Into every series a little rain must fall. And this one is a Tsunami of shit that splatters itself all over the awesome Preacher series. Now the good news is that you don’t need to read it. The volume addresses various back stories, which intrigued my curiosity until it made me want to tear the copy in half and flush it down the toilet one sheet at a time. Honestly, skip this volume.

Ennis gives us three stories in this volume. Each is independent of itself and the storyline of other Preacher volumes. It’s essentially random exposition that didn’t fit anywhere else. It also sucks — hard. The characters are The Saint of Killers, Arseface, and the good ole’ boys (who died in volume 2).

Originally, I really wanted to read Saint of Killer’s story — a western-style romp about privation and death on the open plains of the old west. Wow, do I regret that decision. While the character isn’t ruined, Ennis doesn’t write a convincing Western. It feels more like a one-off idea done to capitalize on the already successful Preacher title. But at least I felt like he took it seriously.

The other two shorts feel almost like spoofs. One is for a character we haven’t met in the main plot arc, Arseface. And the other one is just horrible, the good old boys. When I say horrible, I mean unreadable. The two rednecks, who are minions of serious villianry in the main plot arc, are portrayed as heroes in an over-the-top action movie. While it’s clear Ennis wanted it to be over the top, the story just doesn’t work.

To make sure I’m on base I discussed this volume with a fellow Preacher fan who said: “It’s like you (Steve) said, unreadable crap in a great series and we should have skipped it.”

I still have high hopes for volumes five through nine.

Just Fantastic appears the second and fourth Wednesday of every month.

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