Review by Antony Johnston.
PREACHER: SALVATION
Writer: Garth Ennis
Artist: Steve Dillon
Colorist: Pamela Rambo
Published August 1999 by DC Comics
Running away from part of his past, Jesse finds a piece of the jigsaw waiting for him in the town of Salvation...
If you've never heard of PREACHER, you're either completely new to comics or have been having your copy of X-MEN delivered every month via Himalayan mountain goat. But that's okay. Listen... PREACHER is ostensibly the tale of Jesse Custer, eponymous hero, and his search for God. But not in a spiritual, symbolic way; God is somewhere on Earth, and Jesse is literally trying to track him down. Along the way he's helped by his ex-girlfriend; a vampire; the spirit of John Wayne; and a power equivalent to the Lord's. No, really. In turn he's hindered by a religious super-Illuminati known as The Grail, a six-shooting Saint of Killers, and various bad memories.
It's a modern Western; an American road-trip; a journey through the heart of modern society and politics. It's also completely unflinching in its use of both language and violence, which is why the book carries the obligatory "Mature Readers" tag. Not that (despite what you may have heard) either are employed gratuitously. But whereas you might see The Punisher gun down 40 people with no blood in sight, taking several bullets into the bargain, that ain't the way PREACHER works. Like a post-Tarantino movie, when someone gets shot through the chest in PREACHER they won't get back up.
All of the books bear up to repeated reading, and "Salvation" is no different.
Even this brief run-down is almost giving too much away. To be fully enjoyed, PREACHER must be read right from the start. Nevertheless, SALVATION (the seventh book in the series) is probably the best jumping-on point so far, as it deals with an interlude in Jesse's quest. The book sees Jesse arriving in Salvation, having lost an eye, his friends, and a significant chunk of his memory. He finds himself unable to continue his quest without regaining his memories, so decides to "shift down a gear." And what better way than to lose himself in a new line of work - becoming Sheriff?
Along the way he regains his memory and his resolve, discovers a part of his life he thought gone forever, and saves Salvation from the evil uber-businessman Odin Quincannon. You may have noticed I'm being deliberately vague about most of the plot, and there's a good reason for this. Part of PREACHER'S attraction - indeed, most of Garth Ennis's talent - comes from the reader not knowing what the hell is going to happen next. The eventual endgame of PREACHER was established early on in the series, but exactly how we get there remains, throughout, anyone's guess.
But that's not PREACHER'S only hook. All of the books bear up to repeated reading, and SALVATION is no different, due to Ennis's considerable talent for characterisation and Steve Dillon's equal skill in rendering the story. SALVATION, due to being very firmly rooted in the Real World, perhaps shows their respective talents off more than any other PREACHER book. And character is what most of SALVATION is about. There isn't a single character, not a single line of dialogue, that makes you wince. Nothing, to be frank, that sounds like it belongs in a superhero book. These characters are believable, ordinary people, with tales to tell just like any of us. From the profound to the trivial, everyone has their story.
SALVATION also continues Ennis's observational journey through the myth of the American Dream, destroying stereotypes while simultaneously reinforcing archetypes. Never patronising but always thoughtful, PREACHER concerns itself both with the larger-than-life American myth and the smaller things, the lives and problems of "little people". SALVATION takes this further and higher, asking questions and provoking quandaries only the individual can answer. Gushing? You bet I'm gushing. The art is faultless, even cinematic, without ever dominating the story. The writing is intelligent, economic and thought-provoking. One couldn't work without the other, and in that, PREACHER continues to be a shining example of comics' ability to tell a story like no other medium can. Buy them all. Now.
The first PREACHER book, GONE TO TEXAS, remains the ideal starting-point for this series. There's so much backstory, and so many subplots, that even SALVATION will leave the first-time reader a little confused. But it's better than nothing, and I promise you that after reading this you will want to read the whole story.
Strongly recommended.
PREACHER is available in seven collected volumes; GONE TO TEXAS, UNTIL THE END OF THE WORLD, PROUD AMERICANS, ANCIENT HISTORY, DIXIE FRIED, WAR IN THE SUN and the latest release, SALVATION. The series is still continuing in individual issue format.
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