Dynamite Comics: The Boys: Dear Becky #3 (2020) - Reviewed




Eight years after its conclusion Garth Ennis has returned to the world of The Boys, which is now back in the spotlight thanks to the live action adaption on Amazon. While the first two issues of Dear Becky were a nice trip back into the demented superhero world of The Boys, Dear Becky #3 leaves a lot to be desired. 

We pick back up with the eponymous Boys some years after their standoff with The Seven. Hughie has retired, and now lives in Scotland with his superpowered girlfriend Annie. Things are going well for Hughie, until he receives a package containing a journal filled out by his old pal Butcher. Hughie spends his nights locked away in the bathroom reading Butcher’s diary and feeling despair about the life he left behind. Each issue of Dear Becky has represented another day in a week of Hughie’s life, coupled with a gruesome and twisted scene of superhero torture thanks to Butcher’s flashbacks. 

While the first two issues built a solid sense of intrigue and mystery (who sent Hughie the journal? What monstrosities could Hughie possibly find as he reads on?) issue #3 deviates from this formula, and not for the better. This issue is instead filled with its characters rambling in uninteresting locales, reflecting Ennis' thoughts on internet trolls, modern nazis, and the like. This would be okay if the scenes of Butcher and the rest of The Boys packed any interesting content, but instead all we get is build up for what COULD happen next issue. Butcher and The Boys are investigating a new super team on the block, the United Kingdom based Skorchers. Three issues in however, and there has been hardly any representation of The Skorchers to really drive home the threat they pose. Instead, The Boys just sit around an office and discuss the powers of each of the members. While some may be critical of how The Boys tends to overdo its violence and depravity, this could have been a moment to really show what our protagonists are up against. 

If Dear Becky #3 is meant to serve as a bridge issue, progressing its story along through dialogue and not much else, then it has succeeded. But as a single issue in The Boys canon, there is not much to be had here. Outside of some never before seen flashbacks to Butcher’s happier days with his love, Becky, there is not much here for fans of The Boys. Here’s hoping the buildup pays off in Dear Becky #4. 


--Neil Hazel