Preacher: the series versus the comics of Ennis and Dillon

Second Garth Ennis of this lot, after The Boys – and an adaptation which begins by delaying the start of its own story. Decryption source by source, without disclosing the outcomes.

As in each article in this series, only verified information (creators, distribution, dates, publishers) is stated; the comparative analysis is ours, without reproducing dialogue or protected images.

Preacher (1995): the peak of Garth Ennis

Preacher appeared from 1995 to 2000 on Vertigo, the adult imprint of DC Comics, written by Garth Ennis and drawn by Steve Dillon—sixty-six issues forming one of the most celebrated works of the decade. The premise is of rare audacity: Jesse Custer, an alcoholic pastor from a small town in Texas, finds himself merged with Genesis, an entity born from the forbidden union of an angel and a demon. This fusion gives him the Word - the power to make anyone who hears him obey him - and reveals information to him: God has abandoned his post. He has left Paradise, and no one is in charge anymore.

Jesse then decides to find him to ask him to account. He crosses America accompanied by Tulip O'Hare, his former partner, a sniper, and Cassidy, an alcoholic and fundamentally unreliable Irish vampire. The story is a road trip that crosses a secret religious organization, the Grail, and an immortal killer from a metaphysical western, the Saint of Killers.

What sets Preacher apart from Ennis's other works, includingThe Boys, is that the provocation serves a purpose. The blasphemy is not gratuitous: it follows logically from the premise, and the story — beneath the violence, dark humor and excesses — is about friendship, loyalty, giving one's word and what we owe to those we love. Steve Dillon's line, clear, regular, almost sober, plays a decisive role: it is because the faces are so readable and the bodies so ordinary that the horror and the emotion come across.

A season before the first page

The most commented upon choice of adaptation is structural. In the comic, Jesse's fusion with Genesis destroys his city from the first pages: the story begins After, on the road, and Annville is just a memory. The series does the opposite — it devotes its entire first season to Annville, to Jesse's life as a pastor, to his parish, to its inhabitants and its temptations, before launching the road trip.

This prequel does not exist anywhere on paper: it is entirely written for television. The reasoning is justified - establishing a character before setting him in motion, giving weight to what he loses - and the season contains remarkable sequences. But it divided readers, for a precise reason: Preacher is a story of headlong flight, whose energy comes from permanent movement, and a static season contradicts the principle. The following seasons follow the storyline of the comic, rearranging the order of the arcs, advancing certain characters and delaying others. The result is an adaptation that clearly knows its source and loves it, but has chosen to tell it in a different order — a decision made by creators who are themselves long-time readers.

Vertigo: the label that made Preacher possible

We must understand where this work could have been born. Vertigo, launched by DC Comics in 1993, was a label designed for adult stories, outside of the Comics Code and outside of superheroic logic. It was there that some of the most notable works of the 1990s appeared — including Sandman— and it's the only place in the mainstream American market where a story like Preacher, with its full-frontal profanity and violence, could be published by a major publisher.

The contrast withThe Boysis enlightening. Eleven years later, DC ended publication of the latter at Wildstorm because it parodied its own characters — a matter of intellectual property, not morality. Preacher attacks God and not Superman, and was able to reach his end. That says something about an editor's actual red lines.

For the collector, Vertigo constitutes a coherent and well-identified segment.Preacher #1(1995) is the key to the title: first appearance of Jesse, Tulip and Cassidy, in a series that has become cult and closed by its authors. The television series revived demand from 2016, without causing the excitement observed on The Walking Dead – the comic having remained more confidential. The death of Steve Dillon in 2016 also increased the attention paid to his work. Collections, numerous and regularly republished, remain the economical way to read.

The characters, from paper to screen

• Jesse Custer— The pastor carrying Genesis, faithful to the comic.
• Tulip O'Hare— Sniper and former companion, developed on screen.
• Cassidy— The unreliable Irish vampire, one of the great roles of the series.
• The Saint of Killers— The immortal killer, present in both versions.
• The inhabitants of Annville— Largely created for the first season.

Steve Dillon, clarity in the service of excess

A word about the designer, because his contribution is often underestimated. Steve Dillon drew with remarkable regularity and readability: simple framing, clear cutting, expressive faces but without exaggeration, few layout effects. This apparent classicism is precisely what makes Preacher bearable and effective - the most outrageous scenes pass because they are drawn with the calm of an ordinary story, and the intimate scenes are touching because the faces are credible.

This is a lesson that runs through this entire corpus, but in reverse: we have seen many cases where a very marked graphic style made adaptation impossible. Here, it is the sobriety of the drawing which facilitated the transition to the screen - the series can resemble the comic without having to translate anything, because Dillon was already drawing in a register close to reality. The duo he formed with Ennis, one of the most lasting and fruitful in the medium, extended well beyond Preacher, notably on the Punisher. His death in 2016, the same year the series launched, was felt as a major loss by the industry.

Where to start reading

To discover the source,Preacher #1(1995) and the first collection establish the trio and the premise - and the comic starts much faster than the series, since it begins where the latter arrives at the end of a season. The sixty-six issues can be read in their entirety, in a closed and coherent work. To be reserved for informed readers: violence and blasphemy are front and center.

Timeline to know

• 1993— DC launches Vertigo, label for adult stories.
• 1995— Preacher #1, by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon.
• 2000— The series ends at number 66.
• 2016— Launch of the AMC series; death of Steve Dillon the same year.

Collection side: which numbers to aim for after the series

Preacher points to a solid Vertigo Key.Preacher #1(1995) is the piece to aim for: first appearance of Jesse Custer, Tulip and Cassidy, in a cult and closed series. Demand was revived by the television series from 2016, without the excitement observed on The Walking Dead – the title having remained more confidential, which keeps prices reasonable. The issues of the first arcs and the notable appearances of the Saint of Killers complete a coherent collection. The death of Steve Dillon in 2016 increased the attention paid to his boards. Collections remain the economical way to read. As always, condition and gradation determine value; relying on real recent sales is strongly recommended.

Its place in the saga and for the collector

Preacher will go down as the adaptation that delayed its own story for an entire season – a questionable bet on a work whose energy comes from movement, but taken on by creators who knew and loved their source. Placed next toThe Boys, this second Garth Ennis of the lot shows two opposing treatments of the same author: there, an adaptation which broadens the subject; here, an adaptation faithful to the subject but which reorganizes the structure. For the collector, Preacher #1 remains a still accessible Vertigo key, driven by the cult status of the title and the memory of Steve Dillon. For the reader, it is one of the rare works in this corpus that can be said without reservation to be a pinnacle of the medium.

The verdict: the point kept, the structure reworked

• Loyalty: the Jesse-Tulip-Cassidy trio, Genesis and the Word, the quest for a God who deserted, the Saint of Killers and the Grail, as well as Ennis' irreverence come from the comic.
• Freedoms: an entire season precedes the first page of the comic, Annville becomes a developed setting, the order of the arcs is profoundly reworked and characters are created for television.
• Collectible numbers: Preacher #1 (1995, Vertigo), the first arcs.

Preacher faithfully adapts the subject of Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon's masterpiece - the Word, the quest for an absent God, friendship as the only law - but profoundly reworks its structure, to the point of devoting an entire season to what the comic conveyed in a few pages. For the reader as for the collector, it is an invitation to open the sixty-six issues.

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