| Wednesday, February 26, 2003 |
09:43 - In Defense of Cowboys
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The more I hear the word "cowboy" bandied around as though it's an insult, the greater becomes my compulsion to re-read the end of the Preacher series. And I tell you, these three pages-- just a few from the end, right after Jesse has finished securing justice against a double-crossing friend, killing all the bad guys, destroying a corrupt and conniving God, and winning back the love of his life-- they're looking better and better these days.
The first time I read this, I thought it was a cheap and juvenile sort of ending-- about as trite and naked as... well, as a Vertigo comic with a main character whose initials are "J.C." But on subsequent rereadings, particularly recently, it's clearer to me that it couldn't have ended any other way.
And might I add that the script is penned by Garth Ennis, an Irish fellow, whose extensive work carries a common thread of undiluted love for America-- exemplified in Preacher by his deep affection for the cowboy romance and what it really means, but in other books realized in other ways. His Superman story in Hitman must be seen to be believed, particularly now-- as the storyline revolved around a Space Shuttle accident.
An unlikely place to find an oracle, I know, but these are unusual times, are they not?
Some across the Atlantic (and here at home) misunderstand the point of America so badly as to threaten national alliances that have stood for centuries; however, it's also true that we can look to those outside our borders to appreciate what we have and what we are a lot more deeply than we ourselves do. Some people do get it.
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