The Boys # 72 FINAL RECAP: So much for people remaining the same...

[Boris]

I was pretty much a defender of Ennis all the way through issue #65, and have turned 180 degrees for issues 66 - 72. Question- is it possible that he wrote badly on purpose? Just as "True" (the best moment of the issue) is a snipe at reboots (The New 52, MarvelNow), could all the crappy plotting- the sudden personality changes, newly introduced major plot points, the dropping of prior major plot points- could it all be a meta-commentary on the comic book writing business?

Thought of that myself for a while in the last months. Then I remembered an old Ennis interview (couple of years ago) in which he stated that, when in real life you're faced with the Vatican surviving unscathed the children abuses scandal, the Lehman Brothers affair and shit like that, suddenly the idea of an evil corporation wanting to profit over depraved supes isn't fun anymore. Could be that he simply thought "the hell with it!" and destroyed his own world.

[saidestroyer]

I began re-reading the whole series last friday. It's cool (and a bit sad) to catch all the little details when you know where it's all going.

[Simon Rogerson]

I thought the epilogue was quietly satisfying. It wasn't a million miles away – in terms of tone – from the final issue of Preacher, though it took place on a less ambitious scale. Above all, I thought it was beautifully drawn. Robertson really is a class act – he can do satire, gross-out and pathos pretty much on the same page. As a standout comic, it's not especially satisfying, but in the context of the book as a whole I think it will stand up, especially with the trades. For anyone who has read The Boys carefully, there obviously were not many surprises – Rayner's political demise was satisfying and the final confrontation with Stillwell was handled with subtlety, something Ennis has been more comfortable with in recent years. The 'balloon' tribute to Frenchy and the Female was a nice touch, and the final frame was simply beautiful.

I've probably been one of the more slavish Ennis supporters on this board, but I have to sympathise with some of the views on the Butcher-geddon arc. I don't think it was some insidious commentary on the comic business (even Hughie wouldn't support that conspiracy theory), though I wouldn't be surprised if Dynamite had encouraged Ennis to spin out the series because it was proving so popular. Clearly Ennis leaves possible plot developments open during his writing, and chooses whether or not to follow them further down the line... it looks as if the possibility of a supe doomsday device had been conceived as early as the Mother Russia arc, and was being referred to obliquely by Butcher in the Super-duper arc. I just have to conclude that Ennis got a bit lost on this one... I was particularly nonplussed by the way Butcher keeps suckering Hughie into becoming an accidental killing machine. I just didn't buy that.

So farewell then, Boys. At least until Darrick's inexplicable A-Train prequel. Looking beyond that, I look forward to Russell Crowe's east London accent being widely ridiculed when the film finally comes out in another 10 years or so. Ennis has said this is a big goodbye to the Boys universe, but there's a a lot of open-ended stuff here and if the book keeps a high cultish currency (or becomes a successful film franchise) I wouldn't be surprised if he were to return to The Boys after a long break. I think there's a lot of scope for a meta-human series – sans spandex – that focuses on a world of disgraced supes. There could even be a completely new team, Boys II... but only if and when Ennis wants it.

[Dannycat]

I dont know about you guys but I really do have high expectations for that A-Train miniseries even if thats probably a really bad idea.

[saidestroyer]

If it's an attempt at humanizing the A-Train, I probably won't read it.




Who am I kidding? I'll probably do.

[blarneycock]

YEH BASTARDS

[MisterS]

Would anyone object to a Malchemical mini?

[Chrisnuttall]

On one hand, it was probably the best ending possible after the trainwreck.

On the other, the series turned to suckage.

Where was Hughie's character development that allowed him to become such a badass?

Where?

Chris

[Simon Rogerson]

Hughie's character has always been a bit uneven. But don't forget, he was always adept at the Boys undercover/surveillance work and even relished it, to an extent. And he's always been surprisingly adaptable. I've just been re-reading the third trade, where the Legend asks him to kill the Blarney Cock (admitedly for the second time) and Hughie agrees readily on the understanding the Legend tells him the history of the Boys.

[blarneycock]

Hang on, so Butcher didn't even tell Hughie he sold him out to Malchemical?
Speaking of which, what became of SuperDuper?