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PROFILES >
"Garth's a great writer. I'll always have a soft spot for Garth
and his writing." "Ennis resembles other DC-recruited English super-star writers
like Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman and Grant
Morrison in one significant
way: a 'voice' that is uniquely recognizable as his own. A Garth
Ennis comic, and there have been about a decade's worth now, contains
any number of strange dichotomies - the potential for wild, dramatic
violence within plots driven mostly by dialogue; wildly cartoonish
characters interacting with those who linger in the mind due to
their nuanced, realistic portrayal; fiercely moral protagonists
put into situations where their loyalties can be both questioned
and vindicated. One thing that separates Ennis from other popular
comic writers is a seeming complete disinterest in the cavernous,
detailed worlds of straight-faced super-hero comics - not even
for their pop-cultural or nostalgic value. In this way, Ennis more
than a lot of comic creators belongs to the wider cultural scene.
Ennis doesn't draw on Superman or Batman as much as the respective
movie myths of John Wayne and Clint Eastwood. With his tendency
to take well-worn forms of storytelling and use them to both celebrate
and critique their underlying message, Ennis may be the only comics
writer where comparison to screen writers like Quentin Tarantino
is more enlightened than ridiculous." "Born in Belfast, left it when I was two or three, grew up outside
it, in a place called Hollywood... It was one of those towns that
lies on the edge of a big city, just close enough so that you can
see all the attractions and the lights of the big city, but just
far enough away that the city is not that handy to get into. Steve
Dillon lives in Luton, and it's not unlike a Belfast version of
Luton. Hollywood is a dump... It's just me. No brothers or sisters.
Me, my mum and my dad, who I'm still on pretty good terms with.
I see them when I go over there every couple of weeks. There are
no tales of childhood trauma that explain the horror of the work.
Nothing out of the ordinary." Interviews: Resources: Reviews: |
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ESSENTIAL READING: |
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"Perhaps the true drama of any war story lies in its basis
in reality, more so than that of any other genre. Whether the stories
themselves ring true or not, we know that these things happened once
upon a time. We know that the battles were real, that the effect
they had on our world was real, that the people who fought and died
in them were very real indeed." "Many in the alternative comics field still unfairly deride collaborative
efforts, and to them I offer Ennis' distinctly genuine war stories,
offering us perhaps the closest approximation of war's moral ambiguities
as have ever been presented in the medium (with the obvious exception
of Joe Sacco).
If the works suffer at all, they suffer from their brevity - but
as it is, there is no doubt that Ennis has mastered the short form
'graphic novella' as an excellent format for telling some truly
absorbing stories." |
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"Preacher will almost certainly
offend somebody somewhere, but it'll all be lovingly justified and
very thoughtfully presented. None of the material contained within
these pages is actually designed to annoy or anger people; we're
all amiable types around here, fond of the quiet life, eager to
please... No, what we want to do here is spin a good yarn and keep
you entertained. Nobody's looking for trouble, believe you me. Okay,
it's not the kind of comic you'd show your local priest, but the
clergy would start a fight in an empty room anyway. So all you Televangelists,
reactionaries, General Synods and Parents' Groups: you leave me alone
and I'll leave you alone. I don't try to tell you how to con gullible
rednecks out of their savings, or the best method for hanging around
children's playgrounds, or the do's and don'ts of beating your wives,
do I? Well then." "Now, between you and me, Preacher is
not a nice book. It's jam-packed with cheeky attitudes, full-bodied
language and gratuitous claret. It mocks the afflicted and regards
any sacred cow it happens to stumble across as little more than a
potential Sacred Burger franchise. Yes indeedy, this book has behavioural
problems and wouldn't touch the word nice with
a barge pole." |
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"Garth Ennis is perhaps the most interesting new writer to emerge
in the last ten years and Warren Pleece perhaps the most interesting
artist. In True Faith, their talents combine to create a fresh and
original work, the power and charm of which last long after one closes
its pages." "I'm quite prepared to endorse this book at the top of my voice
and until my throat is raw. True Faith is a thing of beauty and a
joy forever. True Faith is a glorious, anarchic assault on the values
that made Britain great. It's probably even a scathing indictment
of something or other. Above all, it's a bloody good laugh and if
you can't see the funny side of crucified alsatians, burning churches
and mass murder then you're probably well enough to go home. As for
me, I'll stay here and gloat over this ruthless, shameless desecration
of everything that normal, decent folk hold dear." |
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"...Troubled Souls is an over-looked
classic. If its not quite on the order of Maus or Stuck
Rubber Baby,
it is not far off... Troubled Souls explores
guilt, corruption, morality and the void of moral apathy in an ambitious
and artistically satisfying graphic narrative... Troubled
Souls is
the superior work of two prodigiously talented creators and excels
as a suspense story, as a political statement, and as a depiction
of life in a particular place and time." "Really, the problem in Northern Ireland is just an exaggerated
version of the problem everywhere else: the wrong people are in charge,
on every side, in every organisation. Our leaders are either hatemongers
who speak to the worst in all of us, or timid sheep afraid to say
uncomfortable things aloud. And through our fears, our prejudice,
our bigotry, our crippling apathy, we let them go on doing it. For
a while I honestly believed we had a genuine chance for long-term
peace, on the simple basis that people seemed to like it too much
to let it slip away. To be able to go shopping without a bomb scare
closing off half the town, or get a job in what used to be a dwindling
economy, or just have breakfast without hearing the night's body
count over the radio. I thought these were things that no one would
ever want to do without again." |
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| SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY: | ||
Books: Preacher: Hellblazer: Punisher: Punisher Max: Hit Man: |
War Stories: Vol 1
Preacher
True Faith
Troubled Souls