I just finished a monster graphic novel series called The Boys.
Many people have heard of the show on Amazon. As usual, the literally work is 10X better than the show. A lot of people scoff at the idea of graphic novels, but in truth, they are brilliant pieces of work with complex story telling, deconstruction, amazing character development and beautiful art.
The Boys is written by Garth Ennis. He is known for his high level character development and deconstruction method. He takes parts of reality and he speaks about them through fiction.
In the case of The Boys, the story revolves around a group of super heroes (called the 7) who abuse their powers and user their public status as a way to build their “personal brands” and create business revenue for the Vaught Corporation.
On the opposite end, there are The Boys. A group of 5 anti heroes who are on a mission to stop the “super heroes” from creating any more damage to society and to the world.
The story touches on so many subjects. It touches on the materialistic nature of our world. It touches on celebrity status and how easy it is to get away with murder when you are viewed as a super hero. Eventually, you see elements of racism and cultural appropriation, morality, corporates power, the military industrial complex and conspiracy.
Most of all, you are locked in a constant battle of good and evil. Throughout the entire story, you find yourself constantly questioning if the people you know and trust are good people or bad people. Even better, you’re not sure if you’re rooting for the good guys or the bad guys.
I loved it. It had a great ending which is most important. The story was complex, high level and Ennis treats his readers as intelligent people and allows many different story lines to exist at the same time, eventually, bringing all of them to a point at the end of the series.
It’s murder.
If you’re into graphic novels, I highly recommend you read The Boys.
P.S. - We love you Wee Hughie.