The Boys (Amazon Prime Video)

Riv said:
I immediately got sucked into the show and started reading the comic alongside.... and I have to say, I vastly prefer the show. For one thing, having the Boys be super-powered in the comics takes almost all of the risk away. If they can just punch their way through a fight with superheroes, where's the tension? How are they any better than the supes at that point? They're just super-powered people with a different agenda, which (frankly) got immediately boring.

Additionally, the comic doesn't really take any time in immediately laying out a lot of the background and context to the main characters- which I felt the show did a better job of slowly building up to. I also found it generally heavy-handed and overly exaggerated- especially with the characterizations of all the characters. In the show, they were more nuanced and had more dimension. All the characterizations in the comic felt hyper-exaggerated, by comparison.

To be fair I haven't gone too far in the comic series but I'm curious to see if it ends up anywhere near where the series ended- because I thought that was an amazing reveal that completely re-frames a lot of what we had been led to believe and (hopefully) forces Butcher to seriously re-think everything that has motivated him to that point.

And I could have sworn Karl was using an Aussie accent until I read the comic and realized he was supposed to be English. Just didn't land for me- but at the end of the day it doesn't really matter in the context of the series whether he's from Australia or England.
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I don't know. I really enjoy the series, but I was perplexed how they were supposed to beat any of the supes without having any powers at all. While I enjoyed the first solution immensely, and even told my wife that it better happen before that episode ends, or I'm out of this series, I'm just not seeing an endgame without recruiting other supes. And I'll say no more for spoilers sake.

I can see how if the boys had powers, it wouldn't have hurt the show. Assuming they were more B level powers, but powers none-the-less.
 
I am thinking that the Compound V may add some abilities to 'the Boys' but most of the dynamic is having unpowered people simply outsmart and outmaneuver the supes. People with an incredible advantage have a tendency to become dependent on that advantage and become vulnerable to the unexpected. This trope is played out in many ways, from a big game hunter relying on his firepower getting surprised to Tarkin not considering the snub fighters a credible threat. This also makes the contest between the two factions far more interested instead of just having power vs power contests. Translucent was complacent in his invisibility and was defeated at first through a simple application of electricity.
I know nothing about the comics this series is based upon and nor do I wish to- I think they are taking the premise in a new direction and one which I find fascinating.
 
Richard Baker said:
I am thinking that the Compound V may add some abilities to 'the Boys' but most of the dynamic is having unpowered people simply outsmart and outmaneuver the supes. People with an incredible advantage have a tendency to become dependent on that advantage and become vulnerable to the unexpected. This trope is played out in many ways, from a big game hunter relying on his firepower getting surprised to Tarkin not considering the snub fighters a credible threat. This also makes the contest between the two factions far more interested instead of just having power vs power contests. Translucent was complacent in his invisibility and was defeated at first through a simple application of electricity.
I know nothing about the comics this series is based upon and nor do I wish to- I think they are taking the premise in a new direction and one which I find fascinating.
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I second this. We have a plethora of super v super movies an tv, this keeps it interesting and adds an element of danger an futility.
 
Just finished this. I took me almost two weeks to get through this as I pretty much just did not like it at all. As was stated before, every single person in this show, except for Starlight, are just plain awful people. No redeeming qualities at all. Even Hughie is a murderer. Yeah, Frenchie has some feelings for the girl, but he is still a horrible character.

The suits look worse than anything on the CW.

But yeah, I will probably watch season 2 as I am interested on how the plot twist at the end plays out.
 
Nth said:
I liked the show so much that by the end of the third episode I ordered myself the entire run of the comic on Amazon.
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oooofff. you still got time to return them before they ship?

I'd say to try and find a free preview of the first comic before you dive into spending a bunch of cash on them (if you haven't already read a sample). I found the comic and the show to be wildly different things, and different tones. The characters are different (in the comic, the Boys have powers too).

Most folks I've seen that have read any of the comics, and liked the show, have had pretty disparaging things to say about the comics.
 
Laspector said:
Just finished this. I took me almost two weeks to get through this as I pretty much just did not like it at all. As was stated before, every single person in this show, except for Starlight, are just plain awful people. No redeeming qualities at all. Even Hughie is a murderer. Yeah, Frenchie has some feelings for the girl, but he is still a horrible character.

The suits look worse than anything on the CW.

But yeah, I will probably watch season 2 as I am interested on how the plot twist at the end plays out.
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I will never understand the concept of watching something you don’t like.
 
Strikerkc said:
oooofff. you still got time to return them before they ship?

I'd say to try and find a free preview of the first comic before you dive into spending a bunch of cash on them (if you haven't already read a sample). I found the comic and the show to be wildly different things, and different tones. The characters are different (in the comic, the Boys have powers too).

Most folks I've seen that have read any of the comics, and liked the show, have had pretty disparaging things to say about the comics.
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I'm four volumes in and love the comic.
 
I loved almost everything about the show (never read the comics). Love the pitch black humour, the characters and the acting. The world these characters are contained in is interesting me too.
As an Englishman, I was very distracted by Karl Urbans accent. I didnt even know he was supposed to be English for a couple of episodes! Other than that, great show, looking forward to a second series. (y)
 
Laspector said:
Maybe because I believe in finishing what I start?
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Still doesn’t make any sense, especially considering something that takes up multiple hours for who knows how many seasons.

You basically insinuate you enjoyed nothing about the show right from the start...yet you continued watching...and will continue watching.

If the show goes on for 8 seasons, will you watch all of them despite not liking the show...well, ever?

I don’t know...life’s too short to force yourself to do something you don’t have to do just to say you “finished” it.

But hey, to each their own! Maybe you’ll enjoy the second season more.
 
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