the Boys #45 and #46 - Dynamite Entertainment

The revelations are coming fast and furious now. Annie not only tells Hughie her secret . . she shows him. Because at first he doesn't believe her. I think he loves Annie . . at least he thinks he does, but he has a hard time getting past all the things that he's seen the 'supers' do, and . . all the things that Butcher and his group has done. I just don't think that this is a situation that he ever saw himself being in. Later on . . thinking it all through, Hughie realizes Annie is a 'super'. And the Boys . . they hunt 'supers'. Which means eventually Annie will be on Butcher's radar. So he goes to talk to him. And surprisingly . . Butcher is very cordial. Meanwhile, while all of this is going on, the Frenchman and the Female are doing a little undercover work at the 'Believe' festival, in the park. Basically, they're following the Homelander around and trying to get any information that they can. Which actually end up being quite a bit. The Homelander has a little heart to heart with Oh Father . . kind of piggybacking on his little revelation that he almost exposed at the end of Herogasm. It kind of sounds like he wants to get out from under the thumb of Vought-American. So Hughie and Butcher have this big old talk, putting everything out there on the table. Once they do that, Butcher tells Hughie how they get all their information on the Seven . . and how they keep getting those cameras in their base . . Queen Maeve. Seems she's mad at the Homelander for some reason, so she went to talk to the Legend some time ago. They worked out an agreement, and Queen Maeve's been helping them ever since. Butcher also lets him look through the tapes. He says that there's so much of it that they haven't had the time to look at it all. So he lets Hughie take a crack at it. And of course he going to see the footage for when Annie first came to the Seven. I'm not sure if Butcher is doing it to break them up, or if he's just trying to get Hughie nice and pissed at the Homelander. But whatever the case, Hughie's about to see some stuff he'll wish he hadn't. And after talking to Annie, I think the Homelander is starting to realize that Annie really is as innocent and naive as she acts. Plus this Christianity stuff that she's tauting for 'Believe' isn't just rhetoric to her. I think the Homelander kind of envy's her perspective of the world. It turns out he's got something planned and I think he's trying to keep Annie out of it. Garth Ennis has everything kind of slowing down right now . . there's a whole lot of character and story development going on, but I think he's building up to something really big. This story-arc really has a different feel to it than the previous ones. But, I think that's all about to change. It's kind of like he's moving all the players around, getting them ready for whatever big gambit he's got in store for us. Russ Braun is doing the art for this story-arc. With Darrick Robertson doing the covers . . as usual. I know some people aren't thrilled with this series, but . . I like it. I think it's a lot of fun. And I like the way it pokes at the traditional super-hero genre. Basically, it's making fun of itself.

the Boys #44 - Dynamite Entertainment

Well it finally happens at the end of this issue . . Annie finally tells Hughie that she's a 'super'. But, to be honest, it's all coming to a head anyways. There's a religious thing that Vought does in the park every year called 'Believe'. Basically, it's like a tiered faith thing. Every year you pay more money, move up a tier, and more sins are forgiven. Plus they link it with the super-heroes . . specifically the Seven, and it draws an even bigger crowd. Well Vought-American wants the Homelander and Starlight to be the main attractions. Plus they want to up Annie's exposure. But, since she's been keeping this secret from Hughie, that's the last thing she wants. Anyways, one thing leads to another and Annie and Hughie end up in the park days before the 'Believe' event. As the conversations turns towards the 'supes' that will be attending, Hughie finally lets his guard down and tells Annie what had happened to his last girlfriend, Robin, when she was caught in the middle of a fight with A-Train. Annie's shocked by his story . . especially since she's currently one of A-Train's teammates. And that's when she can't stand it any more and tells Hughie the truth. But we'll have to wait until next issue to see how he reacts, because . . that's how the issue ends. I thought this issue was a nice change of pace. We have Butcher wanting to apologize to Hughie for what he did to him with Super-Duper . . and what led to his altercation with Malchemical, but . . in order to do so, he'd have to let him know why he did it, and what he knows about Annie. He thinks it would be better for Hughie to find out about Annie on his own. Which . . he now has. We also see that Homelander has a secret. We don't know exactly what it is yet, but . . it seems that it's getting harder and harder for him to hide it. Overall, I thought that Garth Ennis did a lot of character development this issue. It was a nice change of pace from all the mayhem. And Russ Braun steps in to do the art. I can't believe this book is almost up to issue #50 already. Where does the time go?

the Boys #43 - Dynamite Entertainment

Things finally hit the fan this issue. After what Mother's Milk found out from the Legend, he goes to confront that guy from Vought-American. I don't know what he hoped to accomplish there, but . . it just serves to make him madder at Butcher. He's finally realized that the reason Butcher sent him after Super-Duper was because . . he knew that eventually he'd cross paths with Malchemical. With him witnessing Hughie's involvement with Annie, he convinced himself that he was working for Vought. So he figured he'd have Malchemical take him out. It didn't even occur to him that Hughie hadn't even made the connection as to who Annie was. 'How could he not know?' To which Mother's Milk replies, 'Oh shit, I dunno! How could he answer the goddamned door wit' blood from the bitch's snatch all over him? How could he end up takin' a shit on the floor of Tek-Knight's cave? Because he's Hughie, man . .!' And then he tells him that he heard the guy from Vought give the order to waste Hughie. So obviously Hughie can't be working for him. Meanwhile, while all of this is going on, Hughie has gone into Super-Duper's house to confront Malchemical because he's decided to use his superior power to make all of these idiots his bitches. Butcher's been watching as Malchemical has been moping the floor with him. So when Butcher finally goes in to save him, Hughie is pretty beaten up. And as Malchemical comes at him in gaseous form, Butcher simply pulls out his lighter and blows him up. He wants to take out the rest of Super-Duper also, but . . Hughie convinces him that they don't really know what they're doing. The issue ends with Butcher and MM arguing. And Annie, it appears, has taken off from the Seven's orbital platform towards Earth. I wonder if she knows about Hughie's condition. Also the Homelander is sitting on the outside of the platform looking down on the Earth and thinking. 'What I know? I can do anything. Maybe it's time I got started.' That sounds rather ominous. Anyways, now that they've finally got this situation with Hughie sorted out, Butcher knows that he still is loyal to the team . . we can move on to the next story-arc. It seems that Hughie is the only one that doesn't have a clue about Annie. But then, Hughie doesn't have a clue about much, which is what I think makes him such a likeable character. This is one of those books that no matter how could the current story-arc is . . I can't wait for the next one. I've really enjoyed the work that Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson have done on this book. I know it's not for everyone. But that's ok. If you don't like it . . don't pick it up.

the Boys #42 - Dynamite Entertainment

We don't make much progress in the story this issue. Hughie is still sitting on the worst super-team ever, Super-Duper. They're so dumb, they don't even know that Hughie is watching them. Even though he just happened to be there to save one of their lives last issue, and this issue . . after one of them accidentally lands on his car, they invite him in for tea. Anyways, Butcher is punishing him because he spotted him with Annie . . the Starlighter. Butcher knows she's with the Seven, but Hughie doesn't. Hell, Hughie doesn't even know she's a 'super'. However . . Butcher is naturally suspicious. And even thought Hughie has been with them all this time, he still thinks that he might be a plant by Vought-American. Apparently he's just one of those conspiracy nuts. Or in this case, someone who believes in long drawn out plot-lines. Anyways, Mother's Milk doesn't know what Butcher is up to, but he doesn't like the way he's treating Hughie. And, seeing as how they're not getting all the same information that Butcher is . . he's starting to think that Butcher may be up to something. If they'd all just sit down and talk, they could get this all sorted out. But that's not going to happen. They're all to hard-headed. Plus their ego far outweighs their intelligence. Anyways, the only thing that really happens this issue is that Annie continues to write her letter to Hughie. She wants to come clean about everything, and . . she wants to quit the Seven. Both of which I think are going to be harder than she expects. And, Malchemical, after getting into an argument with Auntie Sis and with Hughie, decides to use his powers to start mucking with the team a bit. We see him get a deep dark secret out of Auntie Sis this issue, but I'm just wondering what he's going to do to mess with Hughie. Oh yeah, and out of frustration, it looks like Mother's Milk is going straight to the horse's mouth, as it were, to get some answers . . that guy from Vought-American. So . . even though this particular issue was a bit boring, I'm still in the league of fans that feels that this book is fantastic. I love the way that Garth Ennis pokes fun at the traditional super-hero genre. And now it feels like he's starting to explore the psychological make-up of this team and just what exactly all of this cloak and dagger stuff can do to one's perspective. Hughie actually seems the most balanced of them all. While Butcher seems to be starting to fray around the edges. But if you deal with liars, and cheats, and thieves, and whores every day . . I'd imagine that's what you'd start to think about everyone around you. Who do you trust? And who helps to keep you grounded? 42 issues later and I still enjoy every installment of this series. Of course, Darick Robertson's art doesn't hurt either. This story-arc wraps up next issue. I can't wait to see what happens.

the Boys #41 - Dynamite Entertainment

Annie is really close to telling Hughie her secret . . that she's a member of the Seven. But she's afraid that it'll change their relationship and that Hughie won't love her anymore. However, once he finds that out . . how does he tell her that he's a member of the Boys? And the even bigger problem is . . Butcher has already found out Annie's secret. Hughie has kept Annie away from his team-mates because . . well, I don't think he really approves of what they do. I think he believes that it is necessary. But I don't think he approves of their methods. So, I think he's trying to keep Annie away from that. But, back to Butcher . . because Hughie hasn't shared this information, and because he can't believe that Hughie hasn't put it together as to just who his girlfriend really is . . he now doesn't trust Hughie. He thinks he's playing with him, and his team. But he's not sure what he's up to. He thinks that he could be working for the Seven, or maybe even Vought-American. But Butcher is already paranoid, and this revelation has pretty much sent him over the edge. So he's got him on some menial duty. He's watching the 'short-bus' of super-teams . . Super-Duper. They have a new leader called Malchemical, so that's his excuse for giving him the assignment. During the course of all this, there's 2 things that are going to cause problems. First, Mother's Milk has found out what Butcher is up to, and after perusing some confidential files from Vought . . he thinks that Butcher is up to some shenanigans with Hughie. And he's not very happy about it. Secondly while watching Super-Duper, Black-Hole has an accident and starts choking to death. When it's obvious that none of his teammates know what to do, Hughie rushes in and saves his life by performing a tracheotomy. Unfortunately, Butcher witness' the whole thing. So now he's convinced that Hughie is up to no good. The question is . . what's he going to do now. I thought this was an entertaining issue. A little boring . . compared to some of the other things that the Boys have been through. But, it was necessary for the development of this story. I was starting to wonder how long Hughie was going to be able to date Annie without someone starting to put 2 and 2 together. As a member of the Seven she's pretty prominent, so . . it was only a matter of time. At the very least I think Hughie's going to lose his girlfriend. But . . who knows what Butcher and Garth Ennis have in store for him, so . . I have a feeling that he's not going to come through this unscathed. Like I said . . it was entertaining. And as usual Darick Robertson did a great job with the art.

the Boys #40 - Dynamite Entertainment

The cover looks disgusting, but . . apparently that's the Homelander's secret. As a side-affect of his powers, when he gets exceptionally mad . . to the point where he's out of control and can't think straight . . I guess he likes to rip people apart and eat their organs. Who knew? Well . . apparently Butcher did because it appears that these were the pictures that were in the envelope that he gave the Homelander. Anyways, now that that's out . . the real story this issue is that after seeing Hughie and Annie last issue . . Butcher doesn't know if he can trust him anymore. Now that he knows he and Annie are a couple, he can't conceive of the notion that Hughie doesn't know who she is, Lamplighter from the Seven. So, his next logical conclusion is that Voight-American had planted Hughie inside of the Boys to bring them down. But he doesn't want to let on that he knows yet because Butcher likes to have plans within plans. He's thinking that somewhere along the line he may be able to use Hughie against Voight, so . . he's giving him a bunch of menial tasks right now to keep him busy . . and out of the rest of the Boys hair. However, Mother's Milk is paying attention to what's going on, and I think he's becoming a little concerned. But we don't know yet for which side of this misunderstanding. So, in the meantime, he's being sent to New Jersey to keep an eye on Super Duper. Boring! Plus, he and Annie's relationship seems to be moving along pretty nicely. He doesn't want to spend that much time away from her. As he's leaving, Annie is at the train-station to say goodbye. Butcher is in the shadows watching their every kiss and embrace. He's really becoming paranoid about this. But this is chapter one of the Innocents, so . . we don't know yet what's going to happen. I like that we get a little bit of a breather on this story-arc. It's toned down a bit from the last big one. But it's still the Boys. So you just know that there's going to be murder and mayhem. I like this book. I think that Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson are doing a great job poking fun at the 'super-hero' genre. The cover is a bit over the top, but . . it is what it is.

the Boys #39 - Dynamite Entertainment

There's a lot of character development for the various people in this title, but . . I think the point of this issue is to show the Butcher that he may not have things as together as he thinks. The issue starts out with him looking through files and surveillance. During which . . he's feeling pretty good about himself. He feels like he knows everything, and he can pretty much do what he wants. Ironically . . kind of the same thing that he doesn't like about the supes. But by the end of the issue he's going to feeling like his whole world has been turned upside down. We know that he's got cameras and such in the supes headquarters. So he's seen how they've initiated Starlight, Annie, into their group when she came on board. He's also keeping a close eye on Vought-American and it's various representatives. Anyways, his whole world falls apart as he goes out for some tea. He happens to run across Hughie and Annie while he's walking around the block. He doesn't recognize her at first, as they're in a passionate embrace, but . . when they pull apart . . and he looks at her face . . his jaw hits the ground and his world comes tumbling apart. That's when he realizes . . 'Nothin'. Absolutely nothin'. That's what I fu#$%n know.' What I think the problem is . . the world that the Butcher works in there has to be a certain level of trust. That's why he's been having the other members of the Boys confide in Hughie about their own individual stories. I think that he was afraid that Hughie was going to leave and he wants him to be 'bought in' to the group. However, seeing him with Annie . . I don't think his first thought is that Hughie doesn't know who he's involved with. How can he not know? So if he knows . . and he's doin' her anyways . . what else is he keeping a secret from the Butcher? And is 'wee Hughie' even who he really is? I think this is really going to mess with the Butcher's head. I mean . . he lives and works in a tempest of paranoia. I think this may be the spark that's lit the fuse on the bomb. I have a feeling that things aren't going to be the same for this group for quite a while . . if ever. I think it's definitely going to send this book into a whole new direction. I know this book isn't on everyone's list. But . . I like it. I think Garth Ennis is doing a great job. Whatever the subtext and implications of his stories are . . it's still just entertainment. To me it's like a good movie . . you go and watch it . . get into it for a little while, as it provides a form of escapism, but then you come back to the 'real' world and deal with whatever you gotta deal with. John McCrea does the art for this issue. I'm not a huge fan . . I'd much rather have Darick Robertson on every book, but . . I thought John did a good job this issue. And I love the cover. Anyways, now we'll have to wait and see where we go from here. I have a feeling that the Butcher is going to react . . hastily. This should be interesting.

the Boys #38 - Dynamite Entertainment

As with the previous few issues, this issue was entirely devoted to giving us the origin story of one of it's characters. This time . . the Female is up. Since we're up to issue #38 and we've never seen her speak, this story is told to Hughie by the Frenchman. So, we don't know if he may have elaborated a bit, but . . he does seem to be the one closest to her. So if anyone knows her story I guess it would be him. Since the Female is Japanese everyone seems to assume that her powers come from some kind of fall-out from Hiroshima. Yes she was born there, and lived there, but . . neither her or her family suffer any ill effects from that tragic incident. No, her origin is much more mundane. It seems that her mother was a secretary for a Tokyo corporation the equivalent to Vought-American. There was nothing spectacular about her. She was just cheap and rather than pay for day-care kept her daughter hidden under her desk while she was working. So of course she wanders out and gets into trouble. Some scientist was doing some type of experiment with a compound similar to Compound-V. His residue from that project . . toxic-waste, if you will . . he kept in a bucket in the lab. Anyways, the Female crawls in there and eats everything out of the bucket. Somehow this raised her aggression level and now, basically, she's a killing machine. So she was basically a lab-rat of this corporation. They tried to keep her contained, but she would break out and they'd have to go and recapture her. I'm sure they went through a lot of men doing that. Finally, on one of her extracurricular excursions, Butcher and the Boys show up because Butcher decides that they need a killing machine in their group. The Frenchman takes to her immediately. I think he sees her as a daughter . . kind of. Anyways, this pretty much wraps up the origins of the group members . . except for Butcher. But, I don't think Hughie's going to get to much information about him. Butcher seems to like to keep things pretty close to the vest. I thought this was a decent issue by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. Everything has been pretty much non-stop since the beginning of this series. So it was nice for things to slow down a bit the last couple of issues. But now the question is . . what Hughie has learned . . is it the truth? And more importantly . . what doesn't he know? By the way, that was a great cover. It reminded me of the movie poster for Aliens. I'm still enjoying this series, and it's still one of my favorites every month.

the Boys #37 - Dynamite Entertainment

This issue Hughie gets told the origin of Frenchie. Whether he wants to hear it or not. Personally . . I think it's all drivel. Butcher wants everyone to bond with Hughie because he thinks he may want to leave their little group. I'm not sure why his presence is so important, but . . Butcher doesn't want to see him go. So, after Mother's Milk it's Frenchie's turn. But, being the pompous arrogant ass that he is, I don't think the story he told him is the truth. I think he was just trying to fill up some space and come up with something half-way believable. Hell . . now even that. Les Saintes de Haw-haw? That's supposedly the yearly festival in the village where he lived. That's where people from his village settled their grievances from the previous year by performing jousting matches with baguettes. That's also were his father was killed, trying to uphold the family honor, when Hughie's childhood rival, Black Pierre beat his father and killed him with a croissant. Like I said, I don't think he was being completely upfront with Hughie. However, the final part of the story may have some truth to it. Hughie was in a bar and he got in a fight with a young American . . not from the David Bowie song. Anyways, Butcher saw the fight and decided . . 'Hmmm. What I need now . . is a mad cunt.' He took him back to America where he got shot-up with Compound V, and he's been with the group ever since. A L'outrance . . 'to the bitter end'. It was an interesting story . . although a bit of a stretch. But . . this is a comic book. Right? It's all a stretch. Anyways, it was an other unique issue by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. Next issue we get the origin of the Female. I wonder who's going to tell that one, as I've never seen her speak. Ahh . . I'm sure the boys will work it out somehow. I like this book. It's interesting, irreverent, and chock full of ironic sarcastic humor. Plus it pushes the envelope with every issue. What more could you ask for?

Herogasm #6 - Dynamite Entertainment

At the end of last issue I thought the VP's detail had made the Boys. Which . . I guess they had, but . . it was also a ruse that Butcher and Agent Lucero had worked out the draw out the Red River boys. They're the mercs that had worked their way into the Secret Service detail. Lucero just wanted to do a good job . . to do the right thing for his country. And he wanted his job to mean something. The Red River guys had taken all of that away, and with his little encounter with the Boys he found a way to maybe correct that. Anyways, long story short, the Red River boys make a run for it, but in the end . . they go down. Hard. And has his final act, Lucero takes out Godrey . . who had really manipulated the whole thing. However, the one question we don't have answered is . . what was it that the Homelander was about to confess to last issue at the awards ceremony. We never did see or hear it. But the Homelander was so distraught afterwards that he ended up smashing the trophy that he had just won. I'm sure we'll see the repercussions of this sometime in the Boys in the near future. Anyways, another cool book by Garth Ennis and John McCrea. I'm not sure what the whole thing accomplished . . other than bringing down Godfrey, and opening up this mystery about the Homelander. But . . it was still an interesting and entertaining story. And . . it's already out in TPB form in case you're interested. They just don't waste any time with that anymore, do they?

the Boys #36 - Dynamite Entertainment

Ok . . I don't think there's been a week where I've bought this many Dynamite titles all at once. These guys are blowing up. It's just a testament to the quality of books they're putting out. I just hope they can keep it up. This issue finishes up the story of Mother's Milk. Butcher is afraid that Hughie is getting to the point where he's getting a little fed up. He thinks he may be thinking about jetting. So he asks Mother to talk to him and tell him his story. He thinks that if he gets to know his team-mates a little more intimately, it'll change his view of things . . give him a little focus. Last issue he talked about his child-hood. This issue he talks about his wife leaving and taking his daughter with him. That's not overly traumatic. That happens a lot. But, Butcher was the one that stepped up and used his government contacts to help him find his daughter and get her back. Also in the process of this tale, since they're standing on the Brooklyn Bridge, he expresses how he felt, and what happened the day that the terrorists struck. He relates that tale to Vought-American and their lack of concern over the average citizen. Next issue it looks like the Frenchman is going to step up and give us his tale. I really like this book. I think Garth Ennis does a fantastic job of expressing and making us feel the anguish and suffering that occurs through some of these tales. The scenes about the attack on the bridge were gripping. Thankfully Darick Robertson is back from his little hiatus and is handling the art once again. It just feels natural. And . . I have 1 more Dynamite book to read this week.

the Boys #35 - Dynamite Entertainment

Thankfully Darick Robertson returns to the pencilling this issue. I mean, the story didn't lose any of it's feel or momentum while Darick was out . . Warren was still at the helm, so . . things flowed along pretty much the same. But . . Darick is the man for this book. I don't care who they bring in here, or how good they are . . in my eyes, Darick will always be the person for this book. Period! Anyways, this issue Mother's Milk gives Hughie his origin story. Sort of. I'm sure he didn't give him all the details, or he left some stuff out, but . . overall . . he finds out how this guy came up. It's kind of a sad story, really. His mother worked in a canning factory, part of Vought-American . . these guys are into everything, I guess. But before it was a canning factory, it was the place where they made Compound V. You know those little blue pills that Vought-American developed that give people the super-powers. Anyways, like the people that work in asbestos lined factories, some of it leaked in to the workers systems. His brother came out retarded, and he was tethered to his mother permanently . . literally. If he didn't get his mother's milk, hence the name . . he would wither away to nothing until he did. When the compound his his brother, he ballooned up past what his body could take, and he suffocated. Michael got off a little easier . . but not much. He was in the boxing ring when his powers manifested. He ended up taking the other guy's head off. Shortly after that is when Butcher recruited him. Anyways, he's telling Hughie all of this because Butcher thinks that Hughie is about to hit the curb. He gets along pretty well with Vas, but . . ever since the G-Men, he's been kind of fed up with all of this stuff that they do. He doesn't know whether he can stay on this path. Anyways, next issue we'll get the rest of Michael's story. I liked this one. It's about time we started getting some of the background on these guys. And you just know it's not going to be like any other secret origin you ever read. Whether it's a big seller or not . . I still like this book. It's different. It's irreverent. And it's one of my favorites.

Herogasm #5 - Dynamite Entertainment

Really, the only thing that came out of this issue was trying to figure out what the Homelander is up to. This issue is the awards ceremony, and as he let slip to a couple of his colleagues, there would be some interesting announcements tonight. So, with the awards progressing, we find that guy from Vought-American sitting in the bar. A working girl sits down and casually involves him in conversation. It isn't until a quite a few minutes later that he realizes that she's never going to get around to negotiating her price, because . . she's already been paid. Somebody paid her to keep him busy . . distract him. This happens to be right around the same time that the Homelander is accepting the award for Greatest Hero. In his speech he states, 'You see I . . did something. A couple of days ago. The morning after we arrived. I did it . . because it occurred to me. Nothing more than that. I did it because I could. Because there was nothing stopping me. I didn't look at the results. I didn't wallow in the implications. I simply went about my day. Now, we all play the same game. Participation is a good word for it. We follow the rules, and were rewarded with a pleasant lifestyle and the occasional bonus. But when I tell you what I did, I want you to think about the possibilities for each and every one of us . . .' Unfortunately . . that's when the Vought guy comes walking in the back door of the ceremony. ' . . . I'd like to thank you once again for this wonderful award and I hope you enjoy the rest of the evening!' So I don't know if it's something the Homelander just doesn't want him to know, or . . maybe he wanted to talk to the rest of his associates without him listening. But either way . . he didn't follow through with it. That is to say . . he didn't follow through with announcing it. Because apparently he's already done it. We just don't know what it is, yet. Meanwhile agent Lucero, after talking to the Boys, has gone back to his detail with the VP. But he lets it slip that may have done something about their concern with Red River infiltrating the Secret Service ranks. So now Mister Godfrey has asked everyone else to search the entire island. I think he suspects that the Boys may be around someplace. And Hughie is still confused about his confrontation in the sewers. He doesn't know why they haven't been made yet. And . . he's wondering why his arse is itching so much. Anyways, next issue wraps this all up and we'll find out if the President stays in office, with the backing of Haliburton. Or, if the VP makes an ascension, with the backing of Vought-American. Either way the Republicans stay in power with big business . . the biggest . . backing either of them. This is probably important because it'll affect the future direction of the Boys. Plus . . we have to find out how the Homelander is involved in all of this. One more issue to go . . by Garth Ennis and John McCrea.

the Boys #34 - Dynamite Entertainment

I think Hughie may have the right idea. He's thinking about quittin' the Boys. Stormfront finally catches up to them this issue, and Butcher starts wailing on him. I can't blame him, really. If he lets up at all, Stormfront's gonna' tear him apart. Even after taking a crowbar to his mouth, Stormfront still almost takes him out. That is until Mother's milk and Frenchie get involved. But it's Vas, the Love Sausage, that really turns the tide. And then . . then they kick the crap out of him, literally . . along with a few other organs. Overall, it was pretty disgusting. Anyways, Hughie is there for all of this, even though he didn't really partake in the mayhem. So later, when he's sitting in the Female's hospital room, talking to her unconscious self . . the reason everything went to this level in the first place, he begins to tell her "All the killin', you know? It's just no' me. It's no' how I expected to live my life. To tell you the truth, I was startin' to write the Boys off as a bunch of violent nutters. I can't bloody stand supes, or the awful stuff they get up to. But I was seriously thinkin' about quittin'. But when I see you lyin' here like this. It's like seein' someone I've known since I was . . aw, god. I hope you wake up, hen." As he's tearing up, he notices a bag on her nightstand. "Ooh! Chocolate limes!" As he eats one . . she wakes up and breaks his arm." Butcher seems to know that Hughie's on the fence. He seems to know everything. But Butcher thinks Hughie's friendship with Vas will help him stick around a little longer. The broken arm isn't going to help though. As a third option, Butcher suggests "I suppose we could always tell him who we are." So, I guess, next issue starts the Origins . . beginning with Mother's Milk. Anyways, it was an interesting book. A little violent, but . . interesting. I am looking forward to the origins of these characters . . to see where they came from . . what they're hiding. Plus we have to see ultimately what Hughie's going to decide. Garth Ennis writes it, and I guess Carlos Ezquerra is doing the art now. He's done the last couple of issues.

Herogasm #4 - Dynamite Entertainment

In this issue the Boys are still watching over the proceeding at Herogasm, but . . it seems that the real purpose of this story is to show Vought-American's involvement in the government . . specifically, the White House. Last issue the Female captured Agent Lucero for the Boys, and they began interrogating him. This issue, they have Agent Lucero convinced that their from somewhere within the intelligence community, and their looking into Vic the VP's affairs. Somehow, this all revolves around 9/11, 2001 also. I thought that the Seven had taken down the plane of terrorists? But that's not how Agent Lucero describes it. Actually President Shaefer was all over it in the Situation Room. But . . he was supposed to be out of town . . Florida. He cancelled his trip at the last second. Vic, the VP, who seems to be under Vought's influence . . in not just flat out controlled by . . I think was supposed to handle the situation. Which would probably up his credibility. But since the President was in control, he had to play second fiddle. That is until somebody took a fire extinguisher upside the Presidents head. So anyways, now Vic is in position to assume the office . . which the guy from Vought has informed him will happen within the year . . and then he be elected to his own term, and "You'll implement policy initiated by us and us alone." So anyways, it looks like this whole thing is set up to show us just how much influence Vought-American has over the government. And obviously the Boys are here to do something about that. Which, afterwards will either make it harder for the Boys because they may lose their connection with the agency, or . . it may be easier because the Boys will put a stop to all of this . . or at least throw a serious wrench in Vought's plans . . making them the 'darlings' of the agency. Can you imagine Butcher being invited to prom? Anyways, this issue doesn't focus as much on the Herogasm part of the story, but rather on the covert government manipulation that is proceeding under the cover of all this hedonism. Overall I thought it was an ok book. But we didn't get to see much of the Boys this issue. Most of the time was spent explaining this government part of the story to us. As usual, this series is brought to us by Garth Ennis and John McCrea.

the Boys #33 - Dynamite Entertainment

Here it is . . another issue of the book that everybody loves to hate! I will admit that I'm not particularly thrilled with John McCrea's art. He's been doing the current story-arc, but after seeing Darick Robertson's work in this book for so long . . I'll just say John's style is completely different from Darick's. At the end of last issue, Payback had come to visit the Boys . . courtesy of Vought-American. Vought doesn't really like the Boys running around all roughshod and all . . loose cannons that they can't control. Afterall, they have a media and entertainment empire built here. They just want everything to stay the course so that they can keep cashing their residual and copyright checks. But this action of Payback is just what the Boys thrive on . . putting in check 'supers' who think they can do anything . . to anyone. Payback hurt the Female last issue, so when they attack the boys, Butcher takes out the Crimson Countess right away. Now he's going to take out the rest of Payback . . one at a time. Meanwhile, I think some of the members of the Seven are started to get fed up with being led around like little 'bitches' by their in-house Vought representative. Currently Vought is trying to upgrade their uniforms and images. But only a couple of them are going along with it. People can say what they want about Garth Ennis . . the level of violence, and some of the images he presents in his stories, but . . the guy can write, and he gives you things to think about. What I like the most about this book, is how Garth has taken the traditional super-hero convention and turned it on it's ear. And, when it comes down to it . . it's just a comic-book. If you don't like it . . don't buy it.

Herogasm #3 - Dynamite Entertainment

I know . . I know. But once I started it, I have to finish it. That's just how I am. Plus it is the Boys . . so I do want to see how it comes out. Although, I have to say, now that I've read it . . I'm even more confused than I was before. I thought the boys were going after the VP. They dropped one of the metas in his hot-tub . . Doofus. He's kind of like this Earth's version of the Thing. However in the confusion, at the end of the book, we find out that they were really after one of his Secret Service contingent . . agent Michael Lucero. Plus, while Hughie was in the sewers, preparing the way for Frenchie's escape, he was attacked by Black Noir. He's also one of the Seven. Although, I don't know if 'attack' is the right word. Really, he just sneaks up behind him, holds him in the air, and then pulls down Hughie's pants. He then gives him a 'thumbs-up' and hits his head on the ceiling, knocking him out. We have no idea what that was all about. Unless, maybe he know something about Starlight. So anyways, now I'm confused as to what this is all about. Garth Ennis writes this mini, as well as the main title, but John McCrea does the art on this one. Usually, somewhere along the line, I do become a little confused on the Boys' storylines. They always start out in one direction, but then usually end up somewhere else. It's part of what I like about this title . . they're not predictable. But this one really has me scratching my head. Now I have to get issue #4 to see how it all wraps up. That's ok though . . it's a fun ride anyways.

the Boys #32 - Dynamite Entertainment

Vought-American is trying to strike back at the Boys for what they've done to their income resource . . the G-Men. Well, actually is was Vought that took them all out, but it was something they felt they had to do after they were compromised by the Boys. So now they've got this group of b-listers . . actually, they'd probably be 'd' or 'e' listed . . they're pretty low down the totem-pole, after them. Last issue they beat up the Female, and this issue they set them up by taking her to a fake hospital. The Boys almost don't realize it until it's to late. They end up taking their licks, but . . they give as good as they get. All of them have been hurt, on both sides, but when the Countess goes after Butcher's dog . . well, lets just say, all bets are off. It looks like Butcher's going to take them out one at a time, starting with the Countess. I know this book is violent, and over the top, but . . really, that's the point. It's meant to be a parody of traditional 'super-hero' comics. It takes the line in traditional comics that 'heroes' will never cross . . and buries it. In this world, the 'supers' act like anyone else with notoriety, fame and fortune . . they feel like they're above the rules of others and can do whatever they want. The Boys job is to keep them in check. They let them know that there's a real world out there and real consequences to go with their actions. I think Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson have done a fantastic job with this concept. Unfortunately, Darick doesn't draw this one. It appears that Carlos Ezquerra will be filling in for him for a while. Probably at least this story arc. He does a pretty decent job. The book doesn't lose any of it's momentum. I like this book. A lot! Whether it's a good seller or not . . it's good escapism. That's what this is all about. Right?

Herogasm #2 - Dynamite Entertainment

I know . . it was bad enough that I picked up issue #1 of this series . . with all it's sex and hedonism . . but then I continue to follow it with this issue? My comic guy already had these books bagged and boarded by the time I got to the shop Wednesday. He said there was some publicity about how 'dirty' and 'raunchy' this title was, he couldn't take the chance of some kid walking into the shop and picking it up. When did the day arrive that we have to be carded to buy comic books? This isn't the norm. The Boys story-line just happened to go in this direction, and Garth Ennis decided that he wanted to push the envelope a little farther. With all the sexual innuendo and promiscuity of the Boys series . . tell me you didn't see this coming somewhere along the line? And, you know in the end, all the media is really doing is driving up the resale value of these books. Thanks for that . . by the way. Besides all the obvious porn . . this book does actually serve to further the Boys story-line. After you work around all the pictures of naked 'supers'. We find out this issue that this whole thing is put together yearly by Vought-American. It's a way for their 'agents' to unwind. And this year they have a special guest . . the VP. Anyways, Vought has decided to send another group, Payback, after the Boys, unaware that Butcher and company are already there watching all the proceedings. So the Boys are the target of Vought, obviously, and the target of the Boys? The VP. After seeing Darick Robertson's pencils for so long in the regular title, John McCrea's fall kind of short. It's very cartoonish. I'm not discounting John's style . . it's just very different from Darick's. With Garth writing it, the story, obviously, could have just run through the Boys title. But . . for obvious reasons, it can't. If you can just take the story for the story . . it's an ok book. The gratuitous sex, and violence and naked 'supers' is a bit over the top, but . . this book is set up as a way to spoof the super-hero genre . . this just takes it one step farther.

the Boys #31 - Dynamite Entertainment

This issue . . the Female gets he ass handed to her. Literally! Vought has decided to be a little more proactive in their handling of the Boys. So they've started hiring super-groups to go after them. They can't actually send the Seven right in after them. There is a treaty kind of thing after all. Anyways, Vought sends in the teams and then sits back and watches how the Boys handle them. I think they're trying to learn from their losses. Sooner or later they realize that in order to take them down, they really need to go after them separately. Which is where the Female makes her mistake. She's got some kind of tip about a 'super' going bad on a bar full of Italians. When she arrives she finds this German hero standing over all of their dead corpses. It turns out the whole thing was a ruse to draw the Female here alone. She gets a few good licks in, and actually pulls one of the guy's eyes out, but . . in the end he just overpowers her. After the eye thing, the guy freaks out and just completely pulverizes her head into the ground. At the end of the issue Frenchie arrives at the 'club-house' and they all immediately know that somethings wrong. Meanwhile Vought has also started working on the Seven's image. They want to upgrade their image and costumes. Part of which means that Starlight is going to end up more in the spotlight. Which means, it's only a matter of time before Butcher and Vought and everyone else realize what she and Hughie have been up to. And what's Hughie going to do when he realizes who she is? I think this story-line is an interesting direction that Garth Ennis is taking all of these characters in. This is part one of the Self-preservation Society. Carlos Ezquerra does the art for this one. I loved the cover. This book is constantly poking fun at the mainstream comics.