The man from Vought...

[daveh]

New to the message boards, so please be gentle. Apologies if this has been raised in the past.

I have been reading the Boys as the monthlies have come out. Recently, I sat down and read all 42 issues straight through. Looking at the first 30 issues, I was surprised at how tightly integrated the story elements are (reading individual issues, I did not keep the context necessary to understand all of the conversations going on).

Anyways, the as-yet-unnamed head of superpowered-operations at Vought (whom I refer to as "The man from Vought" (TMFV)) is more interesting to me recently. I found it interesting that the previous CEO of Vought dies mysteriously and immediately after telling TMFV that he was going to take a more careful look at the superpowered-ops division. That cannot be a coincidence...

In addition, TMFV got his position after his predecessor died (though we did not see anything on that). Probably also not a coincidence.

Also, Ennis just gave TMFV his own sidekick (the new executive assistant) - who is being used in a similar plot device to both Hughie in the Boys and Starlight in the Seven - a newcomer whose orientation can be used to bring the reader up to speed. The sidekick points out to TMFV that he can kill the Homelander. So, does that mean TMFV has some secret set of superpowered individuals, or perhaps has powers himself?

Finally, I have to suspect that we have not been told TMFV's name for a reason. It could be a secret since, when it is revealed, it will have some impact on the plot (i.e., establishing a connection with someone else in the story).

By the way (and thanks for those still reading), I totally agree with whomever suggested that Butcher may have some additional powers that he is not revealing. It would be just like him. For example, I find it odd that all teams have flyers, but not the Boys...

Comics rule,
Dave

[Chrisnuttall]

It has been suggested that the Frenchman can fly – after he dived out of the window after telling Hughie his BS origin story, although there is no actual proof of that.

Yeah – I’m pretty convinced that the VA Dude is a Supe himself. Even if he didn't inject himself with Compound V like the Boys, he might well have some other surprises up his sleeve. A thought – when I saw him in the G5YP storyline, I wondered if he might be the Homelander in person. Could they be brothers?

An alternate possibility is that VA has some kind of implanted leash on their supes. If they could produce a version of V that could kill a supe when the button was pressed, why didn't they do that to their tame supes? Perhaps the Homelander is scared of the Exec because he can just push a button and the Seven self-destruct.

Chris

[Kamakazi]

It's always good to see someone else posting. Welcome aboard!

My personal theory is that the Man from Vought is Mallory.

Admittedly, this is based on the the Law of Character Conservation: I can think of no other reason why we never hear the Man from Vought's name, and we never see Mallory's face. It would also explain why he was so quick to murder all of the G-Men, including the children in Pre-Wiz. It also explains "the Mole" that we've talked so much about.

[Chrisnuttall]

It's always good to see someone else posting. Welcome aboard!

My personal theory is that the Man from Vought is Mallory.

Admittedly, this is based on the the Law of Character Conservation: I can think of no other reason why we never hear the Man from Vought's name, and we never see Mallory's face. It would also explain why he was so quick to murder all of the G-Men, including the children in Pre-Wiz. It also explains "the Mole" that we've talked so much about.

I don't - I think that that makes little sense in the long run. Besides, Mallory was an adult during WW2 and would have been much older than the VA guy appears. IIRC, there is a mention of a young Stillwell in the G-Men Arc; it could have been a younger version of the VA guy.

Chris

[Kamakazi]

Mallory was an adult during WW2 and would have been much older than the VA guy appears.


True, but as we've already discussed, a lot of people don't look the proper age in this book, which may or may not be a side-effect of V. Or it could be a side-effect of inconsistent artwork. :D Or maybe it's just another jab at the way comic characters never seem to age. Stormfront was drawn in the same "vaguely thirtyish" way that almost everyone else is drawn, but he'd clearly have to be over 80 years old if he were actually a member of the Hitler Youth.

Or to put it another way: This guy is the same age as Stormfront:
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01245/pope_benedict_1245681c.jpg

[daveh]

It's always good to see someone else posting. Welcome aboard!

My personal theory is that the Man from Vought is Mallory.

Admittedly, this is based on the the Law of Character Conservation: I can think of no other reason why we never hear the Man from Vought's name, and we never see Mallory's face. It would also explain why he was so quick to murder all of the G-Men, including the children in Pre-Wiz. It also explains "the Mole" that we've talked so much about.

Thanks! Very interesting idea about Mallory. If you want my wild prediction: the Man from Vought plans to be named US VP after Vic the Veep becomes President. He plans to integrate superpowered soldiers into the US Army (probably newer ones with a refined version of Compound V - you didn't think they had stopped working on it?) and, after Vic wins the election, he has Vic assassinated.

After all, the bad guy has to have a plan that ends with him ruling the world :)

Dave

[Chrisnuttall]

Seriously, I hope that that isn't the answer, for it seems inconsistant with what we know about Mallory. We're talking about someone who was prepared to humanise the Female and cared so much about his grandchildren that he collasped afterwards. I can't see him moving into a position of power within Vought and trying to take over the company.

The Man from Vought was prepared to slaughter 150 supes in Russia, oversaw the slaughter of the G-Men and sent Payback to take out The Boys. He may also have been responsible for the death of his superior. I can't see him and Mallory being the same person.

Chris

[Boris]

Mallory can't be Vought Guy.
Butcher and the Boys meet VG on several occasions (even in person) and nobody recognizes him.

VG's slaughter of superheroes can be simply motivated as "dumping the obsolete product", maybe to update his strategies, possibly employing the V-stuff for something less kitschy and troublesome than caped assholes.


I think he's genuinely amused by the Boys concept (superpowered, trained and efficient secret agents work VERY better for coups, black ops and assorted dirty business than a bunch of Avengers wannabes) and maybe he intends to develop something similar, even going so far to employ the Boys themselves (business is business, after all).


And also here's a summary of my ideas about VG:


1) He's superpowered, possibly equal to Homelander, maybe even more powerful (only the better V-stuff for daddy). Of course he doesn't make a show of it, apart from letting rogue supes (like Homelander) know who's the boss.

2) He can also have some mental powers, possibly mind reading, brain control and the like. Consider Herogasm and his meeting with Vic the Veep (that looks like hypnotized by him). This would also explain his attitude (he acts like he knows everything because he knows everything) and his actions (he knew what's behind the G-men, he could cause his boss a telepathic heart collapse or something, inspire fear into the Homelander, and why it just had to be him the one to talk to Vic?).

3) He can be Homelander's younger (and smarter) brother, given the resemblance between the two. This would explain his anonymity as a villain (Ennis wants us to look at the more obvious Homelander), and also his undisputed high position into Vought.

[Kamakazi]

I completely agree with you Chris, but I just can't think of any other reason that Ennis would be playing so coy with telling us Vought-Guy's name, or showing Mallory's face.

After all, there's not going to be much impact if we finally get to the Big Reveal and Vought-Guy boldly declares "...and my name was HERSHEL GOLDSTEIN ALL ALONG! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" or if the camera pans back to reveal that Mallory is actually Mallory Keaton from "Family Ties".

http://www.nuffy.net/pics/articles/dumb_characters/Mallory_Keaton-Family_Ties.jpg

[Kamakazi]

Mallory can't be Vought Guy.
Butcher and the Boys meet VG on several occasions (even in person) and nobody recognizes him.

That wasn't actually the Man from Vought that they met during the G-Men incident. It was... okay, wait for it, because this is BRILLIANT, and you NEVER SAW IT COMING....

...MALCHEMICAL.



What? No applause? :D Seriously though, my theory clearly relies on Mallory having changed his appearance, either through V or some other means, since both the Boys and the Seven know what he originally looked like. Is it a perfect theory? No. Nor is it likely to be correct. I just hold on to it because the alternative is to believe that Ennis has been yanking our chains with this "not showing Mallory's face or saying Vought-Guy's name" business for absolutely no reason.

[Boris]

the alternative is to believe that Ennis has been yanking our chains with this "not showing Mallory's face or saying Vought-Guy's name" business for absolutely no reason.



Well, why not? :)


I don't think the two "secrets" have to be linked.

And then, a villain with no name is just soooo scary and thrilling.

Where would Clint Eastwood be today if his most sacred character had a name?

http://www.empireonline.com/images/features/100greatestcharacters/photos/43.jpg

Hi, I'm John "Toughbrow" Smith, the man from Far Dump, New Mexico.

[Kamakazi]

Boris, I think you're missing two very important things:

1: Clint Eastwood was the HERO of those movies.
2: Clint Eastwood was Clint Eastwood, one of the most iconic and recognizable actors in Hollywood. By the time he did the "Dollars" trilogy, he was already famous as a Western Tough Guy from his television series Rawhide, as well as dozens of other movie and television roles. We knew the Man with No Name was a badass because we knew he was Clint Eastwood.

Imagine if instead of Clint, they'd used this guy:
http://manshopping.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/popped-collar.jpg
My name? You don't need to know my name, baby! I'm MYSTERIOUS!

Or to put it another way: there was a series of Spaghetti Westerns done in the 70's that used the exact same theme, the first of which was "My Name Is Nobody". My guess is that a helluva lot fewer people remember Terrence Hill than remember Clint Eastwood. I had to Google poor Terrence.

My point, if I have one, is that you can't just randomly appoint someone to be Intriguing, based solely off the fact that we don't know their name. Since we're clearly both Clint Eastwood fans, let's take my favorite of his "Man with No Name" movies: High Plains Drifter. It's true, we never knew his name. But that's not what made him interesting. What made him interesting was his never-explained link to the dead Sheriff. Was he a ghost? A relative? Or just a pissed-off loner who happened to arrive at the right time?

Now, let's take Vought Guy. There's nothing I care to know about him. Seriously, are you REALLY saying that you've come to think of him in the same terms as Clint Eastwood in "A Fistful of Dollars"? How exactly did that happen? Was it his rousing "Coffee with various other Vought employee" scenes? :)


...the caption to your photo made me laugh out loud, though. :D

[daveh]

...the caption to your photo made me laugh out loud, though. :D



I want a tee shirt and a hat from Far Dump, NM.

Dave

[Boris]

Now, let's take Vought Guy. There's nothing I care to know about him. Seriously, are you REALLY saying that you've come to think of him in the same terms as Clint Eastwood in "A Fistful of Dollars"? How exactly did that happen? Was it his rousing "Coffee with various other Vought employee" scenes? :)

Well, of course not (Clint is Clint and Sergio Leone is Sergio Leone, after all). But still, we're discussing this guy in "mystery and intrigue" terms, even going so far to suppose he's a supe, a secret ally for the Boys, even that he's Mallory posing as a villain. His anonymity (both by name and face) is crucial for making him an ambiguous and shady character, and that's what makes him interesting, at least to me (actually, I could care less for his name).


I am fairly convinced that all this "creepy secret" aura is just a trick Ennis uses to both distract us (all over the series we're told "the Seven are the target", "The Homelander is the villain", and we don't pay much attention to V-Guy) and of course hint us the truth (whatever it is, VG is involved, even if he seems too busy ordering drinks and talking cocky to everyone).


Of course you may be completely right, but I sincerely I hope not.

Not for you, of course, but that would be a Scooby Doo ending.

(A Scooby Doo ending is when our heroes capture the ghost/vampire/alien/dumb monster and uncover him as a completely pointless character, thus demolishing the entire story.
"Let's see who's hiding behind this Dark Noir mask! ... Oh, crap, it's Drummer Boy! " "Yeees, and I'd still be stomping my thumb into people's bums if you pussies didn't put your nose in!" And everybody laughs at the joke.)

Perfectly plausible, but that would lead me to burn my entire Boys collection.




...the caption to your photo made me laugh out loud, though. :D

You school me on that. ;)

[Boris]

Boris, I think you're missing two very important things:

1: Clint Eastwood was the HERO of those movies.
2: Clint Eastwood was Clint Eastwood, one of the most iconic and recognizable actors in Hollywood. By the time he did the "Dollars" trilogy, he was already famous as a Western Tough Guy from his television series Rawhide, as well as dozens of other movie and television roles. We knew the Man with No Name was a badass because we knew he was Clint Eastwood.

Or to put it another way: there was a series of Spaghetti Westerns done in the 70's that used the exact same theme, the first of which was "My Name Is Nobody". My guess is that a helluva lot fewer people remember Terrence Hill than remember Clint Eastwood. I had to Google poor Terrence.





That calls for a (completely OT) tale: :)

Here in Italy Clint was a perfect nobody by the time of Fistful of Dollars (Rawhide came to us later, in the early '70, on the wave of the western mania), and legends say the first movie posters here didn't have his name on them, just his glorious monicker; so actually, here he really became famous as a man with no name (he fully became Clint after Dirty Harry, and even then the Dollars trilogy was known to be starred by "the guy playing Callahan" for a while). :)

Conversely, Terence Hill is a nickname, he's Italian and, together with Bud Spencer (another Italian western star) he's the childhood hero of pretty about everybody under 50 here in the Boot. :)

[Hot_Ch0c0]

Anyways, the as-yet-unnamed head of superpowered-operations at Vought (whom I refer to as "The man from Vought" (TMFV)) is more interesting to me recently. I found it interesting that the previous CEO of Vought dies mysteriously and immediately after telling TMFV that he was going to take a more careful look at the superpowered-ops division. That cannot be a coincidence...


Welcome Daveh!

You definitely are right about TMFV getting more interesting. They've revealed a little more about his connections within the company and his history with Homelander. But what shocked me was the apparent drunken confrontation MM is about to have with him in the next issue?! Could that have any possibility of turning out well?!

TMFV appears to have had a long history at VA (Sorry Kamakazi). He was working for VA while Mallory was still forming the Boys, right? TMFV worked his way up throught the superpowered division under the guidance of the man who became the VA CEO (and recently got the "unhappy ending"). TMFV then became the head of that division. TMFV would have been a "shoe in" for CEO if he had pursued it. But, he obviously wants to stay in charge of his division (and it was implied he is planning on making big moves and wants the CEO to be the fall guy if things go down the wrong way).

I won't break the secret. But, TMFV's "name" has already been revealed. I spotted it in an issue a while back and it was confirmed in the 2nd volume of the Definitive Edition Hardbacks (in the script of an issue)... But, I feel like I've already said too much... So, shhh...

Now, one thing I noticed is that TMFV looked a lot like a younger version of the (now deceased) CEO. They even had similar food tastes. He also looks a lot like Homelander. Is this all coincidence? Could TMFV be the result of a secret project to create a genetically altered clone uber executive?

We know he has a keen intellect and is absolutely ruthless. He has excellent hearing and reads people's body language and motivations almost well enough to be like a human lie detector... He seemed to know (in G5YP) that his subordinates were NOT paying attention monitoring his security cameras... AND the Homelander himself is scared poop-less of him... This seems to indicate some sort of power...

Boris, I would agree that IF he has a superpower, it would fall in the telepathic realm from what we've seen so far... Maybe MM got drunk because being drunk would make his thoughts/intentions more random and difficult to read... Hmmm...

Chris, I like the idea there is some "leash" as you put it that VA and/or TMFV has over supes... It could be in the V... VA would be stupid not to have it. They did decide to unstrap Homelander from his nuke. Why? because they TRUSTED him? Nope! Because they came up with a better control device...

Maybe TMFV has a telepathic "death word" that he can use. If he looks at a supe and thinks the right thought.... "BAM!" They explode... or "VOOP!" They lose their powers or "Cra-ZAP!" They poop their pants, or something... It didn't work on Little Nina (of course she was not a supe). However, even Butcher was intimidated by TMFV... So, it may be supe (or compound V) specific... a genetic "defect" caused by V that TMFV exploits... (After all, Jack from Jupiter has a "power word" that makes him invulnerable -He talked about it at Herogasm)

Kamakazi, Now that Malchemical angle is interesting... Because Malchemical can do ANYTHING! And goes it back to that "unnatural resemblance" between Mal, Homelander, TMFV, and exCEO.... Maybe VA had a bunch of similar embryos in storage...

I think that TMFV could be the perfect "leash" in this scenario: Create a "supe" who has powers that really only work well on other supes. No strength or "major" power, and he has to live life like a normal person. A guy like that would have to work hard and be smart to be a success and might secretly HATE the idiot supes in costumes living the rock star life. BUT, HE is the guy who could smack the supes in line with his "only works against supes" powers... Yesss! He would feel automatically superior to the idiots who rely on superpowers, and recognize their flaws and weaknesses and not be intimidated by them at all. He would blend perfectly and be successful in VA's corporate environment where the majority of the people working there would have no clue what he really was... He could even get powerful enough to wipe out evidence of his "true origins"....

Or maybe Mallory found a way to switch minds with TMFV and took his body over... We'll have to see

[Kamakazi]

I want a tee shirt and a hat from Far Dump, NM.

Dave

<center><embed src="http://www.jellymuffin.com/generators/tshirt/tshirt.swf" FlashVars="stxt=Boris went to*Far Dump, NM*and all he*got me*was this*lousy T-Shirt&a=165&tx=49.9&ty=44&color1=0x333333&color2=0xCC0000&color3=0xFF99CC&color4=0xFFFFCC&font=1&gender=1&symbol=1&lnpath=http://www.jellymuffin.com/generators/tshirt/&dom=http://www.jellymuffin.com/generators/tshirt/" quality="high" wmode="transparent" width="341.2" height="381.7" name="TShirt Generator" align="middle" allowScriptAccess="samedomain" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" /></embed></center>

[daveh]

<center><embed src="http://www.jellymuffin.com/generators/tshirt/tshirt.swf" FlashVars="stxt=Boris went to*Far Dump, NM*and all he*got me*was this*lousy T-Shirt&a=165&tx=49.9&ty=44&color1=0x333333&color2=0xCC0000&color3=0xFF99CC&color4=0xFFFFCC&font=1&gender=1&symbol=1&lnpath=http://www.jellymuffin.com/generators/tshirt/&dom=http://www.jellymuffin.com/generators/tshirt/" quality="high" wmode="transparent" width="341.2" height="381.7" name="TShirt Generator" align="middle" allowScriptAccess="samedomain" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" /></embed></center>

Awesome! Thanks!

Dave

[Kamakazi]

That calls for a (completely OT) tale: :)

Conversely, Terence Hill is a nickname, he's Italian and, together with Bud Spencer (another Italian western star) he's the childhood hero of pretty about everybody under 50 here in the Boot. :)

There's a movie called "Rustler's Rhapsody" that you should check out. :)

[Boris]

<center><embed src="http://www.jellymuffin.com/generators/tshirt/tshirt.swf" FlashVars="stxt=Boris went to*Far Dump, NM*and all he*got me*was this*lousy T-Shirt&a=165&tx=49.9&ty=44&color1=0x333333&color2=0xCC0000&color3=0xFF99CC&color4=0xFFFFCC&font=1&gender=1&symbol=1&lnpath=http://www.jellymuffin.com/generators/tshirt/&dom=http://www.jellymuffin.com/generators/tshirt/" quality="high" wmode="transparent" width="341.2" height="381.7" name="TShirt Generator" align="middle" allowScriptAccess="samedomain" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" /></embed></center>


LOL! We definitely should start a business together.



We know he has a keen intellect and is absolutely ruthless. He has excellent hearing and reads people's body language and motivations almost well enough to be like a human lie detector... He seemed to know (in G5YP) that his subordinates were NOT paying attention monitoring his security cameras... AND the Homelander himself is scared poop-less of him... This seems to indicate some sort of power...

Excellent, Hot_Ch0co! That completely slipped out of my mind.


Another consideration, if only from a narrative viewpoint, is that V-Guy is maybe the best villain Ennis has ever conceived.

He's not a vaudeville evil overlord like herr Starr, nor the usual cliche mafia godfather, neither a badass psycho like every Punisher's enemy.

Actually, he's scary just because he's so "anonymous". He's far more like real villains, be them unscrupolous politicians or greedy businessmen, their "dark powers" being just money, influence and the will to use them to their ends.

I will be perfectly happy even if it turns out he's a completely ordinary man just doing whatever job he's paid for, without superpowers, nasty secrets, doomsday plans and the like. Hell, even Mengele and Himmler, if you look well, were perfectly normal people "just" following orders, and that's what makes them inhuman monsters.

I just hope we'll not see him screaming "Shazam!" and blowing everyone out with a thunderstorm...

[Kamakazi]

Another consideration, if only from a narrative viewpoint, is that V-Guy is maybe the best villain Ennis has ever conceived.


http://content7.flixster.com/question/46/88/90/4688905_std.jpg
"What? I also have no name! I make you cry like little girl!"

[Boris]

Ok, but...


neither a badass psycho like every Punisher's enemy.

Good shot, tough. :p


(Did you know I'm founding member of The Russian: Man Without Ear fan club of Smolensk?)

[Kamakazi]

Boris, if we were characters in The Boys Universe, I'd be Homelander and you'd be The Man from Vought. :) I can't get ahead of you no matter how hard I try. :D

[Boris]

Boris, if we were characters in The Boys Universe, I'd be Homelander and you'd be The Man from Vought. :) I can't get ahead of you no matter how hard I try. :D



No way! We'd be the McGuinea brothers. :cool:







Again on Vought Man: the more I think of him, the more I like him.

He's the perfect answer to the Ultimate Question: what would you do if you had superpowers? (assuming of course he does have superpowers)

Fancy costumes? Aaaw.
Fight for Law and Justice? Be serious.
Join a league of equals and protect the world? Yuck, that's worse than working.

No, of course 99% of us will go the Vought way and enjoy the rockstar life. Superpower equals superfun and superimpunity (sorry, Uncle Ben, but that's how real life works), it's only a matter of how much you want to push it over the edge.

But then, even filthy rich boy bands have their trouble. There's always a greedy manager to answer to, a bigot senator to watch out for, a parental group in your way, a psycho that wants to kill you, and the fans, man, you just have to keep'em happy! Oh, and by the way, no drunken orgy tonight, there's a charity gig for the erotic asphyxia victims relief. Somebody please kill me.

And, lo and behold, our troubles are over. Vought Man is here to show us the light. If you manage to get superpowers, keep'em to yourself and instead patiently work your way to the top of a corporation, that's where real power is. Be discreet. Think carefully: the only thing better than being an allmighty living god is being an allmighty living god and nobody knowing about it, expecially your unfortunate, short-lived opponents.

[Kamakazi]

I dunno, I'd like to think that if I woke up with Superpowers tomorrow, I'd work in "sealing off the BP oil leak" and "hunting down bin Laden" somewhere into my schedule of hookers and coke. Not first on the list, obviously, but somewhere. Next week or so. Definitely before the end of the year. :D

[Boris]

I like to imagine I'd do the same, but the "rescue" by the Seven on 9/11 reminds me I don't know zip about sealing off oil leaks or hunting down terrorists. So probably I'd come with an epic fail ("Uh...sorry, dear Arab friends, I didn't intend to blow up Mecca, I was only... what do you mean with "it's World War III"? I'm the GOOD guy here!), just like my fellow colleagues in The Boys.

Assuming, of course, we're talking about "DC-like Superpowers".

Think if you wake up as Hulk or the Thing.

[Hot_Ch0c0]

*bump*

This was such a fun thread and has to do with Vought Guy, so I thought I would push it back up for nostalgia.... (Plus, it was easier than writing up a What We "Know" for Vought Guy)

The biggest "new" revelation since that thread was that VG has an extremely regular heartbeat, even under extreme stress, his heartbeat is calm and regular... inhumanly so, in fact...

Jess Bradley seems to have "normal" reactions, though...

I just thought of another question:

How much does Vought Guy even buy into the VA agenda? He didn't WANT to deal with Vic the Veep and looks at dealing with The Seven as a temporary evil... Why would he want VA to succeed in getting supes to replace the military on any level? Vought Guy wants to phase supes out, right?...

And if he doesn't buy into the VA agenda, have we seen what Vought Guy's true agenda is yet?

[Kamakazi]

We also know that he is, by his own admission, a sociopath. (Remember his phone conversation when he had Pre-Wiz dumped into the ocean?)

He's also a murderer. He either killed or had killed the hooker that Homelander tried to use to distract him. Also, he seemed to know that she was playing him from the very beginning, although that might have just been "smarts" as opposed to "superpower."

[blarneycock]

I think i've worked out That Vought Cunt's name too (not 'dead man'). It was confirmed during a recent arc, but what I can't work out, is why his name would have to be a secret in the first place.

hmmmm.

[Simon Rogerson]

His name is Stillwell, or similar, I think. Part of Ennis' style is to set up long term questions and mysteries to keep us reading in the expectation that all will eventually be answered. But in this case, the corporate evil of VG is shown to be even worse than the petty callous evil of the Homelander. Ennis' point, I reckon, is that the suits behind the big corporations who vie for control of America are, in their way, more powerful and capable of more evil than the worst comical super-villain. A lot of Ennis' beliefs can be traced back to the beliefs of the late comedian Bill Hicks, who is regularly referenced in Ennis' work. I was a big fan myself. Check out this clip of Hicks explaining how US presidents have their agendas dictated to them by the corporate world. This worldview is at the heart of The Boys satire, and I'm not sure it's a million miles from the truth...:(

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MRykTpw1RQ