The Top Comics of 2009 countdown! Number 5 - The Boys (Dynamite)

A quick summary of the years activity on this title. It's on my pull list, has been for a couple of years and so was always going to make the top 10. Here are my thoughts;



They got it superbly right with the X-Men piss-take that-had-a-gob-smacking-ending, 'We Gotta Go Now' & the almighty dust-up that was 'The Self Preservation Society'. It was great to see Carlos Ezquerra doing some art on the latter storyline, where he made Billy Butcher look more East End thug than Robertson has ever managed. If I had to choose the storyline of the year, it would be the latter. You got to see Butcher really lose it, and it made for some gripping entertainment.



The origin issues towards the end of 2009 have been hit and miss - a Hit for the first part of MM's story, the second part was less so, but The Frenchman's back story was insubstantial, and felt like filler.



Then there was Herogasm, the first Boys spin-off, a huge in-joke about the big summer crossover events. Maybe it was an excuse for Ennis to insert (*ahem*) lots of porn all over the issues. I cannot really remember what The Boys themselves were doing there - my attention was usually elsewhere, on various configurations of Supes getting off together, on their own etc... Was Herogasm a success? As far as I am concerned, no. It could have been wrapped up in 2 issues, but the 6 parts it occupied felt like a bit of a trial by the end of it.



'The Boys' is in good health - none of the main characters show any signs of appeal fatigue, there is enough in the background to suggest that 2010 will bring more conflict between The Boys & The Supes. A well deserved Top 5 finish. And the covers for the main title have been magnificent this year. Bravo!