The Saint of Killers

The Saint of Killers

The Saint of Killers, as depicted by Glenn Fabry
Publication information
Publisher Vertigo Comics
First appearance Preacher #1 (1995)
Created by Garth Ennis
Steve Dillon
In-story information
Full name Unknown
Species God
Place of origin Earth
Team affiliations Bounty hunter (previously)
Scalphunter (previously) Confederacy (previously)
Notable aliases Patron Saint of Murderers and Assassination
Death Bringer [1]
Abilities
The Saint of Killers
Genre Superhero

The Saint of Killers is a fictional character who appears in the acclaimed comic book series Preacher, published by Vertigo Comics in 1995. The Saint of Killer was created by writer Garth Ennis with artist Steve Dillon. The Saint is described as, "a grim, taciturn, implacable killing machine", with supernatural abilities involving divinity, immortality, and influence over Heaven and Hell.[7] His goals typically center on bringing down individuals through destruction and death by the laws of Paradise.[8]

The Saint of Killer first appeared as a heartless murderer, who is transformed into the Angel of Death, under the condition that he takes up the role of collecting the souls of those who die by violence. Following his reanimation, Heaven arranged for him to be put into a deep slumber, until he was needed to kill people. The Saint was the primary antagonist in the Preacher series, who is tasked by Heaven to kill protagonist Jesse Custer due to his possession of the entity Genesis.[9] Aside from Ennis and Dillon's Preacher, the Saint was featured his own four-issue limited series, Preacher: Saint of Killers, which expanded on the Saint's background and motivation,[10] and has appeared briefly in the DC Comics series, Hitman, centered around a "wise-cracking assassin plying his trade in Gotham City",[7] and soon to be featured in a television series adaptation of Preacher.[11]

Ennis initially cited Lee Marvin and Clint Eastwood, both actors, as his inspiration for the Saint; with artists Dillon and Glenn Fabry making him look far more physically imposing. The Saint's character and the nature of his evil have been the subject of considerable critical attention.[12]

Empire Magazine ranked The Saint of Killers #43 in their 50 Greatest Comic Characters of All Time,[7] Topless Robot placed him #3 in their Top 10 Least Heroic Antiheroes,[13] What Culture placed the Saint #57 on their list of the 100 Greatest Comic Book Villains Of All Time,[14] and the character ranked #74 on IGN's Top 100 Comic Book Villains compilation.[15]

Publication history

"[..] specifically in his later movies, the long coat, the wide brimmed hat, the old Cold revolvers, but [Steve Dillon] preferred Lee Marvin and that's why you've got this character who I always think moves, speaks and has all the mannerisms of Eastwood but has that kind of handsome ugliness that Lee Marvin had."

—Garth Ennis, describing his creation of the Saint of Killers.[16]

In his forward to Preacher: Ancient History, Ennis reveals that Clint Eastwood provided the inspiration for the character of the Saint of Killers, with the face of Lee Marvin influencing Steve Dillon's visual depiction of him.[12] Ennis wished to place a certain degree of emphasis on the outlaw nature of the Saint simultaneously establishing that the Saint, like the lead character of Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven, remains "unforgiven".[12]

Regarding the Saint's origin story, Ennis declared, "His story is a myth. All Western's are." [12]

Fictional character biography

Origins

Little is known of the Saint of Killers's past, but what is known is that he fought during the American Civil War, on the side of the Confederacy and was known by many as being one of the most violent, bloodthirsty soldiers on the battlefield, with no equal. His reputation grew during wartime, and even after the war he was held high regard and feared, not only by the people he had fought against and alongside, but by people who'd only heard of his legend. When the war ended, he went back to Texas; earning his money from getting the bounties on Indian scalps.

During a raid on some Apaches, he met a young girl who had been their captive. He very nearly shot her, but stayed his hand. The girl was injured, but whole, and thanked him for saving her from the horrible and savage acts they would commit - he maintained that his intention hadn't been to save her, but that she just happened to be there. He offered her transportation back to her home in Laredo, Texas. When he got her back to her family, her brother was shocked that she had not only been saved by one of the most dangerous soldiers of the war, but that she wanted to go back with him. She saw a good man within him, thus she felt it her mission to find goodness in him.

They were together for a decade, and had a child - a baby daughter. They lived together in the wild, living off the land, happy and settled. For the first time, he felt satisfaction and knew that there actually was more to his life than killing and the sport of death. He had a family and a future.

At some unspecified point, his wife and daughter caught a fever and became bedridden, with the only medicine being a week away by horse. It pained him to leave them behind, but his beloved wife told him to go, and to hurry. If he didn't make it, if anything should happen before he got back, not to blame himself. It would be the fever's fault, not his, she added. He pledged to get the medicine and get back in time. However, his journey was delayed by a gang of outlaws, to whom he fought with in the town of Ratwater, Texas. As a result, by the time he returned home he had found his wife and daughter dead. Grief-stricken, he returned to the town of Ratwater and went on a killing spree, hunting down each of the gang members until all bar the leader of the outlaws, Gumbo McCready, were dead. McCready had taken a girl hostage, but the gunslinger shot her through the head, damning himself, effectively. Just as he could shoot McCready, his gun had jammed. McCready, knocked the gunman down and impaled him in the chest with a shovel.

The soldier died, and his soul went to Hell.[17]

The Making of a Saint

Death took him, and due to his many committed murders, he was consigned and relegated to Hell. When a soul enters Hell the horror of the environment's sheer hostility evaporates away the humanity from it; all the love, fear and hatred. Nothing human-based had survived the approach to the Inferno; which came to the surprise of the Devil, as the soldier's hatred could not be contained, causing Hell to freeze over, which too causes the gates to shut.

Disturbed and intrigued, The Devil had personally came out of his palace, alongside the Angel Of Death to find out what had happened; which lead to them discovering the source of Hell's problem - the freezing cold soul of the gunman. The Devil tried to beat the hatred out of him, to no avail. His hatred remained cold, untouchable and resilient.

After begging the gunman to yield, The Devil asked what it was he wanted. The man replied that the only good thing in his bad life had been taken from him, and all that remained was the desire for vengeance. Some period after, while the Angel of Death and the Devil were playing cards, they suggested a solution to his problem. A deal was struck. The Angel of Death offered his position, and the gunman would take his place, bringing death at God's will. He would wield two pistols, composed of the Angel's sword. He could have his revenge and much, much more. The man agreed. The Devil tended to the gunman's wounds and the guns were cast. Additionally, he was given new clothes and the title: The Saint of Killers. He killed the Devil due to an insult hurled at him.

He returned to earth, and slaughtered everyone in the town of Ratwater, including McCready and the corrupt preacher who traveled with him. His act of killing was indiscriminate, in that he killed every man, woman and child in the town. Due to this and because of his dangerously uncontrollable nature, Heaven arranged for him to be put into a deep slumber, until God had need of him as His instrument of death and destruction.

Four years after the events at Ratwater, he was summoned at a place called Wounded Knee Creek.[3]

The Preacher

For the final time, an Angel was sent to wake the Saint of Killers and to instruct him with the task of finding and killing a young man named Jesse Custer. Before being shot through the head by the Saint, he spoke to him about the offspring of both demon and angel, Genesis; whose power was greater than God's. Because of Genesis's possession of Jesse, the young preacher has been granted ability of The Word of God, allowing him to give vocal orders to which cannot be disobeyed, and this frightened the Angels.

The Saint agreed. Within a few hours of appointment, he shot his way through the county sheriff's department and was hot on Custer's trail. He eventually found Jesse in a small motel, but both of his guns was stayed by Jesse's voice. This marked the first time that the Saint of Killers was held back from his mission, and a target was allowed to flee. Apart from that, the angel revealed that God, the only power in the Universe that could command the Saint, had abandoned Heaven. He let the Preacher go, but vowed to track him down.

He crossed Jesse's path after Jesse left Angelville, the estate of Marie L'Angell, the monstrous matriarch of the L'Angell clan. Angelville had been burned to the ground, and all of L'Angell's henchmen had been killed. Jesse had gotten away for a while, but the time had come for the Saint to find him again. The Saint realised that without God in Heaven, there was no one who could command him. The Saint was now able to follow his own path to find Jesse Custer, with no constraints. He traveled to Las Vegas, to find the angels, who had started a casino and were easy to find. In their terror, the angels told him everything - Jesse had gone to France to confront The Grail, a worldwide organization dedicated to triggering the Apocalypse and ruling the world. The Saint hijacked a freighter, killing everyone on board, and sailed it directly to Europe. When discovered The Grail's headquarters, he homed in on Custer. The Preacher was in a basement with The Grail's Sacred Executioner, Herr Starr; and the Saint was more than willing to kill both Custer and Starr.

Yet again, his hand was stayed. In their possession, The Grail held captive an Angel, to which the Seraph had told them that the entity Genesis was the key in gaining answers to God's abandonment of Heaven, as well as the reasons as to why the Saint's wife and daughter had died; which intrigued the man, thus taking up the offer. He held off the soldiers of The Grail, giving both Jesse and Starr the chance to get the information they needed from the Seraph - they had to venture to the American West and look to the Native Americans to get in touch with Genesis. Jesse and Starr escaped before the whole base exploded, burying the Saint under several millions of tons of rock and masonry, to which the Saint unearthed himself and made his way back to the United States of America.

Many months later, the Saint encountered Custer and Tulip O'Hare, with Jesse telling the Saint the truth about why he had been delayed from his family by McCready, which lead to the revelation that their deaths were not accidental. Discovering the truth placed the Saint into a fit of rage, and he stepped out and confronted the forces of the U.S. Army and the Grail; single-handedly taking on hundreds of soldiers, tanks and helicopters, and destroying every force that was pitted up against him, which drove Starr to pressure the President into sending a stealth bomber to Monument Valley, turning it into an irradiated wasteland with the Saint in the center of it.

Amongst the flames and the ubiquitous radiation, the Saint stood up and spat, "Not enough gun." [18]

God

With no one to command him and no targets, the Saint had no purpose. His activities during this point in time are relatively unknown; though after one year he felt a strong sensation which compelled him to go back to Ratwater, Texas; to which Jesse was there with the Saint's human remains.

Custer told the Saint everything he had learned in his quest for God - that God was an attention-fiend, and that he was willing to cause pain, destruction and death for no other reason than to see who would love him. He sparked a war between the angels to find out who would stay on his side. He created a world full of humans who would fight in hs name, just to see who adored him more. And the revelation that he had engineered the creation of Genesis, a being as powerful as himself, in order to see if He could get it to love him.

Custer had a plan; a way of paying God back for the horrors he had inflicted upon his creation. But Jesse would require the Saint's help if such a thing were to work. The guns the Saint carried were lethal - no shot hit that did not kill, and their first kill was none other than the Devil himself. But they couldn't simply shoot God, as he had shielded himself from Jesse and Genesis's detection. As long as they were looking for Him, God wouldn't budge, but it was the belief of Jesse that if Genesis were out of the picture, that God would head straight for Heaven; where the Saint of Killers would be waiting for him.

When the Saint entered Heaven, the entire Heavenly host was arrayed against him. Rank upon rank of angel flew to keep him away from the heavenly gates, and they were all shot down by his guns. And when Jesse's plan worked, when Genesis was released and God returned to retake his throne, the Saint was waiting for him. God begged for his life, and offered the Saint whatever he wanted - power, life, the lives of his family, anything. But the Saint didn't want anything God had offered him. All he wanted, he said, was to rest.

He shot God dead. Then he sat on God's throne, and rested.[19]

Characterization

Appearance

The Saint of Killers towering over Jesse

The Saint of Killers' body is humanoid and its composition is similar to that of a normal human, with a build similar to a tall muscular male in great physical shape.[20] He is extremely imposing in both height and relative size throughout the Preacher series; generally remains above that of average human height; is distinctly broad-shouldered, generally towering over his fellow characters, including Jesse Custer.[21] Chronologically speaking, he's first description was given as, "Just a stooped and weathered man on a flea-bit mare, the Walker Colt worn backwards on his hip and the Henry rifle by his saddle silent now for many a year." [22]

As the Saint of Killers grew up during the early 19th Century and the trade to which he was in, his costume started out differently. As time progressed and came the period where he was tracking the band of Kiowa and meeting of his future wife, we see the Saint sans-coat donning a blue shirt, cross-suspenders, grey trousers and his wide brimmed hat.[23]

While in Hell much of his clothing remained, until he had an altercation with Satan, wherein his coat was torn to shreds.[24] Shortly after being bequeathed the title of 'The Saint of Killers', by the Angel of Death, he was presented with the attire he would remain with while placed on Earth: a long loose-fitting yellow duster coat, a wide brimmed hat, two Colt revolvers, and a cross draw holster at the trouser belt line.[2][25]

Personality

The Saint of Killers, though supremely powerful and feared, suffers with an explosive temper, which has been triggered through insolence or disrespect,[26] of which the latter was seen when he slew the Devil. His resolve and vengeance were so strong that during the events of Ratwater he was killing indiscriminately, with children dying at his hand. However, perhaps due to his longevity and realisation of "damning himself",[27] he begins to show leniency in certain areas, for example, he will not necessarily kill unless provoked.[28] He too as shown new-found compassion and awareness when he learns of information pertaining to his family from Custer, by which he was approaching the role of an anti-hero.[29] From his radically altered perspective, which awakens when he learns of God's purpose and when he fulfills his vengeance, almost all human concerns appear pointless and without obvious merit, to which he sleeps.[19]

Custer once stated, "Before the world shook to the thunder of his guns, there was yet some good in his heart: and that was the tragedy." [30] while Jesse had acknowledged the Saint's "ten long years" of attempting to change from his past during the Civil War;[31] he trembled when Custer brought up the events of Ratwater,[32] and he too has shown aspects of compassion through mercy killing.[33]

Powers and Abilities

Throughout Preacher, he is shown to be immensely powerful and seemingly invulnerable to all harm, to an extent rarely seen in comics; bullets bounced off him,[34] a direct hit from a tank didn't affect him,[32] being underneath a collapsing mountain simply meant he had to dig himself out,[35] and being hit in the chest with a nuclear missile caused no damage to him or his clothes.[36] He also felt no pain and shrugged off the whole affair with the words, "Not enough gun." [18] He is also apparently immovable unless he wishes to be moved: At one point an M-1 Abrams tank moving at speed rammed him, and he stopped it with a kick.[37]

The Saint has demonstrated a degree of superhuman strength. For example, when hit by the vampire Cassidy in a speeding truck the Saint did not budge and the truck was flipped.[38] When Jesse Custer tried to put his hand on the Saint's shoulder the Saint of Killers flung him several feet like a rag doll. While possessing these abilities, he apparently has the power to enter and leave Heaven at will,[39] although it's not known whether or not he could similarly travel to Hell. Several other transportation abilities have been suggested in his possession, due to him threatening to "Kill his way across half Creation"; albeit he had to commandeer a ship to travel from America to France.[40]

Additionally, even before being made a saint he was an expert marksman. Now, however, he is able to draw his guns faster than a man can see, at a seemingly superhuman rate;[41] coupled with a perfect aim — even when men were hanging off his arms the Saint could shoot true and find his target mark. Also, whilst in combat, he has also displayed proficient swordsmanship.[42] His hatred appears to be his greatest power. His hatred was cold enough to temporarily extinguish the fires of Hell and has been the driving force of his existence ever since.[43][44]

Weapons

The Saint of Killers possesses a pair of Walker Colt revolver pistols, which were bequeathed to him by the Angel of Death, composed from the previous Angel's steel sword and forged in the last fire that burned in Hell,[2] because of the nature of their making, the guns are demonic in nature:

Additionally speaking, before becoming the Saint of Killers, his arsenal included a Henry repeating rifle [22] a Model 1860 Light Cavalry Saber,[42] a Bowie knife,[46] as well as a pair of non-divine Walter Colt pistols.[22]

Weaknesses

His only definite technical weakness appears to be information pertaining to his former life, particularly that of his family; when Herr Starr uses this against him;[47] and as Jesse convinces him that God is at fault for his family's death, which instead alters the Saint's trail from Jesse's to the deity's.[29][48] Jesse's usage of the Saint's buried remains, in the act of summoning the being, may too be seen as an exploitation in terms of a weakness of inquisitiveness.[49]

While possessed by Genesis, Jesse used the 'Word of God' to perform the feat of command and compelled the Saint of Killers to stay his hand, which was the only time in the Saint's existence where he was prevented from killing.[50]

Analysis and Themes

The character of The Saint of Killer is an eternal bounty hunter, one who delights in gratuitous violence on the American frontier in the 1880 following a personal disaster.[51] When Garth Ennis created the character, he based him around what he had been influenced by during the Clint Eastwood's Spaghetti western period of filmography. Ennis has described his creation of the Saint as owing much to Clint Eastwood "specifically in his later movies, the long coat, the wide brimmed hat, the old Colt revolvers", however, co-creator [Dillon] had preferred Lee Marvin and, as Ennis explained,[52] "that's why you've got this character who I always think moves, speaks and has all the mannerisms of Eastwood but has that kind of handsome ugliness that Lee Marvin had." Dr Julia Round of The Media School, Bournemouth University [53] has suggested such symbols were described as being somewhat reflective commentary on the west, by being "conscious appropriations of its underlying mechanisms", as both Ennis and Dillon had based the character of the Saint specifically on the actors as not the characters they played; which is seen throughout Preacher as a means of reflecting the "expectations and genre anxiety" of the readers through the acknowledgement of sources and usage of "implicit commentary.[54]

Michael Grimshaw of the University of Canterbury observes that the Preacher's undercurrent of the violent frontier of the Saint of Killers acts both as a "sub-narrative and explanatory device". He highlights the significance of "blood" and the "murderous acts" committed which have tainted the lands and it's denizens, while adding "a land founded on violence can never be pure or peaceful." and placing a degree of emphasis on the link between ideological basis of "blood sacrifice" in the Easter Rising, of which he deems a just comparison. And expresses acknowledgement to Garth Ennis' critique of "neo-romantic ideology" in terms of the "sacrificial outpouring of blood" and it's involvement in the alteration of the environment. Within general summary, Grimshaw makes references to Jean Baudrillard's Hyperrealism and Friedrich Nietzsche's God is dead statement.[51]

Grimshaw additionally highlights Ennis' respect and influence, when composing the Saint, as "major" with regard him and the character of William Munny in Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven, placing a juxtaposition through the said commentary, "The Saint of Killers returns to his vigilante ways when his family is brutally murdered in his absence." He then explains and points out the link between the Saint's indestructibility and that of "recent pop-culture vigilantes" such as Robocop and The Terminator, while at the same time noting that there is to be a difference by describing the Saint as a "spiritual alien cyborg" from the past acting in the present, as opposed to the future and past dynamic by the latter of the two; he also makes references to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. He too points out the "theological" nature of Preacher and emphasises that the Saint of Killers is "a reminder of the destructiveness that lurks within humanity" whilst adding "... unleashed by God's interference and then abandonment", only if the "future mechanical cyborg killer" was indeed a result of humanity's deemed inherit interference with the natural created order.[51]

Using the perspective of Philosopher Julia Kristeva, Grimshaw places significance on the Kristevan outlook in that "The world is a site of Kristevan abjection", whilst adding that "The corpse, seen without God and outside of science, is the utmost of abjection. It is death infecting life." Infusing such an ideology into Ennis' Preacher, specifically tying it to the Saint, he deduces that the reanimated corpse of the Saint of Killers which "[stalks] heaven and earth in pursuit of his divine prey" is in actual fact a leakage of death into life.[51]

Niall Kitson believes every character in Ennis and Dillon's work has a sort of value system, stating, "those who appear good have an innate darkness to them and even the blackest of demons is capable of acting to a moral code", of which the Saint of Killers himself isn't immune to due to displays of such a logical moral system of thought, while Kitson builds upon such proposition by further adding, "[The Saint] has a background steeped in pathos and is not averse to making a deal when it suits his needs". Thus Kitson believes that in some cases the Saint epitomises the antihero, as in his identification of a "narrative construction" with the vampire Cassidy, which he stated to provide a "continuity between the world of men and God", he acknowledges that the same could be of the Saint, "[...] but for the fact that his origins remain undisclosed until later in the narrative and his character as gun for hire only later transforms in a sympathetic loner with a mission".[55]

The Saint's background has been explored, as well as Ennis' Spaghetti western influences. Kjartan Fossberg Jónsson argues that while Jesse is Ennis' representation on the "western hero" while the Saint represents "the old west, film, and myth." Jónsson specifically identifies similarities between the opening panels of Preacher: The Saint of Killers and the opening scenes of Sergio Corbucci's The Great Silence (1968). While showing additional comparisons to Sergio Leone's films, by commenting on Leone's fusion of landscape and facial features, and concluded such a point by suggesting, "All characters in the miniseries have peculiar faces, especially the gang of outlaws"; he concluded by suggesting that Clint Eastwood's influence on the Saint "strengthens [the] ink" of the Spaghetti western influence throughout.[56]

In other media

Film adaption

Garth Ennis, feeling Preacher would translate perfectly as a film, sold the film rights to Electric Entertainment. Rachel Talalay was hired to direct, with Ennis writing the script. Rupert Harvey and Tom Astor were set as producers. By May 1998, Ennis completed three drafts of the script, based largely on the Gone to Texas story arc.[57] The filmmakers found it difficult financing Preacher because investors found the idea religiously controversial. Ennis approached Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier to help finance the film under their View Askew Productions banner. Ennis, Smith and Mosier pitched Preacher to Bob Weinstein at Miramax Films.[58]

Weinstein was confused by the characterization of Jesse Custer. Miramax also did not want to share the box office gross with Electric Entertainment, ultimately dropping the pitch. By May 2000, Smith and Mosier were still attached to produce with Talalay directing, but Smith did not know the status of Preacher, feeling it would languish in development hell.[58] By then, Storm Entertainment, a UK-based production company known for their work on independent films, joined the production with Electric Entertainment.[57] In September 2001, the two companies announced Preacher had been greenlighted to commence pre-production, with filming to begin in November and Talaly still directing Ennis' script.[59] The production and start dates were pushed back because of financial issues[60] of the $25 million projected budget. With the full-length film adaptation eventually abandoned with budgetary concerns,[60] HBO announced in November 2006 that they commissioned Mark Steven Johnson and Howard Deutch to produce a television pilot. Johnson was to write with Deutch directing.[61] Impressed with Johnson's pilot script, HBO had him write the series bible for the first season.[62] Johnson originally planned "to turn each comic book issue into a single episode" on a shot-for-shot basis. "I gave [HBO] the comics, and I said, 'Every issue is an hour'. Garth Ennis said 'You don't have to be so beholden to the comic'. And I'm like, 'No, no, no. It's got to be like the comic'."[63]

Johnson also wanted to make sure that one-shots were included as well.[64] Johnson changed his position, citing new storylines conceived by Ennis. "Well, there would be nothing new to add if we did that, so Garth [Ennis] and I have been creating new stories for the series," he said. "I love the book so much and I was telling Garth that he has to make the stories we are coming up with as comics because I want to see them."[62] By August 2008, new studio executives at HBO decided to abandon the idea, finding it too stylistically dark and religiously controversial.[65] Columbia Pictures then purchased the film rights in October 2008 with Sam Mendes planned to direct. Neal H. Moritz and Jason Netter would have produced the film. The previous scripts written by Ennis would not have been used.[66]

Television

On 6 February 2014, it was announced that AMC and Sony TV had officially announced the development of Preacher.[67] On 3 December 2014, AMC have given order to a pilot, which will be produced in the summer of 2015 for series consideration in 2016.[11]

References in other works

The Saint of Killers has also been referenced or parodied in other forms of media, including:

See also


References

  1. ↑ Ennis, Garth (1998). The Saint of Killers #3. Vertigo Comics. p. 22. ISBN 978-1-56389-261-5.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Ennis, Garth (1998). The Saint of Killers #4. Vertigo Comics. p. 1. ISBN 978-1-56389-261-5.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Ennis, Garth (1998). The Saint of Killers #4. Vertigo Comics. p. 21. ISBN 978-1-56389-261-5.
  4. ↑ Ennis, Garth (1995). Preacher #2. Vertigo Comics. p. 1. ISBN 978-1-56389-261-5.
  5. ↑ Ennis, Garth (1998). The Saint of Killers #2. Vertigo Comics. p. 19. ISBN 978-1-56389-405-3.
  6. ↑ Ennis, Garth (1995). Preacher #1. Vertigo Comics. pp. 20–21. ISBN 978-1-56389-261-5.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 "Empire - The 50 Greatest Comic Book Characters". Empire Magazine. 2 February 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  8. ↑ Ennis, Garth (1995). Preacher #32. Vertigo Comics. p. 15. ISBN 978-1-56389-261-5.
  9. ↑ "PREACHER BOOK ONE". Vertigo Comics. 11 March 2015. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  10. ↑ "Garth Ennis". Vertigo Comics. 11 March 2015. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 "AMC Orders Pilot for ‘Preacher’ Comic Book Adaptation From Seth Rogen". Variety. 3 December 2014. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 "Undead in the West II: They Just Keep Coming". Google Books. 11 March 2015. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  13. ↑ "The 10 Least Heroic Antiheroes". Topless Robot. 23 May 2011. Retrieved 23 May 2011.
  14. ↑ "100 Greatest Comic Book Villains Of All Time". What Culture. 6 October 2013. Retrieved 6 October 2013.
  15. ↑ "Top 100 Comic Book Villains". IGN. 2 February 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  16. ↑ "It’s all relative. Breaking barriers and binaries in Garth Ennis/Steve Dillon’s Preacher" (PDF). Comicforschung. 2 August 2010. Retrieved 2 August 2010.
  17. ↑ Ennis, Garth (1998). The Saint of Killers #3. Vertigo Comics. p. 3. ISBN 978-1-56389-261-5.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Ennis, Garth (1995). Preacher #37. Vertigo Comics. p. 23. ISBN 978-1-56389-490-9.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 "God - Vertigo Universe". Whiskey Media. 25 February 2015. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  20. ↑ Ennis, Garth (1998). The Saint of Killers #3. Vertigo Comics. p. 24. ISBN 978-1-56389-261-5.
  21. ↑ "Ideal Casting For Preacher". Entertainment Fuse. 6 March 2014. Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 Ennis, Garth (1998). The Saint of Killers #1. Vertigo Comics. p. 3. ISBN 978-1-56389-261-5.
  23. ↑ Ennis, Garth (1998). The Saint of Killers #2. Vertigo Comics. p. 3. ISBN 978-1-56389-261-5.
  24. ↑ Ennis, Garth (1998). The Saint of Killers #3. Vertigo Comics. p. 18. ISBN 978-1-56389-261-5.
  25. ↑ Ennis, Garth (1998). The Saint of Killers #4. Vertigo Comics. p. 2. ISBN 978-1-56389-261-5.
  26. ↑ Ennis, Garth (1998). The Saint of Killers #1. Vertigo Comics. p. 11. ISBN 978-1-56389-261-5.
  27. ↑ Ennis, Garth (1998). The Saint of Killers #2. Vertigo Comics. p. 21. ISBN 978-1-56389-261-5.
  28. ↑ Ennis, Garth (1998). Preacher #3. Vertigo Comics. p. 7. ISBN 978-1-56389-261-5.
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 Ennis, Garth (1995). Preacher #23. Vertigo Comics. p. 8. ISBN 978-1-56389-261-5.
  30. ↑ Ennis, Garth (1998). Preacher #32. Vertigo Comics. p. 12. ISBN 978-1-56389-261-5.
  31. ↑ Ennis, Garth (1998). Preacher #32. Vertigo Comics. p. 14. ISBN 978-1-56389-261-5.
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 Ennis, Garth (1998). Preacher #36. Vertigo Comics. p. 5. ISBN 978-1-56389-490-9.
  33. ↑ Ennis, Garth (1998). The Saint of Killers #1. Vertigo Comics. p. 22. ISBN 978-1-56389-261-5.
  34. ↑ Ennis, Garth (1995). Preacher #2. Vertigo Comics. p. 6. ISBN 978-1-56389-261-5.
  35. ↑ Ennis, Garth (1998). Preacher #28. Vertigo Comics. p. 24. ISBN 978-1-56389-428-2.
  36. ↑ Ennis, Garth (1995). Preacher #37. Vertigo Comics. p. 17. ISBN 978-1-56389-490-9.
  37. ↑ Ennis, Garth (1998). Preacher #37. Vertigo Comics. p. 2. ISBN 978-1-56389-490-9.
  38. ↑ Ennis, Garth (1998). Preacher #4. Vertigo Comics. p. 6. ISBN 978-1-56389-261-5.
  39. ↑ Ennis, Garth (1998). Preacher #4. Vertigo Comics. p. 12. ISBN 978-1-56389-261-5.
  40. ↑ Ennis, Garth (1998). Preacher #4. Vertigo Comics. p. 11. ISBN 978-1-56389-490-9.
  41. ↑ Ennis, Garth (1998). Preacher #2. Vertigo Comics. p. 1. ISBN 978-1-56389-490-9.
  42. ↑ 42.0 42.1 Ennis, Garth (1998). The Saint of Killers #2. Vertigo Comics. p. 18. ISBN 978-1-56389-261-5.
  43. ↑ Ennis, Garth (1998). The Saint of Killers #3. Vertigo Comics. p. 12. ISBN 978-1-56389-261-5.
  44. ↑ Ennis, Garth (1998). The Saint of Killers #3. Vertigo Comics. p. 17. ISBN 978-1-56389-261-5.
  45. ↑ 45.0 45.1 45.2 45.3 45.4 Ennis, Garth (1998). The Saint of Killers #4. Vertigo Comics. p. 4. ISBN 978-1-56389-261-5.
  46. ↑ Ennis, Garth (1998). The Saint of Killers #2. Vertigo Comics. p. 4. ISBN 978-1-56389-261-5.
  47. ↑ Ennis, Garth (1995). Preacher #23. Vertigo Comics. p. 6. ISBN 978-1-56389-261-5.
  48. ↑ Ennis, Garth (1995). Preacher #36. Vertigo Comics. p. 6. ISBN 978-1-56389-261-5.
  49. ↑ Ennis, Garth (1995). Preacher #32. Vertigo Comics. p. 8. ISBN 978-1-56389-261-5.
  50. ↑ Ennis, Garth (1995). Preacher #4. Vertigo Comics. p. 10. ISBN 978-1-56389-261-5.
  51. ↑ 51.0 51.1 51.2 51.3 "Preacher, or the Death of God in Pictures". University of Canterbury. 25 February 2015. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  52. ↑ "Julia Round: "It’s all relative. Breaking barriers and binaries in Garth Ennis/Steve Dillon’s Preacher"". Comicforschung. 2 August 2010. Retrieved 2 August 2010.
  53. ↑ "Julia Round - Bournemouth University". University of Bournemouth. 2 August 2010. Retrieved 2 August 2010.
  54. ↑ "It’s all relative: breaking barriers and binaries in Preacher" (PDF). University of Bournemouth. 2 August 2010. Retrieved 2 August 2010.
  55. ↑ "Rebel Yells: Genre Hybridity and Irishness in Garth Ennis & Steve Dillon's Preacher". The Irish Journal of Gothic and Horror Studies. 3 January 2007. Retrieved 3 January 2007.
  56. ↑ "Garth Ennis' Preacher and the Western or how Preacher is a western" (PDF). University of Iceland. 3 January 2010. Retrieved 3 January 2010.
  57. ↑ 57.0 57.1 "The Stax Report: Script review of Preacher". IGN. 10 February 2000. Retrieved 10 February 2000. Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  58. ↑ 58.0 58.1 "Elston Gunn interviews KEVIN SMITH". Ain't It Cool News. 14 May 2000. Retrieved 14 May 2000. Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  59. ↑ "PREACHER's Got A Greenlight!! Hell Freezes Over!!". Ain't It Cool News. 6 September 2001. Retrieved 6 September 2001.
  60. ↑ 60.0 60.1 Ethan Aames (2005-06-20). "Interview: James Marsden on Heights". Cinema Confidential. Retrieved 2008-10-29.
  61. ↑ Eric Goldman (2006-11-29). "HBO Prays for Preacher". IGN. Retrieved 2008-10-29.
  62. ↑ 62.0 62.1 Peter Brown (2007-06-10). "Exclusive Interview: Mark Steven Johnson Finds Religion With Preach - Part 1". IF Magazine. Retrieved 2008-10-29.
  63. ↑ Cindy White (2006-12-01). "Johnson Talks HBO's Preacher". Sci Fi Wire. Retrieved 2008-10-29.
  64. ↑ Daniel Robert Epstein (2006-12-05). "Johnson Talks HBO's Preacher". Newsarama. Retrieved 2008-10-29.
  65. ↑ Rob Allstetter (2008-08-25). "Mark Steven Johnson: No Preacher On HBO". Comics Continuum. Retrieved 2008-10-29.
  66. ↑ "Columbia signs on for 'Preacher' feature". The Hollywood Reporter. 29 October 2008. Retrieved 29 October 2008.
  67. ↑ "AMC Confirms Development of ‘Preacher’ With Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg". Variety. 6 February 2014. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
  68. ↑ "Diablo Boulevard - Bio". Diablo Boulevard. 11 March 2015. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  69. ↑ "Diablo Blvd - Saint Of Killers". YouTube. 9 February 2012. Retrieved 9 February 2012.

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