Conspiracy theories! This is my first 4 rating for the series and oddly, it has the least action. It’s almost entirely dialogue. Long conversations prevail, and Ennis almost feels like he’s writing a book. We learn the horrible history of Vought, the plots for Starlight and Homelander slowly begin to take shape. And the climactic plane crash scene is genuinely unsettling. All this power uncontrolled, a sense of dread permeates the pages. One might as well be up against an invincible, amoral animal than the military industrial complex. The alternate universe is well-defined, George Bush junior apparently accidentally killed himself with a chainsaw. Tons of dark humor, but less juvenile (for the most part). Some good writing, and Ennis is really laying the foundation for something bigger. The art is beefed up as well, in the middle ground between the purposely ugly early stuff and something more palatable for the average reader. There are moments where it’s really quite impressive. Starting to look like Steve Dillion’s Preacher stuff actually. It’s increasingly hard to compare the series to the show as only once in a while a passing thing is shared, but often represented very differently.