On May 6, 2016, "Captain America: Civil War" hit theaters, the latest comic book adaptation in a long string in the last decade or so. Everything these days is superheroes here, superheroes there. Comic book adaptations seem to have cornered the market on successful movies, from the Avengers franchise to X-Men to the most classic of heroes like Batman and Superman. But comic books and graphic novels are hardly a rare form of literature. There's much more out there than just superheroes.
On May 22, 2016, "Preacher" premiered on AMC. Based on the comics written by Garth Ennis with art by Steve Dillon, the series ran from 1995-2000. It was published by Vertigo Comics, an imprint of DC Comics known for publishing more adult content (think the equivalent of R rated movies) or content that varied too much from DC's typical brand. You could definitely say that "Preacher" fits both of these criteria.
The pilot episode opens on a celestial body falling from the sky and entering the body of a priest in Africa as he stands before his church. Seeing this, they believe that he is a "chosen one," until he suddenly explodes before their eyes. We then cut to a small town in Texas where Jesse resides, a reformed man who is now the preacher of a run-down church. As many people point out, he's not very good at being a preacher.
We also meet Cassidy, the Irish Vampire. He shows up on a plane 30,000 feet above the midwest, kills a private jet's worth of men, proves that holy water is useless against vampires, then jumps out of the plane. He wakes up in Texas, his organs and intestines lying around him, eats a cow whole, then shows up in a bar without a scratch on him.
The next main character we see is Tulip. She's being hunted down by some unidentified organization, and manages to kill the first man after her by biting his ear off and stabbing him to death. He sends for backup before he dies, however, and she enlists the help of some nearby children in building a homemade bazooka. A helicopter shows up and she shoots it down, killing everyone in it, then goes to seek out Jesse. They were old flames and she wants to recruit him for her cause. Or fight him. It's Tulip, she's unpredictable.
Finally, we are introduced to Arseface. He isn't addressed as Arseface in the episode, nor are we given exposition as to why he is the way he is, but well... you get it.
In a world where we are used to comic books being about heroes and being good, it is so refreshing to see something so inherently dark. It's easy to forget that not everything is about the good guys and the bad guys. Every once in a while, there is a lack of those categories. "Preacher" is just a dark, twisted comedy about people trying to get by with a lot of weird, awful things happening to them.
I would say that you'll find heroes and villains in "Preacher" when hell freezes over, but that's not the truth. Hell does freeze over in this story. Literally. And I can't wait.
