Broken Frontier

On the heels of issue #1 just two weeks ago, Ennis and Robertson continue their twisted yet infectious tale of a band of enforcers for the superheroes of the world.

Somebody has to hold the "long underwear brigade" accountable for all the collateral damage they cause to John Q. Public, so the Butcher is putting his team back together. Among those hardcore, arse-kicking bastards (sorry, it really is infectious!) is Billy, a.k.a. the Butcher, who is the misfit, cynical leader of the group; a poem-spouting lunatic (who looks a tad like Spider Jerusalem), The Frenchman; a harmless looking emo chick with a serious case of pent up rage, The Female; a man whose past life has not carried over to his current home life, Mother’s Milk; and the new recruit, Hughie, whose inclusion in the group is a wildcard because he has no experience other than witnessing the horrendous death of his fiancé thanks to some do-gooder Super-jerk.

It is Hughie’s recruitment that takes us through the majority of the narrative in this issue, giving us a little insight as to what Garth Ennis dislikes about the highly revered superhero community. This voice is not altogether innovative, but in the realm of a new series and unfamiliar characters it comes off as more genuine and even sympathetic. As for the introductions to the other team members, each are given in the unique Ennis fashion—lots of cursing and/or grisly violence. However, what I found most appealing about each of these characters’ intros was that they were not as they first appeared. While The Female and The Frenchman appeared calm or withdrawn at first glance before turning vicious, Mother’s Milk was basically a sheepish Luke Cage drinking from a coffee cup that read "BAD ASS" on the side…yet he wasn’t even confident enough to stand up to his own teenage daughter.

I’ve always been a fan of Darick Robertson’s work. His pencils are clean and detailed, and his panel work is fun to look over for little things you might not expect to find. He is also taking the time to ink his own work here, which punctuates the dark humor of the subject matter. With The Boys falling somewhere in between the real and fantastical, in my estimation, there probably wasn’t a better choice as artist for this series.

The Boys had a fun first issue that really barely scratched the surface that this issue begins to dig into. Ennis promises to "out-Preacher Preacher" with this series, which is a tall order to say the least. While I will stay away from any such prediction, I will say that so far, The Boys is fine comics.