I was finishing up my senior year of high school when Preacher #1 hit the stands. I wasn't ready for it. Not yet, anyway. I was an avid comic book reader at the time, mostly superhero fair with a little Sandman thrown in to class up the reading pile, but for whatever reason the new series by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon flew under my radar in the spring of 1995. It wouldn't be until a year later, fueled by the buzz in the comic shops and trade magazines, that I came to experience the joys of Preacher. My first issue was #13, part one of the "Hunters" story arc, and my mind was instantly, and irrevocably, blown. Preacher was unlike anything I had ever seen before in comics. The ultra-violence, gore, and foul language in Preacher made headlines, but it was the brilliant premise, memorable characters, and deft storytelling by Ennis and Dillon that drew me in and made me a super-fan of the Vertigo series. Garth Ennis was at the height of his powers on Preacher, propelling the story forward mainly through dialogue and action, with no thought balloons and nary a caption to be found. Steve Dillon's gritty, yet expressive, artwork was the perfect complement to Ennis's witty, take-no-prisoners style of writing. Ennis and Dillon, along with Glenn Fabry, Preacher's fantastic cover artist, formed a dream team that made Preacher a top-of-the pile, must-read series for me, and so many others, from the mid-1990s into the early 2000s.
Some people collect key issues, some collect first issues, and others collect work by certain writers or artists. Me? I'm a run collector. That is my comic collecting "kink" for lack of a better term. When I am into a certain character or series, I am ALL IN. I want every issue in the run, all the crossover and guest appearances, all the previews, variant covers, and ancillary merchandise. I want it all! And I'm proud to say, when it comes to my Preacher collection, I finally do have it all. But it took a really long time to get here...
Back in the day, when I picked up my very first issue of Preacher, there was a whole year of issues that I had missed. I did my best to fish whatever I could find out of back issue bins, but I was only able to go back as far as #8 at the time. Any issues prior to that either weren't available at my local comic shop or were too expensive for the broke teenager that I was in the mid-90s. I was able to pick up a trade paperback of the first story arc to "complete" my collection as I continued to buy the monthly issues without fail until the series came to an end in the fall of 2000. My "original" run of Preacher stayed intact for the next few years until it had to be unfortunately sacrificed to help fund an out-of-state move. But as soon as I was established in my new home with a brand-new, higher-paying job I quickly purchased another run of the series, this time complete with those elusive early issues I yearned for when I first fell in love with the series. My single-issue run, at long last, was finally complete. But I still wanted more...
I started collecting CGC-graded comics circa 2008. I started with some graded key issues of various series and characters I liked, but the run collector in me wasn't entirely satisfied with that. What I really wanted to do was put together an epic CGC 9.8 graded set of one of my favorite titles: Preacher. Unfortunately, I had neither the extra cash for grading fees nor enough high-grade single issues to put the set together at that point in time. Still, as a long-term goal, the CGC-graded Preacher run was something I kept in mind for many years. Then, in 2015, the big announcement came -- AMC was adapting the unadaptable comic property; they were making a Preacher TV show. Fans of the series rejoiced; comic speculators with visions of the next Walking Dead did their speculating thing, and sent prices of Preacher comics, raw and graded, to the moon. And, as a result, any dream I had of putting together that epic CGC-graded Preacher run was D-E-A-D dead.
My collecting dream had been dashed, but I was still very excited about the Preacher TV series. I eagerly anticipated each episode as it aired. Although there were some divergences from the source material, I liked A LOT of things about the first two seasons of the show. The casting was great, with Joseph Gilgun and Ruth Negga giving great performances as Cassidy and Tulip respectively. All my favorite characters were present and accounted for from Arseface to the Saint of Killers to Herr Starr. The series seemed to be firing on all cylinders until about two-thirds of the way through the third season when it went completely off the rails. It was at this point, right around the time Satan shows up in Gran'ma L'Angelle's kitchen, that the tone shifted from dark comedy to flat-out goofy. The show lost its momentum in that third season and was unable to course-correct in a hastily paced fourth, and final, season. While it had its moments, the Preacher TV series ultimately disappointed a lot of people: those who were fans of the original source material and especially those who had invested in the comics. What was once red hot was now ice-cold; collectors and speculators moved on to the next big thing and prices of Preacher comics sank like a stone.
Bad news for speculators. Great news for a Preacher stan like me.
I took the opportunity the market correction provided and bought the dip. I purchased some high-grade Preacher runs at reasonable prices and invested in several CGC-graded key issues that were being dumped in the wake of the TV series' cancellation. The speculators' loss was my gain. With those initial purchases, I set forth on a journey to create the set of my dreams, never quite sure if I would ever reach the final destination.
It was a long and winding road along the way, but I'm happy to report I made it to the end. What you see in this Registry Set are the fruits of my labor. I couldn't be more proud of what I've accomplished so many years after plunking down $2.50 for Preacher #13, my gateway into the wonderful world and characters created by Garth Ennis and the late, great Steve Dillon. Preacher is my favorite comic series of all time and this set is the pride of my collection.
Money well spent.
The 86 slots in this Registry Set are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to my Preacher collection. My entire graded Preacher collection clocks in at 175 comics and counting - all graded 9.8 or higher.
Highlights of the collection include:
2x Absolute Vertigo #nn CGC 9.8 (pre-dates Preacher #1)
2x Vertigo Gallery: Dreams and Nightmares #1 CGC 9.8 (pre-dates Preacher #1)
6x Preacher Preview #nn CGC 9.8 (pre-dates Preacher #1)
8x Preacher #1 CGC 9.8 (1st full Jesse Custer, Cassidy, Tulip, and Saint of Killers)
6x Preacher #2 CGC 9.8 (1st Arseface)
4x Preacher #8 CGC 9.8 (1st Marie L'Angelle, Jody, and T.C.)
6x Preacher #13 CGC 9.8 (1st Herr Starr, Featherstone, and Hoover)
2x Hellblazer #59, 60, 61 CGC 9.8 (Unofficial "prequel" to Preacher featuring the offspring of an angel and a demon; written by Garth Ennis)
82x CGC Signature Series 9.8 -- Mostly signed by Garth Ennis, but also featuring signatures by Glenn Fabry, Steve Dillon, and Dominic Cooper.