Story: Garth Ennis Art: Steve Dillon & John McCrea
Publisher: DC
Plot: Reunited with Tulip, Jesse discovers a few facts about Cassidy.
Although it has to be said that newcomers to Preacher should really start with the first TPB, Gone to Texas, as the plot is a little complicated, I will nevertheless try to bring you up to speed with it while attempting not to give too much away.
Various sub-plots aside (of which there are many), the basic clause of Preacher is that Jesse Custer is a small town reverend who's soul has been infused with that of a spiritual being called Genesis, the act of which killed all of his congregation and bestowed upon Custer the voice of God. This infusion has attracted a little unwelcome attention for Custer and his travelling companions, Tulip and Cassidy. It also started Custer on a quest to find God himself and force him to be accountable for abandoning his post.
As I think you may have guessed by now, that this title is not suitable for those people who are irrationally and zealously religious. Nor is it for those people of an extremely sensitive disposition looking for a "nice" fluffy comic about superheroes or other such nonsense. It is extremely violent, sick, twisted, freaked-out, messed-up and it will be sadly missed (the comic has now come to a close and after this there's just one TPB left).
It doesn't account for taste at all really; in truth it is about as subtle as cracking open a walnut with a steamroller and it never, ever, compromises.
In addition, it boasts fine artwork by Dillon and McCrea which does the job without being too flowery or confused and lots of humorous moments which are funny but don't fall into the Hitman trap of turning the work into a farce in places.
It is well-written and features some of the best character development I have seen for a long time in any medium. It actually manages to make you care in a funny sort of way for the protagonists, especially Starr, almost as much as you do for the central characters of Jesse and Tulip. Each character has a history and they are all really strong characters.
To sum up, Preacher really is a seminal work and it represents the pinnacle of Garth Ennis' writing to date.
