Preacher

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Preacher is an American comic series by author Garth Ennis and illustrator Steve Dillon († October 22, 2016 ), which can be classified into the genre of noir , western , horror , fantasy , splatter and satire .

Creation and publication

The original series, which consists of a large, self-contained story, was published from 1995 to 2000. Author and copywriter was Irish Garth Ennis . Ennis had previously worked on series such as The Demon and Hellblazer in the US and on Judge Dredd in the UK , on the latter two with Preacher artist Steve Dillon .

The Preacher booklet was published by the DC Comics sub-label Vertigo with a standard 22 pages each, with the exception of issues 1, 50 and 66 with 40 pages each. The series received special attention because of the cover illustrations by Glenn Fabry .

content

The main characters of the fictional preacher cycle, which was set in the US in the 1990s, but also in Europe in individual episodes, are the former preacher Jesse Custer, his girlfriend Tulip and the Irish vampire Cassidy. An off-earth rebellion by angels sets a sequence of events in motion, at the center of which the three listed people get rather unwillingly. An enigmatic massacre in a church in East Texas only serves as a starting point to get the road movie-like story going . The basic motif is the physical search for God who has left heaven. Opponents in the story are various redneck sheriffs and FBI officials, the so-called "saint of the killer", a southern family clan indulging in its perverse inclinations , freaks and perverts as well as a fascist organization influenced by church superiors, among other things, which ruled the world the earth aspires to. The series regularly causes discussion because of the religion-critical portrayal of God as a kind of major villain behind all the evils portrayed in history.

German publications

In Edition Comic Speedline published 1995 14 paperbacks with the complete series in German. With the renaming of the publisher to Speed, the entire series was published again in parallel from 1998, as well as another seven special volumes. Six of these specials were also collected in three additional paperbacks. A nine-volume hardcover edition of the entire series, including all specials, has been published by Panini since 2007 .

Serial adaptation

From 22 May 2016, the series adaptation of the comic book was on the US channels AMC aired in Germany (via Amazon Video available). The series was produced by Sony Pictures, with Seth Rogen , Evan Goldberg and Sam Catlin as producers. A total of four seasons with a total of 43 episodes (including the pilot ) were shot before the series ended in 2019.

literature

  • Frank Thomas Brinkmann : Comics and Religion. The medium of the "ninth" art in the contemporary culture of interpretation in practical theology today 44. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 978-3-17-016094-1 .
  • Olaf Seydel: love, hate and vengeance - the preacher and his community. in: I. Kirsner / O. Seydel / H. Schoeter-Wittke (ed.), Overdrawn - Religion in Comics (POPKULT 9) , Jena 2011. ISBN 978-3-938203-93-4 .