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The Boys (Amazon Prime, starts 26 July)

Started by mothman, June 20, 2019, 01:23:07 AM

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mothman

Met a few with cockney/estuary accents who occasionally sounded Strine, so I'm just telling myself he's one of those.

Three eps in, enjoying it. Becoming quite noticeable how they're retaining all the gory violence but minimising the sex though.

BeardFaceMan

I'm a bit meh on the show overall, it was good but did deviate a bit too much from the comics,  but it was nowhere near as big of a shitshow as Preacher was. If the Boys dont have powers why is MM even called Mothers Milk? Why did Hughies dad say "jings" when neither of them are Scottish? And you get the idea with that. I was hopeful about a second season right up until the end of the last episode, but after the way they ended this season, I'm not so sure.

bgmnts

Quote from: jobotic on July 29, 2019, 03:40:05 PM
It was good but I found the comics quite depressing, although excellent. Only watched the first episode so looking forward to finding out what happens as I've forgotten most of it.

I'm just going to have to accept that Butcher is Australian to get past the accent.

He's a Kiwi I think.

Chollis

Haven't read the comics so going into this fresh. First episode was a banger.

Poobum

Really enjoying this. Frenchie hanging there like a shit Tom Cruise amused. I wanna die like Aleksy, my brains forced out of my skull by the overly vigorous application of a vagina to my face. A visceral end, certain and sudden, welcomed in ignorance.

Mister Six

Watched all the episodes now and I'm fucking loving it. It's really firing on all cylinders with an absolutely perfect cast (Urban's accent notwithstanding), and I'm eager to see where it goes next, as it started departing substantially from the comic in those last two episodes.

SPOILERS for the whole season here. I'll white out the really spoilery bits, but I'd advise skipping over this until you've seen all eight episodes.

So yeah, I particularly like how they've turned Frenchie and The Female into actual characters rather than, respectively, the comedy psychopath and the terrifying psychopath. Inevitable, given the demands of television vs comics, but welcome and well executed. Really flinched in the last episode when he took a shot in the shoulder - entirely believed he could die; same with Butcher in the explosion. I hope Frenchie's really hot girlfriend hasn't disappeared completely, though. I liked that Frenchie and The Female had a platonic but very loving relationship in the comic, and I hope they're not trying to turn their relationship here into something sexual/romantic (also because it means Frenchie's girlfriend is liable to become a vengeful betrayer/enemy, which is probably the least interesting angle they could take).

I also think that changing Mother's Milk's wife and daughter was probably a good idea. A black, crack-addled layabout ex-wife who ends up doing porn for a pimp probably wouldn't fly in this woker era. Even less so with THAT porn film... I do wonder why he's called Mother's Milk if Compound V isn't loose in the human ecosystem and causing loads of random mutations, though. I suppose we're spared seeing his mum  as she's portrayed in the comics, which is a small mercy (although I kind of would like to see the reaction online...).

TV Hughie has really grown on me, largely thanks to the actor really selling both the character's vulnerability and his strength. I'm a little sad that we're not getting comic Hughie, who's a lot more entertaining and unconventional as protagonists go, but his vacillating on whether or not to stay in The Boys got pretty irritating, so at least we'll be spared that.

I do worry that we've lost the Hughie-Butcher relationship that formed the backbone of the series (most of the final issue is just those two talking), especially with Butcher's cuntiness and selfishness being pushed right to the fore so quickly. The characters we have here would have struggled to replicate that dynamic anyway, and Butcher's decision to sack off the team to pursue Homelander will, I worry, make it hard to get the Boys back together without it looking very contrived. Then again, Kripke is a cracking writer and his work on Supernatural shows he can write off the cuff but create a cohesive, coherent narrative, so I have faith too.

Sad to see Madeline Stillwell die, as she was a compelling character (though very different from her comic counterpart) and her relationship with Homelander was interesting. I wonder if she'll be replaced by Giancarlo Esposito, who's playing her boss? It would be odd to have such a recognisable actor appear for just one scene.

However, despite all the good vibes I do have a few reservations - or, rather, regrets. The fact that Homelander remembers raping - or possibly consensually shagging - Butcher's wife means that a key plot point that was integral to one of the climaxes of the comic is missing. Which in turn means that one of my favourite developments in the whole of The Boys is also probably not going to happen. Then again, Black Noir is still around, so anything could happen.

Likewise, it's disappointing to see that the supes are apparently all signed up to the military now, as the subplot from the comic about Vought's schemes to get the VP onto the throne were quite entertaining, and it all seemed to happen far too fast. The idea of superpowered terrorists is a good one, though; be interesting to see where they take that.

Final thought: The Deep's subplot in the final episodes, with the dolphin, being sent to Sacramento or wherever, and getting sexually assaulted, was an odd one. I hope that's actually going somewhere, but it feels a bit like they signed the dude up for all the episodes then ran out of ideas for what to do with him halfway through. And I can't tell whether him being assaulted and becoming depressed is entirely being played for laughs, or whether they're leaning towards some kind of redemptive arc. I'm not sure I like either option.

More than anything, though, I hope they manage to pull off the final arc of the comic, whenever the end of the show comes to pass. Will they have the balls to do it, though? It hinges heavily on Butcher's relationship with Hughie, and as mentioned that might be too different now to make it make sense.

Mister Six

Oh, and it still annoys me how Homelander casually murders one of the bank robbers in the first episode in front of dozens of witnesses, and yet they have to fake Maeve being shot by the lone wolf gunman a few episodes later to justify killing him. It's doubly annoying as a fan of the comic, because Homelander's conflicted attitude towards killing in the comic was really interesting and led to one of the best plot developments in the run, and that's been lost here.

If anyone wants to read the comic, by the way, read them in this order (with the caveat that the first 13 issues or so aren't very good):

Issues 1-30
Miniseries: Herogasm
Issues 31-47
Miniseries: Highland Laddie
Issues 48-59
Miniseries: Butcher, Baker, Candlestick Maker
Issues 60-72

Or read the collected editions. The most recent collections pull the whole thing together in six volumes, collectively titled "The Definitive Edition". Alternatively, there are 12 earlier, slimmer editions:

1- The Name of the Game
2- Get Some
3- Good For the Soul
4- We Gotta Go No
5- Herogasm
6- The Self-Preservation Society
7- The Innocents
8- Highland Laddie
9- The Big Ride
10- Butcher, Baker, Candlestick Maker
11- Over the Hill With the Swords of a Thousand Men
12- The Bloody Doors Off

madhair60

Bloody loved the comic, me. Can't agree about the first thirteen issues not bein good.

jobotic

"Cunt's invisible. He could be standing in that fucking corner plugging one out right now"

Plugging one out? It's banging one out.

This is ruined for me.

Chollis

I assume he's English in the comics? Feels like they could've just let him do his normal kiwi accent. Doubt most people outside of the UK would notice anyway.

Mister Six

Yeah, in the comics he's a Cockney and Hughie is Scottish. And I think The Female is Chinese rather than Korean.

(Also, it's implied that Frenchie is actually an Englishman who joined the French Foreign Legion and went mad. I much prefer Frenchie in the show.)

Imagine if they'd got Ray Stevenson to play him! Ah well.

Quote from: madhair60 on July 30, 2019, 10:03:21 AM
Bloody loved the comic, me. Can't agree about the first thirteen issues not bein good.

Oh, there is good stuff there. But it's overwhelmed by Ennis' WOOOR HE DONE HER UP THE BUM!!! edgy laddishness, and the second arc where Butcher and Hughie discuss homophobia in a way that only two characters written by a just-started-recovering, self-hating homophobe can is cringey as fuck.

(Although the Tek-Knight stuff is funny, and I really hope they include that in the second season.)

I think it's after that arc that you get Glorious Five Year Plan or whatever, the one in Russia, which has jokes about giant dildos and even bigger cocks, but also a pretty great plot and some grand ideas about the state of post-Soviet superheroes, and is where it all really kicks into gear.

SteveDave

I knew nothing of the comic but I really enjoyed this. We stayed up late last night to watch the last three.

I don't know why, if they changed Hughie from a Scotch to an American, they couldn't have made Billy Australian. That voice was very trying at points.

I've just spoilered myself for the next series by reading wikipedia about who Black Noir is though.

bgmnts

Yeah I REALLY want to know more about Black Noir but I'm restraining myself.

Mister Six

Restrain yourself! Although certain bits of dialogue and backstory suggest they might be going in a different direction with him.

Piggyoioi

I dont think i can wait a year, im gunna have to read these comics. Recommend me anything else Mister? Been a while since i read any comics that weren't japanese.

Poobum

I've just finished this, 'tis sublime. Can't wait to impress all my friends with my sharp observations about Vought and its parallels to the American military industrial complex.

I'm sad that Popclaw is dead but I found her name unpleasant, in it's pronunciation and that it sound like a term to discribe a dislocated claw which immediately makes me think of when my dog ripped her dew claw almost off when she fell down a steep hill.

Frazer

Anyone one wanting to give the comics a go, there's a Garth Ennis collection on Humblebundle right now which includes the first 12 volumes.
Just one day left.

Mister Six

The humble bundle link is here: https://www.humblebundle.com/books/garth-ennis-and-more-books

I'd actually recommend paying $15, which gets you all of The Boys plus a bunch of other stuff. I've heard Battlefields is good, though I've not read it. Just a Pilgrim is a bit naff, and I'm not familiar with the rest. But The Boys is well worth $15 - just one of the trades would cost about that, so it's a cracking deal.

bgmnts

Tidy! Cheers.

How best are these viewed, I don't read comic books online much, PDF on a laptop screen?

chveik

[Hollywood Handbook fans leave thread disappointed]

madhair60

Quote from: bgmnts on July 30, 2019, 09:08:31 PM
Tidy! Cheers.

How best are these viewed, I don't read comic books online much, PDF on a laptop screen?

I recommend this: https://www.cdisplayex.com/

Very easy to use. Page Up and or Page Down, and + and - to zoom. The Humble Bundle lets you get CBR/CBZ files that CDisplayEX lets you view.

Noodle Lizard

That trailer is pretty much a full bingo card of everything that is Shit For Cunts.  Switched it off after the "adult comix swearing!!!!" and then the "kitschy 90s song!!!!"

But we need something new to watch.

madhair60


Mister Six

Quote from: Piggyoioi on July 30, 2019, 05:49:48 PM
I dont think i can wait a year, im gunna have to read these comics. Recommend me anything else Mister? Been a while since i read any comics that weren't japanese.

Hey, sorry I missed this. Start with The Boys comic, obviously, but make sure you read the three miniseries where noted in my post above, because they contain key bits of the story.

If you like that, then you should look into one of Garth Ennis' previous comics, Hitman, which has much the same tone and is drawn by John McCrea, who does fill-in art on The Boys, and some of its miniseries. It's set in Gotham City (mostly) and has irreverent takes on Batman, Green Lantern et al. Lots of OTT violence interspersed with great character work. It's been collected in seven trade paperbacks; there's a list here. There were also two follow-up miniseries: All-Star Section 8 and Six Pack & Dogwelder: Hard-Travellin' Heroez. Save them for when you've finished with the official Hitman books though.

If you liked the art on The Boys, then you could point yourself towards Transmetropolitan, which is also illustrated by Darick Robertson, but written by Warren Ellis. It's a pretty wild sci-fi series about a far-future Hunter S Thompson-type figure who returns to the city he hates to report on the rise of the next president of the USA. A list of trade paperbacks can be found here.

Other than that... well there's tons I (or others) could recommend you, but it would be better if I (we) knew what sort of thing you're into. Why not pop over to the comics thread and talk about what TV and Manga you like, and maybe we can come up with some suggestions?

Piggyoioi

Quote from: Mister Six on August 01, 2019, 03:51:44 AM
Other than that... well there's tons I (or others) could recommend you, but it would be better if I (we) knew what sort of thing you're into. Why not pop over to the comics thread and talk about what TV and Manga you like, and maybe we can come up with some suggestions?

Good stuff, thanks for the heads up on the comic's thread - ill pop by sometime.

madhair60

I also really enjoyed Chronicles of Wormwood but I think I'm alone in that.

Mister Six

Oh, I enjoyed it a lot too, but I definitely think it's a minor Ennis work.

Dex Sawash

Thanks for tip on this from watchmen thread, it is watchable.

Seems like they have failed slightly to fill in between the panels of a comic to make it a real show though.
4 eps in now.

Head Gardener


Gulftastic