Posted in: Comics | Tagged: darick robertson, dear becky, dynamite, garth ennis, Russ Braun, the boys

The Boys Gets a New Comic Book Series by Garth Ennis and Russ Braun Ahead Of Season 2

Published Thu, 23 Jan 2020 12:56:59 -0600

Last updated Thu, 23 Jan 2020 18:59:54 -0600

The Boys was a comic book series by Garth Ennis, Darick Robertson and Russell Braun that began life at DC Comics, came to a very short end when the then-President and Publisher of DC Comics, Paul Levitz, actually read what his company was publishing. It was then picked by by Dynamite Entertainment, where it ran for six years before its conclusion. And then recently was picked up as a very successful Amazon Prime TV show – which saw Dynamite sell truckloads of their The Boys Omnibuses, 150,000 copies so far.

And with Season 2 dropping later this year, it seems that Ennis, Braun and Robertson are going back to the well. Publisher Nick Barrucci tells us,

As one night at dinner, Garth said he had an idea for a new series. When Garth followed up and said he had a story he wanted to tell, to say I was floored is an understatement. When he said what the story was, it's everything you could want in a Boys story, and tapestry that you didn't know you wanted. The story is touching, powerful, and delves into the history of The Boys and yet still moves the story further for fans! Darick returns as the cover artist, and man, his covers ROCK!

The sequel series will be called The Boys: Dear Becky. Drawn by Russ Braun, it will be picking up in-story twelve years after The Boys #72 finale, the marriage of Hughie and Annie (Starlight) is derailed by a mysterious document that threatens to rip open the scars of the past and reveal nightmarish truths about The Boys.

"Originally I never intended to do more with The Boys at all, but for obvious reasons I've found myself thinking about the story and characters again over the past couple of years," said writer Garth Ennis. "There was one aspect of the original story, and one character in particular, that I never felt got a fair shake- Becky Butcher, whose demise motivates her husband Billy to do the terrible things he does, but who only actually appears in two issues of the original book. I liked writing Becky very much, almost as much as Butcher himself, and I wanted to look in greater detail at how her relatively brief appearance cast such a long shadow."

Darick Robertson adds, "This comic has always been close to my heart and seeing the response to the show and the new drove of readers discovering the original material, makes the timing for this series a wonderful opportunity to bring fresh material to the new readers as well as a treat for the original fans. Revisiting these characters is a nice feeling, and creating covers for the series and collaborating with Ennis again is a treat."

Using a flashback structure, Dear Becky will flesh out both the pre-history of The Boys, call back to classic moments, and move the story forward.

"We were extremely pleased with the entire Boys series, and felt that it was one of Garth and Darick's greatest works – and that is saying something!," said Nick Barrucci, Dynamite CEO and Publisher. "When Garth came back to with a new story, we were surprised but also excited of course. Once he clued us in, we were floored. It's gratifying that Darick has been able to make time for the covers with his current schedule, and having Russ Braun return to draw the series too. We're excited to bring this new yarn to fans and retailers!"

Dynamite will also release a promotional poster of The Boys, for both retailers and fans to advertise the series or show off their fandom. Additionally, all six volumes of The Boys Omnibus are available to catch up on the original comic, as well as art books and collectibles, and much of the series can be read for free on the Graphite app.