Disappointing endings
Jan. 24th, 2008 09:03 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kilroyIf you haven't read Preacher and intend to, stop here. Spoilers ho.
Ok, not a problem for you? Good.
I just finished re-reading Preacher, and I remembered something else about the series that I'd forgotten. I found the ending... disappointing.
I mean, Vertigo brought me back to comics with Sandman and I stuck around for all sorts of long-arc stories. The Invisibles, Fables, Transmetropolitan, Lucifer-- all great books that changed my life. But out of all of them--out of all the great, epic stories I've read since getting back into comics--I like the end of Preacher least.
The deal Cassidy made with God was badly executed and poorly conceived. The idea of him making a deal with God is great, but the actual deal and the way it was told suck on toast.
Starr, who starts the series as a cold but eminently sane man, degenerates into a monster. Not in a cool, dramatic way-- in a pointless, stupid way. He goes from almost a hero to someone I look at in every single panel going "What the hell?"
Jesse betrays Tulip. Again. Not in a way that's necessary to the story-- he could have just died, that would have been plenty dramatic. And we don't even see THAT little bit of drama, we skip right past it to the fight afterwards.
John Wayne leaves, in a classic "You've grown up and don't need me anymore" moment. And yet Jesse hasn't grown up. He's about to go do the same damn things he's always done. He's an icon, an archetype, and those only work in stories like this if they're constant. Growing up is not the story being told here.
And most of all... Cassidy gets away. Come on. He gives the whole "maybe I'll try and be a man after all" speech at the end, but we have absolutely no evidence that he has changed in the slightest. He's going to do it again. He is neither redeemed nor punished, at least one of which is richly deserved. His story arc goes exactly nowhere. He gets away. Not only does he get away, but he's the last page. I just have no words for how wrong this is.
I mean, the stuff with God and the Saint is excellent. The final exit for Jesse and Tulip is good. The plan of the final act was good. But there's just so much not quite right after so many good chapters that it left me sad.
Ok, not a problem for you? Good.
I just finished re-reading Preacher, and I remembered something else about the series that I'd forgotten. I found the ending... disappointing.
I mean, Vertigo brought me back to comics with Sandman and I stuck around for all sorts of long-arc stories. The Invisibles, Fables, Transmetropolitan, Lucifer-- all great books that changed my life. But out of all of them--out of all the great, epic stories I've read since getting back into comics--I like the end of Preacher least.
The deal Cassidy made with God was badly executed and poorly conceived. The idea of him making a deal with God is great, but the actual deal and the way it was told suck on toast.
Starr, who starts the series as a cold but eminently sane man, degenerates into a monster. Not in a cool, dramatic way-- in a pointless, stupid way. He goes from almost a hero to someone I look at in every single panel going "What the hell?"
Jesse betrays Tulip. Again. Not in a way that's necessary to the story-- he could have just died, that would have been plenty dramatic. And we don't even see THAT little bit of drama, we skip right past it to the fight afterwards.
John Wayne leaves, in a classic "You've grown up and don't need me anymore" moment. And yet Jesse hasn't grown up. He's about to go do the same damn things he's always done. He's an icon, an archetype, and those only work in stories like this if they're constant. Growing up is not the story being told here.
And most of all... Cassidy gets away. Come on. He gives the whole "maybe I'll try and be a man after all" speech at the end, but we have absolutely no evidence that he has changed in the slightest. He's going to do it again. He is neither redeemed nor punished, at least one of which is richly deserved. His story arc goes exactly nowhere. He gets away. Not only does he get away, but he's the last page. I just have no words for how wrong this is.
I mean, the stuff with God and the Saint is excellent. The final exit for Jesse and Tulip is good. The plan of the final act was good. But there's just so much not quite right after so many good chapters that it left me sad.