Aug
26
I was late to the party with Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon’s “Preacher.” A 66-issue DC/Vertigo series from the ’90s, “Preacher” is a contemporary Western about Jesse Custer, a disillusioned man of the cloth who’s been given the Word of God. When he uses this power on someone, they’re compelled to do whatever he says. At any rate, God has quit and gone to ground somewhere on Earth. So Custer, his ex-girlfriend Tulip and the Irish vampire Cassidy try to track Him down.
I was on a superhero kick in the mid-’90s and didn’t start picking up “Preacher” until the title its final storyarc. My funnybook shop in Spokane tragically went out of business in the summer of ‘00, and I was able to pick up almost all the “Preacher” back issues for a song. The series is absolutely fantastic, a fevered dream of Americana.
Of course Hollywood took interest in the late-1990s. Ben Affleck and James Marsden were at one point or another rumored for the role of Custer in a film adaptation; I always pictured Johnny Depp. Kathryn Bigelow — wife number eleventeen of James Cameron — was attached to direct. But the project imploded. From the ashes emerged a potential HBO TV series to fill the gaping hole left by the “Sopranos.” Mark Steven Johnson, director of “Daredevil” and “Ghost Rider,” began developing the title for the cable network.
Then HBO realized the director of “Daredevil” and “Ghost Rider” was out of his element. Well, according to BeyondHollywood.com, the project is now deader than God at the end of the series (*Spoiler*). I can’t say that I’m disappointed. While I find “Daredevil” to be palatable fanwank, “Ghost Rider” is unrepentantly stupid. MSJ doesn’t have the chops to tackle “Preacher.” Even if he lifted everything directly from the comics’ page, it would still somehow be diminished by his involvement.
I’m content with “Preacher” just being a comic book. It doesn’t have to be a movie. It doesn’t have to be a TV show. It’s perfectly fine the way it is. If you’re a fan of the book, I’m fairly certain I’m preaching to the choir.
-Brad Lohan
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