The Boys
Summary
Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson ’s widely popular seriesThe Boysis famous for its literary criticism of the full superhero literary genre , include and specially DC Comics’Justice League . Though what many fans may not know is thatThe Boyswas actually in the first place published by DC , and Ennis himself subsequently unwrap that there were evenplans for an officialJustice Leaguecrossover .
Before affect to Dynamite Entertainment for the remainder of the serial , The Boyswas published by DC Comics under the WildStorm imprint for the first six issues . DC canceledThe Boysreportedly due to its hyper wildness and worldwide anti - superhero content , at which degree the title was bring out from any contracts , admit Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson the freedom to go with a new publishing company , Dynamite Entertainment .
However , for one shining instant , The Boysexisted on the same plane as the majority of the superheroes it mocks : DC Comics . Even thoughThe Boyswas under the WildStorm imprint , and not DC Comics proper , that would n’t make much of a difference if it was decided thatThe Boyswas going to include flagship DC characterslike Batman , Superman , and the residuum of the Justice League . In fact , that was n’t just an ambiguous possibility , but was - agree to Garth Ennis - the original plan .
With 1 subtle reference buried within the origin story of the Boys ' most brutal extremity , the on-key inspiration behind Compound V is seemingly bring out .
Garth Ennis Confirms Planned The Boys/Justice League Crossover (& Is Thankful It Didn’t Happen)
In the back matter toThe BoysOmnibus
The BoysOmnibuseditions include a plethora of bonus content , including Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson ’s original pitch shot forThe Boys . It ’s in this plane section that Garth Ennis revealed that DC Comics earlier wanted Butcher and other principal characters inThe Boysto make in - world references to set up DC characters for potential crossovers - somethingEnnis mention he imagine was a “ very bad idea ” .
Garth Ennis : I ’ve also remove one or two references to live characters , a bequest of an initial editorial asking that the serial should be able to cross over with that fellowship ’s own superhero population : a very speculative idea that soon fall by the wayside .
This means that Garth Ennis ’ pre - pitch version ofThe Boyshad Butcher and the gang make loose references to the likes of Superman , Batman , and the rest of the Justice League for the only purpose of setting up succeeding crossovers . It ’s interesting - and quite comical - that this was done at the request of DC editor in chief uponThe Boys ’ construct , only for DC to let go of the series just six take in .
The Boys’ Garth Ennis Is No Stranger To Justice League ‘Crossovers’
Hitman(1997) by Garth Ennis & John McCrea
Garth Ennis has an established rapport with DC Comics , with the highlight of their collaboration arguably beingthe 1997Hitmanseries . That serial was a spin - off from The Demon , in whichHitman ’s main character , Tommy Monaghan , was introduce . As the serial publication suggests , Tommy is a hitman who has superhuman ability : ecstasy - ray vision and telepathy . Because he ’s superhuman , he principally takes superhuman collision - caper , meaning Tommy had crossovers with members of the Justice League all the time . However , Hitmanis by all odds notThe Boys , something DC learned after only six issues , and something Garth Ennis knew from the beginning .
The Boyssimply proved too dark and anti - superhero for DC Comics to carry on to publish ( even under the WildStorm imprint ) , get alone okay an officialJustice Leaguecrossover . However , that was after the serial established itself as a hyper - violent , hero - hating book , as before the first issue was published , DC editors were reportedly mad about crossover potential . In other row , fans do n’t know how faithful they came to ascertain a canonicalJustice League / The Boyscrossover , as the two series were to begin with both in the shared DC Universe .
