Preacher: Gone to Texas by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon

A demon and an angel fall in love and together they create genesis, a creature so great it could be greater than God. Kept under lock and key by the non-warrior angels it one day manages to escape and heads straight from Earth. There it finds Reverend Jesse Custer, a minister who has lost his faith and has taken it out on his flock. It becomes a part of him and together they head out on a search. They come across Tulip, the Reverends ex-girlfriend, and Cassidy, an Irish Vampire, who join him in his search. God is hiding out somewhere on Earth and has been since Genesis was born. The Reverend is looking for him and determined to get some answers. Thanks to Genesis he might just be able to force them out of him.

I didn't really know what this was about when I bought it. I am sure I have told this story but lucky you I am going to tell it again. A good few years ago a friend was shocked that I had never read a graphic novel. I am well known for my geekiness and to him it seemed only natural that I should have at least tried them. To be honest reading a graphic novel felt a little like cheating but I got a list of recommendations and bought quite a few and then didn't read them. Last year I had a graphic novel month to get through them and found that I enjoyed them for the most part. This one was left over.

In all honesty I am not a religious person although as a child I did go to church and Sunday school. So I know a little about the real story of Genesis. Reading this felt a little blasphemous, even to me. Felt odd that I should feel that way considering I have read many books that would probably be considered so and never batted an eye. This one though had me feeling a little uncomfortable. Also it has a lot of violence. Again, I don't mind violence in books usually. In this one though it almost seemed to have violence for the sake of it and the images were quite graphic. Lastly, why is it always the female that is depicted as the demon? I know this is a reflection on Adam and Eve but it would be nice if just for once it was the other way round. Although all of the Angels in this book seemed to be male. I wonder if that meant all the demons were female. Either way I couldn't help but be a little offended by that.

In short reading this book made me feel like a disapproving old wifey. I don't like that feeling. Especially since it's really not me, or so I thought. Having said that I eventually got over it and about 3/4 of the way through I was actually enjoying the story. Later on one of the side stories is about two cops on the hunt for a serial killer and this was where my interest caught. By the end of the book I actually surprised myself by sort of liking it.

I won't be reading the others in the series though. Liking the last quarter of the book isn't enough for me to read the rest. Plus, to be honest, I think the story line of chasing God across America could become a little boring. The images were well done, must be if it added to my discomfort. I have begun a to notice that in most graphic novels which are a compilation of comic books that the cover of the first one is done in perfect detail. I couldn't help but admire them in this one.

I read this as part of the Mixing It Up Challenge hosted by Ellie of Musings of a Bookshop Girl. This was for the Graphic novel category. This time a category that really is out of my comfort zone as they are still relatively new to me. Although I didn't really enjoy it I haven't been put off and I still intend to read more. If you want to see how I am getting on with the challenge you can see my first post here.