I know this series is deliberately over the top and provocative. I'm not bothered by the over the top violence, unlikable protagonists, constant racism, sexism and homophobia, or the black and grey morality of it all. It's Garth Ennis, I get it. He's successfully turned his disdain for superhero culture into a fun, disturbing and interesting romp.The thing that anchors it all is Hughie, the likeable (if somewhat homophobic) protagonist of the series.The final scene of this volume nicely undoes e...

The seventh volume in the anti-superhero satire series The Boys. In this one there is love sweet love for Hughie. Annie! And they use the L word with each other. The thing is. Billy sees them together and recognizes her as Starlight from the Seven (a superhero group). Is Hughie now compromised? Even a spy?The first of two arcs here is all about a kind of parody of the Legion of Superheroes-type team called Super Duper, featuring a psychotic jerk superhero (okay, villain) named Malchemical, assig...

Something about the pure innocence of Super Duper really touched my heart. In a cold-blooded world of narcissistic coked-up superheroes, these are the dorky useless underlings who get wedgies and wet-willies. But their sweet innocence is also something to admire in this dark world. It's also something that touches Wee Hughie as well as he goes on his emotional journey. There is one more thing I will say about The Boys -- the sure do know how to maximize the comedic value of fat superheroes. From...

Ennis got his start in the mid to late 90s, establishing a reputation as an extremist in the comics community alongside Warren Ellis, though Ennis would become the Grant Morrison to Ellis' Alan Moore, with Ennis sometimes going to extremes without letting his story threads come together in a natural way. Does that mean Ennis is a bad writer? Of course not. He wouldn't be a favorite of mine if that were the case. While The Boys doesn't entirely reach the heights of some of Ennis' finer outings li...

this collection pulls The Boys out of the low lows of the past two books. I enjoyed the overarching exploration of Innocence Sullied that carries over two narrative arcs and one ongoing romance. the first arc is all about the Legion knock-off team called Super Duper learning that the world is a gross place. it features a particularly fun asshole in the Metamorpho parody that is superhero(villain) Malchemical, who is the new leader of those poor dumb kids. the second arc is about a popular Christ...

Dark. That's how this book hits me. I can't help it, I know that's so over-used these days, but when I think about how Butcher and Malchemical and a couple of the Boys act, that's where my brain goes.This is a serious book, many dramatic turns and little to redeem the optimist inside me. I did *not* think Ennis would take us here, and as I saw it unfolding I just assumed he'd let us off the hook sooner or later.Now I really want to read the next volume immediately - this suffering has to end and...

Extremely disappointing. Maybe I've matured out of the target demographic lately. I mean, I still love all the "stickin' it to the supes" stuff, but Butcher and Hughie are painted so unsympathetically here it's really difficult to root for them at all. We've always known Butcher & Co were a bunch of right bastards, and that was fine, because we had Simon Pe... err, Wee Hughie to identify with, as the "regular guy" we could all see as us (and by we I mean of course white cishet dudes). But by the...

I love this series by Ennis. Is it crude? Yes. Graphic (sex/violence)? Oh yes. But I really do love the characters and really get a kick out of them. And the world that Ennis has created - where super heroes are shmucks just like the rest of us, or worse - is endlessly captivating. Was volume 7 my favorite volume? No. Sad to say, there was a lot of lovey-dovey detail about Wee Hughie and his love affair with Annie January (aka Starlight) and not nearly enough story given to other "boys" like The...

At Butcher's insistence, Hughie stakes out the team Super-Duper, only to discover that they are a group of special needs superheroes. Malchemical is a psychotic bully, who is now assigned to Super-Duper as their 'leader'. This was his punishment for shape-shifting into another supe on his team and fucking his girlfriend in the pooper.The team already had an unofficial leader who was basically a super-caretaker, and she tries to stand up to Malchemical - but it turns out she has her own set of is...

I don't mean to imply that the only thing going on in this story is personal relationships. There's good action. Good mystery. A lot of worthwhile social commentary. A lot of lampooning of superhero comics themselves. All of this is done well, is entertaining, and is (almost entirely) done in service to the overarching story. (Continued in Volume 8.)

A symbolic one-star because of my feelings of absolute raging hatred towards nice guy protagonist Wee Hughie by the time this volume ended. The plot continues apace, with intrigue on the side of Vought-American rising to an admirable boiling point as regards Homelander's instability and resentment. The arc with the faux Legion of Doom is equal parts charming (their cluelessness) and tense (the truly horrifying not-Metamorpho they suddenly have to contend with). The art by Russ Braun is actually

I dunno, I didn`t love this one. I`d say probably 3.5 stars.What I did like is that we finally get the revelation that Hughie`s lady isn`t who he thought she was, but he doesn`t take it well at all...There`s an evolution in the relationship between the team, as MM calls Butcher out on some assumptions he makes, and Butcher is ready to let Hughie pay for it.Luckily, there is some relief, but it only subsides long enough for us to see Hughie`s world fall apart.There`s some more scenes of Supes beh...

This is the soap-opera book of the series - besides a storyline involving a disgraced hero taking command of a weird kids-oriented supergroup who barely have powers, the bulk of the book focuses on Hughie and Starlight's relationship. Yup, this is the one where Hughie finds out about Starlight being part of the Seven and what she had to do to get into it... There is a setup for a larger storyline involving a possible "Civil War" type scenario happening between the Supes and Vought, but it's just...

Another double story arc book. Things are certainly heating up.The Legion of Superheroes parody in the first arc made me smile. It's perhaps not as on point as some of the arcs in The Boys have been, but it's still fun. We're starting to see some dissention in the ranks.As for the second arc, well, we knew that moment was coming, but it still sucked ...Looking forward to volume 8! Onward!

First part is great, as Hughie goes on a solo mission, because butcher is an asshole, along the way we discover to other ends of the world's superhero's spectrum.The second part is terrible, with a climax that only manages to turn Hughie to an even greater asshole than Butcher, with text that can only be written by a not very smart writer. And I thought I was starting to really enjoy the series.

Well, no one ever thought a romance of opposites as stark and the wee lad and his superlassie was ever going to last. And sure enough…In the Tv series, this gets addressed fairly early on. In the comics, somehow – inexplicably – it doesn’t until book 7. Whaaa…How does a man whose job it is to observe and report on Superheroes not recognize that the woman he’s dating is one of the Supers from the most famous super team out there? I mean, she doesn’t wear a mask. Nothing like that. Is it the Clark...

The relationship between Hughie and Starlight was always going to cause problems - for both of them. In this volume, we see the fallout from Hughie's side of things, as Butcher finds out about their love affair.I really like the approach Ennis took with the reveal, as Butcher see's Hughie and Starlight kissing on the street. He has Butcher immediately think Hughie must be a mole. True to his character, he begins digging into this assumption by getting Hughie out of the way and sending him to get...

Another chapter in the Boys series. In this one we find out that Hughie really loves Annie and tells her. Billy sees them together and recognizes her as Starlight from the Seven. He naturally thinks Hughie is a spy and goes to the Legend to discuss this turn. He could not be further from the truth. it is just that Hughie doesn't realize she is in the Seven, since I don't think he has seen her on any of the tapes from the hidden cameras. Meanwhile Annie is coming out of her shell and takes him sh...

The Innocents (39-43). This is quite a good story because of its advancement of the plot and the distrust that evolves within The Boys. The final fight is also refreshingly brutal. The problem, of course, is when Ennis decides to be purposefully offensive for no good reason … which unfortunately occurs at least once per issue [7/10].Believe (44-47). The second story in the volume is brilliant though. It finally sets off all the bombs that have been laid in the series to date and has a wonderful,...

This installment brings in a new element - a group of supes who actually want to do some good. Unfortunately, due to the Dark turn that Victory Comics wants the story arcs to take, Malchemical (one of the worst supes) is sent to lead this group. Butcher loses faith in Hughie after seeing him out with Annie and recognizing her. MM loses it with Butcher and the shadowy figure in charge of the supes. The lightest part of this entire story is the relationship between Frenchie and The Female. Your he...