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The Boys: A Breath of Fresh Air


Did you know the word "superheroes," is jointly owned by Marvel and DC but "super heroes," is not? Marvel owns "mutants," and DC owns "metahumans." That makes for some creative ways to get around using those phrases. One such way is by calling them "capes," as The Boys does. The Boys was originally a comic series but it has been adapted to television and it some good television too.

The Boys centers around a group of men primarily if you couldn't tell from the title. There's also an amnesiac mute woman with super powers. I can't reveal much about her because it ruins a big plot point in the show. These men hunt capes, or people with super powers. These men aren't particularly fond of each other, but they've been drawn together because they each have a vendetta against the capes. Hughie for instance, has a hero named A-Train run right through his girlfriend at super speed. He's left there holding just her arms. The Butcher, loses his wife to a cape. I won't say who or how to avoid some big spoilers, but it's messed up. The Capes are mostly terrible people. The Deep for instance has a history of sexual assault and everything else. Translucent is a peeping tom, which is amplified by the fact that he can become invisible. Ezekiel is a preacher who goes on and on about how being gay will send you straight to Hell, but he's gay. Starlight is one of the few capes you will see that isn't terrible.

That's what makes The Boys great. Everyone is just terrible. Often times shows about heroes or even anti-heroes have to make the main character have some redeeming trait, even if it isn't there in the comics. The Punisher will kill everyone, except women and children, and he has friends now as long as he respects them. The Boys doesn't shy away from the fact, that a lot of people are just terrible. Not just the heroes either. Billy Butcher is a terrible person. He constantly puts the lives of those around him in danger, and lies to them because he has a grudge against a single cape.

Another thing I love is they don't shy away from any tough topics which some people may have an issue with. For instance, The Deep sexually assaults multiple women through his career. He's forced to apologize for it but doesn't see why he's wrong. Then he is raped by a woman and goes through a crisis realizing how messed up he is. Queen Meave, is an alcoholic. She had been clean for a few years but after a few events during the show, she starts hitting the bottle again. Pop Claw, is also an addict. A-Train actually does have a touching backstory about growing up in the inner city, poverty and gun violence, but he's told to shelve it because nobody wants to hear about it.

The Boys moves a lot faster on film than it does in the comics. But, there are some things that it does much better. The character designs have all been given some updates. This is good. Because in the comics, some of the designs are terrible. A-Train for instance, who we see first in both is a roided out speedster. In the comics, he looks like a bigger Brock Lesnar and you just can't wrap your mind around super speed being his only power. On film, he looks a lot more like a speedster.

If you can't tell, I enjoy The Boys. Mainly because, well, it's fucked up. There's fighting, corporate espionage, government fraud, and everything else. It doesn't sit some heroes in an idealistic world and create villains to wreak havoc. It shows that people make their own heroes and villains. The person some see as a hero, might be the villain to someone else. There's a love story, but this is not a love story. At the core, it isn't a story about good guys and bad guys because there are no good guys and bad guys here. Everyone is a shade of gray. If you haven't checked out The Boys yet, you should.

You can check out some of my fiction at 12 AM Fiction or follow my web serial Exsanguinate and of course hear me on the Powerbomb Jutsu podcast.
Darrell S.

Hey, I write stuff, a lot of different stuff, that's all.

1 Comments

  1. We were surprised how high quality the series was, especially considering it came from Amazon. Make sure to check out our reviews on blerd.com

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