Garth Ennis, co-creator of The Boys': In most superhero comics, violence has no consequences'

"Ennis is one of the greatest comic book writers in the history of the medium. He created his own influential series that defined the 1990s and 2000s, such as Preacher, Hitman, and Crossed, and he has also written iconic runs on characters that marked an era, like John Constantine in Hellblazer or The Punisher, Marvel's most violent superhero. Like Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Grant Morrison, and Warren Ellis, Ennis was one of the most illustrious writers to move from Britain to work in U.S. comics."

"But it was with the television adaptation of The Boys, his savage satire of the superhero genre for streaming giant Amazon Prime Video, that the popularity of his work reached an extraordinary peak. In its fourth season, The Boys drew 55 million viewers worldwide in just 39 days, according to figures released by Amazon Prime Video; the fifth and final season is expected in 2026."

A brutal thought experiment posits that real-world superheroes would produce societal nightmare conditions. Near-divine beings among humans lead to violence, corruption, abuse of power, and moral decay. The saga blends savage satire with graphic action across a sprawling comic run exceeding 1,700 pages and 72 issues. A television adaptation amplified global reach, with the fourth season drawing 55 million viewers in 39 days and a final season expected in 2026. Earlier influential works traced roots to British weekly 2000 A.D., which once sold around 250,000 copies weekly. The narrative interrogates the consequences of extraordinary power without accountable oversight.

Read at english.elpais.com