Sometimes you reread titles and are disappointed. Other times, they've not faded at all. As much as I enjoy all..er... most of Ennis and Dillon's collaborations, they've never topped Preacher.

Any single volume of Preacher makes for a self-contained read, but this, the first in the series, is still the best. Jesse and his band of merry pals are all introduced and the overall plot ('find God') is thrown up on the table within the first few pages. The rest is joyous wackytime, cluttered with some of the most memorable characters in all comics history - from the truly scary (The Saint of Killers) to the real monsters (Sheriff Root).

Offensive, disturbing and a thoroughly satisfying story.

Blood and Rain
Blood for the Masses

Originally Published in SavageNight Ezine

The Preacher: Gone To Texas
Book 1
By
Garth Ennis & Steve Dillon

Reviewed by
B.L.Morgan

3 Stars

I read graphic novels because it's a quick painless way to absorb some books that I otherwise would not get around to reading. The day I bought Preacher Book 1 I'd just finished reading two large novels and with my work schedule my head needed a rest. When I told the guy at the store I wanted something wild that wouldn't tax my brain he told me that Preacher was the best thing going.

He gave me a non-stop sales pitch for at least the next half hour that was so intense that I ended up saying to him, "Alright, alright just shut up and I'll buy the thing!"

I had to get out of there as quick as I could.

Preacher: Gone To Texas was not as good as the book sales guy said it was. It was good, just not the masterpiece he made it out to be.

The Preacher in the title gains god-like powers by merging with Genesis. After that he teams up with an ex-lover who's a healthy trash-talking woman, and an Irish Vampire. Together they wander across the country and get into trouble. That's about it.

The problem with calling this a graphic novel is that it doesn't have a structure like a novel. There is no ending at all. Preacher: Book 1 is the first of eight issues of The Preacher comic book so there's no end in sight.

That's alright if you're reading a comic book and don't really expect an ending. I however, was disappointed. That said, the dialogue in this book was frequently clever and funny. The artwork was very good. Not the very best I have seen, but very good.

The first Preacher book was good enough so that when I spotted another, #5 in the library, I checked it out. I do expect it to entertain me some.

I would recommend The Preacher: Gone To Texas, Book 1 if you find it at a used book store for under five bucks. I paid $14.95. That salesman caught me in the right mood with some money to burn.

It won't happen again.

As stated in the title, this comic will offend many people that read it, but if you look past all the blasphemys you will find one of the greatest comic book stories ever written. A must have for any comic book collector.

Preacher was my first foray into graphic novels. It was like waking up in technicolor after living in black and white all my life. When I'd finished reading the series, a process that took less than a week and involved many sleepless nights, I couldn't wait to get my hands on a new series to sink my teeth into. Imagine my surprize and disappointment when I learned that Preacher is in a class of it's own.
It's completely unique, intelligent, hilarious, disturbing, gory, violent, epic, and did I mention violent? How about gory, did I mention that? Because it bears repeating. Carnage is practically a starring character in this series. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll want to tear your eyes out... but you'll be nothing if not entertained.

"The Preacher " is a fantastic piece of work from the master of shock himself (Garth Ennis). Like all his books I have read so far this one has captivating and thought provoking story lines and witty well written dialogue. There is plenty to offend a lot of people but nothing too over the top in the bad language and gore departments. The artwork is well done and fits the story well. For once this is a book that lives up to all the hype. I can't wait to read the next installment. I reckon if you enjoyed the TV series Carnivale you will enjoy this book. The Preacher Volume 1 is a highly recommended read for adults only so don't buy it for little Timmy or he may have nightmares :-)

This has to be without doubt one of the finest series of works to hit the market. Great visuals, rip-snorting dialogue and can't stop page-a-turning story arc. All hail Garth Ennis for creating his (so far) best work and maintaining the pace til the end. A wonderful series for those not easily offended and a wake-up call for those who are.

This is my new favorite comic book. Preacher beat out Batman. He beat out Wolverine. He even beat out the Watchmen. This book is just great, they only shame about it is how long it took for me to discover it. It really tackles some great theological and philosophical issue (the nature of God? why are we here? why do bad things happen? etc). Basically, Jesse Custer (good ol' JC) is... possessed is the wrong word, perhaps inhabited, by Genesis, the offspring of an angel and a demon. Jesse and Genesis are joined, and a whole new world opens up. Though he was a preacher, you have to wonder of his faith in God. After this, he does believe in God, who walked out on humanity upon creation, and decides to call him out. He's joined by his ex, Tulip, who seems to be some sort of hitman/weapons expert and Cassady, an Irish vampire. JC has new powers: the word, in which when he speaks in "God's" voice people must obey. This is cutting edge. This is great. And not just for comic book fans.

This is my new favorite comic book. Preacher beat out Batman. He beat out Wolverine. He even beat out the Watchmen. This book is just great, they only shame about it is how long it took for me to discover it. It really tackles some great theological and philosophical issue (the nature of God? why are we here? why do bad things happen? etc). Basically, Jesse Custer (good ol' JC) is... possessed is the wrong word, perhaps inhabited, by Genesis, the offspring of an angel and a demon. Jesse and Genesis are joined, and a whole new world opens up. Though he was a preacher, you have to wonder of his faith in God. After this, he does believe in God, who walked out on humanity upon creation, and decides to call him out. He's joined by his ex, Tulip, who seems to be some sort of hitman/weapons expert and Cassady, an Irish vampire. JC has new powers: the word, in which when he speaks in "God's" voice people must obey. This is cutting edge. This is great. And not just for comic book fans.

Garth Ennis is such an awesome talent. I don't know where he comes up with the stuff he writes and I'm not sure I want to. This guy starts where the others stop, I love this guy.

God and the angels are nancy boy wusses. It will take a tough texas boy from the school of deliverance style upbringing of evil to knock some sense into this useless higher powers. Jesse, a preacher of serious failings and psychological problems, is being set up in a confrontation. However, he is given the power of the Word and can order anyone to do something, and they must obey. A pretty serious weapon for a pawn to have.

This is the first volume in a nine volume series collecting the acclaimed Vertigo series. For those of you who don't know, Vertigo is a division of DC Comics, those folks who bring you Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. However, Vertigo is certainly not for kids, typically dealing with very mature subject matter and adult language. Think of it as the HBO of the comic book world.

That said, I've been trying to catch up on those Vertigo titles that have won numerous awards. Preacher was a title I'd never read but kept hearing good things about, so I figured I should give it a try. It's written by Garth Ennis and primarily drawn by Steve Dillon.

You know how you'll be eating out with a friend and they'll tell you their food tastes horrible, then ask you to taste it, and you actually do because you have a morbid curiosity as to how bad it actually tastes? That's Preacher.

As far as I can gather from the first volume, Preacher focuses on a man of the cloth who is empowered with a force from Heaven. Unfortunately, this preacher was losing his faith and when he finds out that God has deserted his post, he means to confront the Big Man on the matter using the same power that escaped Heaven and made its home within the wayward preacher. Helping him with his quest are his ex-girlfriend, Tulip, and an Irish vampire named Cassidy. How does an Irish vampire fit into all this? No idea.

I'm a little mixed-up with this series, because while I found it offensive on almost every conceivable level, I couldn't put it down. I'm a big proponent of free speech, but literally almost every other word in this volume was profanity. It got kind of old. Also, the violence was rampant, and after several pages in a row of people having body parts blown off, I got feeling a little wearied. However, like a car wreck, I couldn't look away.

So did I like it or not? I kind of liked it, but I'm ashamed to admit that. I don't plan on reading it anymore, though, because I want to save my money and pick up other Vertigo titles that have a little more artistic integrity. I will grant Ennis this--he created some very memorable characters.

***SPOILERS AHEAD!!!***

"Preacher" is brilliant and frustrating at the same time. The completely oddball plot involving conspiracies, angels, demons, vampires, possession, and a search for an absconded Yahweh certainly is an entertaining and occasionally stimulating mix of elements, and the three main characters are appealing, deep, and well written. The problems come from Garth Ennis' laziness as a scripter. First, unlike Neal Gaiman, who writes deep complex plots that reflect his erudition and research, Ennis is inclined to just sort of fake his way along and allude to theological and mythological concepts with which he has little familiarity and no motivation to learn more. So we have a story written about a renegade preacher, ancient secret conspiracies, and the politics of Heaven and Hell that is at times cartoonishly simple and at other times obtusely complex. The ultimate effect is not convincing, and the reader soon learns that the plot for any given installment of the series depends more on Ennis' moods than on any coherent storytelling impetus or overarching plotting. Think of it as the "Twin Peaks" of graphic novels, with the creator making stuff up as he goes along. The series is both choppy and ultimately unsatisfying as a result. We have the feeling that a lot of this stuff won't be tied up cogently, and sure enough, a lot of it isn't when all is said and done.

The other big problem with Ennis is his need to pay homage to pop junk culture. The violence, sex, profanity, and generally unpleasant vileness is often chucked into the series for no other point than to stroke the jaded cynicism of "extreme" media fans and to horrify the prudish. We see endless scenes of massacre, torture, and mutilation, which all has its place in art (and comics!) but the gratuitous sense of "let's throw it all on the wall and see how it splatters" is childish and ultimately counterproductive to provoking the supposedly "mature" audience for the series. Beyond the nastiness, we also have the even more serious flaw of most everyone in the world besides our three main protagonists being shallowly dull, vastly unpleasant, or both of the above.

These flaws are readily apparent in the first volume of the series "Gone to Texas". The endless Saint of Killers massacres grow tedious in the extreme. The general tendencies towards bloody slaughter of numerous minor characters makes you feel like you are reading the graphic novelization of some lesser Hollywood action flick. Gunshot wounds are lovingly portrayed as is the peeling off a man's face, the ripping out of some other guy's throat, gay BDSM sex, and our heroine's hand being nailed to a dashboard by a knife. There is little point to all of this other than to "test the limits" of adult graphic novels, and part of being adult of course is avoiding useless and gratuitous acting out. I have a hunch that most chronological adults will find all of this boring and pointless by the end of even this first installment...

Our cast of supporting characters in Volume One is equally wretched. We have the hard as steel redneck Sheriff, his hideously disfigured suicide surviving son, a homophobic Dirty Harry clone with a predictable Dark Secret, his buffoonish incompetent partner, and a serial killer who starts killing folks after he discovers he just enjoys getting away with murder after a traffic hit and run accident. These characters are mostly dull, and their presence in the storyline is either tedious filler (the killer and the cops) or just a misguided attempt at being edgy which just ends up feeling mean-spirited (Arseface). Mocking failed teenage suicides surely cannot be perceived as innovative entertainment.

These tendencies seen here are just writ large in the rest of the series. The supporting cast is no asset being mainly cartoonish stereotypes of idiocy or Pure Eeeevillll, the plot meanders into filler misadventures and pointless "origin" stories, and every perverse and bloody scene the writer and artist can imagine gets written in without any concern for precision, plotting, or subtlety. As a result, this series goes on for way too long, and could easily have lost a third (or more) of its volumes and ended up feeling tighter and better as a result. After paying more than $100 (even at discount) and reading through maybe 1800 pages, you end up with a messy and indulgent hodgepodge of mainly forgettable characters, gratuitous splatter movie set pieces, a bunch of interesting though mainly undeveloped ideas, and more than a few loose ends and unfulfilled expectations.

To me, this seems like a bad deal. If you purchase the Sandman series, you will spend as much and read as many pages but will be introduced to challenging ideas, fascinating characters, and truly mature plotting and thematic development. Ultimately, Preacher will appeal mainly to juvenile male readers who like gross-outs and who do not mind the lazy shortcuts taken in character and plotting by Ennis.

Strengths? Dillon's art is generally good, though his women characters tend to look alike. The series has a certain dark sense of humor that is fun at moments. And mainly our three main characters are likeable and engaging. It's a shame they don't have better scripting to guide them and a real world to interact with...

"Preacher" is like an imaginative B movie that starts off well but then eventually falls victim to its director's immature smarminess, love of gross-outs, and devotion to genre tropes that we've all seen before. The gratuitous efforts at offensiveness, general mono-dimensionality of the cast, and stale efforts at Christian baiting suggests that this is really not meant for adults at all. Like such magazines as Maxim or Heavy Metal, this is really meant for adolescents of all ages who giggle at gunshot wounds, nudity, and profanity. "Preacher" perhaps aspired to be more originally and certainly pretends to be both serious and profound drama at times, but the weight of the evidence is very much against such claims of portentous relevance. This is popcorn for the brain, and kind of stale corn at that.

Great read. If you love graphic novels or comics in general, you definetly must read this comic.

Great read. If you love graphic novels or comics in general, you definetly must read this comic.

I love the preacher series! :) my order arrived promptly and in tip-top condition!

I love the preacher series! :) my order arrived promptly and in tip-top condition!

I've heard Preacher described as "A love story with grievous head wounds".
I'm gonna stick with that.
well-written and well-drawn, the plot is deep enough without detracting from the art. Unexpected twists and realistic dialogue make it a worthwhile read.

I've heard Preacher described as "A love story with grievous head wounds".
I'm gonna stick with that.
well-written and well-drawn, the plot is deep enough without detracting from the art. Unexpected twists and realistic dialogue make it a worthwhile read.

I'd heard a lot about how good The Preacher was... gotta say--I'm a little disappointed.

Now, understand: I've only read this first volume. It's possible that the series gets much better from here. Also, I'm not saying that it's bad or awful, just that I was expecting more. I just finished reading The Sandman series, and maybe that set the bar too high.

The Preacher is a decent tale about an almost-out-of-faith preacher who winds up becoming embroiled in Heaven's politics. He teams up with his ex-girlfriend and a misanthropic vampire to take on, among other things, ghostly cowboy murderers and serial killers. It sorely wants to be irreverant, edgy and thought-provoking... but it really isn't all that deep. It uses Christianity as its plot points but never sucessfully challenges Christianity in the way that other, *actual* irreverent works do (like Heinlein's Job: A Comedy of Justice or Kevin Smith's Dogma). It's not as edgy as, say, Jhonen Vasquez' JtHM, and isn't really though provoking (unless you're kind of unused to thinking about things). The artwork is so-so. Nothing to get excited about. And some of the violence seems kind of gratuitous, not that there's anything wrong with that, but after you've seen five or six faces blown apart, the seventh kind of loses its sting.

Finally, I have to say that I simply have a different sense of humor than Mr. Ennis. Perhaps you'll find it *hilarious* when a character names himself Arseface. But that's just not my sense of humor. I like my humor funny.

Now, I've been hard on the book, but it's developed quite a following, and I'm willing to believe that it improves from here. Maybe I'll check out the second volume. But if I'd never heard of The Preacher, and just picked up this issue to check it out, I'd probably stop here. Many people say that this is a brilliant series, but the first volume doesn't prove it.

I'd heard a lot about how good The Preacher was... gotta say--I'm a little disappointed.

Now, understand: I've only read this first volume. It's possible that the series gets much better from here. Also, I'm not saying that it's bad or awful, just that I was expecting more. I just finished reading The Sandman series, and maybe that set the bar too high.

The Preacher is a decent tale about an almost-out-of-faith preacher who winds up becoming embroiled in Heaven's politics. He teams up with his ex-girlfriend and a misanthropic vampire to take on, among other things, ghostly cowboy murderers and serial killers. It sorely wants to be irreverant, edgy and thought-provoking... but it really isn't all that deep. It uses Christianity as its plot points but never sucessfully challenges Christianity in the way that other, *actual* irreverent works do (like Heinlein's Job: A Comedy of Justice or Kevin Smith's Dogma). It's not as edgy as, say, Jhonen Vasquez' JtHM, and isn't really though provoking (unless you're kind of unused to thinking about things). The artwork is so-so. Nothing to get excited about. And some of the violence seems kind of gratuitous, not that there's anything wrong with that, but after you've seen five or six faces blown apart, the seventh kind of loses its sting.

Finally, I have to say that I simply have a different sense of humor than Mr. Ennis. Perhaps you'll find it *hilarious* when a character names himself Arseface. But that's just not my sense of humor. I like my humor funny.

Now, I've been hard on the book, but it's developed quite a following, and I'm willing to believe that it improves from here. Maybe I'll check out the second volume. But if I'd never heard of The Preacher, and just picked up this issue to check it out, I'd probably stop here. Many people say that this is a brilliant series, but the first volume doesn't prove it.

I've just started reading comic books and I must say that this is one of the ones that taught me the most. Alan Moore taught me about government, Neil Gaiman taught me some strange truths but Preacher gave me the most scary look at myself that I've ever had.

I never thought that something so gruesome, so grisly, could be funny but it's hilarious. It showed me a much darker side of myself that I didn't know existed.

The art is brilliant, the story is brilliant. But it's also dark, twisted, violent and extremely scary. Not for the faint-hearted.

I've just started reading comic books and I must say that this is one of the ones that taught me the most. Alan Moore taught me about government, Neil Gaiman taught me some strange truths but Preacher gave me the most scary look at myself that I've ever had.

I never thought that something so gruesome, so grisly, could be funny but it's hilarious. It showed me a much darker side of myself that I didn't know existed.

The art is brilliant, the story is brilliant. But it's also dark, twisted, violent and extremely scary. Not for the faint-hearted.

Preacher is by far the only one of its genre there has never been a story such like this one i mean its got it all action,violence,romance,and lets not forget angels,demons,a couple vampires,and a badass cowboy.!!!WARNING!!!This book will have you buying the next vol. before you finish the one your reading.

I normally avoid the cosmic/heaven-hell/angels-demons stuff like the plague, but the entire Preacher series got such good reviews, I bought the first one. Then the next 4, one-by-one. Then the last four, all at once. This series never gets bogged down in the major cosmic whatnot that seems to be the norm for some series. The characters are great, the storyline is great, and while the art isn't groundbreaking, it fits extremely well for the story.

The only thing that would have made the series better, is if the main character was "Joseph Cohen," and the series was titled "Rebbe" (Rabbi). Everybody knows that yarmulkes and peyes are way cooler than a preacher's collar. Also, the fact that people like Kevin Smith and Penn Jillette write the forewords of this series gives a good indication of what kind of audience would enjoy this. Fantastic stuff.

Preacher is one of the more unusual and interesting of the comic series I've ever seen, with the requisite levels of adult content, good storytelling, and pure wierdness it takes to pen an instant classic. And it's sure to offend a lot of people, if that's high on your list of what makes a good comic.
However, it doesn't get five stars. Why? As I've already said, the story is original and well told. The characters are interesting and involving. The reason it doesn't stand head and shoulders above every other comic ever written is because of... the art. The most important part of a comic, arguably. And this is where Preacher fails. Despite his obvious skill (He illustrates Transmetropolitan, quite possibly the most awesome comic ever written), Steve Dillon just doesn't have what it takes for something like Preacher. His simplistic clean-line art and basically monochromatic coloring don't bring any of the life you want to see in things as alien as angels and demons. In fact, he fails, in my opinion, to illustrate anything except for several characters in the fashion they deserve to be drawn in. (these characters being Jesse, the Saint of Killers, and Arseface) In fact, though it's a novel and unprecedented idea, it would be incredibly interesting if he were to only draw these characters, while someone else picked up all the rest. Anyone who's read the comic will know what I mean when I say he draws these three characters well. Jesse's facial expressions and eyes give him more of a soul than any other character I've ever seen, the Saint stands in his windblown coat in a fashion that would make Batman weep with envy, and Arseface... well, Dillon's the only one with the imagination to draw someone with that particular deformity. How the other characters and environments lack this sort of feeling escapes me.
Of course, I could just be blowing all this out my ass. The other merits of Preacher certainly make it worth picking up.

Blasphemy in Print. Why would anyone read this filth? Why mock God?

Before you read my review, be warned, don't even bother with this book if you would be offended by extremely violent and bizzare adult content.

Alright on to the review, this is by far the best adult comic out there today, whether it's from DC, or Marvel, or Image, and so on. It's the first chapter in the 9 volume series that follows Jesse Custer, a former preacher who has lost his faith, Tulip, Jesse's gun-weilding girlfreind, and Cassidy, an Irish vampire, on their journey to find God, literally. God has quit his job as god, Jesse and company is determined to find God and knock some sense into him. Yeah, it sounds a little crazy, but a crazy book is sometimes a good one, and in this case, it's a good one. After he merges with an immortal half angel, half demon creature known as Genesis, Jesse acquires a special ability that allows him to make anyone do anything he wants just by muttering the words, it's power equivilant to the Word of God. Garth Ennis also creates other interesting characters like Saint of Killers, Arseface, and Si. What really makes this book so great is the dark humor, and bizzare characters and plots, which have become a trademark of the insane genious, Garth Ennis. This book will disturb you in such a way, you won't be able to put the book down. It's like watching a carcrash, you know it's gonna turn out bad, but you just can't turn away and not watch. Preacher is funny in disturbing ways, it's humor that will make you realize your mind is pretty messed up for laughing at this stuff, dark humor at its best. When you read this, you will know what I mean.

The art by Steve Dillon, although not as good as some of the work he has done later in his career in Preacher and in Punisher, is still done very well. Great details in faces and depicting expressions, and of course, depicting the graphic violence. Dillon is definitely my favorite penciller, because of his work here in Preacher and also in Marvel series, Punisher, which is also written by Ennis.

Preacher is the best adult comic out there, especially if you like disturbing yourself with gruesome violence, and bizzare plots only the minds of Ennis and Dillon can create. It's so good Vertigo had to reprint it, this book was originally published in the early 90's, and they republished it in the 2000's. It's funny, violent, bizzare, and may provide you with the best entertainment any adult comic can ever give you. Don't believe me? Get a copy and see for yourself!

The series is an incredible read. You'll come in for the violence, the sex, the drinkin' & the cussin', but you'll stay for the story. Behind the angels, demons, saints, vampires, guns, tanks, armies, and the rest of it are real, honest to God people, and the only parts that are better than the blood, guts, 'n beer are the slower parts where you learn about these characters and the lives they lead. It's a story about redemption, second chances, and doing what's right... it's just dressed up as a hard-drinkin', ass-kickin', hilarious trek that's fun to read, but will make you think.
For anyone wanting a quick synopsis: when a demon and angel have a child, God abandons his throne in Heaven, leaving the child imprisoned. When it escapes, it heads for earth and unites with the Reverend Jesse Custer, a Texas preacher that's losing his faith. When Jesse taps into the creature's power and learns what's been happenin' in Heaven, he and his friends set out to hold the Lord accountable for abandoning his Creation, come hell or high water

I had a friend who had told me for years that I had to read Preacher, because it was one of the best comics he had ever read. I always just shrugged and said "Yeah, someday I will." So I finally got around to buying a copy of 'Gone to Texas' and I was simply blown away. I've always considered my self to be a comic book fan, not a hardcore collector of any sort, but a fan. When I began reading Preacher I could not bring myself to stop. So day after day I went to the local comic shop, picked up the next volume, and read it cover to cover. It is simply the best comic I have ever had the pleasure of reading. I wish I could forget all of it, just to read it and experience it all again. When I got to the last page, I felt a sense of completion but more of sadness, because I'd finished it. Immediately I began searching for more of Ennis and Dillon's work, and I've never, ever, done that before. I couldn't even name more than a handful of other comic book writers, but these two guys know how to do what everyone else in the business strives to do everyday: Get an idea across and get you to love it. But enough of my ranting, if you've read all the way through this review, then you're obviously interested, so do yourself a favor and get a copy of 'Gone to Texas', you won't regret it.

Garth Ennis, Preacher: Gone to Texas (DC Comics, 1996)

I wonder if the person who put this in the "youth services" section of my local library ever got fired? After all, right on the back, it says "suggested for mature readers." Someone must have missed a memo about what "mature" means.

Gone to Texas is the beginning of the Preacher saga, which involves the title character, whose church went up in flames while the whole town was inside; his ex-girlfriend Tulip, whom he ran out on five years ago for reasons we don't know; and Cassidy, a drifter who rescued Tulip from a bad situation. The plot twists come fast and thick, so it's pretty much impossible to tell you what goes on, but the basis of the story (or the framework from which Ennis created this delightfully twisted tale) is that Jesse, the preacher, is suffering a major crisis of faith, and needs to find his way back to God. Over the course of the story, however, Jesse realizes that his crisis of faith isn't all internal, and that finding his way back to God may take a little more doing than he originally thought it would. Oh, and did I mention he's being stalked by a killer not of this earth, and talks to John Wayne? Didn't think so.

Even if the artwork wasn't top-notch, the simple weirdness of the story, and the way Ennis twists it, would make reading this like staring at a particularly gruesome car accident (and the quote is especially appropriate here; Ennis' way of bending cliches and Biblical references to make completely new things out of them should be putting the reader very much in mind of Clive Barker's early short stories). But the artwork is top-notch, indeed, and the two combine to make for a particularly compelling read. You will find yourself wanting to read this in one sitting. And take my advice-- that's not something you want to do if your library system doesn't happen to have the next book in the series. Now I have to wait for it to show up in my mailbox... **** ý

This TPB is only Preacher worth byuing. Preacher was published as 66 issue complete story. I read all of them, but first five issues are the best although they are just the beginning.

God leaves his duties, priest gets beaten for exposing everyone's secrets from confessions, and something out of paradise posesses him...few days after, he meets his ex girlfriend turned hitman and gets acquainted with a strange Irish guy.

Second story arc with serial killer is , well, deja vu for horror fans.

Loved it! The only reason I'm giving it four stars is because it gets EVEN better as the series continues. This opener though has just about everything a sci-fi chick like me could hope for -- it's profane, humorous, has a simple premise with some GOOD twists, love, sex, winged demons, warrior angels, serial killers and of course... John Wayne. This isn't the deepest and darkest graphic novels have to offer-- but it is FUN, intelligent and a damn good ride. Read it!

Do you like to read? Do you like movies? Then why don't you try Graphic Novels? Comics you say? Don't say that. This stuff is art. Do you like to read? Then why not Graphic Novels? Do you like movies? Then why not Graphic Novels? Why not? Why? Because it can be... "More fun than going to the movies" - Kevin Smith, Director Clerks.

Book #1 must be checked out. It is a DC comic's publication. The title - "Preacher: Gone to Texas", is a two story book introducing us to three core characters, Jesse Custer, a minister who has been zapped with the pseudo power of god by a fallen angel that drops down on his congregation during a meeting, finds himself after in a bar with Tulip, a road bandit and also Jesse's ex-lover, along with an Irish vampire, Cassidy, who has hitched in on the ride, the trio find themselves up against Sheriff Root, the law in Texas, with a demon on their tail who has been unleashed from heaven to track down the escaped pseudo power of God. This story is quite action packed, very funny fowl language and has a sense of humour, although don't expect it to be a very deep character analysis (you will have to fill in much of the gaps for yourself) although the second half of the book about a serial killer at large does not quite capture the ferocity of the first episode, is none the less a very interesting segment that is sort of telling you that the Preacher series can, and probably will go absolutely everywhere and anywhere, and as someone who has yet to read any more in the series I must say that I would get Volume 2 just on the bases of what I have enjoyed here.

Preacher: Gone to Texas is an amazing piece of art to own. It can proudly sit along side any classic volume of literature or sit beside the Mona Lisa. Draw your attention to the cover, Glen Fabry, offers 10 other graphic plates in the book that are almost worth buying another copy for, just to tear out those pictures and put them in a frame, the guiding light for any future budding graphic novel animators, those images are sublime and worth the cost of the book alone.

Even though Fabry is replaced by the core artists, Garth Ennis and Steve Dillion do an amazing job of the layout, meaning do not turn pages in this graphic novel, as some pages are surprises designed to grab you... and they do, so at least allow yourself to be stunned by not looking ahead, okay. That is a general good rule for the Preacher graphic novel anyway... others like Johnny The Homicidal Maniac: The Director's Cut you could spend days jumping back and across through but these ARTY graphic novels tend to have less plates and more high impact artwork, sometimes covering whole pages, meaning that it is easy to spoil Preacher with just glancing through it once.

I found Preacher to be one of the most engaging Graphic Novels I have seen. It really does bring the next frame or page along at a shocking pace with many scenes leaping out at you and grabbing you buy the throat, WOW! to go along with the illustrated POW! See you at Preacher #2 for a review if you enjoyed the first episode like I did.

The entire Preacher saga, in my opinion, is simply one of the greatest stories ever told. It is so much more than what you think it is when you start reading it. It's not so much a story of religion and one man's literal search for God as it is a story of honor and friendship. About being a real man and admitting your mistakes and shortcomings. About respect for women. About treating your lady as a lady should be treated, but not being so macho as to not let her back you up when you're in trouble. But most importantly, this story is about the redemption of the characters involved. As they searched for God, their redemption was found in each other rather than a blessing from a deity.

There's a Tarantino-esque quality to Preacher. Beyond the most obvious similarity- the gratuituous violence- there's also a fascination with dialogue. Note the coarse language; the raw, edgy humour; the emphasis on storytelling; and it's almost like you've entered a down-home version of Pulp Fiction. Ennis is clearly concerned with replicating the words as we would actually hear them. Particular speech patterns are inserted into the text, making the characters' words more credible (particularly noteworthy is Ennis' insistence on having us read a speech-challenged character's words as they would actually sound. The words are `subtitled,' though). I think that Ennis' usage of dialogue is what makes this a great work. One small fault is that, as other reviewers have noted, Ennis occasionally misses with his characterization of the Texan accent. Nevertheless, he should be applauded for his intriguing and unique construction of dialogue, a too often overlooked feature in the medium.

Ennis is clearly a very gifted storyteller. He uses the archetypal figures of movie westerns we all know (the John Wayne type, the bad-guy gunslinger, the stern, tough-as-nails cop) and places them in absurd situations. How he came up with such unique characters as Arseface or the Saint of Killers I'll never know. They certainly added to my interest in the story. The 'hints' section really made me want to pick up the next installment to figure out how the tale develops.

A tip of the cap should also be given to Steve Dillon. His clean and detailed lines were sometimes touching, sometimes disturbing, but always tastefully done. His visual interpretations of the characters are right-on: I couldn't possibly imagine a more appropriate looking Jesse Custer or Cassidy.

In short, this is a brilliant start to a brilliant series. This is one very rare case where you can actually believe the hype.

I love this book.
I really love this book.
I reeeeeeeaaaaaaally love this book because of these reasons:
First of all, the story's fantastic.
Two, so is the art.
Three, the characters are wonderful and charismatic.
Four, when it ends you know there are eight more books to read.
I would recommend this book to anyone.

Every aspect of this creation is steeped in controversy. Wrapped in an extremely well written story and uncompromising, brutal art this tome shines with its outrageous originality.

The offspring of a forbidden union between an angel and demon bonds with a Texas minister giving him power rivaling that of the almighty, who learns that God has gone missing and sets off to find him. He is aided in this quest by his ex-girlfriend turned hitwoman and a vampire.

Expect the body count to rise to unbelievable levels when the angels in hevean awaken the Saint of Killers to track him down and kill him, and an old friend of the vamprie turns out to be a serial killer. New York's unluckiest cop and its kinkiest set out to put a stop to it all.

This is one of the most original creations to come out of the comic industry in many years. It's violent, vulgar, no holds barred storytelling. The characters have no restraint in their quest and this makes it a forbidden fantasy we've all longed to enjoy.

When you think of the greatest movies of all time, names like "Citizen Kane", "American Beauty" and "Glitter" come to mind (I'm joking about "Glitter" of course. And anyone who says "Lord of the Rings" should be in line for a "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" style [treatment]). These are some of the films that show what films should be. However, you're not always going to pick one up at the video store. A lot of times, you'll go for the fun of "The Matrix" or "Die Hard".

"Preacher" is comicdom's "Die Hard".

Is "Preacher" as eye opening as "Maus" or as original and deep as "Watchmen"? No. The storyline of "Preacher" is well written and occasionally original, but for the most part it's fun and always entertaining.

"Gone to Texas" is the first volume and naturally, the best place to start. As a fair warning, "Preacher" is laden with (but not limited to) the following:

Gratuitous profanity
Violence, generally realistic and sometimes stomach-turning
Nudity of most variety
A fairly deep look into deviant sexual lifestyles
Blasphemy and what most Christians would deem a horrific interpretation of the Bible, God, and everything they hold dear.

If any of this might bother you, then I suggest you do one of two things: either pick up something mindnumbing and "happy" like "Richie Rich" or, to quote Bill Hicks, "--squeak squeak squeak, squeegee your third [blank]in' eye and wake the [blank] up!".

"Gone to Texas" introduces us to five of the main characters (there are a few more that come into play in the next volume), Jesse Custer, Tulip O'Hare, Cassidy, Saint of Killers, and Arseface. It starts in a diner off the highway with the three having dinner (breakfast for Cass) and through flashbacks we're shown how they got there.

Jesse was working as a preacher in a small stain of a Texas town, drunk and despondent about his work (and you REALLY understand why in the second volume) when he finds himself joined with a heavenly being called Genesis, which gives him divine knowledge and the Word of God, which allows him to give unbreakable commands to people (and you just KNOW there's going to be a few laughs with that).

Tulip was involved with a botched hit and made a getaway with the nearest person she could find, Cassidy.

Heaven is in pandemonium from the events what transpired and are forced to awake the Saint of Killers (an unstoppable killing machine at heaven's disposal) to track down Jesse and kill him before things get out of hand. I won't say much about Arseface, other than he's one of the more heartbreaking characters.

After the first story arc is wrapped up, Jesse and the gang head to New York for a two issue story in which they get mixed up in tracking down a serial killer while trying to figure out just what it is that happened to Jesse and how God could allow such things to happen.

Oh, and John Wayne has several cameos.

"Gone to Texas" isn't the best of the series, but you have to start here. The next collection improves upon things and introduces one of the better (and funniest) characters in the series, the villain Herr Starr. "Preacher" is filled with sick humor, great one-liners, amazing action, and sometimes moments that are far more emotion-eliciting than anything in Hollwood. Except maybe "Glitter".

I had to quote Kevin Smith on the back cover when describing this book. It was one heckuva good read that seems to capture you from the first page to the last. Garth Ennis works his magic on one ofhis earliest works to create character that are so out of this world, it's real. Steve Dillon provides the visual afterworks for a story that is well laid out and planned from day 1. These guys were having fun with this book and they just didn't care who they were offending while doing just that.

The story begins like any good story. In a bar. Here everyone starts telling how things came to be. Ennis portrays this aspect beautifully, creating a marginal line between the insane and what is to be of reality. The Preacher, the main character, gets his main share of the pie. The others still remain a mystery to the reader which only makes you want to read more and more about their backgrounds. Ennis seems to be telling his readers: "Look, I'll get to this, just hold on a sec and enjoy the ride." And boy is the book a rollercoaster.

The Preacher's spirit is a product of an angel from heaven who mated with a demon from hell and whose spirit sought a mortal soul, to find the true meaning of life??? Heck, you maybe surprised at first, but that is the smartest way any author has tackled the prospect of what life is all about and how creatures relate to God. Ennis wants to know the answer and wants you all to know that answer, but he'll make it out so that everyone can enjoy his or her time with this. This is not just a piece of fiction, but a piece of theology. It may provoke a lot of debate. I was offended at first and still am, but you have to give credit where it's due. Ennis, brilliant evil British genius that he is, uncovers all the horrors of the heavens. I had thought his work on Punisher was smart and sassy, but his work on Preacher just blows that away completely. Here we have smartness, ingenuity and let put some sexy in it too. Did I forget to say funny? Even his depiction of some horrors, like a boy who has his face blown and lived to see the next day has the funniest way of talking and speech. Is that funny? Yes, but you WILL feel guilty for laughing to such real horror.

Dillon's work is gruesome!!! Very graphic depiction of violence. Is it a bother? Hell NO!!! This just provides the scheme of things. It plays out like a good horror movie. Lots of gore, lots of blood and lots of faces getting blown up and brains spilling. Steve is not here to lush you with bleed art on every page like comics these days. He'll stick to his regular rectancles and squares, but he'll make your eyes glued to them the whole time. His work is like a 35mm Scorcese movie, not an MTV video clip. Only downside with his art, however, is that the faces just look too damn alike. They look that everyone is somehow related to the other in some sense.

Great work by this fabulous duo. DC Comics fails to tell Warner Bros about this gem of a book. It would make a good movie if ever was made. You don't even have to change the script to fit in with the screen, because reading this collection is waaaaay better than going to the movies.

Writer Garth Ennis and artist Steve Dillon bring to life one of the most twisted, offensive, action packed, and unrelenting comic sagas that you'll ever read. This first chapter in the Preacher saga introduces us to Jesse Custer, a former preacher who teams up with his gun toting ex-girlfriend Tulip, and a hard drinking Irish vampire punk named Cassidy. Jesse is on a mission to find God, but not for the usual philosophical reasons one might expect. The action is graphic and very violent, and Ennis' dialogue can be chilling in one scene, and laugh out loud absurdly hilarious in the next (Cassidy's antics will have you busting a gut laughing). All in all, those looking for a different kind of comic and have unique tastes should definitely give the entire Preacher series a look, and they should start here.

I always skip the 5 star reviews, but if you are reading my review, know this: People say that it sounds silly or dumb, or not interesting after reading the synopsis. And I agree, I don't know if I would've given Preacher a read if I had read the summary beforehand. Having read it though I can fully attest to its greatness-greatness a wonderfully fun and exciting book. You quickly get involved with the story and can't put it down until you know what happens next. The pacing is quick and it doesn't take itself too seriously but definitely is NOT goofy. Garth Ennis a very poplular writer and for good reason. Not everything he touches turns to gold but Preacher definitely shines in his hands. If you like dark humor and things that make you feel guilty for laughing, you'll find a very fun read in Preacher. This book started it all and in my opinion (up to the 5th book in the series) is still the best.

Bottom line: Read it before you judge, you have to check it out for yourself.

OK, this is a SICK SICK SICK SICK series, but my friend just started me on it, and it's also bloody addictive! Rollin' out the body count in style, Jesse Custer, Cassidy, and Tulip O'Hare are their own walking Armageddon, wholesale death fighting for neither absolute good, nor bad, but some semblance of a fair universe. I really can't tell any more, 'cause I'd hate to give anything away. This book is relentlessly gory, but with a hardcore Texas tinge to it that entices you to buy and read the rest.

In his introduction to the second volume of this series, Kevin Smith talks about _Preacher_'s intelligent and provocative commentary on religion. Like Smith's film _Dogma_, _Preacher_ demonstrates that the author has thought about the subject for at least five minutes (as opposed to most people, who haven't thought about it at all). Intelligent religious commentary, however, it is not.

Fortunately, _Preacher_ has many other strengths. The story is well-paced and fast-moving, the characters are hard-edged and interesting, and the religious imagery and humor are wonderfully bizarre and often disgusting (but in that good way). The art is expressive and lively, with a memorably dark and tormented main character.

A warning: _Preacher_ is unbelievably vulgar, so vulgar that it sometimes leaves humor behind and becomes a tedious barrage of gross-out panels and only mildly creative obscenities. Overall, however, Ennis manages to tell an engaging enough story and enough good jokes to make _Preacher_ worth reading. Do the comics community a favor, though -- when you're looking for something to give your non-comics reading friend to introduce them to the genre, leave Ennis for later and stick with Gaiman instead; _Preacher's_ exactly the sort of thing that makes the non-comics reading public think comics are nothing but sex, violence, and blasphemy.

"Preacher" is one hell of a roller-coaster ride, so you better buckle your seat belt once you get in, or your bound to fall out.

Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon's edgy tale of religion and spirituality painted with the dusty and gory hues of Texas grit and horror-show exuberance is my first real foray into the intriguing world of comic books. I can't compare "Preacher" to any other comics out there, because I haven't read any yet. But "Preacher" has me hooked, and this certainly won't be the last comic I read.

"Preacher" isn't for everyone. I can think of quite a few people that it would (upset). But if that's the kind of warning that draws you forward like a moth to a flame, by all means, sink your teeth in. I first heard about "Preacher" from a blurb written by Joe R. Lansdale, one of my favorite writers. If you like Lansdale, then "Preacher"'s right up your alley.

This first compilation, "Gone to Texas," which collects the first seven comic books in the series, is a blast to read. I just couldn't stop once I picked it up. The story is strange, hip, and compelling, and the beautiful artwork makes it all go down like Jim Jones Cool-Aid.

"Preacher" stands convential religion on its ear, and is bound to be offensive to many, but actually offers a positive message of personal responsibilty and moral decency buried under all the blood, guts, and apparent blasphemy.

The story involves Jesse Custer, a former man of the cloth with a dark past, who, after finding his faith all-but-completey eroded, is hit by one hell of a divine inspiration. It's not your everyday burning bush, though, or voices coming from the sky. While preaching to a parrish in a small town in Texas, Jesse is suddenly possessed by a divine entity called Genesis, which whaps into him like a holy fireball, leaving him with the ability to speak "The Word" (sort of like the Jedi Mind trick), and hell-bent on a crusade: to find the absent-landlord in the sky, God, and hold him acountable for his wayward creations.

Jesse is accompanied on his quest by his ex-girlfriend, Tulip, and an ultra-cool Irish vampire named Cassidy who only tears the throats out of those who deserve it. I guess you could say it's all sort of like "The Wizard of Oz".

Although I rather enjoyed the occasional issue of `Preacher' that I'd flip through at the local comic shop, I never really got into collecting the series. Then I discovered the first trade paperback, and took a closer look at this legendary funnybook tale of a former Texas minister, his girlfriend, and their mysterious Irish vampire sidekick on their mission to find God. And I must say, I've got to go along with what many of the critics and fellow fans have said about it. It truly is an amazing hybrid of road movie, western, & horror flick, with a bit of modern Biblical epic, and some cop drama & murder-mystery/suspense as well (in this particular volume, anyway). This four-color epic hits on practically every movie genre you can think of short of sci-fi! Well, without it being a movie, anyway. Of course, from the rumors running through the grapevine of comic-book geekdom, `Preacher' may soon be hitting the celluloid as hard as it did the bristol board!

Although writer Garth Ennis was no stranger to conceptualizing some of comics' darkest and most disturbing, yet unbelievably hilarious moments before he started this saga, `Preacher' was the book cemented his reputation for these things. With the help of Steve Dillon's renderings, Ennis proves himself the master of the kinda blood & guts that'd make the likes of Paul Verhoeven & Quentin Tarantino queasy, yet mixed with an amazingly dark & sick sense of humor that helps... um... lighten the tone a bit. His rep for creating some of the freakiest and whacked-out supporting characters also began here, with the introduction of Arse-Face, the hideously disfigured teenage son of an overbearing podunk town sheriff. Another great character intro'd here is the Saint of Killers, an indestructible, immortal killing machine, sent by God's angels to deal with the reverend and his Deity-seeking quest. You can see more of his weirder & deadlier side characters in `Hitman', `The Rifle Brigade', and `The Punisher: Welcome Back, Frank', all of which I recommend as well.

There's a whole lot more I could say about this `Preacher Vol. 1: Gone To Texas', but I think you get the idea. And besides, I don't want to give too much of the story away. If what I've written above has swayed you, feel free to check it out!

`Late

This is an extremely difficult review for me to write. I'm an evangelical Christian, and, hard to believe as I'm sure it seems to a lot of people, I still think it's the best (and only) way. Preacher was going to be the enemy for a long time - that strange, pretentious book about a man of the cloth taking on God. And then I read Gone to Texas. And the next day, I read Until the End of the World. And the next day, I read Proud Americans. In case the pattern had escaped you, I had a very hard time putting these down. More to the point, I did not put them down, and have just finished Alamo. Did the book shake my faith? No. It made me think a great deal, and a great deal harder about things that had not previouly occurred to me. Was I offended by it? Sure. Find me someone who wasn't. Did I love every single page? You bet. The book has so much going for it that I probably won't be able to fit it in here - Ennis and Dillon did every single issue - that's NEVER been done before, as far as I know. You can start with Gone to Texas, and finish up at Alamo with a clear understanding of how each of them became better at what they do. It was smart without being pretentious, which put it head and shoulders above most of DC's Vertigo line - anyone can read it, anyone can understand it. Most importantly to me, though, the characters were as real as you or me. Ennis peppers the story with horrific violence and some incredibly disturbed images, but I wouldn't have batted an eyelash if I hadn't known that it was Tulip at gunpoint, or Jesse hanging out of the plane. No matter what the characters go through or do to each other, you still love them - Cassidy is one of the most well-written and complex characters to ever grace the pages of a comic book, and Jesse, in the midst of all the incredibly debauchery, is one of the most moral. For those reasons, I enjoyed the slower stories more; Salvation is at the top of my list, followed closely by All Hell's A-Comin. And let's not forget the humor - there were times when I was laughing so hard I couldn't turn the page. Give it a shot. It's new, it's innovative, and someone thought about it. That alone should be worth the prive of admission. You'll like it, and if you don't like it, you'll read it anyway.

To help me write this, I'm sitting here flipping through my copy of the trade paperback Gone To Texas. On the cover are three characters swaggering through a pile of charred corpses with expressions of equal parts determination and indifference. This is it, the best of the best of Garth Ennis's masterpiece, Preacher. It's incredible how quickly you'll feel like you've been a longtime loyal fan of these comics within the first ten or twenty pages of storyline. Here we meet characters that will occupy our thoughts and discussions with fellow fans for months. The Reverend Jesse Custer, The Gunslinging Girlfriend Tulip O'Hare, The Irish Vampire Cassidy, the horribly disfigured son of a sheriff and more and more and more. Comics don't get much better than this, and that's a strong statement. Here in Gone to Texas you will find depth, violence, and heart that you'd never expect from a comic book. The first of countless times I read this book all the way through I put it down in awe of how much brilliance I had just mentally digested, and so will you. Get it.

Collecting the first 7 issues of Preacher, probably the greatest comicstory ever next to Neil Gaimans Sandman, this one is a must-read for every self-respecting comic-reader who isn't stuck on superhero comics alone. What happens when a person gets possessed by a creature that came to birth from the forbidden lobe between a demon from Hell and an angel from Heaven. Follow Jesse as he goes on his way to confront a God who abandoned heaven with his responsibilities. This series is SF, western, action, humor, oneliners and bizarre storylines all in one put together by the great writer that is Garth Ennis (Punisher, Hitman, Hellblazer). This trade is a very welcome intro to the world of Preacher and has you meet the mainplayers Tullip, Cassidy and Jesse Custer

First, an important disclaimer: I realize that, to a certain degree, I have no more right to complain about this graphic novel than someone who reads an entire issue of Playboy and then professes to be shocked, shocked by all the nudity. I mean, with a Vertigo title, you pretty much know you're gonna encounter stuff that's provocative, unsettling, challenging, perhaps even creepy. That being said, though, I found "Preacher: Gone to Texas" to simply be vile and loathesome.

Basically, "Preacher" posits that God Almighty is just some wanker who has enjoyed lording it over his subjects, but that the moment a challenge arose, he scarpered off like a schoolyard bully. So now it's up to Jesse Custer (the preacher of the title, although he has no apparent interest in his religion) to hunt down God and bring him to trial for his myriad failings.

Of course, in God's absence, Heaven itself isn't doing too well. The archangels are arrogant and uncaring, while the lesser angels are a pack of self-aggrandizing conspirators, most of whom are drunk and foul-mouthed stumblebums. Custer later points out that Heaven and Hell are not the same as good and evil, and that the forces of Heaven fear new ideas.

On Earth, Custer becomes infused with Genesis, an entity that's escaped captivity in Heaven. As a consequence of this merger, Custer's entire congregation of 200 people gets burned alive, but that seems to be of little import. Ennis makes sure to depict the townspeople as being narrow-minded and venal bigots, so I guess they got what they deserved.

Custer survives and coincidentally links up with his former girlfriend Tulip, who has taken on a new job as hitwoman, and with Cassidy, a punked-out and laidback Irish vampire. The trio gets chased across Texas by the local constabulary and by the Saint of Killers, an ustoppable death machine in the guise of an Old West gunslinger, who has been unleashed by the angels to recover Genesis. Several massacres ensue, but again, we don't have to care, because the sheriff and all of his deputies are backwoods idjits and racists, so it's okay that they all get gunned down. (Evidently, Ennis believes that everyone in rural Texas is a gov'mint-hatin' inbred member of the KKK.)

Mostly, Jesse Custer (whose name is an anagram) is concerned with getting Tulip in bed, with an occasional pause to grumble about that ol' meanie, God. Tulip is pretty much just a cipher. But the character of Cassidy is actually quite engaging.

Be warned that the violence in this book is not the old-fashioned "biff bam pow" sort that you would find in the comics of yesteryear. The depictions are...well, extreme. You'll see:

--a man get his face flayed off and then nailed back on

--a man get his lower jaw exploded by a bullet

--a teenage survivor of a failed suicide attempt (shotgun blast through the bottom of his chin)

--an angel get the back of his head blown out so that the contents slowly slush out the back in a steaming pile

--and several dozen other men, women, and children get slain by shots to their heads, necks, and faces (the artist is extraordinarily fascinated with the vaporization of people's heads)

I alternated between being offended, dismayed, and disgusted, but I suppose that this material will work for a lot of other people. It's not, however, for those with weak stomachs. It's too late for me, so save yourselves.

My God, this is sick! It's also funny as hell, even though I still feel slightly disturbed that I actually laughed at some of the things that happen.

"Preacher: Gone to Texas," is the first of the trade paperback collections of the comics series. I haven't read any of the others, so I really have no idea what happens later, but after reading this first volume, I plan to buy the next ones in the very near future, and continue to not believe I'm laughing. This stuff is addictive.

From what I can tell so far, "Preacher" is the story of preacher Jesse Custer, his ex-girlfriend Tulip, and Cassidy, an Irish vampire. At some point, an angel and a demon had a child named Genesis. Genesis was a new idea, as powerful as God Almighty; it has escaped its heavenly prison and bonded with Jesse. Now Jesse, a moral person despite his many flaws, is searching for God. He plans to ask some serious questions.

"Gone to Texas" falls roughly into two parts. First there's the introduction, where we meet the three main characters, and others, such as the Saint of Killers. Then the three hitchhike to New York City, where they start looking for God and get involved in a serial murder case.

There are times when the gore and cursing get too thick, so they're tiresome instead of funny; that's why I'm not giving this five stars. Still, "Preacher" is one of the best comics I've read in a while, and I'm looking forward to the next collected volumes.