8. Hitman
(DC Comics)
With Preacher coming to AMC in the spring, I thought I'd talk about another of Garth Ennis's works, specifically his 60 issue series with artist John McCrea for DC Comics. Tommy Monaghan is a hired assassin working in "The Cauldron" the worst section of Gotham City. And in Gotham City, that's saying something. After an alien invasion, He's left with incredible superpowers"¦ that he decides not to use in favor of just shooting people. Along with his pals at Noonan's Bar, Tommy eschews the capes and tights crowd of the DC universe to club zombie baby seals and run from pissed off SAS veterans in this deliciously dark comedy with some real heart to it.
Hitman is the first of two comics on this list to actually make me cry. The supporting cast is wonderful, including the demented superteam Section 8, which includes Dogwelder, a superhero whose superpower is to"¦ weld dogs to people. Yep, that sounds like something Garth Ennis would write. Also, Ennis takes an entire arc of the series just to make fun of how dumb he thinks Green Lantern is and it's kinda amazing. A Hitman film would be exactly the kind of fun, irreverent flick the DC cinematic slate needs right now.
