The Boys #42 Full Recap and Review - Kamakazi come back! It's AWESOME!

[Boris]

Well, someone must do a recap, so I'll take the trouble. This review is, in fact, a (badly written) tribute to our beloved Kamakazi, who painfully abandoned this board and the comic, mourning for the loss of our hero Malchemical. Which is a fatal mistake, 'cause this issue is GREAT, and the "Believe" arc promises to be the BEST of the series so far.

Kamakazi, if you read this, go buy it! Your suffering is over!

Well, let's begin. As usual, beware! Plenty of wild SPOILERS running around.


Our issue opens with what looks like a Believe Festival tv commercial. There's a smiling Homelander singing and playing with happy children, blue skies, green pastures, church songs and special offers. If you ask me, it's bloody CREEPY.

Forward to our dream supercouple. Hughie and Annie are busy hugging each other and sweetly talking about how they are in love. Aren't they cute?
Then it's about time to GET PISSED. Wasn't Hughie supposed to be lying in a hospital, badly wounded after the Malchemical Showdown? And lo, actually he was. For a couple days. Either V-stuff grants an amazing healing factor, or Supes with thunderstorm and shapeshift powers can't even beat a fly. And of course Annie doesn't mind if her crippled boyfriend gets healthy in a matter of hours.
Oh, and btw, the Malchemical accident was officially due to a bad fall through a glass roof. I'm sure Kamakazi would have something to complain about here.
Anyway, who cares? Our buddies continue their small talk, discussing why neither of them knows zip about the other's job. Stay tuned, folks, something BIG is gonna happen.

Switch to the Seven base. Homelander is busy singing Stayin' Alive (this guy gets sillier by the hour), when he runs into Vought Guy, who is of course drawn differently AGAIN. That makes three drawers in a row, folks. Can't you see it's DELIBERATE?
VG is here for business, of course, since the Believe festival is due on a few days and everybody must do his part, that meaning Homelander and Annie polishing their bibles and acting as official Super Ministries of cult, or something. But WAIT! Homelander just can't waste his time for this religious nonsense, and the now-arrived Annie feels it would be wrong, since she's not a believer anymore. Vought Guy takes the hit, and begins bossing around, fearing there's rebellion in the air. Maeve, Jack and A-Train couldn't care less for this argument, so it's Vought Guy against the Blonde Duo. Notice Maeve's servant walking around the entire scene. I'm sure we'll hear soon from this guy.

Back on Earth, Butcher and Hughie go to the Believe festival site, currently under construction, for a little talk. Time for answers on what happened some issues ago? Of course not. Butcher gives a general scolding to our laddie, re-warning him not to get involved with supes, and then they're friends again. But then he asks Hughie if he had anymore to do with Superduper, other than trying to save them from Malchemical. Trouble is that Vought may know about their involvement, since they will inevitably learn that Mal was killed by a couple of black-dressed British thugs.
They both know about the tracheotomy accident, but Hughie lies and assures no, he didn't do anything more than confronting Malchemical.
Bad move, man. Now Butcher will entertain us with another paranoid plan and you with another beating. Wonderful.

Enough. Again on the Seven base, the best is yet to come. A-Train walks out a bathroom and hears someone weeping in the dark. He goes looking, and who can possibly be, if not our best friend Homelander with his pants down, literally crying out as a baby? It seems he took a good SPANKING by Vought Guy, and now he's hiding away, whining his ass off as daddy doesn't let him play as he wants. Folks, this is GREAT.
A-Train freaks off as Homelander seems to notice him, and runs away at Mach 3, pretending to have been elsewhere.

Switch to the Boys HQ. Billy and Frenchie are deeply arguing if Mallory sounded more like Clint Eastwood or John Wayne. Nice. While we learn that Mallory looks "a bit like Clint", MM seems particularly angry, and practically says Mallory was a great man, and Billy's a prick. Nicer.
The problem, of course, is Hughie. MM is mightly pissed off about what Billy set up for our laddie, and insists Butcher explains all and apologizes to him. Butcher can't be bothered with this nonsense, and what's worse there's the issue of Hughie dating Starlight, something that of course can be exploited. MM looks disappointed, and asks what can happen if Hughie learns he's in love with a supe.

And now, ladies and gentlemen, the moment we were all waiting for.
Hughie and Annie are walking in the Believe festival park. Annie is of course nervous about the festival, and concerned about Hughie not being easy with "I love you" moments. Hughie explains there's a reason (after all, last time he told a girl that he loved her, she was trampled a second after...), and the show begins, when he reveals his last girlfriend was killed by a supe, actually by A-Train.
Annie just can't stand it anymore, pressure becomes unbearable, aaaaaaand... she reveals she's a superhero.

Great, great, great.

[Boris]

Obviously I messed up, since it's issue #44 we're talking about.


Isn't there a way to edit the title? :o

[saidestroyer]

It doesn't matter. It was an amazing recap!
I've been reading kamakazi's old recaps, and I found myself sharing many of his opinions. I hope the man comes back to these forums, he's cool to read.



First post, whoohoo!:D

[Chrisnuttall]

Yeah. I found myself liking this one more than I had expected.

Chris

[Kamakazi]

Boris, you're doing a FAR better job than I could have done!

Here's why I stopped: I just can't deal with another "Garth Ennis acts like a douchebag regarding religion" storyline. The very thought of it makes me weary. I can't imagine anyone who's opinion on religion I value less than that of Garth Ennis. I'd rather take parenting lessons from Michael Jackson. I'd rather have my wardrobe done by Lady GaGa. What I'm saying is: Ennis is to religion as the sweltering buttcrack of a 300lb wino is to my penis: Two things that should never be mentioned together.

That said, I did finally break down and read "Believe", and I did it entirely because of your recap. :) Frankly, your recap was better than the actual book. I will say this about "Believe": It wasn't nearly as offensive as I thought it was going to be. Still, this is Garth Ennis we're talking about, so I'm fairly certain that he'll revert to Type sooner or later.

The funny thing is that I'm not particularly a fan of organized religion. But man, I REALLY get tired of Ennis being a dick about the subject. Furthermore, it makes me lose respect for Ennis as a writer AND a human being, because it seems to me that if he'd just read the books that he himself is writing, he'd see how small-minded, juvenile, and petty his attitude towards religion actually is. Annie stops being a Christian because God didn't stop her from giving blowjobs to three guys at once? Yeah, THAT'S a mature, rational attitude. She decides to be a whore, so there's "no god". But she manages to stumble into Hughie, the ONE GUY in all of Planet Ennis that appears to be a decent human being, but that doesn't strike her as being particularly Divine. Like an angry five-year-old, she blames God for everything bad, but assumes that everything GOOD is just naturally 'owed' to her. I get the feeling that Garth Ennis prayed for a pony as a child, and has spent the rest of his life pissed off that he didn't get one.

Thanks for pinch-hitting for me man! If the rest of the "Believe" arc manages to stay as good as this issue, (and this issue really was very good) without devolving into the usual Ennis Hate-Fest, then I'll rejoin our happy group. I missed you guys! :)

[saidestroyer]

I CAN'T FIND MY WEE-WEE STICK!!!

Uh, sorry. Wrong thread.




FUCKING CUNT!

I'm sorry, I'm sorry!!

[gwiereng]

As an atheist in religious America (where you're basically about as popular as a child molester for your non-belief), I have to say that I'm glad WHENEVER a story criticizing religion gets out there in the public eye, no matter how tired it may seem. There is PLENTY to criticize, and religion all too often gets a pass IMO. I will grant you that Ennis probably doesn't have a whole lot of new things to say on the matter, as it's pretty well-worn territory with him, but I don't think he should necessarily be dismissed out of hand. Look at stories like "True Faith", or the old HELLBLAZER arcs about the origin of the First of the Fallen, and some of the poignant moments in PREACHER. He definitely HAS written some good stuff on the subject. Maybe he IS kinda beating it to death at this point, and his arguments don't vary overmuch, but I think we need passionate atheists with a real voice that are able to be heard by people.

And--although I, too, have often been disappointed by THE BOYS--I feel compelled to offer a word or two in Garth's defense; he DOES have some real gems in his catalogue, historically. UNKNOWN SOLDIER and the two BLOODY MARYs are possibly my favorite 3 minis of all time. THE DEMON was excellent. PREACHER and PUNISHER had loads of good stuff throughout their runs. And that HITMAN issue with Superman is probably the best single-issue comic I've ever read. More recently, the "Dear Billy" story in Battlefields was a wonderful piece of work. So I'm optimistic that we may experience a return to that level of work soon. Hopefully, anyway.

[Kamakazi]

I CAN'T FIND MY WEE-WEE STICK!!!

Uh, sorry. Wrong thread.




FUCKING CUNT!

I'm sorry, I'm sorry!!


...brought a smile to my face this morning... :D

Oh, also, I just noticed that for some reason (which I ascribe to heavy medication) I referred to Boris as "Chris" earlier. Well, you're both awesome, so hopefully there's no hard feelings. :) Sorry about that guys, I've been up-chuck sick for about a week now, and it's clearly destroying my brain.

[Boris]

He's back! HE'S BACK!
My prayers were answered, and I am not even a believer!!! :)


It would have been a major loss if you gave up just now.

Not only "Believe" promises to be one of the best arcs of the series, it's also a chance to start one of the BEST arguments in the comics history. :D


Well, I can resume my role as the strongest Ennis supporter ever, and bring my 2 cents on the "Ennis vs. Religion" issue.

I assume you have not a Catholic background. I (and Ennis) have, and I even enjoy the rare privilege of living into the Pope's private toilet, aka Italy (Ireland being just the third bastion of the Church in Europe). Well, man, Ennis' petty blasphemy is not only a bit of fresh air, but also something that paradoxically doesn't raise stink at all (here Ennis comics aren't even censored - yes, we've comics censorship, one of the many benefits of hosting the Vatican in the middle of the country), for the simple reason it's nothing special, just a bunch of jokes every Catholic child has enjoyed in his catechism days (I have read and heard faaaar worse than him).
You're supposed to "respect" (actually fear) priests no matter what, so an Irish bloke making fun of them with awful obscenities is only welcome. Obviously I imagine it's quite different there in the Land of the Free (oh, if you think being an atheist in the USA is bad, you should live here: we've compulsory religion classes, taxes, assorted privileges and exemptions for the clergy, laws punishing non-believers, and until some years ago non-Catholics couldn't even hold public offices.)

That said, Ennis has written something beautiful about religion once in a while. Think of the Jesus character in the Wormwood series, or the old "Goddess" title (more about Wiccan/New Age stuff, but definitely "spiritual" nevertheless)

[saidestroyer]

I was justthinking... Hughie didn't tell Billy about saving the kid who was choking with the spoon (Black Hole was his name? I don't feel like reading it again right now), but we know that Billy knows.

How will Hughie deal with that information? Will he tell Butcher? If he doesn't, will Billy get all suspicious again? Knowing the bastard, he probably was spying on Hughie when Annie told him she's a superhero.

[Kamakazi]

He's back! HE'S BACK!
My prayers were answered, and I am not even a believer!!!


He moves in mysterious ways. :)

I keep forgetting that you're Italian, because your English is better than mine. I can see how someone living in Italy would probably really hate the Pope's influence. Me, I grew up Mormon, which means I had every other religion, all Atheists, and several Political Groups either mocking me or telling me I'm the Anti-Christ for most of my life. Seriously, Mormons are who Scientologists pick on when they want to feel better about themselves.

I re-read Believe. And as much as I hate to admit it... I really think it has HUGE potential to be one of the best Boys arcs ever. The issue really was fantastic. Of course, if next issue they have Jesus deSade urinating into Starlight's cleavage, I'll be the first to say "I told you so". :D

Oh, one other thing: Vought Guy. Seriously, was that supposed to be the same person? I know I whine about this a lot, but holy smokes. He was a foot shorter with red hair this time. I know they switched artists, but everyone else looked the same.

...you just KNEW I had to bitch about it. :D

[Boris]

Me, I grew up Mormon, which means I had every other religion, all Atheists, and several Political Groups either mocking me or telling me I'm the Anti-Christ for most of my life. Seriously, Mormons are who Scientologists pick on when they want to feel better about themselves.

Hey, to most Catholics I'm a baby-eating satanist, a soviet communist AND an al qaeda supporter at the same time, depending on what the Pope said this week on mass (but in the end it's all part of the good old Evil Jew Conspiracy. Yes, even Al Qaeda. Go figure...) :(

Well, it beats being burned at the stake, I guess. ;)

Howewer, apart from seeing that idiots are the same everywhere, my point is that, after all, Ennis' anti-religion stance is more anti-Catholic than else, and for a reason (doesn't someone still living in the Middle Ages, always telling you whatever you do is WRONG and even taking your money for his trouble, deserve a nice cup of FU once in a while?).




I re-read Believe. And as much as I hate to admit it... I really think it has HUGE potential to be one of the best Boys arcs ever. The issue really was fantastic. Of course, if next issue they have Jesus deSade urinating into Starlight's cleavage, I'll be the first to say "I told you so".

But of course I bet there'll be plenty of child-molesting priests, pervert preachers on drugs and assorted messed up believers coming up. Isn't this an Ennis comic? :D



Oh, one other thing: Vought Guy. Seriously, was that supposed to be the same person? I know I whine about this a lot, but holy smokes. He was a foot shorter with red hair this time. I know they switched artists, but everyone else looked the same.

...you just KNEW I had to bitch about it.


Yep, and I even bitched in your name when you were away. :)

Now, given that I don't think the art in the Boys is in the hands of incompetent idiots, and since this problem is EXCLUSIVELY about Vought Guy, I assume there's a reason. My guess is this way Ennis pretends not to make us notice he's very similar to Homelander (I have my Barber Theory about it: notice how he and Homelander always share the same haircut in any issue, no matter the artist).

Or, alternatively, he's got shapeshifting powers like our beloved Mal.

[saidestroyer]

Vought Guy is Ambush Bug. Think about it...

[Hot_Ch0c0]

Boris! Thanks for a great recap!
Kamakazi! Good to see you back!

Now to throw my 2 cents into the well…

I thought there were some cool aspects to the overall Boys storyline going on…

Homelander is really starting to buck the system. It seems like the big baby is reaching his teenage “rebellious” phase… He’s been given all he wants and has “special” powers and privileges, but he’s kept on a leash and swatted across the nose with a newspaper by Vought Guy whenever he gets out of line… The most powerful man on earth crying in a fetal position, pants around his ankles (probably just finished masturbating to try to soothe himself)… too cool! But, Homelander is definitely moving towards a try to “break the leash”…

It’s funny how Homelander and Starlight were unlikely allies. Starlight is building up to quit the Seven and has gone from a “true believer” to seeing the hypocrisy of her situation (both in her religious beliefs and her attempts at being a “superhero”). But, she is still naïve and in over her head vs. Vought Guy…

ASIDE: Vought Guy REALLY seems to be able to instill a sense of insecurity in his opponents (victims?)… Little Nina, Homelander, Starlight, MM and even Butcher came away from confrontations with him frustrated and (to some degree) fearful or self-doubting… How does Vought Guy face all these SUPER POWERFUL people (who could squash him like a grape) and not even flinch? Even Godolkin, Vic the Veep, and every VA employee are somewhat intimidated by this guy, while he stays cool as a cucumber… (in fact, VA Guy has admitted to actually trying to provoke Homelander to test his reactions)... The only person in the series not intimidated by Vought Guy was his former boss (and as soon as he implied he was not pleased and was going to “get more involved” in what VA Guy was doing, he…. died unexpectedly)

Even more ASIDE: The Deep seems to be out of some of the Seven “drama”… (from what we’ve seen so far) He’s probably the “cleanest” of the whole group (next to Annie, of course)… No apparent substance abuse, (like Maeve, Jack and A-Train) no major “perversions” (like Black Noir and Homelander), The Deep wasn’t in on the Starlight “initiation” (Homelander, Black Noir, A-Train)… Sure, he had his fun at Herogasm, but he doesn’t get “deliveries” like Maeve… Hmmm…

Anyway, back to this issue:

Butcher tries to patch things up with Hughie in typical Butcher fashion (a “concerned” scolding/warning with some light humor thrown in to make it feel good). Hughie is not completely forthcoming to Butcher, which Butcher will view as disloyal. Butcher is not completely forthcoming to Hughie, which MM will view as disloyal. Frenchman overhears friction between MM and Butcher (Female heard it last issue). The Boys have cracks that are becoming fissures… uh-oh! :eek:

Annie, who is already feeling like a major hypocrite for backing down to VA Guy has even more guilt layered on her when she opens up Hughie’s can of worms about his ex girlfriend getting killed by a supe (and a supe she blew, no less)… So she confessed about being a supe… Will she confess about earning her A-Train kneepads? Could Hughie handle THAT stinger? What about the rape attempt?! My feeling is the whole Highland Laddie trip home will happen because Hughie can’t handle what Annie is dishing out!

About the whole religious thing: I liked the irony that Homelander and Starlight were protesting the way Believe Ministries financially take advantage of religious people going to BELIEVE… But, they themselves live off “believers” buying into false portrayals of themselves as world saving crime fighters.. Hypocrites standing up against hypocrisy!! BEAUTIFUL!!

Ennis can bash religion all he wants IMHO. Why keep religion sacred? (pun intended) Ennis has already bashed politics, big corporations, and superheroes/ the comic industry… as long as it is moderately thoughtful, well written and moves the story forward… So far, so good…

[Kamakazi]

Ennis can bash religion all he wants IMHO. Why keep religion sacred? (pun intended) Ennis has already bashed politics, big corporations, and superheroes/ the comic industry… as long as it is moderately thoughtful, well written and moves the story forward… So far, so good…

I think the "moderately thoughtful" part is where I'm convinced he'll eventually derail. :)

I do have to say though that I'm looking forward to next issue more than I've looked forward to any issue of The Boys for quite a long time. I wish they'd do the Butcher mini soon, too.

[blackphoenix]

I think the "moderately thoughtful" part is where I'm convinced he'll eventually derail. :)

I do have to say though that I'm looking forward to next issue more than I've looked forward to any issue of The Boys for quite a long time. I wish they'd do the Butcher mini soon, too.

I wasn't aware they were doing a Butcher mini. I though Herogasm and Highland Laddie were the only two minis Ennis planned for.

[Kamakazi]

I wasn't aware they were doing a Butcher mini. I though Herogasm and Highland Laddie were the only two minis Ennis planned for.

Might be wishful thinking on my part. :) I could have sworn though that I read someplace that they were planning a Butcher mini.

I'm not normally a huge fan of Ennis's mini-arcs, since they typically end up being silly "The Good Old Boys", offensive, "The Saint of Killers" or stupid "The eat horses, don't they?" In some cases, they do nothing beyond introducing a bunch of bizarre plot inconsistencies for no discernible reason. For instance, in the aforementioned "They eat horses, don't they?", we had Jesse Custer murdering a guy in cold blood as a teenager, even though he expressly said that he'd never killed anyone before in the main Preacher arc. Amy is suddenly best friend and sidekick to both Tulip and Jesse, even though Jesse acts like he barely knows her when they meet years later.

What I'm saying is: don't be surprised if Hughie's mini reveals that he's secretly a member of Mossad who was genetically engineered by aliens, and had a homosexual affair with Butcher in college.

[Boris]

I also recall an interview with Ennis (about a year ago, maybe around the first issue of Herogasm) mentioning Highland Laddie this year and a Butcher mini (actually the origins of the Boys) next year, near the end of the series.
Darick Robertson is drawing it these months (it's why he isn't on the Believe art, btw).


I fear that trouble with the Boys spin-offs will be the exact opposite of Preacher: they reveal important plot advancements, so it's a pain reading them together with the main series (think about Herogasm and The Self Preservation Society arc), because they overcross each other. I hope they will not repeat the mistake again, but I have somewhat of a bad feeling about it...

[saidestroyer]

I fear that trouble with the Boys spin-offs will be the exact opposite of Preacher: they reveal important plot advancements, so it's a pain reading them together with the main series (think about Herogasm and The Self Preservation Society arc), because they overcross each other. I hope they will not repeat the mistake again, but I have somewhat of a bad feeling about it...

I think Ennis would dissaprove, but THANK GOD for the TPBs!!:D