The Boys, Volume 1: The Name of the Game

Repulsive.


Deconstruction of the superhero genre by making them snobbish or even vile is not a new concept, something that is being done ad infinitum in this current age of superhero media. But Garth Ennis takes this concepts and tries way too hard to be a new voice in the age of superhero deconstruction at its own detriment. I understand what Ennis was trying to do by making the superheroes as disgusting as possible but he practices no restraint in showing at least a little bit of humanity in it. Most of the content in the book could have been written by a middle schooler and I would have believed you as nearly every single page has reference or full display of sex, drugs, and violence without nuance. It is indulgent in the guise of being a deconstruction of the superhero genre and barely qualifies as an attempt. Regardless of the in-universe justification, everyone is an awful human being who gets off on being as awful as they can, and the story revels in the disgusting edginess and has the gall to be smug about it.


Ennis has been vocal about his distaste for superheroes and that is fine, and naturally it would bring into fruition a series that deconstructs the essence of superheroes. But it is not an excuse to have every single character be awful, where the only sympathetic people are the manipulated victims of superheroes, and spout these awful things. I get that content in a story is not the author endorsing their views, but the line blurs when even the sympathetic people scoff at homosexuality and play it as bad as sexual assault and pedophilia. Or when sexual assault is played as a joke. Maybe if there was a shed of humanity like a foil character that was actually a decent person that wasn't walked all over for it, this story would at least have some credibility. But as for now, this story doesn't mean to explore what it would be like if top superheroes were evil; it exists to be as offensive as it can be.

There is more to this story than being a self-indulgent bitter and edgy echo chamber, but it becomes hard to see that when every single line of dialogue mires itself in such moral filth. It is possible to have a genre deconstruction without resorting to avoiding any attempt at pathos. I get it what he's trying to do - but the end result is repulsive.

Anyways, I've heard the TV show changes up a lot from the books so I'll be gladly watching that.