Garth Ennis has spent a great deal of time in The Boys showcasing the perversions and out-and out irresponsibility of superheroes.  It’s a convention has been beaten to cliche by several less talented authors.  And while Ennis is certainly skilled, and unquestionably thorough in fleshing out a story, the main premise that “Superheroes are bad” is eventually going to get stale.

Unlike many of the other authors who’ve explored the dark side of superheroes, Ennis has provided several other plot points and themes.  We see most of the events through the eyes of Wee Hughie, a guy who lost the love of his life to an irresponsible hero.  A guy who has every right to want to take vengance and destroy superheroes at all cost.

Whereas a lesser writer would make Hughie into Billy Butcher, Ennis has made him very human.  He doesn’t like the extremes his team goes to.  He chooses violence as a nearly last resort (it beats dying).  He feels genuinely sorry for the very people he’s committed to taking down, in spite of what he’s been through.

Still, the focus of the series for forty issues (I’m not counting the five issues Ennis focused on the origins of The Boys, but I am counting Herogasm, so it all balances) has been Superheroes Suck.

In this issue, for the first time, we’re introduced to a team of superheroes who are genuinely good.  Well-intentioned.  No perversions (as of yet, anyway).  So why, I wondered, would The Boys target this team?  What point is Ennis eventually going to make with them?

Well, I don’t like to spoil comics, since I’m writing these reviews before most people get a chance to read them.  And I’m not going to spoil this one.  I am going to say that this issue, by presenting us with a team of actual heroes is shifting the tone of this book, without altering its voice.  This is the most interested I’ve been in this series since the first few story arcs.

Robertson’s art continues to be spot-on.  His ability to bring out the humor in Ennis’s dark humor, without turning it into flat satire is impressive.  Apart from Dillon, I can’t think of a better artist to bring Ennis’s characters to life.

This was a great start to my comic reading night.  And it made me want to go back and read all of my The Boys trades.