The Stop Button

Ennis finally gets to do not just an Invaders story, he also gets to do a war story in The Boys. It’s Mallory’s story, which he’s telling Hughie after Highland Laddie. Oh, and Annie’s around. She and Hughie still aren’t getting along, which is strange because I thought they were after Laddie.

It’s a lot of talking. On and on with the talking, whether it’s Mallory recapping Laddie and telling Hughie about Mother’s Milk and Butcher or if it’s Annie’s rather expository explanation of she and Hughie’s troubles… It feels like Ennis thinks he’s at a jumping on point or something. It’s very strange; I don’t think he’s ever gone so expository before. Maybe it’s because of Laddie.

Until the war stuff, it’s kind of boring. The dialogue’s well-written, just pointless.

McCrea and Burns do a pretty good job. They’ve gotten a lot tougher, less cartoony.

It’s okay enough.

CREDITS

Barbary Coast, Part One; writer, Garth Ennis; artists, John McCrea and Keith Burns; colorist, Tony Aviña; letterer, Simon Bowland; editor, Joseph Rybandt; publisher, Dynamite Entertainment.