Ennis, Garth – Preacher Book 6: War in the Sun

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Preacher Book 6: War in the Sun

Well, here it is. The only good Preacher Special that Steve Dillon didn’t draw. Finally, some backstory on one of the most pitiable villains ever, Starr. Maybe that’s not the impression that you’re supposed to get from the guy, but with all the shit that he goes through in this series, how can you not? The first story shows his rise through the ranks as a member of The Grail and how he got those scars on his face. Maybe not essential reading, but every little bit helps with this guy. Why did he rebel against The Grail and what made him who he was?

The majority of the book is from the “War in the Sun” story. Jesse had the bright idea that he was going to go out into the desert, take some peyote and get in touch with Genesis. Starr had heard him talking about this before, so he was well aware of it when Jesse finally hit an Indian reservation. He called in a few favors and had the army there to help him just in case the Saint of Killers showed up again, and almost everybody was on hand for this one. I think they should have left the last issue of this volume out and saved it for the next book, the reasons for which should be obvious if you read it. If you’re just buying these things in the future and the book ends an issue earlier, well, you’re going to rush right out to get the next one. With the way this one ends, well, you… once again, not giving anything away.

How is this one? It’s the one I was most looking forward to (except for the very last one), and I can’t remember why that was. The actual battle was huge, of course, but it was over pretty quickly. Cassidy continues his slide into complete and total worthlessness. The key scenes with this one were the bit on the plane after the battle and Jesse’s reaction after his “reunion” with Cassidy and Tulip. The bit with Arseface at the end seemed almost totally useless to me, as it was just randomly thrown in the story to fill space and didn’t go anywhere. All in all though, it was a good book. Definitely a high point before the series takes a bit of a breather with the next book, so enjoy the plot progressing while you can.