I haven’t watched the new show on AMC, but my brother got me to read the Preacher comics, so here’s what I thought of them. Also here be spoilers, so if you’re watching the show or haven’t read the comics yet and don’t want to know what’s coming, I suggest you stop reading now.
The show takes its name from Jesse Custer, a drunk preacher from Texas. His life is changed one day when he’s at the pulpit and is hit by some sort of all-powerful being that literally fell from the heavens. The force of this divine creature’s arrival burns up the entire church, killing everyone inside except Jesse, who now possesses the Word of God. When he chooses to use it, people (and dogs, apparently) have to do whatever they tell him to.
Shortly after this, Jesse meets up with his ex-girlfriend, Tulip, who hitched a ride with an Irish vampire named Cassidy. Turns out Jesse ditched Tulip a few years ago. They were about to run off together, but then he just disappeared without any explanation. So she’s understandably pissed at him, but he does have a good explanation, which is revealed before the end of Book 1 (there are 6 books).
Turns out Jesse had a seriously messed up childhood, and when it comes back to haunt him, both Tulip and Cassidy end up getting hurt, plus messages from God to Jesse for Jesse to stop looking for him. This cowardly request, sans explanation, along with God’s refusal to face Jesse himself, just pisses off all three of them and makes them more determined than ever to hunt God down and make him explain what the hell is going on.
God consistently refuses to do so, but they found out from a fallen angel that said angel had sex with a demon and the result of their union is a being called Genesis. Genesis doesn’t have corporeal form, which is why it ended up in Jesse’s head, and it’s more powerful than God, which is why God is too scared to face Jesse as long as Genesis is residing in his brain.
There are numerous side stories along the way, including how Cassidy came to be a vampire living in New York City and how an unstoppable murderer called the Saint of Killers came into existence, but they’re all related to the central story. Jesse puts two and two together and realizes that, if God is all powerful and all knowing, then he created Genesis. He manipulated events so it would happen and so that the Saint of Killers would come into existence. That means the Saint of Killers has a score to settle with God and Jesse helps him do just that.
There are many adventures along the way, including great characters, of which Jesse, Tulip, and Cassidy are just a few. They’re all complicated and three-dimensional and not all of them are who they first appear to be.
Growing up, Jesse’s father took him to see just about every John Wayne movie there is, so Jesse loves those westerns and idolizes John Wayne. When he’s experiencing a personal crisis, he talks to his conscience, who takes the form of John Wayne in character. The artist never shows his face (probably for copyright reasons), but the implication is clear, and that’s the one thing I had trouble with in these comics.
The comics completely skip over how racist, sexist and full of macho bullshit those movies are. They take a very black-and-white view of the world: you’re either a good guy or a bad guy. Period. It’s one thing for children to think that way, but much less acceptable for full-grown adults to maintain that line of thinking, which is why I have such a problem with adult Jesse idolizing this fictional cowboy as much as he does.
I should point out that Jesse is neither sexist nor racist, but he upholds John Wayne as the paragon of “honor” and “doing the right thing” without acknowledging how full of shit all those old movies were. You can’t have one without the other. You can’t put a racist on a pedestal without acknowledging their prejudices. You can’t look to someone who participated in a genocide to tell you to do the right thing.
Jesse mostly treats Tulip fairly. She’s a badass bitch who’s more than capable of handling herself, but she did die right in front of Jesse in Book 1 (I told you there were spoilers), so it’s hard to blame him for wanting to protect her from going through that again. Especially since she’d probably stay dead this time.
On the other hand, I can’t blame Tulip for being furious with Jesse for his macho bullshit and his inability to trust that she can take care of herself. I love it when I can see where both characters are coming from.
Also Jesse’s supposed inability to cry since he was a kid. Really? I mean, I know he was traumatized and everything, but seriously? It struck me as just one more piece of macho shit and I could not take it seriously.
Other than that, I liked it. I liked the writing, the drawing (except the covers that made Tulip look super butch for some reason) and I liked the concept that God owes something to his creation.
What did you guys read this week? Anything else that sent some mixed messages?