[Meeting…] The Boys

Imagine a world full of superheroes: thousands of them divided into groups and each one with their respective enemies, increasing the number of superhumans on the planet.

The comics tell us the fantastic adventures and origins of each superhero, how the teams were formed and what happened to the hero who disappeared overnight. The public adores them, after all they have protected them from aliens, supervillains and any type of insurmountable catastrophe. What would the world be without those heroes?

Now imagine what would really happen if the world was full of superhuman guys capable of flying, destroying a building with their fists, lifting a bus, shooting laser beams out of their eyes, moving at incredible speeds, and having superhuman strength and endurance. Wouldn't you be a little afraid that they, from their privileged situation, would do whatever they wanted without caring about the side effects of their actions?

In that world are the characters that I will present today, a world where superheroes kill civilians by mistake (or for fun) every day, where They prefer to have orgies and rapes among themselves or with humans (who are forced to take a drug to keep up their rhythm) to save the world and have less than peaceful interests in the short or long term.

Despite their actions, superheroes are applauded by the public because large corporations like Vought American launder each of their “inappropriate” acts and they rewrite history thanks to the comics that are sold to the eager fans who buy them month after month.

To increase the number of superheroes, corporations use compound V, which used in the correct way can awaken powers in anyone and it is what gave life to all the superheroes in the world. As much as the comics talk about extraterrestrial or magical origins, all the superhero candidates chosen by Vought American have been drugged with the compound, to see what kind of power they develop and in what kind of group to include them according to the patterns (age, appearance, type of power) to generate or increase some group of superheroes that will give them even more benefit.

Fight fire with fire

Obviously the people who work in corporations and high-ranking government officials know the truth and that is why in a situation like the one mentioned above there must exist. someone to ensure that the superheroes don't go overboard and if they do, give them a lesson. That someone is a secret group hired by the CIA and they are called The Boys.

The Boys are a small group of civilians who decide to fight and monitor the superheroes. so that they are more careful. They are supposedly a spy group and only come into action in very special cases, but they are generally involved in more than one fight against the heroes with whom they have a strong rivalry. Obviously a normal human couldn't do anything with a superhero, so the members of The Boys also have to inject themselves with a variant of compound V that multiplies their strength and resistance by dozens, although it doesn't make them invulnerable to bullets, nor does it allow them to fly or shoot lightning or anything like that.

Large corporations have always done business with the government so that both would obtain great benefits at the cost of human lives. However, the appearance of superheroes and the failed attempt to introduce them as soldiers in wars causes strong suspicion in some high-ranking officials, because thanks to the general public's sympathy for superheroes, sooner or later a president who is sympathetic to the idea of ​​using them as soldiers will win the elections, which would be nothing short of the end of the world.

That is why the government created a group that would become The Boys, led by Mallory (a former military man who saw the horrors of having superheroes in war) who formed the first incarnation of the group that monitored and beat up many of the "capes" or "supes" (that's what The Boys call superheroes) until it was dissolved years later after some differences between its members.

Years later the government gave the green light to a second incarnation of The Boys, because the extreme acts of superheroes have increased alarmingly, from the youngest (Teenage Kix) or dysfunctional heroes (Team Titanic, Payback, G-Men) to the most powerful and respected group (The Seven).

Let's meet The Boys

Billy Butcher: Current team leader and main person responsible for uniting the team, having personally sought out and recruited all current members.

Butcher lost his wife due to the actions of a superhero and because of this he feels an incredible hatred towards the “capes”. He doesn't mind doing the dirty work as long as he can beat up or kill one or more of them, so that the rest are scared and tread more carefully. He is perfectly aware of how rotten society is and that is why he does not hesitate to put himself at the level of his enemies and use whatever methods are available when fulfilling his mission, without any type of ethics or concern.

Despite his lack of scruples and his brusque nature, Butcher cares about the members of his team and is extremely sensitive when it comes to his dog (Terror), to the point of being able to kill anyone who tries to harm him.

Mother's Milk (M.M): Thoughtful, methodical, skeptical and very intelligent. Mother's Milk is The Boys' best investigator and the only one on the team who was born with powers, which almost cost him his life.

M.M.'s mother He worked in a factory that had previously been a laboratory to create compound V, and due to the rush and general disinterest, disinfection of the premises was never carried out, causing the remains of the substance to affect the workers.

As a result, Mother's Milk and her brother were born with problems. His brother was born with mental retardation and one day without warning he became deformed and died. Mother's Milk began to dry up and stay in his bones when he was a few years old and no doctor could do anything to save him. Finally, his mother decided to breastfeed him in an act of desperation and that caused him to recover quickly. Since then he has to drink breast milk from time to time to avoid dying.

After trying to take the case to court, Mother's Milk saw how large companies did and undid as they pleased, without worrying about the people their actions affected. After his powers suddenly awakened, causing him to kill a man, Mother's Milk was convinced by Butcher to join The Boys.

El francés: Tras ver los horrores de la guerra en la cual formó parte, Frenchie se volvió apacible y pacífico. Decidido a no volver a herir a ningún otro ser humano. Volvió a casa de sus padres, lo cuales celebraron su regreso por todo lo alto. Sin embargo su novia, con la cual se iba a casar tras la guerra, no estaba ahí para recibirle, pues ahora estaba con otro chico del pueblo a quien Frenchie había hecho la vida imposible cuando eran niños.

Pese a la insistencia de su padre, Frenchie decidió no pelease para recuperar al amor de su vida, lo cual provocó la ira de su progenitor al ver a su hijo convertido en un cobarde. A partir de ahí, una serie de pintorescas catástrofes provocaron la muerte de su padre y su madre y dejaron a Frenchie con una culpabilidad enorme que lo arrojó a soltar su lado más violento para tratar de consolarse.

Frenchie es, junto con la hembra, uno de los personajes más peligrosos en lo que se refiere al contacto físico, además de poseer otras habilidades un tanto pintorescas, como ser capaz de olfatear a una presa como si fuese un perro.

La hembra: La única chica en el equipo, es asiática, joven, pequeña y, aunque es tremendamente tranquila, también es la más inestable y peligrosa de todos si se siente amenazada o enfadada. Ya se sabe, en la mayoría de las especies, la hembra es más peligrosa que el macho.

Obtuvo sus poderes cuando apenas era un bebé, tras beber accidentalmente una sustancia similar al compuesto V, que la convirtió en un ser salvaje en cuestión de segundos. Los responsables del laboratorio trataron de retenerla para extraer la sustancia de su cuerpo, pero no pudieron lograrlo. Finalmente escapó matando a todos los que la buscaban y vivió una vida solitaria vagabundeando por la ciudad hasta que fue “reclutada” por The Boys.

Nunca habla, ni muestra emociones y nadie puede tocarla sin jugarse la vida. La única excepción a esa regla parece ser el francés, que fue quién la educó y trató como un ser humano cuando entró en el equipo.

Wee Hughie: Un día, mientras Hughie paseaba con la chica a la que amaba vio como en un segundo esta murió reventada contra una pared por el acto de un superhéroe. Incapaz de salir del shock, este personaje vio como su vida se desmoronaba y no entendía del todo lo que había sucedido.

A partir de ese momento y tras firmar un montón de papeleo facilitado por Vought American para dejar claro que “no sucedió nada”, conoció a Butcher quien le explicó que el mundo no era como la gente común pensaba y que accidentes como el suyo sucedían diariamente.

Debido a que es el nuevo en el equipo, Hughie irá conociendo poco a poco como funciona el mundo y hasta que punto The Boys han de saltarse la ley para poder trabajar. En muchos momentos la situación le superará y le hará dudar sobre si hace lo correcto con su vida, dudas que le harán cometer errores que pondrán en peligro al equipo entero.

Los principales aliados de The Boys son:

Susan Rayner: Enlace entre The Boys y la CIA, se podría decir que es la jefa del grupo, aunque ni ella ni Butcher lo asumen así debido a que legalmente The Boys no existen. Su relación con Butcher es de amor-odio en el término más sexual de la palabra. Susan es una mujer ambiciosa e inteligente y es por eso que pese a no gustarle The Boys, les ayuda para que el mundo no se descontrole del todo.

 Mono: El secretario de Rayner, un tipo muy desagradable y nervioso, encargado de dar información a The Boys y comúnmente humillado por Butcher.

La Leyenda: El encargado de escribir los cómics que maravillan a miles de personas en el mundo y convierten a los superhéroes en algo aceptado públicamente. Desde su posición sabe muchos de los secretos de los superhéroes y es una fuente de información muy útil para The Boys.

Vasili Vorishikin: Superhéroe soviético antiguamente conocido como Love Sausage. Val echa de menos los viejos tiempos donde los héroes respetaban la justicia y a las personas de a pie, de ahí que colabore con The Boys siempre que le sea posible.

Conclusion and Recommendations

Los miembros de The Boys son muy interesantes y curiosos pues a veces son entrañables, otras repulsivos o hipócritas, pero en el fondo sabes que hacen lo que que creen correcto o menos malo para salvar el máximo número de vidas y controlar a los “capas”. Pese a ser relativamente secundarios dentro del grupo, mis miembros favoritos son el francés y la hembra, que pese a ser los más perturbados mentalmente, también me parecen los más entrañables.

Estoy seguro que los lectores más adultos que ya estén algo cansados de leer historias de superhéroes que recuerdan a otras ya leídas, van a disfrutar de The Boys, que dan un punto de vista muy diferente de lo que tenemos por estándar dentro de esa temática.

La colección de The Boys está compuesta por 72 números, que han sido recopilados en tomos de diversos tamaños, de manera que podéis conseguir toda la colección en una docena de tomos de tapa blanda o en 3 libros de tapa dura.

Dentro del mundo de The Boys y como historias complementarias hay algunas series limitadas: Herogasm, Butcher and Highland Laddie de 6 números cada una. Estas series también están incluidas en los recopilatorios mencionados.