By Robin Jones
I haven’t been reading comics for very long, in fact I started reading them around the same time I started writing about them. So last year. In that time I have had a list of comics recommended to me, which if written down as a list, in a really, REALLY small font type, it would already be as long as my entire body. From classic DC runs like Frank Miller’s Batman, Gerry Conway’s Firestorm, to Marvel runs from the likes of Bendis, Hickman, to being shown and discovering independent comics released from publishers like Valiant Comics, Avatar Press, Dynamite and Image. Stories, writers, artists and possibilities seem to be endless! Many writers stand out of the crowd in many different ways, but none stand out as much as one writer for me and that writer is Garth Ennis.
Ennis is synonomous with horror, ultra violence, pushing the boundaries, religious subtext, imaginative strings of swear words, (some so good they’d make Malcolm Tucker blush… and for those who don’t know who that is…WHY NOT!) an exploration of male friendships and the odd cunt or two. Mr Campbell, proprietor, owner, slave driver and brandisher of the whip at Inter-Comics got me started on Ennis, suggesting I read The Boys. Subsequently, I did a post about reading the first story arc, which can be read here if you haven’t already read it. Ennis loves to subvert the superhero mythos and nowhere is this more evident than in the scathing, satire drenched pages of his and Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti’s The Pro or the afore mentioned The Boys. Ennis tends to prefer real world problems than the pointless gesturing of Superheroes. Even his big two work has focused mainly on the more grizzled, realistic characters, like with his long running stint at the helm of The Punisher, or his Nick Fury stories. I recently read “My Wars gone by” and it was unputdownable and other made up words as well. Fury came across exactly how I imagine him, world weary, tired of the bullshit and with a hard on for war. Same with Frank Castle.
The Boys is as subtle as a sledgehammer. It has one goal and one goal only, to kick down your front door, fuck your wife, smash your teeth in, shit on your carpet and leave with a wink, a smile and a red bearded Simon Pegg-a-like calling card on the bedside table. You’ll feel dirty, used and abused, but if you’re of the right disposition, you’ll come back for more. And you’ll have a huge bowl, you’ll ask all your friends to put their car keys in it as you show them the newly planted Wisteria in the front garden, your HUGE inflatable waterbed and the nice, shiny gimp suit that the misses brought back from the shops, and I’m strangely fine with this. It’s nice to read a book full of cunts and fucks and whores and hamsters being secreted into bodily orifices, because the real world is full of cunts and fucks and whores and such. And God we love it for it.
But then there’s Preacher and Crossed, comics tinged with horror. Crossed #1 – 9 is my favourite survival horror story. It’s cold, uncaring, brutal and doesn’t hold back. It’s exactly what a world would be like if it all went to shit. Yet despite that, it’s still painfully funny, with such classic, all age fun character’s as “Horsecock”, “Stump” the dismembered sentry, an old man who had a tendency to kill young lads and store their body parts and various other misfits and miscreants who Ennis somehow managed to make us find likable. It’s the same with Preacher. What other comic could justify a character with an arse for a face, played seriously against the backdrop of God’s disappearance? Then all Ennis’s characters are shades of grey, much like George R R Martin’s characters in Game of Thrones, there doesn’t seem to be a black and white in his mind, and again it’s the same as in the real world. We are all shades of grey, some darker, some lighter. It’s relatable for all of us, and it’s another reason why his books are so damn good!
I mean, even his stories with cute puppies, wagging tails and floppy dog ears are full of DEATH, VIOLENCE, DESTRUCTION and more DEATH!! Rover Red Charlie is Ennis’s Homeward Bound, which was Disney’s Stand By Me. It’s a tale of friendship in the face of adversity, overcoming great obstacles, and in Ennis’s case, DEATH and the end of the world. It’s a dogs life…and yet the canine characters are relatable, we can see traits of ourselves in them and you feel for them, you worry about the plight they have laid out in front of them. So you know something. It’s exciting for me, as a relatively new reader of comics still, that I have Ennis’s Punisher run to read, I have half of Preacher to read and his Batman. Then there’s his Hellblazer, Judge Dredd, Stitched and so many others! I count myself lucky as I have this all to read and discover, and if you haven’t read any of his stuff, you’ll be able to share in my enjoyment. But then if you have read a wealth of his work, you’ll understand my excitement! Expect updates on my Ennis Exploits as we go along!
Now, enough rambling and writing effectively an open love letter to Garth Ennis’s work, it’s time for something important. It’s time for your answers to the #SundayMorningQuestion! This week, we asked “Who is your favourite comic book writer?” So, here’s your answers ladies and gents:
Steve Tasteslikedoom Fable – Warren Ellis. Really looking forward to his take on Moon Knight
Steven Mckee – Garth Ennis, Ed Brubaker, Greg Rucka. There really isn’t much between them. Brubaker’s Cap, Daredevil, Winter Soldier, Catwoman and Gotham Central all fantastic. I haven’t read a bad thing from him.
Jack Dalton – Rucka, Brubaker, Snyder, Morrison, and Manpaul & Buccalatto
James Gibbons – Warren Ellis, Scott Snyder & the almighty BKV!
Anna Readman – Brian Wood or Scott Snyder
Duggi Douglas – Garth Ennis
Matt Saviker – Alan Moore I guess or Morrison
Mark Williams – I have three, Alan Moore, Grant Morison (apart from what he has been doing in the DCU at the moment) and Garth Ennis.
Matt Jay – I’d have to agree with the 2 above and say Alan Moore. I am still new to reading comics but what I have read from Moore has stuck in my mind the most. Swamp Thing, Watchmen, Killing joke. More swamp thing trades are coming soon
Mike Kane @SpikaelKane – I’m apparently falling in love with Jason Aaron. *swoons*
Adam Cheal @AdamCheal - Erm, is there anyone better than Alan Moore? Don’t think so.
Inter-Comics @InterComics – Mine obviously is Garth Ennis, but followed closely by Brian K Vaughan and, not everyones cup of tea, Geoff Johns
Julie Dalton – I don’t have a fave. But I’m gonna point out a writer who doesn’t get enough recognition – Bill Mantlo. The man worked on EVERYTHING!
Chris Mager – I can’t pick a fave. I have to have a variety. if i read too much of one writer i start to notice all their flaws. But i like Robert kirkman, Scott snyder, Brian K Vaughan, Bendis, Waid, Duggan, Remender
Finally, it’s time to announce which title won my vote for which to read and talk about next. By a long shot, the winner was Cullen Bunn’s The Sixth Gun! Therefore, next time, expect cowboys, ghosts, injuns, shoot outs, saloons and dancing girls. Ya varmints.
Until next time…
For more comic views and reviews follow Robin on Twitter at @Hulksmash1985
Posted on January 23rd, 2014
Category: PAPERCUTS AND INKSTAINS VOL. 2, REVIEWS
Tags: Arseface, Avatar Press, Crossed, Dynamite Entertainment, Garth Ennis, Nick Fury, Preacher, Punisher, The Boys, The Pro