Pornokitsch

Last week, two volumes of Preacher (Dixie Fried and Salvation) showed up - the latter being one of the best in Garth Ennis' series. In both mid-series collections, Jesse Custer continues his meandering journey across America - looking ostensibly for God and privately for meaning. Both volumes avoid the larger plot of the series in favor of seemingly unrelated character development - probably why I enjoyed them so much.

They arrived alongside the latest The Walking Dead (Volume 9). Kirkman's Walking Dead is more realistic (a strange thing to say about the zombie apocalypse), but has the same set of nostalgic uber-American values. 

Both series feature an extremely capable, quietly masculine hero with a 'code' (to quote Omar, a man's got to have one...). Rick and Jesse both have a codified set of (slightly-dated) values that they struggle to enforce on a chaotic, amoral (and modern) world. Their beliefs give both men a strange sort of charisma - whether they're right or not, Rick and Jesse stand for something, which gives other people something to respect.

Similarly, in both series, although the plot-based conflict is external (zombies, The Grail, etc), the most compelling battle is internal. Rick's leadership comes under challenge whenever he's forced to make a tough call, resulting in occasional bouts of self-doubt. Jesse has assigned himself an impossible quest, and often has to take time out to rediscover his sense of purpose. Both men know - convincingly - what is 'right' or 'wrong', but when the rest of the world keeps questioning them, they sometimes have no choice but to question themselves.

Two great series. Both Kirkman and Ennis deserve credit for complex world-building, both with epic reinterpretations of America.  More importantly, both writers keep the narrative focused on the characters, with spectacular results.