Review: Preacher: Gone to Texas

Preacher: Gone to Texas, is a crazy, sadistic, blasphemous, and heretical comic.

It tells the story of Jesse Custer, a small town preacher in Texas, who gets possessed by a supernatural God-like being called Genesis. Genesis is the product of an unholy sex-tryst between an angel and a demon. Since the conception of Genesis, God has quit, disappeared from heaven, thus leaving the petty, squabbling angels in charge. The angels fear that whomever is possessed by Genesis, will gain God-like power, so they set the Saint of Killing loose in Texas to find Jesse Custer.

Custer indeed gains some powers. The one revealed so far is his "Word of God" ability to speak commands and have people immediately do as he asks. While this power could make Custer's life extremely easy, he only uses it as a last-ditch solution...the man has morals.

After accidentally destroying both his church and his congregation while becoming possessed by Genesis, Custer sets out in search of God...literally. His goal is to discover why God has abandoned His creation. Custer is aided along the way by his gun-toting ex-girlfriend, and a heavy drinking Irish vampire.

Preacher struck me as a down and dirty comic where nothing, truly nothing, is sacred, and anything goes...Angel execution by a pistol wielding cowboy? Check. A Sheriff who literally tries to fuck himself? Check. A homophobic hero detective with a secret fetish? Check. Every character in the book is fucked up or will somehow become fucked up. At moments this comic had me laughing out loud, then cringing the next as Dillon, the artist, depicted someone's face getting shot off.

Preacher is definitely not for the weak of heart or the religious conservative. Luckily, I am neither, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Dillon's artwork is not my favorite, but his style fits the story quite well. His "faces getting shot off" pictures will likely give me nightmares for life. Fun stuff! Ennis writes and plots well, and kept me guessing throughout. I don't know who exactly I would recommend this to, but I do indeed give it my recommendation.

Preacher: Gone to Texas, the first volume in a nine part graphic novel series, is written by Garth Ennis, and drawn by Steve Dillon.

Grade: A