It’s a little-known fact thatThe Boysactually started out being published byDC Comics, but co-creator Darick Robertson revealed that Homelander, Billy Butcher, Wee Hughie and the rest were almost folded into the DC Universe itself. This stunning revelation puts a whole new perspective on Garth Ennis and Robertson’s irreverent superhero take-down, which would have drastically altered the way the original comics were portrayed.
Speaking withRetrofuturistain 2020,artist Robertson describes how the series came together,aswriter Ennis approachedthe artist in the early 2000s with a new superhero series idea. While Robertson was eager to collaborate with Ennis once again following their work on theFuryandPunisherseries, he was tied up with rebootingWolverinewith an exclusive contract with Marvel at the time.
A few years later, Robertson was free from his Marvel commitments, and reconnected with Ennis:
After a year or so on Wolverine, I began to long for more creative freedom, and it was around then Ennis told me that he really wanted to create the title with me saying to me “It has to be you” […]We initially thought it might be a book likeHitmanand interact within the DCU.
The BoysCo-Creator Darick Robertson Reveals ThatThe BoysStarted Out in the DCU
Homeland and Batman Could Have Duked It Out
Of course,The Boyswas initially published as acreator-owned series by DC’s WildStorm imprint in 2006, far away from the world of Batman, Superman and the Justice League. The book was a success, but its extreme nature soon proved too much for parent company DC, so the book was canceled and Ennis and Robertson were free to shop the series elsewhere.The Boysquickly found a home at Dynamite Entertainment, where it ran for 72 issues and a handful of miniseries. Ultimately,DC’s loss was Dynamite’s gain, asThe Boysachieved its greatest success yetwhen it was adapted into a TV series for Amazon Prime.
The vampire Cassidy from Garth Ennis’ earlier DC/Vertigo seriesPreacheractually makes a cameo in later issues ofThe Boys, providing a DC Comics crossover of sorts.
Given all that, it’s still wild to imagine a world in whichThe Boystakes place in regular DC continuity.Homelander and Superman squaring off sounds like an opportunity too good to pass up, and the Justice League would likely have a problem with the Seven and the way the entire Vought-American corporation does business. Ultimately, hadThe Boysappeared in the DCU, it probably would have been closer in tone toEnnis’s earlierHitmanseries with artist John McCrea, in which Gotham City hitman Tommy Monaghan acquires super-powers and finds himself enmeshed in the world of superheroes and supervillains.
It’s Probably a Good Thing ThatThe BoysExists Outside the DCU
The BoysTakes Genuine Creative Risks
WhileHitmanis an excellent series in its own right, it lacks the bite that Ennis, Robertson and later artist Russ Braun brought to the table, whichsimply would have been unable to exist within the DC Universe.The Boys’ scathing critique of superheroes, religion, politics, and American consumerism simply had to exist within its own universe and at a publisher willing to let Ennis and his co-creators like Robertson run wild with no pulled punches. While it would have been cool to see Batman and Superman mix things up with Homelander and Billy Butcher in the world ofDC Comics,The Boysultimately landed where it needed to be.
The Boys
The Boysfranchise is a satirical and dark superhero series based on the comic book by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. It explores a world where superheroes, or “Supes,” are corrupt, violent, and morally bankrupt, all controlled by the powerful corporation Vought International. The story centers around two opposing groups:The Boys, a vigilante team aiming to expose and defeat the corrupt heroes, andThe Seven, Vought’s elite team of Supes led by the ruthless Homelander.
