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The Boys (Trade Paperbacks) #10
The Boys, Vol. 10: Butcher, Baker, Candlestick Maker
The story of Billy Butcher, the Boys' mysterious leader, is told at last! From the backstreets of London's East End to the carnage of the Falklands War, from the heights of love to the depths of tragedy, the most violent man in comics reveals the terrible nature of the forces that drive him. And when he's done, he'll be ready - to finish things once and for all! Collects the hit 6-issue mini-series of 2011, along with a complete cover gallery.
143 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 1, 2012
About the author
Garth Ennis
2,501 books3,033 followersEnnis began his comic-writing career in 1989 with the series Troubled Souls. Appearing in the short-lived but critically-acclaimed British anthology Crisis and illustrated by McCrea, it told the story of a young, apolitical Protestant man caught up by fate in the violence of the Irish 'Troubles'. It spawned a sequel, For a Few Troubles More, a broad Belfast-based comedy featuring two supporting characters from Troubled Souls, Dougie and Ivor, who would later get their own American comics series, Dicks, from Caliber in 1997, and several follow-ups from Avatar.
Another series for Crisis was True Faith, a religious satire inspired by his schooldays, this time drawn by Warren Pleece. Ennis shortly after began to write for Crisis' parent publication, 2000 AD. He quickly graduated on to the title's flagship character, Judge Dredd, taking over from original creator John Wagner for a period of several years.
Ennis' first work on an American comic came in 1991 when he took over DC Comics's horror title Hellblazer, which he wrote until 1994, and for which he currently holds the title for most issues written. Steve Dillon became the regular artist during the second half of Ennis's run.
Ennis' landmark work to date is the 66-issue epic Preacher, which he co-created with artist Steve Dillon. Running from 1995 to 2000, it was a tale of a preacher with supernatural powers, searching (literally) for God who has abandoned his creation.
While Preacher was running, Ennis began a series set in the DC universe called Hitman. Despite being lower profile than Preacher, Hitman ran for 60 issues (plus specials) from 1996 to 2001, veering wildly from violent action to humour to an examination of male friendship under fire.
Other comic projects Ennis wrote during this time period include Goddess, Bloody Mary, Unknown Soldier, and Pride & Joy, all for DC/Vertigo, as well as origin stories for The Darkness for Image Comics and Shadowman for Valiant Comics.
After the end of Hitman, Ennis was lured to Marvel Comics with the promise from Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada that he could write The Punisher as long as he cared to. Instead of largely comical tone of these issues, he decided to make a much more serious series, re-launched under Marvel's MAX imprint.
In 2001 he briefly returned to UK comics to write the epic Helter Skelter for Judge Dredd.
Other comics Ennis has written include War Story (with various artists) for DC; The Pro for Image Comics; The Authority for Wildstorm; Just a Pilgrim for Black Bull Press, and 303, Chronicles of Wormwood (a six issue mini-series about the Antichrist), and a western comic book, Streets of Glory for Avatar Press.
In 2008 Ennis ended his five-year run on Punisher MAX to debut a new Marvel title, War Is Hell: The First Flight of the Phantom Eagle.
In June 2008, at Wizard World, Philadelphia, Ennis announced several new projects, including a metaseries of war comics called Battlefields from Dynamite made up of mini-series including Night Witches, Dear Billy and Tankies, another Chronicles of Wormwood mini-series and Crossed both at Avatar, a six-issue miniseries about Butcher (from The Boys) and a Punisher project reuniting him with artist Steve Dillon (subsequently specified to be a weekly mini-series entitled Punisher: War Zone, to be released concurrently with the film of the same name).
Taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garth_Ennis
Another series for Crisis was True Faith, a religious satire inspired by his schooldays, this time drawn by Warren Pleece. Ennis shortly after began to write for Crisis' parent publication, 2000 AD. He quickly graduated on to the title's flagship character, Judge Dredd, taking over from original creator John Wagner for a period of several years.
Ennis' first work on an American comic came in 1991 when he took over DC Comics's horror title Hellblazer, which he wrote until 1994, and for which he currently holds the title for most issues written. Steve Dillon became the regular artist during the second half of Ennis's run.
Ennis' landmark work to date is the 66-issue epic Preacher, which he co-created with artist Steve Dillon. Running from 1995 to 2000, it was a tale of a preacher with supernatural powers, searching (literally) for God who has abandoned his creation.
While Preacher was running, Ennis began a series set in the DC universe called Hitman. Despite being lower profile than Preacher, Hitman ran for 60 issues (plus specials) from 1996 to 2001, veering wildly from violent action to humour to an examination of male friendship under fire.
Other comic projects Ennis wrote during this time period include Goddess, Bloody Mary, Unknown Soldier, and Pride & Joy, all for DC/Vertigo, as well as origin stories for The Darkness for Image Comics and Shadowman for Valiant Comics.
After the end of Hitman, Ennis was lured to Marvel Comics with the promise from Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada that he could write The Punisher as long as he cared to. Instead of largely comical tone of these issues, he decided to make a much more serious series, re-launched under Marvel's MAX imprint.
In 2001 he briefly returned to UK comics to write the epic Helter Skelter for Judge Dredd.
Other comics Ennis has written include War Story (with various artists) for DC; The Pro for Image Comics; The Authority for Wildstorm; Just a Pilgrim for Black Bull Press, and 303, Chronicles of Wormwood (a six issue mini-series about the Antichrist), and a western comic book, Streets of Glory for Avatar Press.
In 2008 Ennis ended his five-year run on Punisher MAX to debut a new Marvel title, War Is Hell: The First Flight of the Phantom Eagle.
In June 2008, at Wizard World, Philadelphia, Ennis announced several new projects, including a metaseries of war comics called Battlefields from Dynamite made up of mini-series including Night Witches, Dear Billy and Tankies, another Chronicles of Wormwood mini-series and Crossed both at Avatar, a six-issue miniseries about Butcher (from The Boys) and a Punisher project reuniting him with artist Steve Dillon (subsequently specified to be a weekly mini-series entitled Punisher: War Zone, to be released concurrently with the film of the same name).
Taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garth_Ennis
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 175 reviews
August 26, 2019
Butcher's origin story.
Yesssss. It was everything I wanted and more.
I honestly didn't think that Ennis could write Becky in such a way that would let me think she'd had such a profound impact on Billy's personality. It's become increasingly more and more apparent that he's unhinged and probably a sociopath. So one woman wasn't going to change him.
Period.
But this was phenomenal.
All of it. From his father to his brother and mother, and finally to Becky?
Perfect.
You really get who Butcher is and how things could have gone differently for him (and everyone else).
If only...
Great, if heartbreaking, volume.
Yesssss. It was everything I wanted and more.
I honestly didn't think that Ennis could write Becky in such a way that would let me think she'd had such a profound impact on Billy's personality. It's become increasingly more and more apparent that he's unhinged and probably a sociopath. So one woman wasn't going to change him.
Period.
But this was phenomenal.
All of it. From his father to his brother and mother, and finally to Becky?
Perfect.
You really get who Butcher is and how things could have gone differently for him (and everyone else).
If only...
Great, if heartbreaking, volume.
September 6, 2019
Not quite Catcher in the Rye...kinda the anti Catcher in the Rye when you think about it. Then again, every damn ***** is mouthin off about their lives these days. Anywho, I'm rootin' for you Butcher! Go **** that ***** Homelander!
April 5, 2012
This book is Butcher’s origin story, starting with his childhood and his violent upbringing leading to joining the Royal Marines and fighting in the Falklands, to falling in love and then losing his wife. He meets Mallory who explains who’s responsible and the two start what will become The Boys.
Before reading this I wasn’t sure that Butcher’s origin story needed to be an entire book (after all the others were contained within Vol 6: The Self-Preservation Society and Hughie’s was a brief few pages in Vol 1), but having read it I can see why Garth Ennis took the time to go deep into Butcher’s background.
Butcher’s life is riddled with tragedy and it turns out that despite his disgusting father being at the root of some of them, the supes also played a big part. At the end of the book I felt a real sense of anticipation for a showdown between Butcher and the Seven, something the last book “The Big Ride” failed to do at nearly twice the length of this book.
Well written with some excellent set pieces and an overriding sense of darkness throughout, this is the kind of book that made “The Boys” such a fiery series to begin with. Great to see Darick Robertson return and see Ennis find the tone of the books again as it draws to a close. Definitely worth a read.
Before reading this I wasn’t sure that Butcher’s origin story needed to be an entire book (after all the others were contained within Vol 6: The Self-Preservation Society and Hughie’s was a brief few pages in Vol 1), but having read it I can see why Garth Ennis took the time to go deep into Butcher’s background.
Butcher’s life is riddled with tragedy and it turns out that despite his disgusting father being at the root of some of them, the supes also played a big part. At the end of the book I felt a real sense of anticipation for a showdown between Butcher and the Seven, something the last book “The Big Ride” failed to do at nearly twice the length of this book.
Well written with some excellent set pieces and an overriding sense of darkness throughout, this is the kind of book that made “The Boys” such a fiery series to begin with. Great to see Darick Robertson return and see Ennis find the tone of the books again as it draws to a close. Definitely worth a read.
June 4, 2021
Buen volumen, se develan varias cosas importantes de la trama y el origen del odio de Butcher a Homeleader. Este tomo no defrauda.
July 21, 2022
What.
The.
Fuck? (this was awesome!)
The.
Fuck? (this was awesome!)
March 23, 2012
the backstory to one of the most sadistic, manipulative anti-heroes in recent comic history is finally told. some fans may lament the lack of action in this volume, but the majority of the violence is between the lines. viewed in the right light....this is one of the MOST violent volumes yet, but shows only a few panels of the nitty gritty.
ennis has always had a knack for humanizing the most deplorable of characters (wormwood, cassidy, herr starr) and does not disappoint here. the argument of nature vs. nurture is exemplified in butcher's history, and knocked on its ass. by the end of this volume, the question isn't 'why is butcher so sadistic?'.....it becomes 'why the hell wouldn't he be?'
ennis has always had a knack for humanizing the most deplorable of characters (wormwood, cassidy, herr starr) and does not disappoint here. the argument of nature vs. nurture is exemplified in butcher's history, and knocked on its ass. by the end of this volume, the question isn't 'why is butcher so sadistic?'.....it becomes 'why the hell wouldn't he be?'
June 11, 2016
Butcher origins. Fun volume with one 'Holy shit, G.E.' moment for good measure.
January 5, 2023
Bullet Review:
Okay, fine, you got me. At first I was like, "WTF are we talking about Butcher's history in volume 10?" And then I actually read it, and while sure, Becky is another Woman in Refrigerator, it's not a half bad history. I really like how Mallory has almost nothing to do with making Butcher what he is - that was his dear old dad.
So let's get down to business! I wanna see this showdown already!
Okay, fine, you got me. At first I was like, "WTF are we talking about Butcher's history in volume 10?" And then I actually read it, and while sure, Becky is another Woman in Refrigerator, it's not a half bad history. I really like how Mallory has almost nothing to do with making Butcher what he is - that was his dear old dad.
So let's get down to business! I wanna see this showdown already!
March 15, 2023
Ennis got his start in the mid to late 90s, establishing a reputation as an extremist in the comics community alongside Warren Ellis, though Ennis would become the Grant Morrison to Ellis' Alan Moore, with Ennis sometimes going to extremes without letting his story threads come together in a natural way. Does that mean Ennis is a bad writer? Of course not. He wouldn't be a favorite of mine if that were the case. While The Boys doesn't entirely reach the heights of some of Ennis' finer outings like Preacher or Punisher MAX, The Boys proved itself to be another interesting series in Ennis' catalogue.
Garth Ennis is never one for the easily offended, the copious amounts of sex, violence and mayhem that inhabits this series can test even the most mentally and physically strong of people, as I said earlier Ennis is rather extreme with his content. Though luckily, Ennis does know how to pace himself and provide a good plot to keep you invested unlike some of the other artists and writers from the uber grimdark period of comics (cough cough, Rob Liefeld, cough cough, Frank Miller). Ennis, much like Alan Moore, makes a point to show that if superhumans were to exist in our world, they would bring about an apocalyptic sense of change to the world. Though unfortunately, I'm not quite as sure that Ennis is as thorough in his exploration as Moore was. He never fully goes deeper in his critique of superheroes, which is rather unfortunate. Though unlike Moore, Ennis pulls no punches when taking shots as superheroes, this is unsurprising given his well known disdain for the superhero genre, yet again, I don't find that his satire nearly goes far enough to make a grand point of it all.
While The Boys' satire is admittedly simplistic unlike something that is more nuanced like Watchmen, we see Ennis' reputation for characterization shine through, with Billy Butcher being a standout and even Ennis himself lamenting that he was his favorite character to write. Most of the characters in The Boys are strongly developed and their depth and likability is reminiscent of Preacher, but we also see how they change over time. Wee Hughie in particular changes from a mild mannered normal person into a hardened, but still well intentioned person. The satire of The Boys, while sometimes going overboard and becoming crude, usually does its job, with targets being of corporatism, crony capitalism, and the incompetence of government, in particular the Bush era.
I have often complained about how many modern comics have problems with pacing. But luckily Ennis doesn't have this issue, and I would lobby him alongside Ed Brubaker as having a mastery of pacing, as Ennis knows when he should slow things down and when to let things speed up. It is nice to find someone else to use as an example of how to pace your stories in a way to where you won't lose your audience, and Ennis definitely knows how to keep his audiences attention, for better or worse.
Few problems come through in the series, Ennis's writing teeters in quality near the end, with some unexpected twists coming in that shakes up the story at hold and not in a way that feels natural. Though luckily Ennis manages to make it work as best as he can and manages to wrap his story up in a satisfying way. While Ennis is ruthless in his mockery of the superhero genre and its conventions, some of his edgy, extreme humor doesn't really seem to go anywhere, which is a problem that pervades through much of his work. Though unlike Preacher or Punisher MAX where he manages to tamper it with volumes of excellent story, The Boys sometimes does get brought down by its over the top extremes. The art from Derrick Robertson, while very good and well drawn, I often compare to his extraordinary work on Transmetropolitan, and I found that he hasn't ever surpassed the strange and surreal visuals from that series.
Cruel and crass as The Boys may be, Ennis rarely forgets character motivation or good plotting to keep readers invested, while he may lose some of his steam by the end of the series, The Boys remains a strong and enjoyable outing from Ennis' catalogue.
Garth Ennis is never one for the easily offended, the copious amounts of sex, violence and mayhem that inhabits this series can test even the most mentally and physically strong of people, as I said earlier Ennis is rather extreme with his content. Though luckily, Ennis does know how to pace himself and provide a good plot to keep you invested unlike some of the other artists and writers from the uber grimdark period of comics (cough cough, Rob Liefeld, cough cough, Frank Miller). Ennis, much like Alan Moore, makes a point to show that if superhumans were to exist in our world, they would bring about an apocalyptic sense of change to the world. Though unfortunately, I'm not quite as sure that Ennis is as thorough in his exploration as Moore was. He never fully goes deeper in his critique of superheroes, which is rather unfortunate. Though unlike Moore, Ennis pulls no punches when taking shots as superheroes, this is unsurprising given his well known disdain for the superhero genre, yet again, I don't find that his satire nearly goes far enough to make a grand point of it all.
While The Boys' satire is admittedly simplistic unlike something that is more nuanced like Watchmen, we see Ennis' reputation for characterization shine through, with Billy Butcher being a standout and even Ennis himself lamenting that he was his favorite character to write. Most of the characters in The Boys are strongly developed and their depth and likability is reminiscent of Preacher, but we also see how they change over time. Wee Hughie in particular changes from a mild mannered normal person into a hardened, but still well intentioned person. The satire of The Boys, while sometimes going overboard and becoming crude, usually does its job, with targets being of corporatism, crony capitalism, and the incompetence of government, in particular the Bush era.
I have often complained about how many modern comics have problems with pacing. But luckily Ennis doesn't have this issue, and I would lobby him alongside Ed Brubaker as having a mastery of pacing, as Ennis knows when he should slow things down and when to let things speed up. It is nice to find someone else to use as an example of how to pace your stories in a way to where you won't lose your audience, and Ennis definitely knows how to keep his audiences attention, for better or worse.
Few problems come through in the series, Ennis's writing teeters in quality near the end, with some unexpected twists coming in that shakes up the story at hold and not in a way that feels natural. Though luckily Ennis manages to make it work as best as he can and manages to wrap his story up in a satisfying way. While Ennis is ruthless in his mockery of the superhero genre and its conventions, some of his edgy, extreme humor doesn't really seem to go anywhere, which is a problem that pervades through much of his work. Though unlike Preacher or Punisher MAX where he manages to tamper it with volumes of excellent story, The Boys sometimes does get brought down by its over the top extremes. The art from Derrick Robertson, while very good and well drawn, I often compare to his extraordinary work on Transmetropolitan, and I found that he hasn't ever surpassed the strange and surreal visuals from that series.
Cruel and crass as The Boys may be, Ennis rarely forgets character motivation or good plotting to keep readers invested, while he may lose some of his steam by the end of the series, The Boys remains a strong and enjoyable outing from Ennis' catalogue.
June 22, 2020
Butcher is covertly ultra complex as he is on the overtly straight forward! Visiting the open casket of his dead father, Butcher recounts his life story of how he became who he is, his early influence and a toxic household, his Falklands War, his post Royal marines life and how he became one of The Boys!
One of the darkest, and maybe realest origin stories you'll ever read. A voyage of anger, pain, bravado, love and heartbreak, all in a sesame seed dark comedy-free bun! This is Butcher's story. Despite me given 4 issues of this volume 10/12 I can only give this superb volume 9 out of 12, because the trope motivator for Butcher. I know Ennis is a man's man's writer, but c'mon already!
One of the darkest, and maybe realest origin stories you'll ever read. A voyage of anger, pain, bravado, love and heartbreak, all in a sesame seed dark comedy-free bun! This is Butcher's story. Despite me given 4 issues of this volume 10/12 I can only give this superb volume 9 out of 12, because the trope motivator for Butcher. I know Ennis is a man's man's writer, but c'mon already!
July 19, 2017
High time we learned Butcher's backstory, don't you think? Obviously he was in the military, was married, and blames the Homelander for his wife's death, but we want details.
And details are what we get. The framing sequence is Butcher in a funeral parlor telling his life story to his father's body in an open casket. It makes sense as he's not the sort to open up to just anybody. His tale hits all the right buttons. You really feel what his wife meant to him, and get a good sense of what drives him. This is probably one of my favorite individual volumes of this series. Recommended!
And details are what we get. The framing sequence is Butcher in a funeral parlor telling his life story to his father's body in an open casket. It makes sense as he's not the sort to open up to just anybody. His tale hits all the right buttons. You really feel what his wife meant to him, and get a good sense of what drives him. This is probably one of my favorite individual volumes of this series. Recommended!
December 25, 2023
This is probably the best volume so far
July 19, 2012
Ennis pulls off another great storytelling effort here. Humanises Butcher in a way that doesn't feel cheap, artificial or in any way less than a genuine telling of Butcher's true backstory.
The tale of how Becky affected Butcher's life is full of genuine moments of believably positive aspects of Butcher's personality, and makes me wish I had more time to spend with that shadow of the hardcase man we know and love(? or just respect out of fear for our mortal lives?)
The final reveal of what drove Butcher to the life he pursues relentlessly now, is an incredible whallop. Even looking for it on every page, I still was shocked and horrified when it came and said hello to me.
Becky was such a perfect counter to Butcher's solidly-rooted-in-the-reality goon, and Billy's dad was really the only means of distilling the kind of lifelong addiction to well-tuned anger that makes Butcher-as-antidote-to-Vought possible.
Plot details that I can never remember in the future:
The tale of how Becky affected Butcher's life is full of genuine moments of believably positive aspects of Butcher's personality, and makes me wish I had more time to spend with that shadow of the hardcase man we know and love(? or just respect out of fear for our mortal lives?)
The final reveal of what drove Butcher to the life he pursues relentlessly now, is an incredible whallop. Even looking for it on every page, I still was shocked and horrified when it came and said hello to me.
Becky was such a perfect counter to Butcher's solidly-rooted-in-the-reality goon, and Billy's dad was really the only means of distilling the kind of lifelong addiction to well-tuned anger that makes Butcher-as-antidote-to-Vought possible.
Plot details that I can never remember in the future:
December 31, 2012
Butcher is undoubtedly the most interesting character in the series. And I'd be hesitant to try and slot him into any particular kind of role. Is he the protagonist of the piece? The Antagonist? Anti-hero?
I honestly don't know. And the fact that he's not easily reduced to a generic type speaks well of the series.
This volume is an extended flashback into his early life. It's well-timed, because at this point you're fond of the character, but his entire past is a mystery. You're really curious as to what makes him tick....
I honestly don't know. And the fact that he's not easily reduced to a generic type speaks well of the series.
This volume is an extended flashback into his early life. It's well-timed, because at this point you're fond of the character, but his entire past is a mystery. You're really curious as to what makes him tick....
August 15, 2022
Aw man, my heart.
Also, how did I forget about
This is such a great addition to the story - really helps round out Butcher as a character and get to understand him a little better. It also kinda throws all kind of cards on the table because all of a sudden we realise this is a man with basically nothing to lose.
Really loving how this is progressing and I'm SO READY for the grand finale across the next two volumes!
Also, how did I forget about
This is such a great addition to the story - really helps round out Butcher as a character and get to understand him a little better. It also kinda throws all kind of cards on the table because all of a sudden we realise this is a man with basically nothing to lose.
Really loving how this is progressing and I'm SO READY for the grand finale across the next two volumes!
May 28, 2017
I've enjoyed the various volumes of The Boys, but this one was a bit of a snoozer. I didn't need an entire volume on the background of Billy Butcher, especially with all the text that was just reiterating what was shown in the panels.
May 19, 2024
Finalizando mais um volume de The Boys e agora finalmente entendendo com detalhes a origem do Carniceiro e suas motivações. Se antes o leitor pensava que não havia validação para suas ações ou que ele utilizava sua violência apenas como direcionamento de seu ódio, após essa edição o leitor se dá conta de que não é bem assim.
Em mais um volume, a história é contada por meio de flashbacks, no entanto, dessa vez ela é narrada por Butcher. Dessa forma, temos sua origem e motivações contadas por meio de sua perspectiva, e não por meio do Mallory, o que é muito interessante, pois Mallory diz ter sido um recrutar Butcher, sendo sua culpa por tê-lo criado e o soldado no mundo. No entanto, com esse encadernado, vemos que Billy tem a violência presente em sua vida desde a infância, logo ele sempre foi assim.
Outro ponto de extrema importância na trama, é que ficamos sabendo exatamente como foi a relação de Butcher e Becky. Tal fato corrobora muito para entendermos o personagem e a importância dos Rapazes. O que aconteceu com sua esposa foi trágico, e moldou totalmente a direção que a vida de Billy tomou.
Em mais um volume, a história é contada por meio de flashbacks, no entanto, dessa vez ela é narrada por Butcher. Dessa forma, temos sua origem e motivações contadas por meio de sua perspectiva, e não por meio do Mallory, o que é muito interessante, pois Mallory diz ter sido um recrutar Butcher, sendo sua culpa por tê-lo criado e o soldado no mundo. No entanto, com esse encadernado, vemos que Billy tem a violência presente em sua vida desde a infância, logo ele sempre foi assim.
Outro ponto de extrema importância na trama, é que ficamos sabendo exatamente como foi a relação de Butcher e Becky. Tal fato corrobora muito para entendermos o personagem e a importância dos Rapazes. O que aconteceu com sua esposa foi trágico, e moldou totalmente a direção que a vida de Billy tomou.
April 15, 2022
The Boys are back at it; at it meaning they are looking for some small scandals to bring the Seven down. In fact, it’s almost like a recycling of a story, with Jack from Jupiter living up to his creepy visage with his unsavory sexual practices and the Boys trying to get him ousted for it.
It’s kind of tragic, if you think about it, that for all their swagger and all their talk, this is pretty much the best the Boys can do. Mess with the Seven one scandal at a time, only to get one supe replaced with another and the cycle continue. For all their testosterone, they are pretty impotent.
Also…Terror. Garth Ennis, I do not forgive you.
Even if you’re then going to turn around and wax poetic with Butcher’s background story, the violence and the love and all that had made him the man he is now. Even if that story is as sincere and heartfelt as the violence of the series is brutal and visceral.
Maybe Ennis was just looking for the opportunity to write about war some more, he certainly loves doing that.
Or I don’t know…for all my objections, for how crass and over-the-top and hypermasculine and hyperviolent the Boys series is, I’m still reading them, so there’s something. Or maybe it’s an in for a penny sort of thing. But in either case, this is book 10 out of 12, so almost finished with the entire series.
Nice to have the original artist back, I must say. Makes the characters and their world more like it should be, like it was in the first place.
This and more at https://advancetheplot.weebly.com/
It’s kind of tragic, if you think about it, that for all their swagger and all their talk, this is pretty much the best the Boys can do. Mess with the Seven one scandal at a time, only to get one supe replaced with another and the cycle continue. For all their testosterone, they are pretty impotent.
Also…Terror. Garth Ennis, I do not forgive you.
Even if you’re then going to turn around and wax poetic with Butcher’s background story, the violence and the love and all that had made him the man he is now. Even if that story is as sincere and heartfelt as the violence of the series is brutal and visceral.
Maybe Ennis was just looking for the opportunity to write about war some more, he certainly loves doing that.
Or I don’t know…for all my objections, for how crass and over-the-top and hypermasculine and hyperviolent the Boys series is, I’m still reading them, so there’s something. Or maybe it’s an in for a penny sort of thing. But in either case, this is book 10 out of 12, so almost finished with the entire series.
Nice to have the original artist back, I must say. Makes the characters and their world more like it should be, like it was in the first place.
This and more at https://advancetheplot.weebly.com/
February 20, 2013
Wow.
So, when it comes to The Boys, I've never really found The Butcher to be all that interesting. I know most who love the series love The Butcher, but he too often felt like a ringleader type with an interesting cast of characters surrounding him, not a major piece of the overall puzzle. So when I went to pick up the next trade in line and saw it was an extended Butcher series, I was a little disappointed. Having seen a glimpse of the overall endgame in the previous arc, to spend time away from that with a character I didn't especially care much about in either direction?
Boy, was I wrong.
As a basic place in the story, the arc itself does a tremendous job fleshing out a significant background for a character that has more or less kept it tightly bound. We get the rage, we get the skill, and, devastatingly, we get why he hates the Supes now, and the over-the-top brutality that this series is known for finally has a purpose.
As actual storytelling? Even better. The quality of writing, the way everything is lined up from start to finish? Flawless. Up there with some of the best I've had the privilege of reading period. The final scenes where The Butcher finally learns about what happened? Just gut-wrenching.
I get that The Boys isn't for everyone. Heck, I doubted it was for me for a time. Not only did this arc fully and completely validate the entire series for me up to this point, but it really validated where Ennis sits in comparison to his peers, how he can create something so out there, so over the top, and yet so effective at pulling the right strings.
I wish this was something I could hand to people as an individual issue, to say "read this and you'll get something out of it." Without the rest of the story to fuel the necessary knowledge that makes this book work, it's just a story of a man dealt a tough hand. In context, it's a brilliant character study instead.
So, when it comes to The Boys, I've never really found The Butcher to be all that interesting. I know most who love the series love The Butcher, but he too often felt like a ringleader type with an interesting cast of characters surrounding him, not a major piece of the overall puzzle. So when I went to pick up the next trade in line and saw it was an extended Butcher series, I was a little disappointed. Having seen a glimpse of the overall endgame in the previous arc, to spend time away from that with a character I didn't especially care much about in either direction?
Boy, was I wrong.
As a basic place in the story, the arc itself does a tremendous job fleshing out a significant background for a character that has more or less kept it tightly bound. We get the rage, we get the skill, and, devastatingly, we get why he hates the Supes now, and the over-the-top brutality that this series is known for finally has a purpose.
As actual storytelling? Even better. The quality of writing, the way everything is lined up from start to finish? Flawless. Up there with some of the best I've had the privilege of reading period. The final scenes where The Butcher finally learns about what happened? Just gut-wrenching.
I get that The Boys isn't for everyone. Heck, I doubted it was for me for a time. Not only did this arc fully and completely validate the entire series for me up to this point, but it really validated where Ennis sits in comparison to his peers, how he can create something so out there, so over the top, and yet so effective at pulling the right strings.
I wish this was something I could hand to people as an individual issue, to say "read this and you'll get something out of it." Without the rest of the story to fuel the necessary knowledge that makes this book work, it's just a story of a man dealt a tough hand. In context, it's a brilliant character study instead.
August 31, 2021
2021 reads, #61-72. In preparation for finally watching the Amazon Prime Video adaptation currently being made out of it, I recently had the opportunity to acquire the entire six-year, 72-issue run of Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson's The Boys (broken down at Goodreads into 12 larger graphic novels; this review covers them all, which I'm copying and pasting into each book page), the anti-superhero tale from the creator of legendary '90s Vertigo Generation-X hit Preacher that is now popularly known as "The Darkest Comic Book In History And We're Not Just Buying Into The Hype When We Say That, You Should Do Yourself A Favor And Seriously Take That Warning Legitimately;" and while the original plan had been to read only a few issues of what I was fully expecting to be a mediocre title, whose reputation I assumed had been artificially inflated by a bunch of uncultured nerds who wouldn't know true transgressive literature if it reached up and bit them on the dick, I ended up doing a feverish binge of all 72 issues in a mere 72-hour period this weekend, because the hype turned out to be fully believable in this case, and I kept greedily drinking it all in as fast as I could, partly because I couldn't believe something this relentlessly dark could even exist within the comics industry in any form at all, and kept half-expecting it to disappear in front of my eyes as I was reading it, like some kind of evil magical spell that had finally reached its end.
And indeed, the first thing you'll wonder as you start making your way through it is how this possibly could've started life at "mainstream indie" Wildstorm in the first place, which was just about to go through an acquisition by DC when The Boys was first brought on, which is why Wildstorm unceremoniously dumped The Boys six issues in, although to their credit with the enthusiastic help of the pre-DC staff to get it to a more unknown publisher that would do it right before the acquisition happened, and even giving Robertson a special allowance to his otherwise DC-exclusive contract in order to continue working on it. And this is not just because the title is a particularly sickening example of the Dark Age "superheroes are actually barely disguised Nazi monsters" trope that's been around since literally the early '80s (imagine taking Alan Moore's infamously apocalyptic ending to his early underground hit Miracleman and making that page 1 of issue 1 of The Boys), but it's just as much an indictment if not more so of the corporate psychopaths who own the intellectual property rights to such superheroes, intimating here that if we lived in a world where Time Warner owned not only the story, movie and merchandising rights to caped heroes but the actual real-time life rights of the human beings committing these acts of derring-do, the employees of Time Warner would essentially spend a billion dollars a year attempting to hide the psychopathic crimes such "heroes" would of course start immediately committing, the moment they realize that they have powers that can only be stopped by only a handful of other creatures on the planet, and a fully oiled corporate machine going around cleaning up whatever messes they choose to cause with such powers.
That leads to a world where the violent gangrape initiation ceremony of a new member of the Justice League of America, by this universe's version of Superman, Batman, Aquaman and the Martian Manhunter, is merely chapter one of a sprawling, always worsening look at the depths of the human race's capacity for depravity, as we quickly learn that the "super" powers of this universe are not caused by superior alien DNA or bites from radioactive spiders but rather a single "supersoldier" serum developed by a Nazi scientist in the 1930s, which makes it just a bunch of normal, everyday random people who end up becoming said superheroes in the universe of The Boys (around 200,000 of them now, by most people's estimates, although with the vast majority of them never making their powers publicly known, and the only "famous" superheroes being the ones who have managed to achieve corporate sponsorship); and it turns out that when you give superpowers to a bunch of normal, everyday random people, and not the "paragons of virtue" that DC and Marvel have made sure all their own superheroes over the years have been, those normal, everyday random people almost immediately become corrupt, perverted serial killers upon realizing that no one can stop them besides their equally corrupt, equally perverted superfriends. And this is not to mention creating the very real threat of a future government coup by the main multinational superhero conglomerate, Vought-American (a clear stand-in for real-life baddies Marvel-Disney), if their whims aren't catered to by an increasingly nervous Congress and White House (whose current VP, by the way, is a literally mentally challenged Vought stoolie).
That's led the CIA to quietly putting our titular Boys on the payroll, four equally violent psychopaths (plus our hapless Simon Pegg everyman reader-stand-in character) as a dirty-tricks squad being desperately used by the government as a secret behind-the-scenes check and balance against the growing dictatorial control of Vought-American, while a billion dollars are being spent by V-A at TMZ and TikTok to keep up the public appearance of these caped rapists' Dudley Do-Rite reputations, then eventually (in what many comics fans will consider the most cynical turn of the entire storyline) creating their own version of "Dark Age" comics when the Boys' shenanigans make it too impossible to keep their corporate mouthpieces' various horrific vices out of the public spotlight anymore, deciding to turn the vices into virtues so to not cause even the slightest interruption to the hamburger-selling that's been going on the whole time.
So in this, then, the 72-issue uber-plot going on here is an angry condemnation of the entire superhero comics industry, not just the intellectual premise of turning such Nazi ubermen into toothless rah-rah heroes, but the psychopathic mindset needed among the emotionally stunted man-child comics creators to pull off this premise, the glib incel glee among the industry's Comic Book Guy fans who made such material so popular in the '80s and '90s to begin with, the corporate middlemen who know exactly what kind of Nazi rape-porn twaddle they're peddling but simply don't care, and even you for thinking that a mean-spirited but ultimately toothless satire of the subject somehow counts as an effective antidote. It doesn't, as this series' infamously pessimistic climax proves, and now I'm more curious than ever to see how this ceaselessly piss-fueled indictment of the entire industry ended up getting adapted at the corporate-friendly Amazon, whose own employees are guilty of many of this story's most damning behavior. Certainly you shouldn't take this on unless you're ready for one of the most relentlessly bleak stories you've ever read in your life; but absolutely you should do so if you're ready for such, and big kudos to creators Ennis and Robertson for actually managing to finish it without slitting their own wrists somewhere around issue #54 or so. Do yourself a big favor and go into it with this attitude in mind.
And indeed, the first thing you'll wonder as you start making your way through it is how this possibly could've started life at "mainstream indie" Wildstorm in the first place, which was just about to go through an acquisition by DC when The Boys was first brought on, which is why Wildstorm unceremoniously dumped The Boys six issues in, although to their credit with the enthusiastic help of the pre-DC staff to get it to a more unknown publisher that would do it right before the acquisition happened, and even giving Robertson a special allowance to his otherwise DC-exclusive contract in order to continue working on it. And this is not just because the title is a particularly sickening example of the Dark Age "superheroes are actually barely disguised Nazi monsters" trope that's been around since literally the early '80s (imagine taking Alan Moore's infamously apocalyptic ending to his early underground hit Miracleman and making that page 1 of issue 1 of The Boys), but it's just as much an indictment if not more so of the corporate psychopaths who own the intellectual property rights to such superheroes, intimating here that if we lived in a world where Time Warner owned not only the story, movie and merchandising rights to caped heroes but the actual real-time life rights of the human beings committing these acts of derring-do, the employees of Time Warner would essentially spend a billion dollars a year attempting to hide the psychopathic crimes such "heroes" would of course start immediately committing, the moment they realize that they have powers that can only be stopped by only a handful of other creatures on the planet, and a fully oiled corporate machine going around cleaning up whatever messes they choose to cause with such powers.
That leads to a world where the violent gangrape initiation ceremony of a new member of the Justice League of America, by this universe's version of Superman, Batman, Aquaman and the Martian Manhunter, is merely chapter one of a sprawling, always worsening look at the depths of the human race's capacity for depravity, as we quickly learn that the "super" powers of this universe are not caused by superior alien DNA or bites from radioactive spiders but rather a single "supersoldier" serum developed by a Nazi scientist in the 1930s, which makes it just a bunch of normal, everyday random people who end up becoming said superheroes in the universe of The Boys (around 200,000 of them now, by most people's estimates, although with the vast majority of them never making their powers publicly known, and the only "famous" superheroes being the ones who have managed to achieve corporate sponsorship); and it turns out that when you give superpowers to a bunch of normal, everyday random people, and not the "paragons of virtue" that DC and Marvel have made sure all their own superheroes over the years have been, those normal, everyday random people almost immediately become corrupt, perverted serial killers upon realizing that no one can stop them besides their equally corrupt, equally perverted superfriends. And this is not to mention creating the very real threat of a future government coup by the main multinational superhero conglomerate, Vought-American (a clear stand-in for real-life baddies Marvel-Disney), if their whims aren't catered to by an increasingly nervous Congress and White House (whose current VP, by the way, is a literally mentally challenged Vought stoolie).
That's led the CIA to quietly putting our titular Boys on the payroll, four equally violent psychopaths (plus our hapless Simon Pegg everyman reader-stand-in character) as a dirty-tricks squad being desperately used by the government as a secret behind-the-scenes check and balance against the growing dictatorial control of Vought-American, while a billion dollars are being spent by V-A at TMZ and TikTok to keep up the public appearance of these caped rapists' Dudley Do-Rite reputations, then eventually (in what many comics fans will consider the most cynical turn of the entire storyline) creating their own version of "Dark Age" comics when the Boys' shenanigans make it too impossible to keep their corporate mouthpieces' various horrific vices out of the public spotlight anymore, deciding to turn the vices into virtues so to not cause even the slightest interruption to the hamburger-selling that's been going on the whole time.
So in this, then, the 72-issue uber-plot going on here is an angry condemnation of the entire superhero comics industry, not just the intellectual premise of turning such Nazi ubermen into toothless rah-rah heroes, but the psychopathic mindset needed among the emotionally stunted man-child comics creators to pull off this premise, the glib incel glee among the industry's Comic Book Guy fans who made such material so popular in the '80s and '90s to begin with, the corporate middlemen who know exactly what kind of Nazi rape-porn twaddle they're peddling but simply don't care, and even you for thinking that a mean-spirited but ultimately toothless satire of the subject somehow counts as an effective antidote. It doesn't, as this series' infamously pessimistic climax proves, and now I'm more curious than ever to see how this ceaselessly piss-fueled indictment of the entire industry ended up getting adapted at the corporate-friendly Amazon, whose own employees are guilty of many of this story's most damning behavior. Certainly you shouldn't take this on unless you're ready for one of the most relentlessly bleak stories you've ever read in your life; but absolutely you should do so if you're ready for such, and big kudos to creators Ennis and Robertson for actually managing to finish it without slitting their own wrists somewhere around issue #54 or so. Do yourself a big favor and go into it with this attitude in mind.
July 21, 2013
And now we pause, as the final act of The Boys starts to gain steam, to get a look at Billy Butcher and what makes him tick. Unsurprisingly, most of what makes him tick is white-hot, psychotic rage. But we also get to finally hear him talk about his late wife, Becky, and how he saw her, and we see how she died. In regards to how she died, let me just say no one crosses the line twice quite like Garth Ennis, so prepare yourself for that one. You're gonna need it.
And if you've read this far into the series, you know that Becky was raped by a superhero, and it's important to note that Ennis does not cross the line twice. In fact, he writes the story so we don't see it, only its aftermath, and it's all through Billy's eyes until he is handed Becky's diary, and it's those couple of pages, as we're reading Becky's diary along with Billy, that you really see just how good Ennis is at what he does.
Billy Butcher is an unreliable narrator, and while there are parts you know are absolute truth (his love for his mom and brother, his love for his wife), it doesn't mean he's remembering them exactly as they were. It's a very human thing, tweaking the story so the parts you loved shine brighter, and well done on Ennis for knowing how to use that.
And if you've read this far into the series, you know that Becky was raped by a superhero, and it's important to note that Ennis does not cross the line twice. In fact, he writes the story so we don't see it, only its aftermath, and it's all through Billy's eyes until he is handed Becky's diary, and it's those couple of pages, as we're reading Becky's diary along with Billy, that you really see just how good Ennis is at what he does.
Billy Butcher is an unreliable narrator, and while there are parts you know are absolute truth (his love for his mom and brother, his love for his wife), it doesn't mean he's remembering them exactly as they were. It's a very human thing, tweaking the story so the parts you loved shine brighter, and well done on Ennis for knowing how to use that.
April 2, 2022
ok so the last volume that was a backstory sidestory was crap because we didn’t need one for hughie because he was the main character so the who,e series is his story. butcher actually needed a story because part of his character was having his motivations being in the dark, and now we finally see what they are. also this is probably the only issue without any immature toilet humour except for the very last scene because Ennis can’t help himself.
May 30, 2019
If you've never spent the weekend plowing through an entire series of comics, I highly recommend you give it a shot. It's a pretty great way to spend a weekend. Then again, I'm the posterboy for a bumper sticker (bumper boy?) that says "I'd rather be reading comics."
October 14, 2012
Took me 5 months to finish. Well, a few hours reading in June before I stopped, then an hour today to finish it.
Tedious boring dumb nonsense.
Tedious boring dumb nonsense.
September 20, 2016
Ennis writes mostly on automatic pilot here. The pacing is really off.
February 15, 2020
Finalmente obtenemos la historia de origen del líder de The Boys: Butcher. Lamentablemente esta historia añade pocos detalles importantes que no hayamos conocido antes, y el meollo del asunto, la situación que detona la venganza de Butcher, era algo que ya sabíamos y este tomo no modifica de manera significativa esa historia.
Esta mini serie de seis números se pudo haber contenido en un One-Shot, sin embargo era otra oportunidad para que Ennis nos contara una historia de guerra más, un personaje resentido con problemas de bebida, más. Nada de lo que Ennis nos cuenta de Butcher aquí es nuevo o interesante. Lo que evita que este tomo te aburre es el tono en el que Butcher cuenta su propia historia y la situación en la que la está contando.
Desde el primer o segundo tomo sabemos que la esposa de Butcher fue violada por un Super, quien creemos fue Homelander, y murió al dar a luz a un desgarrador bebé súper héroe. Si bien cuando te enteras de esa historia, a manera de diálogo y no en imágenes, es bastante impactante y cuesta creerlo. Acá finalmente lo vemos en imágenes y si bien eso aumenta el impacto de la historia que Ennis nos está contando, también se concentra en mostrarnos lo buena e interesante que era Becky para que su muerte nos pese aún más.
El objetivo de esta historia era mostrarnos que Butcher ya tenía esta ira adentro, que viene de familia y que después de perderlo todo, nada va a detenerlo. Como si eso no nos quedara claros desde un principio.
Esta mini serie de seis números se pudo haber contenido en un One-Shot, sin embargo era otra oportunidad para que Ennis nos contara una historia de guerra más, un personaje resentido con problemas de bebida, más. Nada de lo que Ennis nos cuenta de Butcher aquí es nuevo o interesante. Lo que evita que este tomo te aburre es el tono en el que Butcher cuenta su propia historia y la situación en la que la está contando.
Desde el primer o segundo tomo sabemos que la esposa de Butcher fue violada por un Super, quien creemos fue Homelander, y murió al dar a luz a un desgarrador bebé súper héroe. Si bien cuando te enteras de esa historia, a manera de diálogo y no en imágenes, es bastante impactante y cuesta creerlo. Acá finalmente lo vemos en imágenes y si bien eso aumenta el impacto de la historia que Ennis nos está contando, también se concentra en mostrarnos lo buena e interesante que era Becky para que su muerte nos pese aún más.
El objetivo de esta historia era mostrarnos que Butcher ya tenía esta ira adentro, que viene de familia y que después de perderlo todo, nada va a detenerlo. Como si eso no nos quedara claros desde un principio.
March 5, 2024
Collecting the standalone six-issue miniseries entitled The Boys: Butcher, Baker, Candlestickmaker, this volume delves deep into the history of Billy Butcher. We follow his journey into his transformation into the rancorous and ill-mannered leader he is today, with plenty of explanations as to why he reverted into this more uncouth demeanor. The story is filled with overused clichés for sure, but it's also a surprisingly fun time irrespective of that. It eventually all boils down to a woman (it always does in these kinds of stories it seems) where we follow Billy's ill-fated relationship with Becky that leads down a road of endless trauma. The series is The Boys, so it doesn't take too wild of a guess to know what happened to Becky that causes Butcher to harbor a murderous rage towards any and all supes. Becky is more of an idea than a character though Ennis uses the story to craft a meaningful story around Butcher that serves as a bit of a series highlight. It's not nuanced work but it can be considered as such relative to the rest of the series thus far.
October 15, 2021
The origin of one of the most callous, conniving, violent, and reprehensible characters in comics gives us a much more layered and nuanced view of that character.
If you've been reading The Boys, you know Butcher is quite the bastard. It seems that he has no remorse, is driven by anger and fury, and is pretty indiscernible from a villain. However Garth Ennis peels back the layers that we couldn't even see were there, because of all the blood and violence in the way. But peel away he did, and he actually makes Butcher a sympathetic figure. His life is full of tragedy, and as you read, you realize that who is now is a reaction to what the world threw at him since his childhood. From his family, to his wife's demise, it all serves to fuel the demon within him, and the tragedies that caused the break of the dam he had built to keep that demon in.
It doesn't really matter if you like The Boys or not, this volume is simply a great character study on a villain. And whether you agree with his methods or not (probably not) you at least get to see why he is who he is, and where the vitriol is coming from. And kudos to Ennis for being able to pull that off, as it is not an easy thing to do to with a character such as Butcher.
If you are reading the Boys, this is a must read.
If you've been reading The Boys, you know Butcher is quite the bastard. It seems that he has no remorse, is driven by anger and fury, and is pretty indiscernible from a villain. However Garth Ennis peels back the layers that we couldn't even see were there, because of all the blood and violence in the way. But peel away he did, and he actually makes Butcher a sympathetic figure. His life is full of tragedy, and as you read, you realize that who is now is a reaction to what the world threw at him since his childhood. From his family, to his wife's demise, it all serves to fuel the demon within him, and the tragedies that caused the break of the dam he had built to keep that demon in.
It doesn't really matter if you like The Boys or not, this volume is simply a great character study on a villain. And whether you agree with his methods or not (probably not) you at least get to see why he is who he is, and where the vitriol is coming from. And kudos to Ennis for being able to pull that off, as it is not an easy thing to do to with a character such as Butcher.
If you are reading the Boys, this is a must read.
August 22, 2020
One of my favourite volumes of the series so far. Tells the story of Billy Butcher’s life and how it eventually led to him becoming part of the boys. A lot of the plot points have been implied before but the actual depiction is incredibly well done done in terms of art work. Despite being a narrated backstory the dialogue is actually more minimal than normal which I prefer.
February 8, 2020
Apparently butcher back story is every story written by Ennis in the past. If you like Ennis for these kind of stories or this is the first of his stories you ever read, this is for you, otherwise kind f skippable.
You know what, it is kind of skippable either way
You know what, it is kind of skippable either way
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