The Forward of "GONE TO TEXAS" by Joe R. Landis.

"First off, as for PREACHER, well, their ain't two just like it. We'll make that a little more immediate like. WE'll even repeat it for the drowsy. THERE AINT TWO JUST LIKE IT.

It's kinda part Western, Part Crime story, part Horror story, and partly just fucked up strange. Well allot fucked up strange.

Its a universe within itself. An alternate universe. As a Texan I find all the Texas business more than a little interesting, even if the dialogue and turns of phrase are now and then off, and more British than Texan. Garth Struggles now and then to be too Texan. But the spirit is right - or at least the mythical spirit is. Texas is, afer all, is a state of mind as well as an actual terain. It is anyting and everything you want it to be and none of these. It is the Mount Olympus of hard-boiled stories with Western grit. It might be nice if now and then folks noticed that good people and good events come from Texas as well as te bad, but the myth of this rebel universe prevails, and if it must prevail, its nice to know that there are writers like Garth Ennis playing with that myth in a smart and savvy way.

got to tell you, stories like this, people read them and say, "This is a hoot." A way to wind down from the more serious stuff. they see the raw language and the action and the brutality, the splatter, and they see little else. Most of the time they are right. But PREACHER.....

Let me clue you. This is just as serious as any of Vertigo's highly praised "intellectual" stuff, and better than a lot of it. Don't confuse "intelligent" with "intellectual". Pretention can confuse a soul if they're not paying attention. This stuff, well, pretentious it ain't but smart it is.

And it's fun. Well, is "fun" the word I am looking for here? Maybe, no. Fascinating that's the word.

And we all know it's a comic book. That it isn't real. It's our chance to look at the dark side without having to be a part of it. It's like watching an alligator eat a pig. Ugly, but still mesmerizing. Especially since we're not the pig. I wonder what the pig's point of view , looking up from its last moments to see curious faces looking down on its last moments. But that's another consideration.

Another thing about PREACHER, and I'm dam sure not giving anyone who has read it a new flash: it's scary as a psychopathic greased gerbil with a miner's hat and a flashlight and your bare asshole in sight. Actually it's scarier than that. This stuff really bothered me, and at times I thought it might be a little too much. But I found myself waiting for the next issue with anticipation. I can't say that about most comics. In fact, I start a lot of comics that I don't finish. I guess that's a serious statement of some kind.

This stuff is unique. It's intriguing. it touches n a base level. Makes things crawl around in the viscera (Where is that gerbil with the flashlight anyway?) and the brain. It stays tru to its intent as well. It doesn't suddenly go from being this dark and terrible tale to being warm and squishy with a catch in its throat. You get yourself a ratttlesnake, it'll bite toady, and it'll bite tomorrow. And unless it's toothless, it'll bite two years from now. A rattlesnake is always a rattlesnake, and Garth's tale is always just what it started out to be-grim and grey with flashes of blackness.

And while we're praising the writing, the mood, let's talk about the artwork, which ain't slouchy either. It puts the paint on the conception, brightens it up and makes it burn, Or maybe, in this case, darkens it up and makes it smoulder. Steve Dillon's art is perfect for the story. It puts tainted saliva on the fangs of Garth Ennis's prose. It puts the shadow behind the curtain and makes the blood on the floor crawl.

These first seven comics, collected here together, are to my way of thinking a milestone for Vertigo. This is unique stuff, a hole in the dike of sameness. And the water rushing throught that hole , spider webbing the concrete of the dam, cracking it, blasting it apart, is a nasty black water leaking directly from the brains of Messrs Ennis and Dillon. this is not to imply that Garth Ennis or Steve Dillon are bad folks. I don't know them. But I will say this: They know fucked-up when they see it, and like Flannery O'Connor, they're willing to put their finger on it and make it squirm for your observation.

I'm not sure it's a learning experience, but it's a thinking experience, and most important, as I said early on, it's unique, and I hope it's uniqueness does not encourage a hundred writers to go out and try to repeat it. What they will come up with is just meanness for meanness' sake. It won't have the edge, the special feel of PREACHER. They'll just be imitations. because there is only one Garth Ennis and only one Steve Dillon, and only one PREACHER, a tale out of Ireland, dragged through Texas with a bloody hard on, wrapped in barbed wire and rose thorns.

And it's out to get you."

That's just a taster of what's to come, bookmark and link to this page, it will be updated soon, I have only been open since the 22nd of October 98' think of it like watching your baby grow, before you know it, the kids in college. If you like PREACHER why not become one click here to ordaine yourself right into the clergy, guarantees you a place in heaven.

It's what Garth would have wanted.

Regards

Fathercrow Back home to the WORD

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