The Boys Vol. 9: Big Ride (Garth Ennis' The Boys) Kindle & comiXology

The Boys is not a comic for everyone, it's brutal, very dark (at time appalling) - But it's a brave story that (dare I say it?) makes one think. Not only about the political and social realities the comic speaks of (mainly, if humans really did posses super powers these humans would not be moral and kind) but also about capitalism, American history, what is the meaning of love and friendship and also - just how important sex is? Don't get me wrong, this is a still a comic book and so things that would be horrible in a film (human face on a pizza? A dog that is trained to do...er...special things?) are in abundance. But for the constant reader this too will be a must. Unlike other people who took the time to review the book I won't go into details om what happens nor will I pass judgment on the writer and artists. Garth Ennis, in my opinion, is a great story teller. And I assume that if you're thinking of buying the ninth volume in a comic you know more or less what it is you're getting into. I WILL say that this is the first comic I bought on kindle and while the black and white take out a lot of the pleasure of reading comics the immediate delivery and the reading method (you "move" from panel to panel, at times moving within one panel in a very original way) left me impressed. Whoever developed this method cared about comics! If only the color issue would be solved I'd consider reading more comics on Kindle.

Nine volumes into "the Boys" and what seemed like a series destined to become one of the truly greats of comics is limping toward the finish line with a barely coherent plot and nothing new to offer about the characters. Long and meandering, "The Big Ride" would probably be more accurate if it had been titled, "The Big Crawl." With pages and pages of repetitive exposition, hardly anything happens in this volume that substantiallly advances the overarching plot. In two separate episodes, the titular "Boys" and the "Seven" have a literal standoff, in which nothing actually happens. The characters talk, of course, but by the end of both meetings, nothing has changed. The meetings are therefore a kind of metaphor for where the series is as a whole - in a holding pattern, with plenty of posturing on all sides but nothing significant taking place.It's an unfortunate creative rut for what started out as a promising book. The creative team seems to have decided when they started that there was an arbitrary point at which the series should end, but they didn't have enough story to take up all the issues between launch and conclusion. And lets face it, it hardly ever happens that the writer who draws a story out unnecessarily ever finishes strong. We're probably looking to an ending more like a whimper than a bang. Which is unfortunate. The artists on the book are consistently wonderful and are pitch perfect for the series. But they're given so little to do it must be a real labor of love for them to get through the pages. Too bad it's just mostly labor for us...

I've been a Garth Ennis fan since the days of Preacher and Hitman. I've loved his ability to tell a story that could be dark at times, incredibly accurate examining the human condition and hideously funny at the wrong times.When Garth debuted The Boys, I figured this would be a great title as it was meant to be his satire/slamming of superhero comics. In previous volumes, it's been established that these "superheroes" are the product of Vought American, a former military contractor who profited at the expense of others' lives with substandard munitions and gear. They made superhumans with a special formula and sought to get back into the military arena with The Seven, until in The Boys version of 9/11, The Seven messed up a rescue mission that destroyed the Brooklyn Bridge. And so these superhumans have been established as untrained, incompetent, hedonistic and in the case of The Homelander, psychopaths with godlike powers. But honestly, all parody aside, why would Vought not train the supes? It's not holding up as much and I kind of realized that as of the Highland Laddie trade. That trade was disappointing outside of the romantic resolution between Hughie and Starlight. This trade collects a years' worth of story and had some interesting revelations here and there...but it wasn't satisfying or shocking. I'm only hoping that the Butcher miniseries and the final arc will make up for the hold pattern of these last 2 Boys trades.

Let me just tell you I've been a big fan of this series from the get go and a big fam of Ennis since Preacher, but I feel that I could've completely skipped this book entirely and not have missed a beat. Firstly, we don't really continue the main story arc of the Boys at all. I'm all about establishing back story and character development, but seriously I didn't need 3 issues about Mallory. I feel that this entire book was a flash back and you never get any new and interesting story arcs until you hit the last story arc in this trade. Let's just get on with it already. There are a couple of loose ends that are keeping me strung along here but it's frustrating since it seems like they will never be addressed.1.) What's Black Noir's deal?2.) Who killed Butcher's wife? Homelander is the obvious choice but I'm sensing some sorta twist here) Possibly Black Noir was the one. Or Homelander was the child that Butcher's wife gave birth to.So, I would say the weakest of the series so far, hell I had more fun reading the last trade whcih was Hughie just hanging out in Scotland. I literally threw this book across the room in frustration, since it was moving so slow.

Every volume builds on the on before! It's been quite awhile that a story has grabbed me like this series! READ IT!

This is a mammoth volume. A full 12 issues of The Boys. Unfortunately it is wall to wall text. Endless talking heads spouting dry exposition. Some of it answers your questions, some of it rounds out the story and some of it sets up the future. It is necessary in a way and there is an argument for getting it all behind you but it is like swallowing a massive lard brick. With Hughie off on his Highland Laddie romp, the humour, which is a big part of The Boys, is absent, as is our friendly guide to this world.There are so many better ways this could have been presented. Even just straight prose would have been preferable. It is hard to believe this is the best Ennis could come up with. It is like he lost all heart. There is no passion or energy at all here. Even the Second World War, something which Ennis usually loves, is flat and dry. Maybe reading it as single issues would be more palatable because trying to digest this volume in one sitting is awful.Robertson has stepped down as artist and although it retains a similar style it has a much more digital sheen to it. They do put effort in and there are some nice colours, subtle blur effects and good choice of tones. There are some transcripts that pop up (too little too late) which are integrated into the lettering very well. There are some nice covers and issue fifty cleverly ties in with issue one.This was all set to be a big lemon until the last issue. We escape the talking heads, the story takes a shocking turn and there are some great art choices. Almost too little too late but it guarantees you stick around for the next volume. Just barely a Thumbs Up!

I wonder if they should use trigger warnings in comics? I would put one in here. Well, I would put one in every The Boys album I've read. Even the highland laddie which is the least creative album when it comes to violence. At minimum you should not read these when having a hangover. I wonder also if this kind of satire could be called comic noir.

I get the feeling Garth Ennis is a bit tired of this series and if he isn't, I think I am. If you're reading this then you'll have read what came before so I can tell you that what went before goes for one more cycle in this book too. More "Homelander is a psycho" stuff, more "Vought American are evil" stuff, more "supes doing banal hedonism" stuff, more of Wee Hughie and Starlight's tired relationship navigating the rocks of their revelations stuff, and maybe worst of all, the putting off, once again, of the confrontation between the Boys and the Seven.There's really no other direction for this series to go at this point, just throw the Boys and the Seven in for a final showdown and end it. It's just that these days a comic series has to have 10 volumes so Dynamite have asked Ennis and co. to string this one out even though it's well past it's sell by date.It might be me, but I think Ennis doesn't have any more ideas for this series. He introduces a new character called Mallory, the former leader of the Boys, who reveals a bit of Butcher's background as well as more of the "Vought are evil" stuff which is just overkill at this point.Mallory's introduction and age does give Ennis an outlet for his real passion - old war stories. And if you haven't read Ennis' two books called "War Stories, Vol 1 and 2", I highly recommend hunting them down because they are his best work. Unfortunately they're out of print but I found them in my local library and was enthralled and moved by the stories. Really it's the best part of the book, spoiled by the inclusion of the supes who are once again underlined as idiots. Sigh. I get it, I really do, the supes suck, the boys are justified in the horrible ways they deal with them, go on...Near the end of this bumper size book (it's twice the length of the last book, the abysmal "Highland Laddie") I wondered what the point of this book was, something I rarely do with Garth Ennis books. It doesn't add anything new to the series really, it just hints, AGAIN, that the Boys and the Seven are going to have a big fight - in the next book? Tease tease... But what really stung was the way they killed off a character at the end that felt like such a cheap shot at sentimentality designed to make the reader feel like there was a heart to the story when there wasn't one. I don't consider Ennis a hack, far from it, but that was a hack trick.And that's what this book feels like - someone hacking out a story that's begging to be finished. I loved this series at first but as it's gone on its felt like its slowly been running out of ideas and at this point I just wish he'd finish it and move onto something more interesting. Summary of this overlong book: Supes bad, Boys good, roll on Vol 10.PS. Like the last book, Darick Robertson's art is absent here too. John McCrea takes on pencil duty but his artwork, while undoubtedly trying to mimic Robertson's, just isn't as good. Here's hoping Darick returns for the final book.

Each instalment of this series leaves you wanting more, looking forward to re-reading this over a long weekend in the summer sun.believable characters is the key to the story, once you suspend you disbelief to include supes in your world you really can't expect the reader to then buy into unrealistic characters as well or ridiculous plot driving events just to get to the money shot.

Great series of books. But only suitable for mature readers. Item was in good condition