Book Review: The Boys Omnibus, Volume 4

Garth Ennis, et.al., The Boys Omnibus, Volume 4. Mt. Laurel, NJ: Dynamite Entertainment, 2019.  ISBN: 9781524111403.

 

Genre: Graphic novels and comics

Subgenre: superheroes, antiheroes, satire, adapted to television

Format: trade paperback omnibus edition

Source: Hutchins Library, Berea College

 

In this volume we get a lot more movement and some big developments. The big event is Hughie finding out that Annie January, his girlfriend, is the superhero known as Starlight. This leads to a very ugly breakup, not so much her being a hero as him having seen a video of her rape. Only reason he saw that is that Butcher had it, showed it to him hoping to stoke Hughie's anger and use that anger when it comes time to confront The Seven down the road. Hughie's treatment of Annie is awful, though not as surprising as some may say. While Hughie is not the most enlightened guy-- and to be honest not many men have any degree of enlightenment in this series-- he is also struggling with serious trauma and issues of his own. That is not an excuse, but let's say it can be a mitigating circumstance. After the break up, Hughie heads back home to his Scottish village to get his mind a break and find some solace. Even there, trouble finds him, and so does Annie, who travels all the way there seeking reconciliation. Hughie eventually apologizes, acknowledges his and her traumas, and it appears reconciliation may come. We'll have to see. 

Another highlight in this volume is the superhero group Super Duper making an appearance in this part of the run. As the publisher describes them, ". . .the real superheroes: the warriors for truth and justice, who fight to make things right and ask for nothing in return." This is a group of young heroes on the C-list, not exactly a big deal. A couple of members would be classified as "special needs" folks. But they love each other, have made a family of their own with kindness, and they do make their local public appearances when Vought-American requests it. They can't even rescue a cat from a tree, but you can't help but love them and feel for them. For me, this part of the run was a nice moment of sweetness in what is often a pretty bleak comic book. 

The rest of the run is good overall. We continue to get some action and dark humor along the way. What we also get are more schemes and plots. Homelander has been scheming a plan for a while, and now he starts putting feelers out to see which supes may go along. We also get a look at Believe, a big superhero evangelical Christian event which Homelander, of all people, sums up well in issue 47: "Believe. It's just a scam designed to separate halfwits like you from your money." Meanwhile, the head of supes development at VA is moving along with plots of his own. There is a lot going on behind scenes, which sets readers to keep reading just to see how things develop. 

An issue this time, for me, is that the authors seriously dragged out the Hughie and Annie conflict. They kept that tension stretching. It got me reading, but it could have been completed sooner. Still, I continue to find the story interesting, especially the machinations and world building. There are a lot of small details that can be fascinating. 

Overall, I am still liking the series, and I will continue reading, so on to volume 5. 

4 out of 5 stars.