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I'm three episodes in and it's fucking great. I don't want to spoil anything, but it's the same approach as Preacher. They're telling a new story based on the original material and it's amazing. Karl Urban continues to be my favorite actor working today. No one else can find a voice for characters like he can. Here, as Butcher, (much like Dredd), he finds the perfect voice for a comic book character. He can do that , and perfectly voice legendary performances, like he did as Dr. "Bones" McCoy and as Woodrow Call in the only good Lonesome Dove prequel , "Comanche Moon." And that also, surprisingly, has Steve Zahn doing a perfect young Gus McCrea. 

Anyway, The Boys is good shit. Check it out.

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I said this in the TV thread... I think this is way better than Preacher. Preacher felt like they strayed too far away from the source material, both in terms of tone, and look. This show has kept the tone, and the look, but like you said, it too has changed the story. But where Preacher fails for me, this one succeeds in giving the source material more dramatic weight that it lacked in the books. The Boys are actually relatable now, and The Seven have more layers to make us understandably hate the ones we are being programmed to hate. I’ve only watched 3 episodes, but so far, so great.

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7 hours ago, Johnny Sorrow said:

I'm three episodes in and it's fucking great. I don't want to spoil anything, but it's the same approach as Preacher. They're telling a new story based on the original material and it's amazing. Karl Urban continues to be my favorite actor working today. No one else can find a voice for characters like he can. Here, as Butcher, (much like Dredd), he finds the perfect voice for a comic book character. He can do that , and perfectly voice legendary performances, like he did as Dr. "Bones" McCoy and as Woodrow Call in the only good Lonesome Dove prequel , "Comanche Moon." And that also, surprisingly, has Steve Zahn doing a perfect young Gus McCrea. 

Anyway, The Boys is good shit. Check it out.

I have totally missed this and have to admit not reading the source material either. Should I just jump right in to the show or do I need to read the source material first? BTW: Preacher pissed me off 50% of the time for all the shit they got wrong (starting with having the lead about twenty years too old for the role), but that's just me. 

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43 minutes ago, OSJ said:

I have totally missed this and have to admit not reading the source material either. Should I just jump right in to the show or do I need to read the source material first? BTW: Preacher pissed me off 50% of the time for all the shit they got wrong (starting with having the lead about twenty years too old for the role), but that's just me. 

I’d avoid the source material for now, and just dive head first into this season. When it’s over, then read the first few volumes of The Boys to compare, and see if the book grabs you. It didn’t for me at the time that’s for sure. I mean I like anti-superhero stories, and Ennis, but The Boys comic didn’t connect with me like a lot of his DC/Vertigo, and Punisher run did for me. The TV series has been a massive improvement so far.  I would say it’s like if Ennis went back, and rewrote The Boys to give it a similar balance to Preacher, and make it less wall to wall gross out humor.

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14 minutes ago, Matt D said:

I'd avoid the source material forever and read Astro City instead.

Kurt Busiek and I are actually buds, we keep pitching prose anthologies that no one wants to buy. ;-( 

You'd be hard-pressed to find a bigger Astro City fan on the planet than right here.  Were it not for Astro City and goofy BPRD stuff my comix expenditures would be miniscule. 

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I'm five episodes in and loving it. I actually like Preacher well enough, but this is doing way more for me. Have yet to read the comics for either show and am always a bit curious on how off these things are. So how  off are they with this one?

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2 minutes ago, Eivion said:

I'm five episodes in and loving it. I actually like Preacher well enough, but this is doing way more for me. Have yet to read the comics for either show and am always a bit curious on how off these things are. So how  off are they with this one?

So far, off in a way that fixes the story, and it’s characters.

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I'm a bit of an outlier, in that The Boys as a comic is my favourite Garth Ennis series, moreso than Preacher. That said, it has more to do with how the endgame stuff lands. The opening where it's more slapstick is okay but doesn't wholly land for me, but the later hits? They get me.

Really excited to see how they remixed it here.

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24 minutes ago, The Unholy Dragon said:

I'm a bit of an outlier, in that The Boys as a comic is my favourite Garth Ennis series, moreso than Preacher. That said, it has more to do with how the endgame stuff lands. The opening where it's more slapstick is okay but doesn't wholly land for me, but the later hits? They get me.

Really excited to see how they remixed it here.

I couldn’t get past the early portions. So if it improved, then maybe I should give it a chance. Preacher was silly at the start too, but it was executed so well. The characters were likable, interesting, and layered right from the beginning. I didn’t get that with The Boys book.

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cameo in episode 6...

 

Billy Zane playing Billy Zane at a comic convention. The blink, and you’ll miss it little touch of him not taking the money directly for autographs made me burst out laughing. Along with the fan hugging him a little too lovingly.

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For those who finished the season, does the sexual violence go beyond what's in the first 2 episodes? The first ep had the "rape" content descriptor for an entirely off-camera act, which led me to worry it'd be too graphic for a friend who was looking forward to the show but is very sensitive to that.

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22 minutes ago, Cliff Hanger said:

For those who finished the season, does the sexual violence go beyond what's in the first 2 episodes? The first ep had the "rape" content descriptor for an entirely off-camera act, which led me to worry it'd be too graphic for a friend who was looking forward to the show but is very sensitive to that.

 

The Deep, after being revealed to the public as a creep is shipped to Ohio, and is later fingered in his gills without consent by a female fan. 

Very, Cronenberg like effect with the body gills. Right out of Videodrome.

I’m only up to episode 7, though. So there might be more.

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I watched the first 2 episodes on Friday until my Internet went out.  I am a fan of The Boys comic mainly for Daerick Robertson's art.  I also am a big fan of Astro City as well.  I like dichotomy in my life.

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48 minutes ago, Matt D said:

Tearing down and deconstructing superheroes was old in 1990.

True, but the new, and current generation who love the MCU didn’t live through that. Hell, they probably don’t have a desire to read hero comics, and prefer the movies/tv shows based on them. With how big the media industry for superheroes is today, the young cynics are going to need something to satisfy that natural desire to see the dark underbelly of our society through hero comics. It’s time for a new take on this genre of comic book satire. 

 

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4 minutes ago, Bustronaut said:

How do you have Simon Pegg in the cast and not have him as Hughie?

He's been saying for over a decade that while comics Hughie is clearly based on him circa SPACED, he'd say no because the char should be younger than he is now. Making him Hughie's dad was clearly a way to get him onto the show and acknowledge the homage without making Hughie himself fortysomething.

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Yeah, Pegg is pushing 50. He doesn't even look much like comics Hughie anymore. I respect him for knowing his limits there.

Watched the first episode last night and gotta say, this may be a new gold standard for adaptations. Gets as much of the tone, grit, and satire as you want while making changes as appropriate to both serve the format it's in, make it less viscerally unpleasant at times, and expand upon key characters to overall make the work more balanced. If we can get to most of the same key notes along the way, I'm excited to see how it all plays out.

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Finished the season last night. that was a somewhat crazy ending even having an idea of where it was going beforehand. Really enjoyed the show overall and will definitely be there for another season.

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