Continuing my tribute to this series. To see all the posts, click the tag below.
After introducing the main themes in #1, the cast in #2, and perversion in #s 3-4, Ennis delivers the irony: Wee Hughie is romantically linked to a super, and he doesn’t know it.
Also, Butcher has (or at least says he has) a respect and need for family. Over time, as we get to know him better, we’ll understand that Butcher is simply manipulating Hughie.
The first arc was mostly about set up. In issues #7-11, Ennis digs deep into a cesspool of homophobia as The Boys investigate the murder of a gay man at the hands of a super. But there’s no condemnation or approval of any moral position—neither tolerance nor intolerance gets a day in court. It’s all presented as fact, without gloss or editorial point of view. Even the ending is morally ambiguous. It’s incredibly unsettling.
But more importantly, these issue introduce a new character: The Legend. He’s basically Stan Lee if Stan was writing publicity ads (in the form of comics) to cover up the evil and sickness in the superhero world.
And he calls his penis Mjolnir. Nice.
And here’s the best part of issue #12…
English (US) · 