Preacher was an American comic book series, created by writer Garth Ennis and

artist Steve Dillon, published by the Vertigo imprint of DC Comics, with painted
covers by Glenn Fabry.

The series consisted of 75 issues in total -- 66 regular, monthly issues, five one-
shot specials and a four-issue Saint of Killers limited series. The entire run has
been collected in nine trade paperback editions. The final monthly issue, number
66, was published in July 2000.

Preacher tells the story of Jesse Custer, a down-and-out preacher in the small
Texas town of Annville. Custer was accidentally possessed by the supernatural
creature named 'Genesis' in an incident which killed his entire congregation and
flattened his church.

Genesis, the product of the unauthorized, unnatural coupling of an angel and a

demon, is an infant with no sense of individual will. However, as it is composed of
both pure goodness and pure evil, it might have enough power to rival that of God
himself. In other words, Jesse Custer, bonded to Genesis, may have become the most
powerful being in the universe.

Custer, driven by a strong sense of right and wrong, goes on a journey across the
United States attempting to (literally) find God, who abandoned Heaven the moment
Genesis was born. He also begins to discover the truth about his new powers, which
allow him to command the obedience of those who hear his words. He is joined by his
old girlfriend Tulip O'Hare, as well as a hard-drinking Irish vampire named
Cassidy.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

During the course of their journeys, the three encounter enemies and obstacles both
sacred and profane, including: the Saint of Killers, an invincible, quick-drawing,
perfect-aiming, come-lately Angel of Death answering only to the authority of God
Himself; a serial-killer called the 'Reaver-Cleaver'; The Grail, a secret
organization controlling the governments of the world and protecting the bloodline
of Jesus; Herr Starr, ostensible Allfather of the Grail, a megalomaniac with a
penchant for prostitutes, who wishes to use Custer for his own ends; several fallen
angels; and Jesse's own redneck 'family' -- particularly his nasty Cajun
grandmother, her mighty bodyguard Jody, and the 'animal-loving' T.C.

Preacher focuses on narrative storytelling and characterization. It drew

considerable praise for its unapologetic handling of religious and supernatural
themes, its dark and frequently violent humor, and its wide range of allusions to
popular culture outside of comic books.

In particular, Preacher draws on movies, particularly western movies, for many of

its stylistic elements. For example: an apparition of John Wayne is a recurring
character and serves as a sort of spiritual guide or conscience for Custer;
Monument Valley and The Alamo serve as backdrops to various legs of the journey;
for a time, Jesse acts as the sheriff of a small town in Texas, and must protect
the inhabitants from harm; the image of the Saint of Killers, a reformed outlaw-
turned-evil-once-more in the tradition of Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven character,
William Munny, is a nod to the classic Western notion of nemesis, straight and true
and terrible.

The series also invokes ideas popularized by such books as Holy Blood, Holy Grail
and The DaVinci Code (the former was released before Preacher, and it is not known
if Ennis was inspired by it; the latter was released after the completion of
Preacher). Like these two works, Preacher claims that there is a still-viable
bloodline descending from Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene. Herr Starr reveals to
Cassidy that Jesus had children, and did not die on the cross, but instead lived to
middle-age, and was killed by a runaway dung cart. After his death the Grail
guardians took away his offspring, who were forced to intermarry with one another
in order to keep Jesus' divine power within the bloodline. For over 2000 years this
intermarrying perpetuated an incestuous family tree culminating with the mentally
handicapped descendents of Jesus having a child, during the birth of whom the
mother dies, effectively producing the last generation of the Jesus' line. The
grotesque character of the Allfather D'Aronique, the psychotic and obese ruler of
The Grail organization, takes on the mentally deficient son as his ward and uses
him to consolidate his power. Jesse Custer's grandmother is the Allfather's aunt,
thus explaining how both Starr and D'Aronique are aware of him before the Annville
incident. Herr Starr eventually kills Allfather D'Aronique and the Messiah, taking
his place as leader of the Grail organization and severing the bloodline of
Abraham, David, and Jesus. This enables Starr to enact his plan of placing a more
aesthetically pleasing, articulate, and compelling "messiah" in place: Jesse
Custer.

In the beginning of the narrative, told in retrospect in the first issue of

Preacher, Jesse Custer is a vicar of dubious nature, just about to address the
members of his parish after a night of heavy drinking and with many enemies in the
audience. This opening scene is identical to the famous opening of Selma Lagerl�f's
novel G�sta Berling's Saga.

Additionally, the series examines the role of American identity and ideals in the
modern age. This extends beyond the personal level, where old-fashioned southern
"Cowboy" ethics and attitudes meet modern feminism, to the collective level, where
the traumas of the Vietnam War, the excesses of corporatism and the cyclical nature
of violence, among other things, are explored. The conflict between liberal and
conservative politics is also examined, as are depression, repression, sexuality,
pornography, drug abuse, homelessness and immigration.

A symbolic presence is that of Arseface, a teenager who attempted suicide with a

shotgun and merely ended up as a 'fella with a face like an arse'. (In the later
issues, Arseface goes through a sped-up cycle of American fame: underground
sensation to popular star to lawsuit bait and target of censorship. In the end, his
manager takes all his money.)

Ennis and Dillon are Northern Irish and English respectively, not American, so
their observations on American history and culture are from an outsider's
perspective.

[edit] Trade summary

(All art by Steve Dillon, unless otherwise noted.)

Gone to Texas (collects issues 1-7)

Reverend Jesse Custer, a tough Texas preacher who's lost his faith, is possessed by
a mysterious entity called Genesis -- a conscienceless force whose power may rival
that of God Himself. Through insight granted him by Genesis, now lodged in Jesse's
mind in a sort of supernatural symbiosis, Jesse learns that the Lord God has left
Heaven and abandoned His responsibilities. Moreover, Jesse becomes aware that he
has been given the power of The Word Of God, depicted in the comic through the use
of red text (a reference to the printing method often used for indicating Jesus'
speech in the Bible), allowing him to deliver irresistible commands to any being,
including God Himself (e.g. "Eat your gun" or "Count three million grains of sand",
whereupon the commandee cannot help but to comply fully. This power bears somewhat
ironic linguistic and physical limitations, explored occasionally throughout the
series). Armed with these newfound attributes, he sets out on a quest to find God
and make Him answer for His dereliction of duty.
Accompanying Jesse on his journey are Tulip O'Hare, Jesse's former girlfriend who
has long thought that he abandoned her, and Cassidy, a 100-year-old Irish vampire
who often seems to prefer a pint in the pub to the blood of the innocent -- though
his unavoidable, unnatural hunger is something of a sticky point for the ethical
Preacher.
Meanwhile, in Heaven, a quorum of angels, trying desperately to keep things from
falling apart, decides to send the Saint of Killers -- an immortal, unstoppable
killing machine -- to Earth with orders to recapture Genesis at any cost.
Until the End of the World (collects issues 8-17)
In "All in the Family", Jesse's secret past is revealed as he is forced to confront
his family and the horrible childhood he's been running from his entire life.
In "Hunters", Jesse and Co. travel west to San Francisco, where they run afoul of a
pair of 'sexual investigators'; an armadillo-sodomizing, lifelong-partying aesthete
by the name of Jesus de Sade; and The Grail -- an ancient and immensely powerful
religious conspiracy that wants to use Jesse's power to bring about Armageddon. The
Grail is personified by a clever and ambitious German military expert known only as
'Herr Starr' (who, along with God, serves as the series' primary villain).
Proud Americans (collects issues 18-26)
Jesse and Tulip journey to France to rescue Cassidy from the Grail's heavily-
guarded secret fortress ('Masada'), where Cassidy (pretending to be Custer) is
being held by Herr Starr and tortured by a gelded, sadistic Mafioso. The Saint of
Killers follows them, and all Hell breaks loose.
Upon their return to the States, a grateful Cassidy tells Jesse his life's story:
how he fought in the Irish War of Independence, how he was assaulted by a bog-hag
outside of Dublin and turned into a vampire, and how he began his long love affair
with New York City.
Ancient History (collects the Saint of Killers limited series, plus Preacher
Special: The Story of You-Know-Who and Preacher Special: The Good Old Boys)
In the four-part "Saint of Killers" story, we learn who the Saint was before he
died, and why he was given the job of Angel of Death. Also, hell freezes over. (art
by Steve Pugh and Carlos Ezquerra)
The Story of You-Know-Who (so-called because DC would not allow the word "arse" to
be used on the cover) recounts the events that led up to and followed Arseface's
attempted suicide. (art by Richard Case)
The Good Old Boys is a twisted satire of 1980s action movies, starring none other
than Jody and T.C. from the "All in the Family" storyline. (art by Carlos Ezquerra)

Dixie Fried (collects issues 27-33 and Preacher Special: Blood and Whiskey)
Blood and Whiskey is a tale of Cassidy's past; the story of the New Orleans-based
gothic cult 'Les Enfants du Sang' and the only time Cassidy ever met another
vampire.
In Dixie Fried, our heroes arrive in New Orleans, where an old friend of Cassidy's
-- who just happens to be a voodoo priest -- may be able to help Jesse unlock the
secrets locked deep within Genesis. Unfortunately, a dark aspect of Cassidy's past
(shown in Blood and Whiskey) threatens to confound this attempt and kill everyone
involved.
War in the Sun (collects issues 34-40 and Preacher Special: One Man's War)
In One Man's War, we learn exactly what kind of man Herr Starr is, where he came
from, and how he got involved in the Grail conspiracy. (art by Peter Snejberg)
In War in the Sun, Starr's lust for power reaches its peak with a massive military
assault in Monument Valley, Utah. Starr comes prepared with an entire tank
battalion and even a nuke, but is all that hardware really enough to stop the Saint
of Killers? (The answer, of course, is 'not enough gun.')
Salvation (collects issues 41-50)
Presumed dead and feeling betrayed by both his true love and his best friend, Jesse
abandons his quest and takes a job as a lawman in the tiny town of Salvation, Texas
-- where a figure from his past suddenly re-emerges, even as Jesse (along with
beautiful Deputy Cindy Dagget) deals with domestic disputes, the KKK, and the
robber-baron of the town, the disgustingly psychotic Odin Quincannon. Also, Jesse
is kidnapped by a mad Nazi Fetishist hellbent on making him her 'Fuhrer of Love'.
He later ingests peyote which causes him to remember his climactic confrontation
with God, following the events in Monument Valley.
All Hell's A-Coming (collects issues 51-58 and Preacher Special: Tall in the
Saddle)
Tulip finally escapes from the self-destructive spiral she's been in since Jesse's
'death'. Jesse and Tulip are reunited, and Jesse learns just how much of a bastard
his buddy Cassidy really is.
"Tall in the Saddle" is a tale of Jesse and Tulip's wild early experiments in car
theft.
Alamo (collects issues 59-66)
A crescendo is reached, deep in the heart of Texas: Jesse hatches an ingenious
scheme to finally put an end to his quest; Starr gives up on his plans for Jesse,
and decides to just kill him instead; Jesse has his final confrontation with
Cassidy outside the walls of the Alamo; Tulip shows everyone exactly what she's
made of; and the Saint finally finds what he's been looking for.
But when all is said and done, will Jesse and Tulip be able to ride into the
sunset...?