April
18
Preacher: War in the Sun
Preacher is a depraved graphic series following the exploits of Jesse Custer, a haunted man of God who drinks too much, smokes too much, and also happens to be possessed by a half demon-half angel bastard that can use the literal voice of God.- Jesse, his girlfriend Tulip and his best friend, an Irish vampire named Cassidy, have been to some pretty strange places. They’ve faced hedonists, Jesse’s own twisted swamp family, the only living descendant of Jesus Christ, and the icy cold will of the Saint of Killers. This volume is the sixth in the graphic novel series. It’s not a good place to start for those who haven’t read Preacher before. The events in this volume all began previously and while there is a short blurb for each main player at the beginning, it does not go far to capture the scope of the story.
- In War in the Sun the reader finds that the Saint of Killers is still chasing Jesse. So is Starr, now the leader of The Grail, an organization bent on starting and controlling the Apocalypse, with Jesse as their pawn Messiah. The only thing standing in Starr’s way is Tulip, Jesse’s foul mouthed former assassin girl friend, the stubborn git Cassidy, and the Saint of Killers.
- This volume largely centers around Starr, an icy, inhuman character who is just as evil and perverse as many of the other characters. However, unlike the Saint’s burning hatred Starr is just empty. He can’t even hate with much enthusiasm.
- While a history of characters is useful, and often needed, in this case it leads this volume to feel just as empty as Starr. Or perhaps the cannibals and torture and humiliating sex have become expected of the Preacher writers because they are included in this collection despite not seeming to serve much of a larger purpose.
- Overall, it’s a little disappointing. Yes, the reader learns more about Starr, but outside of that and some great art there isn’t much advancement of the plot. This volume is essential to the completion of the collection, but how essential the bit of action within is to the story can only be told by future issues.