyline, “Until the End of the World” secures the series' ability to be intelligent and emotional by dealing with God, his relationship to his earthly family, and the earthly family's relationship to itself.

The character of God is shown as a powerful, yet scared being. He knows that his end could be nigh, and that he cannot face the preacher because of the power that the half-angel/half-demon entity,Genesis, gives to Jesse.

God is a coward here, but as much as the reader dislikes him, there is sympathy. It is kind of like watching your father get old. There is a point where he just cannot do the things he use to be able to do, and it scares him. God has been in power too long. His (angel) children have transgressed and created a monster (that could destroy him) and his other kids barely spend the energy to write or call.

God’s family, which makes him complete, has left him. Can you blame him for having a mid-life crisis?

Well, in this instance you have to. You would blame Superman for going crazy when he realizes his best years are behind him, and God is in a similar predicament. He is very powerful, but he is facing a very real threat (For the superheroing world, imagine Superman facing Doomsday; Holmes facing Moriarty that one last time).

The image of God’s family continues on throughout the story, and expands to become a story about all family. Early on Jesse feels that Genesis chose him because they were children with similar parents (parents that broke the rules to be together). Jesse’s father was shot when Jesse was a young boy, and he remembers his father, John Custer, as a mythical figure; a super-dad. The direct juxtaposition to this is Jesse’s relationship with Jody, a man whose family has been serving the L’angelles for a long time.

Jody is the evil twin of John Custer. Both know how to get into, and win a fight. Both can be mean sons of bitches. The main difference is the choice between good and bad. John Custer tells Jesse to “be one of the good guys, because there’re way too many of the bad.” Jody is one of the bad. From his father, Jesse learns about John Wayne, being good, and enjoying life. But from Jody, Jesse learns how to survive it. Jody is the one that teaches Jesse to fight. Like any poor teacher, Jody gives Jesse the technique without teaching about motivation (giving a child superpowers, and expecting them to do the right thing intuitively).

Jesse owes Jody; for the death of his father, and for giving him the means of exacting revenge. In Jody’s last scene, he finally sees hope in Jesse. Jody always saw Jesse has a coward growing up, who would consistently be beaten down. When Jesse finally comes back and stands up to Jody, he does it without The Word, but with the skills that Jody taught him. He fights him, and he wins.

Unfortunately for Jesse it is a pyrrhic victory. He exacts his revenge, but gains no solace from what has happened. He gains only the freedom from his family, and a step in the direction of calling God out for what he's done.

(As I am currently re-reading the Preacher series I may decide to do another post on its later issues. Sadly, this was initially going to be a post about monthly vs. trade. As I typed, it quickly became another monster unto itself. Who knows what will come next. As the next trip to the comic store is not until Free Comic Book Day, We will have to be happy with what is past for the moment, as the future (and in a sense the present), is about a week and a half away for me.)