“Preacher” is a nine volume long comic series that tells the tale about how one man, Jesse Custer, got fed up with all of life’s inexplicable bullshit and decided to stick it to the Man. And by “the Man”, I of course mean the Big Cheese; the Exec of all Exec’s; Big Beard Grumpy yes, God Almighty himself is about to be called out on all the shit he’s allowed to happen since Creation. Along on this epic journey, Jesse brings only his faithful girlfriend, Tulip and an Irish vampire named Cassidy. But as things develop and plot lines intertwine, the story evolves into as an often times amusing, some times heart-felt, but mostly grotesque revelation on life and the people who try to live it.

No matter what your feelings are about Garth Ennis’ controversial comic opus are, you can’t avoid the fact that it’s one of the most renowned and high-held series ever published outside of the superhero genre . At least that’s the impression I’ve gotten after having talked things over with knowledgeable acquaintances and combed the internet for recommendations. So if you are - like me - in any way interested in comics, then “Preacher” is about as essential as it’s going to get.

However, I cannot with any form for certainty say if you’ll like it. Compared to Warren Ellis’ “Transmetropolitan” (easily the most… graphic comic series I’d read in both style and content before I finished “Preacher”), this series is much more sickening beast all together. I’ve got a thicker hide than a lot people when it comes to things like these, but in this comic’s case I found it to be simply too much.

Let me explain: Where “Transmetropolitan” uses shocking devices in its storytelling, it does so to tell the story in the best and truest way possible. From volume 4 and onwards in “Preacher”, I often found myself wondering if Ennis had perhaps lost sight of that. Where the perverse scenes before were funny or compelling in a different manner, the author now seemed to revel first and foremost in the grotesqueness and shock-factor, trying perhaps to always do one better than what had come before, and in doing so, he often lost the heart of the story, which was always the relationship between the three main characters. I also think he did a poor choice with Cassidy’s character development in the fifth volume and the ending of the saga wasn’t anywhere near as fulfilling as I had hoped it would be. It seemed nearly as if Ennis tried to find himself in all the bloody clutter of the previous volumes, but the ending felt very anti-climactic compared to the other high-points of the series.

The thing that I enjoyed the most about “Preacher” though, were the times it took the time to explore itself and explain the motivations of the characters. This I think Ennis did very well indeed. Especially background stories about Jesse, Jesse’s father and Cassidy’s origin story were the gems that I will always look back on with fond memories.

As for the Steve Dillon’s art, there is only praise to be sung. “Preacher” was never meant to be beautifully rendered, and Dillon knew that from the get-go. He always hit the facial expressions dead on and the illustrations were always nauseatingly good. If anything, I think Dillon deserves more credit than Ennis for making the last five volumes work to the extent that they did.

All in all I think I enjoyed “Preacher” quite a lot. I know for sure that the three first volumes are among the best trade paperbacks I’ve ever read, and even though the story shot itself in the foot along the way, I don’t regret spending my time and money on this. I do, however, regret the fact that I think the series could’ve been much better if Ennis had made some different choices along the way regarding the plot and character development.

Also, “Arseface” was never funny. I think he was supposed to be, but I never got over the overwhelming sadness I felt for that character.