Preacher (comics)

Preacher
The cast of Preacher. Cover to Preacher #56. Art by Glenn Fabry.
Publication information
Publisher	Vertigo imprint of DC Comics
Schedule	Monthly
Format	Maxiseries
Publication date	1995–2000
No. of issues	66 (plus 5 specials and a 4-issue miniseries)
Main character(s)	Jesse Custer Tulip O'Hare Cassidy Herr Starr God Saint of Killers Arseface
Creative team
Created by	Garth Ennis Steve Dillon
Written by	Garth Ennis
Artist(s)	Steve Dillon Glenn Fabry
Colorist(s)	Matt Hollingsworth Pamela Rambo

Preacher is a comic book series created by writer Garth Ennis and artist Steve Dillon, published by the American comic book label Vertigo imprint of DC Comics, with painted covers by Glenn Fabry.

The series consists of 75 issues in total — 66 regular, monthly issues, five one-shot specials and a four-issue Preacher: Saint of Killers limited series. The entire run has been collected in nine trade paperback editions. The final monthly issue, number 66, was published in July 2000.

Characters

Main article: List of characters in Preacher

Plot

Preacher tells the story of Jesse Custer, a down-and-out preacher in the small Texas town of Annville. Custer was accidentally possessed by the supernatural creature named Genesis in an incident which killed his entire congregation and flattened his church.

Genesis, the product of the unauthorized, unnatural coupling of an angel and a demon, is an infant with no sense of individual will. However, as it is composed of both pure goodness and pure evil, it might have enough power to rival that of God himself. In other words, Jesse Custer, bonded to Genesis, may have become the most powerful being in the whole of living existence.

Custer, driven by a strong sense of right and wrong, goes on a journey across the United States attempting to (literally) find God, who abandoned Heaven the moment Genesis was born. He also begins to discover the truth about his new powers, which allow him to command the obedience of those who hear his words. He is joined by his old girlfriend Tulip O'Hare, as well as a hard-drinking Irish vampire named Cassidy.

During the course of their journeys, the three encounter enemies and obstacles both sacred and profane, including: the Saint of Killers, an invincible, quick-drawing, perfect-aiming, come-lately Angel of Death answering only to "He who sits on the throne"; a serial-killer called the 'Reaver-Cleaver'; The Grail, a secret organization controlling the governments of the world and protecting the bloodline of Jesus; Herr Starr, ostensible Allfather of the Grail, a megalomaniac with a penchant for prostitutes, who wishes to use Custer for his own ends; several fallen angels; and Jesse's own redneck 'family' — particularly his nasty Cajun grandmother, her mighty bodyguard Jody, and the 'animal-loving' T.C.

Themes and influences

Preacher focuses on narrative storytelling and characterization. It drew considerable praise (and protest) for its unapologetic handling of religious and supernatural themes, its dark and frequently violent humor, and its wide range of allusions to popular culture outside of comic books.

In particular, Preacher draws on movies, particularly western movies, for many of its stylistic elements. For example: an apparition of John Wayne is a recurring character and serves as a sort of spiritual guide or conscience for Custer; Monument Valley and The Alamo serve as backdrops to various legs of the journey; for a time, Jesse acts as the sheriff of a small town in Texas, and must protect the inhabitants from harm; the image of the Saint of Killers, a reformed outlaw-turned-evil-once-more in the tradition of Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven character, William Munny, is a nod to the classic Western notion of nemesis, straight and true and terrible.

The series also invokes ideas popularized by such books as Holy Blood, Holy Grail. As Massimo Introvigne explains, Preacher was "among the popular comic book series which...focused interest on the subject." Within Preacher the claims that there is a still-viable bloodline descending from Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene similar to those in Holy Blood, Holy Grail are taken as true. Herr Starr reveals to Cassidy that Jesus had children, and did not die on the cross, but instead lived to middle-age, and was killed by a runaway offal cart. After his death the Grail guardians took away his offspring, who were forced to intermarry with one another in order to keep Jesus' divine power within the bloodline. For over 2000 years this intermarrying perpetuated an incestuous family tree culminating with the mentally handicapped descendants of Jesus having a child, during the birth of whom the mother dies, effectively producing the last generation of the Jesus' line.

The original plot and assumptions of Preacher was spun out of Ennis' run on Hellblazer: what would happen if an angel and a demon mates and the spirit of their offspring ends up in a mortal man? Like many comics spun out of DC's 90's work, it incorporates the idea of the Christian God (Jahve) as the main antagonist of the series, serving as the creator who has left his creation. Other related comics include Swamp Thing and Sandman (and its spinoffs, like Lucifer).

In the beginning of the narrative, told in retrospect in the first issue of Preacher, Jesse Custer is a vicar of dubious nature, just about to address the members of his parish after a night of heavy drinking and with many enemies in the audience. This opening scene is identical to the famous opening of Selma Lagerlöf's novel Gösta Berling's Saga.

Additionally, the series examines the role of American identity and ideals in the modern age. This extends beyond the personal level, where old-fashioned western "Cowboy" ethics and attitudes meet modern feminism, to the collective level, where the traumas of the Vietnam War, corporate excess and the cyclical nature of violence, among other things, are explored. The conflict between liberal and conservative politics is also examined, as are depression, repression, sexuality, pornography, drug use, racism, homelessness and immigration. Ennis and Dillon's Irish and English heritage gives them a piercing outsider's perspective.

A symbolic presence is that of Arseface, a teenager who attempted to imitate the suicide of rock star Kurt Cobain by shooting himself in the face with a shotgun. He survived the suicide attempt, and after many attempts at reconstructive plastic surgery ended up as a 'fella with a face like an arse'. (In the later issues, Arseface goes through a sped-up cycle of American fame: underground sensation to popular star to lawsuit bait and target of censorship. In the end, his manager takes all his money.)

Story arcs

Further information: List of Preacher story arcs

Film adaptation

Garth Ennis, feeling Preacher would translate perfectly as a film, sold the film rights to Electric Entertainment. Rachel Talalay was hired to direct, with Ennis writing the script. Rupert Harvey and Tom Astor were set as producers. By May 1998, Ennis completed three drafts of the script, based largely on the Gone to Texas story arc. The filmmakers found it difficult financing Preacher because investors found the idea religiously controversial. Ennis approached Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier to help finance the film under their View Askew Productions banner. Ennis, Smith and Mosier pitched Preacher to Bob Weinstein at Miramax Films.

Weinstein was confused by the characterization of Jesse Custer. Miramax also did not want to share the box office gross with Electric Entertainment, ultimately dropping the pitch. By May 2000, Smith and Mosier were still attached to produce with Talalay directing, but Smith did not know the status of Preacher, feeling it would languish in development hell. By then, Storm Entertainment, a UK-based production company known for their work on independent films, joined the production with Electric Entertainment. In September 2001, the two companies announced Preacher had been greenlighted to commence pre-production, with filming to begin in November and Talaly still directing Ennis' script. The production and start dates were pushed back because of financial issues of the $25 million projected budget.

James Marsden was cast in the lead role as Jesse Custer sometime in 2002. He explained, "It was something I never knew anything about, but once I got my hands on the comic books, I was blown away by it." In a March 2004 interview, Marsden said the filmmakers were hoping for filming to start the following August. With the full-length film adaptation eventually abandoned with budgetary concerns, HBO announced in November 2006 that they commissioned Mark Steven Johnson and Howard Deutch to produce a television pilot. Johnson was to write with Deutch directing. Impressed with Johnson's pilot script, HBO had him write the series bible for the first season. Johnson originally planned "to turn each comic book issue into a single episode" on a shot-for-shot basis. "I gave [HBO] the comics, and I said, 'Every issue is an hour'. Garth Ennis said 'You don't have to be so beholden to the comic'. And I'm like, 'No, no, no. It's got to be like the comic'."

Johnson also wanted to make sure that one-shots were included as well. Johnson refrained his comments, citing new storylines conceived by Ennis. "Well there would be nothing new to add if we did that so Garth [Ennis] and I have been creating new stories for the series," he said. "I love the book so much and I was telling Garth that he has to make the stories we are coming up with as comics because I want to see them." By August 2008, new studio executives at HBO decided to abandon the idea, finding it too stylistically dark and religiously controversial. Columbia Pictures then purchased the film rights in October 2008 with Sam Mendes directing. Neal H. Moritz and Jason Netter are producing the film. The previous scripts written by Ennis will not be used.

On January 21 2009 John August confirmed on his blog that he has been hired to write the script, saying "Other places are suddenly reporting it, so I might as well confirm the news: I’m writing a big-screen version of Preacher, an adaptation of the acclaimed graphic novel series by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon. Sam Mendes is attached to direct. Neal Moritz is producing for Sony Pictures. To answer your first four questions: there’s no release date, no cast, no locations, no nothing. I’m writing a script which could become a movie if everything lines up correctly. So here’s hoping. It’s a terrific project that I’m excited to be writing."

On April 8 2010, producer Neal Moritz gave an interview with Collider where he confirmed that Sam Mendes would no longer be directing Preacher as he had left the project to do the new James Bond film. Moritz claims there is "another director that we’re talking to right now" and that he hopes to shoot the film in 2011 based on the John August script.

Legacy

Stephen King has said that his comic book series The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born was influenced by Preacher.

The character Yorick from Y: The Last Man, has a Zippo lighter with the words "Fuck Communism" engraved, identical to the one owned by Jesse Custer in Preacher, when asked about it he says it's "from this book I read once...a comic book.".

IGN declared Preacher the third-greatest Vertigo comic, after Swamp Thing and Sandman.

External links

• Article on Irish Journal of Gothic and Horror Studies website analysing the series
• Vincent Guastini Productions - Hollywood special effects company that did the Arseface test makeup and other designs.
• Editorial on the Preacher comics