Garth Ennis is known as a writer who pushes the boundaries of the comic book medium in new, expected places. Often controversial, his stories are full of grim, morally gray characters who embark on missions of vengeance, punctuated by Ennis’s signature blend of extreme violence, graphic sex, and cynical meditations on religion, politics, war, and human nature. In his career, Ennis has given readers such memorable titles as Punisher MAX, Preacher, and The Boys.
Ennis has been widely praised for his unique approach to traditional comic book stories, incorporating sharp, realistic drama and worldly themes into his comics. He’s covered everything from World War 1 to superhero stories and has always been capable of wowing his readers every single time.
Chronicles Of Wormwood
In this short, six-issue comic, a kind-hearted version of the biblical Antichrist finds himself reluctant to bring about the apocalypse, even as he’s pressured to do so by God and his father, the Devil.
Like Ennis’s most famous comic, Preacher, Chronicles of Wormwood serves as yet another exploration of religion. Only this time around, Garth specifically focuses on the topic of destiny, with his iteration of the Antichrist–Danny Wormwood–questioning his prophesized role in ending the world. It’s a sharp, surprisingly poignant comic by Ennis, just as hard-hitting as it is genuinely comedic.
War is Hell: The First Flight of the Phantom Eagle
In the 2000s’, Ennis gained fame for popularizing Marvel’s MAX print, featuring sobering versions of traditional superheroes with an adult audience in mind. In this 2008 comic, Ennis set out to revamp the character, Phantom Eagle, portraying him as an early WW1 aviator.
Ennis has frequently been drawn to war in his comics, returning time and time to WW2, Vietnam, and even the Gulf War. Here, his exploration of WW1, one of the most horrific conflicts in human history, is just as somber as his other war epics, featuring harrowing depictions of early airborne battle and the grim realities that war isn’t always the romanticized topic it’s portrayed as in comics and movies.
Crossed
Crossed is Ennis’s version of a zombie story. However, rather than his version of zombies turning into the mindless, shuffling dead, Ennis’s infected retain their basic human intelligence they had before infection, resulting in them merely being homicidal, psychopathic versions of their former selves.
Praised for its unique approach to the traditional zombie narrative, Crossed has been hailed as one of the best post-apocalyptic stories there is. In it, Ennis paints a frightening depiction of a major pandemic ravaged by twisted, malevolent individuals who engage in mass murder and cannibalism freely and openly.
Hellblazer
Ennis’s run on Hellblazer helped revitalize the character and paint John Constantine in a remarkably different light than ever before. In perhaps the most famous Hellblazer story, “Dangerous Habits,” Constantine learns that he has severe lung cancer and must save himself, knowing his soul will go to Hell if he doesn’t cure his cancer in time.
When Ennis wrote for the character, Constantine wasn’t the cool, confident, knowledgable magician fans knew him as when Alan Moore created the character. Instead, Ennis’s version of Constantine was someone whose self-destructive tendencies and trickery made him someone constantly near-death. He’s a man who knows the most terrifying secrets of the DC universe, and it seems like that information and knowledge are slowly driving him insane.
Fury MAX
Ennis may be more well-known as the man behind the super graphic, ultra-violent Punisher MAX, but his exploration of Nick Fury in this short MAX series may rival the best of Ennis’s Punisher days.
Comprised of 13 issues, Ennis returns to the character of Nick Fury during his post-WW2 career and his transition into the espionage-heavy warfare of the Cold War. The genius of Fury MAX is not portraying Fury as someone patriotic, peace-loving superhero, but as someone who loves to fight and kill, a man knowledgeable about war and always ready for the next fight.
War Stories
As mentioned previously, war is a common theme in many Ennis comic books. His interest in the subject would eventually culminate in the ongoing anthology, War Stories, featuring stories about various conflicts in human history (especially WW2).
Ennis’s stories themselves may be fictional, but his exploration of some of the strangest historical elements of these real-life battles and wars remains endlessly fascinating. Given Ennis’s penchant for violence, too, he never opts for portraying war as an action movie might. Here, people die horrific and terrifying deaths, leaving huge effects on their fellow soldiers. According to Ennis, there’s nothing glamorous or remarkable about war–it’s a horrible, pointless affair that needlessly costs lives, as seen here.
The Boys
The Boys is easily Ennis’s most famous title, serving as the basis for the critically-acclaimed, incredibly gory series, The Boys. In this comic, a group of trained combat experts tries to expose Earth’s mightiest heroes, who are secretly murdering, predatory psychopaths who use their powers for their benefit.
With The Boys, Ennis asks an interesting question: What if the Justice League existed in the real world, and what if they were evil and nobody knew it? It’s an entertaining hypothetical to ponder, and Ennis does so expertly here, creating a fast-paced, enjoyable narrative that is often hard to read through but features an almost parodic inversion of the superhero genre.
Preacher
Preacher is easily one of the most famous, well-known comics of the past 30 years, following an agonistic Texan preacher looking for the embodiment of God. Along the way, he is joined by his girlfriend, Tulip, and an Irish vampire named Cassidy.
The amazing thing about Preacher is how much Ennis fits in without it feeling over-stuffed. There are biblical figures, demons, a secret religious order, the half Terminator, half Clint Eastwood ghost of a murdering outlaw who seems straight out of Ghost Rider. It should feel like too much in one series, and yet Ennis manages to pull the comic off with grace. It’s dark, funny, and as violent as anything else Ennis has written, known today as perhaps Ennis’s magnum opus.
Punisher MAX
Ennis’s run on Punisher MAX helped not only set the standard for every MAX Marvel storyline that followed but also helped introduce a new, modern version of the Punisher to a generation of readers.
Containing some of the darkest Punisher stories yet, Punisher MAX holds absolutely nothing back when it comes to the violent, seedy criminal underworld that Frank Castle is out to systematically eliminate. It’s incredibly violent and sometimes downright difficult to stomach, but Ennis’s unflinching ability to portray horribles acts of violence make this his bravest, most memorable project yet. It’s a comic like no other.
Hitman
Hitman showed Ennis’s ability to defy expectations when it came to superhero stories. It stars the titular B-superhero-turned-assassin, capable of mild X-ray vision and telepathy, but instead prefers to use weapons as his primary superpower.
The most entertaining aspect of Hitman is Ennis’s ability to poke fun both at the DC universe and comic book conventions in general. It’s fun, funny, and contains hilarious cameos by everyone from Batman to Superman. Ennis may not do superheroes very often, but when he does, it’s pure entertainment.
