The Boys is a raunchy, irreverent take on the super hero genre. Far from the heroic and adventurous titles that inspired it, this graphic novel is filled with heroes that are only heroes because they’re marginally less horrible than the villains. This dark reimagining draws readers into a world where power isn’t necessarily used for the good of humanity, and where heroes don’t save people just because they can. What if super-powered men and women behaved like a super-powered subset representative of humanity with all its rage, envy, lust, and pride to go along with any virtues that some in that subset might exhibit. More than that, it addresses the logical conclusion that a subset of humanity that was inherently more powerful than the rest is as likely to become corrupted by that power as to use it for any sort of good. The story deals with dark material, but the characters are compelling with deep motivations, and the heroes have a drive to set some things right where they are able, even if that right seems to be a drop in the bucket compared to the might of evil and greed in the world. The story is interesting and alternates between action, character development, and even laugh-out-loud dark humor, and the art used to tell the tale is vivid and beautifully executed, even when the subject matter is not so beautiful. This graphic novel is an interesting read for fans, one that touches the genres of superheroes, action, and horror and leaves the reader waiting for the next installment.

Content Analysis:

Special Note on Content: Warning that some may find the summary of content below to be disturbing. Those familiar with the film adaptation of this novel should note that the graphic novel actually contains more content than the show. Being mindful that there are young readers who use our website, great consideration was given on whether to list the content as we normally do for our reviews, and we decided to hold to our standard of consistent presentation.

Profanity/Language: 66 religious exclamations; 28 mild obscenities, 21 religious profanities; 111 derogatory names, 116 scatological words; 81 anatomical terms, 373 f-word derivative. Not tallied: Many uses of the British “bloody”.

Violence/Gore: Note that since this is a graphic novel, almost all of the gore and violence is illustrated, and in most cases, the illustrations have detailed gore. Several fights with gory injury and death; the skin is removed from a person’s face and displayed a few times; limbs and heads are crush, mutilated or torn off several times, with some being displayed and illustrated later; many reports of murders, some with gory details, at least one of which is a child; a pool of blood is pictured; a few verbal threat or threats with weapons; mild property damage; a woman is depicted with bloody injury after rough sex; report of a woman killed by rough sex; a woman cuts herself intentionally; a room is covered in blood and gore; a vehicle is destroyed by a bomb; many people are killed in a bloody mass-murder; characters are depicted with bloody injuries several times; a man grabs another by the (clothed) crotch in a fight; report of a pregnancy ending in a bloody miscarriage; mention of date rape; report of a man raping another man; report of a man raping an animal to death; a few instances of a bloody corpse displayed in illustration; a few reports of people beaten, including one put into a coma; it is implied that a character sexually assaulted another; mention of suicide; report of deaths in war; buildings destroyed by natural disaster; report of an animal killed; a character breaks a helpless person’s arm; poison is used on characters; sketches in the epilogue show concept art for scenes already shown in the novel, including violence listed above.

Sex/Nudity: A few pictures contains dogs mating, and the context of one makes it clear that the event was a rape; two men hug; a man and woman kiss; two men kiss; characters examine a dead body; a few illustrations of a man’s backside; several instances of women illustrated in revealing and provocative clothing with no actual nudity; characters visit a whorehouse; a woman is depicted with bloody injury after rough sex, and her breasts are shown; illustration of a woman giving a man oral sex (genitals are obscured); illustration shows semen and blood; a man makes a comment about a woman’s breasts; a few scenes where a man and woman have sex, which is illustrated with genitals obscured but breasts shown a few times; people run through a building naked; sex toys are depicted a few times; an orgy is illustrated; a scene involving bondage with two women and a man, with breasts and sex toys illustrated; a man makes a joke about a girl giving sexual favors; an illustration of a woman with bare breasts; men force a woman to give them oral sex a few times; a used condom is shown after sex; a man asks a woman for oral sex; a woman puts her hands down men’s pants; a man gives another oral sex; report of two men having sex; a crude term for oral sex is used; report of women giving each other oral sex; report of a man giving men oral sex;a man’s genitals are visibly outlined through his tight clothing a few times; a four-frame scene takes place in an adult club where some female strippers are fully nude; a joke about a man’s erection; severed testicles are illustrated; a few mentions of masturbation; several naked women touch each other in areas usually covered by a bathing suit while another woman watches; a character makes an obscene gesture mimicking oral sex; a crude reference to masturbation; a man suggests that a woman dress to show more cleavage; report of characters having sex; a man grabs another by the (clothed) crotch in a fight; it is implied that a man used an animal in a sex act; report of a rape; report of a pregnancy ending in a bloody, deadly miscarriage; report of a man raping another man; report of a man raping an animal to death; mention of date rape; mention of AIDS; an adult man looks lustfully at a teen boy’s clothed backside; it is implied that a man and woman had sex, and the man’s backside is illustrated; it is implied that a character sexually assaulted another; characters discuss homosexuality; mention of rape; a man touches a woman’s bare breast; two men and a woman have sex; illustration of a rock formation that (intentionally) looks like a vagina; a man talks dirty while having sex; report of a man masturbating compulsively; reported use of porn magazines; a woman uses sex toys while masturbating; a woman is drawn in a provocative pose, with no actual nudity shown; men use a camera to watch a woman masturbate; a joke about gay sex; a woman’s outfit is tight enough to show the outline of her nipples; report of a woman killed by rough sex; a man masturbates (no nudity shown); a character has a sexual fetish about disabled people; sketches in the epilogue show concept art for scenes already shown in the novel, including sex scenes listed above.

Mature Subject Matter:

Death (significant other); brief discussion about waiting on sex until after marriage; prostitution; sexual harassment; homosexual sex; self-harm; corporate corruption; human scientific testing; Nazism (mention); sadomasochism; sexual abuse; psychological abuse; blackmail, discrimination based on sexual orientation is a major theme; racial discrimination; terrorism (mention); miscarriage; death in childbirth; rape; animal cruelty; AIDS (mentioned); government corruption; a joke mocks physical disability; suicide; bestiality.

Alcohol/Drug Use:

Characters smoke cigarettes and cigars; drug paraphernalia, beer cans, and cigarette butts are shown on a table; characters take cocaine; characters take a drug that is unique to the story world of this novel; report of a character abusing prescription medication; a character is an alcoholic; characters drink alcohol; suicide (mentioned); mention of crystal meth; characters drink a liquid that includes brake fluid; characters drink before operating a vehicle; characters are drugged to unconsciousness.