The Boys 47

[Chrisnuttall]

So...what did you all think?

Chris

[Darkseid]

Well if the intention of the story is to make us see how stupid and idiotic Hughie can be, then it's a resounding successs!

I swear, with every new issue I like this guy less and less. He's supposed to be this dumb lovable guy but it's like he's a 5 year old kid in a grown man's body. If he was retarded I guess I could understand it but he's not so it just gets annoying.

[saidestroyer]

Eh, he'll be crawling back at her when his stupidity makes him forget what was he all mad about in the first place.

I liked the bit with the Homelander. Can't wait to see him get all conspiracy-itsy and get his balls kicked through his throat by Butcher.

[Kamakazi]

I've been waiting for Boris to do the Recap, but he's M.I.A. :(

[Kamakazi]

Special note: as it turns out, I found a copy of the original script for this issue, so I thought I'd just post it in lieu of my usual Recap. It offers stunning insights into the minds of the Creative Team.

THE BOYS #47 Working Script, by Garth Ennis:

Hey team, let's start out with Hughie barfing into the toilet, because that's a normal reaction to finding out that your girlfriend isn't a virgin. Note to Russ: Make him look as much like a pussy as possible. I'd like to work in a flashback to the issue where Hughie bragged to Starlight about all the sexual experience he has, in case the readers haven't caught on to the fact that Hughie is a hypocritical douche. If we can't, that's cool. I'm sure people will remember.

Next, let's cut to Butcher. Russ, try to convey that Butcher is an evil bastard, and that anyone with even three functioning brain-cells would instantly see through his blatant manipulations. This will make it even more hilarious when Hughie blindly falls for Butcher's bullshit.

Next, let's have a conversation twixt Butcher and Hughie. Butcher should be transparently evil, but also condescending. Hughie shouldn't notice.

Hughie also shouldn't notice when Butcher basically admits to setting all this up, to "teach Hughie a lesson".

SIDE NOTE TO EDITOR: I've noticed a disturbing amount of "subtlety" and "believable motivations" recently. I don't know if it's my fault or yours, but if it doesn't stop, heads will roll.
Thanks,
Garth

Next, let's have Butcher inform Hughie that he was never smart or attractive enough for a girl like Starlight in the first place. God, I hate Hughie. I never wanted the damn character in the book in the first place. I wanted the fifth member of the Boys to be a homicidal goat-rapist from Jamaica. Lord, the fun I could have had with a character like that! But some PUSSY from DC told me that we needed someone 'likable".

Next, let's screw with people by showing Hughie having a normal human emotion, and Butcher calling him a pussy for it. Maybe I haven't stated this enough in the past, but I want "Stupid" and "Weak" to be synonymous with "Hughie". I want school kids telling each other "Don't be a Hughie".

Let's also throw in a bit with a fortune cookie that will be every bit as irrelevant as the bit with Mother's Milk and the Anaconda from a few years back. I love doing stuff like that. Keeps people on their toes.

Oh, so next, let's have Hughie taking off to see Starlight. But have Butcher remind him not to tell her about The Boys. See, people will THINK that I'm doing this to prevent Starlight from learning about The Boys, but in reality, I'm sitting up a situation where Starlight should automatically assume that one of the Seven screwed her over by sending Hughie the video.

...but she'll never actually make that assumption. Because if there's one person stupider than Hughie, it's Starlight. She was the other "likable" character that DC forced on me. I think I'll spend the next ten pages calling her a whore.

But first... let's go back to the Seven. It's been EXHAUSTING trying to give these guys actual motivations, so let's just fall back on the Umbrella Corporation "We're all douchebags" theory of character development.

Let's have Starlight whine for a while, and Maeve ignore her. As for everyone else... well, screw it. They're now just all slavering murderers. I mean seriously, what the hell do I care?

Okay, so now that we're done with THAT, let's cut to the park. Hughie will yell a bunch of obscenities at Starlight. The idea here is to call Starlight a whore as often as possible, while still getting across the point that Hughie is an idiot.

I've been thinking a lot about the direction of the book, and I feel like it's just not cartoonish enough. It's a comic book, right? So why isn't it cartoonish? So for our big finale, let's have Homelander murder a family in cold blood, with all the other Supes watching.

I'm serious about this, guys. If even one of you attempts to inject any sort of subtlety or nuance into this scene, you're off the book. The whole point is that all superheroes are serial killers, and that not a single one of them would do anything other than stand back and watch as Homelander murders an entire family. Because frankly, if I could just turn this book into "Crossed" with Superheroes, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

BTW, let's keep Frenchy and the Female out of the book as much as humanly possible. I think people were starting to like them. Let's get back to our roots here: sadism, sex, and brutality.

[saidestroyer]

It was a sucky ending to an arc that was doing good.

Now, let's begin reading "Highland Laddie"!! (le sigh)

[Chrisnuttall]

To be fair to Ennis (and Hughie) Anne didn't cheat on him technically, but she sucked the cock of the guy Hughie most hates on Earth. I mean...that isn't JUST discovering that your girlfriend wasn’t a virgin, something I think that Hughie knew beforehand and accepted, but something a great deal worse. The poor guy was questioning everything she ever said to him. I don’t think he’s in a rational state of mind. How can he be?

Now, the sane policy Butcher should have followed is to attempt to recruit Anne. She has an excellent motive to betray the Seven – two of them, if you accept that she’s in love with Hughie. I was expecting the arc to end with just that...

Chris

[Kamakazi]

All good points, Chris.

But the big problem (not just with this issue, but with the book as a whole) is that Ennis has forgotten to provide one very important thing: A reason for us to care.

I mean, who are we rooting for here? Every single character has been portrayed as a repulsive douchebag, mentally retarded, or both. They could throw every single character we've seen so far into pit and force them to knife-fight for our amusement, and I wouldn't care if a single one came out alive.

Seriously, I'm thinking back over years of this book, and the only character that even remotely resembles a human being is Auntie Sis. And she was a joke character that appeared on-panel in three issues.

I'm seriously beginning to think that Garth Ennis died five years back, and was replaced by an evil(er) clone of Mark Millar.

[Boris]

I've been waiting for Boris to do the Recap, but he's M.I.A. :(

Here I am, at last (thanks to my lazy dealer for the usual efficiency).


Worse thing about the "Believe" ending is all we're left now is Highland Laddie, and I don't know if I can stand four more issues of Wild Weird Scotland to get some worthy details about this heartshattering affair.



Side note to Kamakazi: hey, did you notice Homelander comes out as an atheist? So much for mockery of religion. :D

[Kamakazi]

Side note to Kamakazi: hey, did you notice Homelander comes out as an atheist? So much for mockery of religion. :D

Very true!

Now if only the Saint of Killers would show up and shoot Homelander, it would be the best comic of all time! :D

[saidestroyer]

I want a "Punisher vs. Hitman" crossover!
Yeah, that has nothing to do with this thread, bur what the fugg. I'd read the poo outta a comic where Frank Castle tries to put down Tommy Monaghan.

[Hot_Ch0c0]

All good points, Chris.
But the big problem (not just with this issue, but with the book as a whole) is that Ennis has forgotten to provide one very important thing: A reason for us to care.

I mean, who are we rooting for here? Every single character has been portrayed as a repulsive douchebag, mentally retarded, or both. They could throw every single character we've seen so far into pit and force them to knife-fight for our amusement, and I wouldn't care if a single one came out alive.


Sadly, I agree. Hughie was supposed to be the "tragic innocent with a good heart" that we could identify with as he was thrown into this chaotic world full of fantastic characters and intrigue... But, Hughie is portrayed as such a moron and immature ass, that most of us are too insulted by his lack of intelligence (or even basic reasoning ability) to root for the guy.... Hughie is manipulated by Butcher, injected against his will, bullied, humiliated and repeatedly lied to by Butcher... Somewhere in Hughie's dim mind is enough sense to not fully TRUST Butcher...You EVEN have MM and even the Legend basically point out "You can't really trust Butcher, he has his own agenda..."

And yet, Hughie gobbles up every line Butcher feeds him while Butcher is basically smirking in his face... Hughie obviously believes himself to be a moron and therefore he can't trust his own judgment...

And yet, we're supposed to believe he is some childhood super sleuth who can "do the job" as Butcher put it... I was actually thinking that it would be Butcher confronting Annie in this issue (possibly recruiting her, or warning her away from Hughie, or both)... But, after reading it, the only person I have any sympathy for is Annie for putting any faith in Hughie in the first place....

Maybe that will be the point of the book, Annie outgrows her need to be involved with the retard and comes into her own... Or she collapses and turns into "mini Maeve"... Meanwhile Butcher turns Hughie into a suicide bomber who will try to kill The Seven... :cool:

[Kamakazi]

I was actually thinking that it would be Butcher confronting Annie in this issue


On a side note: Based on the cover, how many of you thought, like I did, that it was going to be Butcher, not Hughie, that confronted Annie?

It can't possibly have been an accident that the cover shows someone in a trench coat, but with their face hidden. Hughie almost NEVER wears the same trench coat as Butcher. And Hughie's not wearing it in the book itself, just on the cover.

[Chrisnuttall]

On a side note: Based on the cover, how many of you thought, like I did, that it was going to be Butcher, not Hughie, that confronted Annie?

It can't possibly have been an accident that the cover shows someone in a trench coat, but with their face hidden. Hughie almost NEVER wears the same trench coat as Butcher. And Hughie's not wearing it in the book itself, just on the cover.

I thought that too.

Chris

[Boris]

On a side note: Based on the cover, how many of you thought, like I did, that it was going to be Butcher, not Hughie, that confronted Annie?

It can't possibly have been an accident that the cover shows someone in a trench coat, but with their face hidden. Hughie almost NEVER wears the same trench coat as Butcher. And Hughie's not wearing it in the book itself, just on the cover.



Actually, I thought it was going to be MM!

It would be interesting. After all, it's still Annie's turn to discover her boyfriend's little secrets.

[saidestroyer]

Actually, I thought it was going to be MM!

It would be interesting. After all, it's still Annie's turn to discover her boyfriend's little secrets.

Maybe he kicks a can at 1000 mph again, but she stays oblivious to it.

[Kamakazi]

Maybe he kicks a can at 1000 mph again, but she stays oblivious to it.

It's worse than that, actually. She's had sex with him. A lot. And we've been shown repeatedly that supes can only have sex with other supes, or people who are cranked up on V.

Maybe we're supposed to believe that she's just that naive, but again, it goes back to the "how stupid are we supposed to believe these people are?" question.

[saidestroyer]

I'm not sure if it's either the blue toad I just licked, or the couple of bears I had a few hors ago... but are you saying that ennis is going all meta on us?

http://cdn3.knowyourmeme.com/i/2373/original/Hypnotoad.gif?1242579895

[Hot_Ch0c0]

It's worse than that, actually. She's had sex with him. A lot. And we've been shown repeatedly that supes can only have sex with other supes, or people who are cranked up on V.

Maybe we're supposed to believe that she's just that naive, but again, it goes back to the "how stupid are we supposed to believe these people are?" question.

IMHO I think it speaks more to the stupidity of Hughie than to Annie being stupid... I think we're supposed to believe that Annie has been extremely sheltered... Annie supposedly hadn't even had any experience with alcohol until she met Hughie, for example...

Her one "first love" Drummer Boy from her Christian supergroup "Capes for Christ"(?) (Was that the name?) Is supposedly her only experience of full sexual intercourse before Hughie... Maybe we'll see otherwise, but they portray her as naive... Hughie was supposed to be the first one to perform oral sex on her (and we saw the result of her inexperience)... Annie's sexual explorations into pornography at the porno store were supposed to be innocent curiosity... Plus there are other factors that apply to Annie, but not Hughie...

Annie doesn't appear to have major levels of "super strength", so she probably wouldn't expect to hurt Hughie in the act... (while Hughie can punch through a supe, etc. with his amazing strength) Her biggest concern might be accidently triggering her powers in the act...

Annie probably did NOT see the "behind the scenes" drug use at Herogasm and she has NOT been to the superbrothels. (while Hughie has witnessed firsthand the preparation for and consequences of getting a "length of rope" from a supe)

Annie DID see plenty of supe on supe action at Herogasm and Queen Maeve's "delivery boys" in the Seven's HQ. But, she still wasn't aware of all the dirty details of either situation... Maeve leaves her men exhausted, not broken, and Annie didn't wander around looking into everything that was happening at Herogasm. She appeared to stay to herself...

However, Hughie (da moron) has the COMPLETE inside scoop. He's personally witnessed the working girls using blue V laced cocaine before entertaining Teenage Kix. Butcher and MM have told him all of the dirty details he may not have seen himself...Plus, only Hughie knows exactly what Black Noir did to him...

Plus, I was just thinking about Vic the Veep at Herogasm... How can I put this?.... Obviously, a female supe can handle "a pounding" from a non-supe male much better than ordinary females (or males for that matter) can handle "a pounding" from a male supe...

So, I cut Annie a little slack... But, Hughie should definitely know better....