The Boys (comics)

• 1. Introduction

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  The Boys, an adult superhero comic co-created by writer Garth Ennis and artist Darick Robertson, was cancelled on the 24th of January 2007. Only six issues had appeared. The decision was abrupt, and it also killed a planned collected edition of those first issues. A book about heroes who hide their corruption had been stopped almost as soon as it began. Why would a publisher pull the plug so quickly? Who would take the book on, and what did its creators gain from losing their first home? And how did a cancelled comic grow into a franchise that reached television, animation and audio?

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• 2. A Squad Against Heroes

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  Billy Butcher leads a small clandestine CIA squad that goes by the name The Boys. His team includes Mother's Milk, the Frenchman, the Female, and a newcomer, "Wee Hughie" Campbell. Their job is to monitor the superhero community. That work often ends in gruesome confrontations and dreadful results.

  The heroes of this world are widely seen as helpful, but most of them are corrupted by celebrity and often behave recklessly. Their antics compromise the safety of the world they are supposed to protect.

  A key subplot runs in parallel, following Annie "Starlight" January. She is a young and naive superhero who joins The Seven, a team sanctioned by Vought-American. The Seven is the most prestigious superhero group in the world, and also the most corrupt. It is the most powerful enemy The Boys face.

  The whole story unfolds in an alternate history set between 2006 and 2008.

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• 3. Dynamite to the Rescue

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  Darick Robertson stayed publicly optimistic once the news broke. He said DC was being "good about reverting our rights so we can find a new publisher". DC Comics had owned Wildstorm, the imprint that published the book. Ennis later explained that DC was uneasy with the anti-superhero tone of the work. He also released a statement saying that other publishers had shown interest. Issue 7 and a trade paperback of the first six issues would still be available.

  Robertson's own contract added a complication. While he was on exclusive contract to DC, he was given special dispensation to keep working on the series. In February 2007, Dynamite Entertainment picked up the book, and publication resumed in May. Dynamite also published a collected edition of the first six issues, titled The Name of the Game. Its foreword was written by Simon Pegg. Pegg was the model for how Robertson drew the character Wee Hughie.

  After the series finished, Ennis told CBR.com that the cancellation had actually helped the book. Dynamite, he said, gave him far more freedom than DC ever would have. "We'd have died on the vine at DC." He continued: "The book would have been chipped and chipped away at until writing it was pure frustration." Ennis also admitted to a sigh of relief, because Wildstorm was dissolved as an imprint not long after the move.

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• 4. Volumes and Spin-Offs

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  The series debuted in October 2006 and concluded in November 2012, after 72 issues. Once Dynamite took over, the story ran through eight further volumes. The first four were Get Some, Good for the Soul, We Gotta Go Now and The Self-Preservation Society. Four more followed: The Innocents, The Big Ride, Over the Hill with the Swords of a Thousand Men, and The Bloody Doors Off.

  In the fourth volume, Proinsias Cassidy, a former vampire, cameos as a bartender. The cameo reveals that the series shares a fictional universe with Preacher. Ennis wrote Preacher for DC Vertigo from 1995 to 2000.

  Three six-issue limited series branched off during the original run. In February 2009, Dynamite announced the first, Herogasm, with art by John McCrea and Keith Burns. Highland Laddie and Butcher, Baker, Candlestickmaker followed. Each was later compiled as a volume of The Boys.

  The story was not finished for good. Dear Becky, an eight-issue epilogue series, ran in 2020, nearly eight years after the main series ended.

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• 5. Awards and Collections

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  In 2008, the Eisner Award nominated The Boys for Best Continuing Series. A nomination followed in 2009 from the Diamond Comic Distributor Gem Awards, in the category Comic Book of the Year Under $3.00. In 2010, the Scream Awards nominated the series for Best Comic Book or Graphic Novel.

  Dynamite keeps the series in print as both hardcover and trade paperback collections. These include the issues Wildstorm first published. Its "Definitive" slipcased hardcovers pair two collections into one omnibus. The first, released in December 2008, runs 344 pages and gathers issues 1-14. The sixth, covering issues 60-72, followed in February 2014 at 320 pages. Dear Becky was collected separately on the 23rd of February 2021, in 176 pages.

  Three oversized hardcover omnibus volumes appeared in 2022. The first, released on the 27th of April 2022, runs 792 pages and gathers issues 1-30. The third, released on the 20th of July 2022, runs 800 pages. It carries issues 48-72 along with Butcher, Baker, Candlestickmaker.

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• 6. The Film That Stalled

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  Variety reported in February 2008 that Columbia Pictures had optioned The Boys for a film adaptation. Neal H. Moritz was to produce, and Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi were writing the screenplay. In August 2010, Adam McKay said he had signed on to direct. He said a script already existed and was being rewritten. He hoped to get "the whole thing into shape in the Fall with maybe a shoot happening in January".

  In February 2012, Columbia Pictures dropped its option. McKay answered in a Twitter response that Paramount Pictures had picked up the project and that it was still in the works. On the 30th of April 2013, Paramount hired Manfredi and Hay to write the film. The project never came to fruition, and the story found its screen life in television instead.

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• 7. Television and Beyond

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  Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg and Eric Kripke were named as producers when Cinemax greenlit a television adaptation, as reported in October 2015. In September 2017, Variety reported that Amazon Studios had picked up the series. Amazon Studios and Sony Pictures Television adapted the book, and it premiered on Amazon Prime Video on the 26th of July 2019. The second season premiered on the 4th of September 2020, the third on the 3rd of June 2022, and the fourth on the 13th of June 2024. In May 2024, the show was renewed for a fifth and final season.

  The web series Seven on 7 with Cameron Coleman premiered on the 7th of July 2021. The animated anthology Diabolical followed on the 4th of March 2022. Its third episode, "I'm Your Pusher", is set in the same continuity as the comic series.

  Gen V, first called The Boys Presents: Varsity, was announced on the 20th of September 2020. This live-action spin-off is a stand-alone adaptation of the "We Gotta Go Now" arc. It focuses on Marie and the G-Men and is inspired by The Hunger Games. Gen V premiered on Amazon Prime Video on the 29th of September 2023.

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• 8. The Audio Edition

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  GraphicAudio released Volume 1 of its audio adaptation on the 4th of May 2020. All 98 issues of the comic series are covered across seven audiobooks. Each is produced with a full cast of actors, immersive sound effects and cinematic music.

  Volume 7 adapts the Dear Becky epilogue series and concluded the audiobook production on the 20th of May 2022. The entire series lasts 31 hours. It keeps the comic's original setting, and its dialogue is a very close match to Garth Ennis's original scripts.

  The audio edition carries an Ages 18+ rating, which tells a new listener that it keeps the adult tone of the comic.

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