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spacemanchris's review
4.0
In this volume of this alternate take on superheroes we meet this universe's version of the X-Men (The G-Men). I liked the bizarre mashup of "Animal House" with superheroes.
I'm still finding this series harder to read the second time around. I just dislike almost all of the characters. Currently the only ones I don't actively dislike are Hughie, Annie and MM.
Butcher is possibly the second most hateable character in the book right after Homelander. At least Butcher has some depth to him, Homelander just feels like a shallow version of "evil" Superman.
I know it's the point, having almost all the characters as pieces of shit, but it gets exhausting at times.
Despite all that, it's a pretty funny volume, which of course means it's all leading to some horrific discovery. Thanks Garth, once again making the reader feel physically sick.
I'm still finding this series harder to read the second time around. I just dislike almost all of the characters. Currently the only ones I don't actively dislike are Hughie, Annie and MM.
Butcher is possibly the second most hateable character in the book right after Homelander. At least Butcher has some depth to him, Homelander just feels like a shallow version of "evil" Superman.
I know it's the point, having almost all the characters as pieces of shit, but it gets exhausting at times.
Despite all that, it's a pretty funny volume, which of course means it's all leading to some horrific discovery. Thanks Garth, once again making the reader feel physically sick.
marina_bookreadah's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
suzy_g's review
3.0
As with Vol. 2, this series came close to losing me with this instalment - but it pulled it back in the end.
Vol. 4 focusses primarily on the G-Men, a faction of supes previously mentioned but not explored within the storyline. There are content warnings for racism, paedophilia and (as ever) gory violence.
It was interesting to learn more about a largely unknown faction of the supes, but this volume was far from impervious to problems and I noted several. Chief among them was the sheer amount of characters introduced in this volume. G-Men are the largest of the supe groups (as I've dubbed them), which inevitably meant that we met dozens of characters in a short space of time. Add to that the fact that many of the characters go by two names (a given name and a superhero moniker), and there were points when confusion abounded. Be assured that it turns out many of the characters are peripheral to the storyline, and you do gain familiarity with the ones you need to know in order for the story to make sense. But I could have done without the headache, to be honest.
I'm also beginning to question Wee Hughie's role as the main character in this series. He's bland and boring. Sure, he's a nice guy, but he's overshadowed by almost every other character. I understand that Hughie's introduction to the shadier side of superhero HR runs parallel to our own as the audience, so he needs to be clueless at the beginning. But I'm now thirty individual issues into the series and despite all of the focus on his character development during this time, he remains naïve, hopelessly optimistic and dull as dishwater. I guess I like my characters more resigned to despair, or fiercely violent and on the warpath. I should probably see a counsellor about that.
On the positive side: the action was good, the art style was solid and the plot served a purpose. But the series needs to step it up from here to keep me invested. Fingers crossed for Vol. 5.
Vol. 4 focusses primarily on the G-Men, a faction of supes previously mentioned but not explored within the storyline. There are content warnings for racism, paedophilia and (as ever) gory violence.
It was interesting to learn more about a largely unknown faction of the supes, but this volume was far from impervious to problems and I noted several. Chief among them was the sheer amount of characters introduced in this volume. G-Men are the largest of the supe groups (as I've dubbed them), which inevitably meant that we met dozens of characters in a short space of time. Add to that the fact that many of the characters go by two names (a given name and a superhero moniker), and there were points when confusion abounded. Be assured that it turns out many of the characters are peripheral to the storyline, and you do gain familiarity with the ones you need to know in order for the story to make sense. But I could have done without the headache, to be honest.
I'm also beginning to question Wee Hughie's role as the main character in this series. He's bland and boring. Sure, he's a nice guy, but he's overshadowed by almost every other character. I understand that Hughie's introduction to the shadier side of superhero HR runs parallel to our own as the audience, so he needs to be clueless at the beginning. But I'm now thirty individual issues into the series and despite all of the focus on his character development during this time, he remains naïve, hopelessly optimistic and dull as dishwater. I guess I like my characters more resigned to despair, or fiercely violent and on the warpath. I should probably see a counsellor about that.
On the positive side: the action was good, the art style was solid and the plot served a purpose. But the series needs to step it up from here to keep me invested. Fingers crossed for Vol. 5.
crookedtreehouse's review
3.0
This could have easily been a four star book. The premise: a take down of the X-Men franchise from Marvel, and how it got out of control, is mostly well-handled.
And while I can always do without the Butcher/CIA angle in the comics (both the consenting sexual violence between the two leaders, and the Monkey is into disabled porn gag), they're not the cringiest part of this comic.
Dragging down the momentum of this comic is Garth Ennis's G-Force Vs G-Style subplot where he gets to type the N word a billion time to edgily critique the East Coast/West Coast US rap beefs that were resolved fifteen years before he poorly satirizes them.
Ennis has never and will never have a talent for writing voices who aren't white. He's terrible at it. And every time he makes what seems like a sincere and interesting look at race, such as Jamal lamenting that he is going to have to join one of the feuding teams and devolve into a cartoonish steteotype, he follows it up with racist garbage.
It's such a shame because, while it's not the only problem with this book, it is the Largest Problem in this book. And this isn't a case of looking at an old book from a more progressive perspective, his use of language and the plot points he lays out here weren't acceptable at the time they were published. Maybe if this had come out in the 70s or 80s you could feel gross about it but shrug it off, but this was put out when people Knew Better than this.
The positives are the X-Men satire. It's not particularly inventive, and its continuous desire to be Edgy is rooted deeply in the 90s, but that does play to the points Ennis is making. Also the swerve around the arc's resolution makes the overall story much more complex.
And while I can always do without the Butcher/CIA angle in the comics (both the consenting sexual violence between the two leaders, and the Monkey is into disabled porn gag), they're not the cringiest part of this comic.
Dragging down the momentum of this comic is Garth Ennis's G-Force Vs G-Style subplot where he gets to type the N word a billion time to edgily critique the East Coast/West Coast US rap beefs that were resolved fifteen years before he poorly satirizes them.
Ennis has never and will never have a talent for writing voices who aren't white. He's terrible at it. And every time he makes what seems like a sincere and interesting look at race, such as Jamal lamenting that he is going to have to join one of the feuding teams and devolve into a cartoonish steteotype, he follows it up with racist garbage.
It's such a shame because, while it's not the only problem with this book, it is the Largest Problem in this book. And this isn't a case of looking at an old book from a more progressive perspective, his use of language and the plot points he lays out here weren't acceptable at the time they were published. Maybe if this had come out in the 70s or 80s you could feel gross about it but shrug it off, but this was put out when people Knew Better than this.
The positives are the X-Men satire. It's not particularly inventive, and its continuous desire to be Edgy is rooted deeply in the 90s, but that does play to the points Ennis is making. Also the swerve around the arc's resolution makes the overall story much more complex.
teejay76's review against another edition
3.0
Again, Ennis is a guilty pleasure of mine. A wicked take on Ennis' view of the X-Men and Charles Xavier. Enjoyed it and despised it simultaneously. Mission accomplished Garth...
noondaypaisley's review
3.0
Well into the ideas in this series and while I think the take on X - men etc is a good one, there is a little too much that misses the mark for the best of this series. Also, Herogasm is really nothing much and while it's a set up for bigger things the event itself is really not worth the space.
billcoffin's review
1.0
The Boys is an unflinchingly graphic, 12-volume descent into sexual violence, exploding bodies, depravity, broken taboos and bodily fluids that purports to deconstruct the superhero genre with a chaser of black humor. All it really accomplishes, however, is a whole lot of sophomoric commentary on power and politics, stretches of exposition that last for entire issues at a time, unpleasant and inconsistent artwork, and a certain hypocrisy from a creative team which seems to revel in depicting all of the terrible violations it decries.
The story involves a CIA black ops group tasked with monitoring, terrorizing and murdering rogue superheroes in a world where pretty much *all* superheroes are nothing more than fraudulent predators and degenerates. Into this mess enters Wee Hughie, a fellow who loses his girlfriend early on as collateral damage in a super-brawl. Hughie, recruited by the Boys’ leader, Butcher, sees just how sick and dirty the world of supes - and those who oppose them - really is. And pretty soon, what begins as a covert containment program turns into all-out war.
Put together, what could have been a brilliant criticism of a genre that we take for granted instead feels like a three-day lecture by 15-year-old edgelords who really want you to know why their hormonally supercharged worldview ought to be taken seriously by grown-ups. No, we don’t want to hear why you think sexual violence is okay when it is committed by a bulldog. No, we don’t want to see how often you can fit an act of public excretion into your story. No, we don’t want to see how cool your characters in trench coats are. No, we don’t need to actually see somebody eating a dead infant.
One imagines that this entire series is an extended middle finger to the notion of “With great power comes great responsibility.” It often feels like the creators here are angry that superhero comics even exists, and that their fans continue to buy them. We get it - the superhero genre has definitely gotten big enough and overstuffed enough for somebody to take the air out of it. But The Boys ain’t it. This isn’t insightful enough to work as criticism, clever enough to work as parody, funny enough to work as black comedy, or focused enough to work on any of the three previous fronts even if the skill was there for this to succeed.
The Boys is just a chronicle of cynicism, vicious and vile, slapdash and self-indulgent, excessive and egocentric. For those looking to read a different kind of take on the superhero concept, there are plenty better to choose from - Brian Michael Bendis’ POWERS instantly comes to mind - that won’t make you want to disinfect your hands when you’re done.
The story involves a CIA black ops group tasked with monitoring, terrorizing and murdering rogue superheroes in a world where pretty much *all* superheroes are nothing more than fraudulent predators and degenerates. Into this mess enters Wee Hughie, a fellow who loses his girlfriend early on as collateral damage in a super-brawl. Hughie, recruited by the Boys’ leader, Butcher, sees just how sick and dirty the world of supes - and those who oppose them - really is. And pretty soon, what begins as a covert containment program turns into all-out war.
Put together, what could have been a brilliant criticism of a genre that we take for granted instead feels like a three-day lecture by 15-year-old edgelords who really want you to know why their hormonally supercharged worldview ought to be taken seriously by grown-ups. No, we don’t want to hear why you think sexual violence is okay when it is committed by a bulldog. No, we don’t want to see how often you can fit an act of public excretion into your story. No, we don’t want to see how cool your characters in trench coats are. No, we don’t need to actually see somebody eating a dead infant.
One imagines that this entire series is an extended middle finger to the notion of “With great power comes great responsibility.” It often feels like the creators here are angry that superhero comics even exists, and that their fans continue to buy them. We get it - the superhero genre has definitely gotten big enough and overstuffed enough for somebody to take the air out of it. But The Boys ain’t it. This isn’t insightful enough to work as criticism, clever enough to work as parody, funny enough to work as black comedy, or focused enough to work on any of the three previous fronts even if the skill was there for this to succeed.
The Boys is just a chronicle of cynicism, vicious and vile, slapdash and self-indulgent, excessive and egocentric. For those looking to read a different kind of take on the superhero concept, there are plenty better to choose from - Brian Michael Bendis’ POWERS instantly comes to mind - that won’t make you want to disinfect your hands when you’re done.
urbon_adamsson's review against another edition
3.0
I really wanted to give this one a bigger ratting but there is something about the writing that doesn't allow me to enjoy this more.
I love the story. I love all the sarcasm and X-Men parody.
The illustrations are also fine. I don't have much of negative to say about it.
My problem is with the writing. It's like Garth Ennis wanted to make the reading difficult on purpose.
Maybe an English native will have a different experience than me but it really made my experience poorer.
I love the story. I love all the sarcasm and X-Men parody.
The illustrations are also fine. I don't have much of negative to say about it.
My problem is with the writing. It's like Garth Ennis wanted to make the reading difficult on purpose.
Maybe an English native will have a different experience than me but it really made my experience poorer.