Comic books were generally made for kids featuring superheroes, supercops, or brilliant detectives but some comic books like The Boys are not exactly what you would like your kid to read. These comics were made for a mature audience and had a much darker setting and background. So, If you are done with reading The Boys or watching The Boys Season 4 finale, but cannot get rid of the taste it left with you, here are 7 comic books like The Boys that you should check out.
1. The Walking Dead
If you want to read something filled with action, comedy, emotions, and diabolical gore, The Walking Dead is a comic series that will scratch all your itches. Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore created this comic series, first released in 2003. The Walking Dead brought us to a universe where the concept of zombies in fiction does not exist. However, this world gets hit by a zombie apocalypse and goes into complete ruin.
The comic centers around Rick Grimes, a sheriff’s Deputy who was shot and went into a coma. When he woke up, he found the world being taken over by Walkers (zombies), and in all this mess, he is now out looking for his family and saving his humanity.
2. Invincible
When it comes to gore and brutality, the closest a comic book has come to matching The Boys is Invincible. The only difference is that it centers around superheroes rather than a conflict between humans and super-powered beings. Invincible was created by Robert Kirkman for Image Comics. This comic run revolves around a teenager named Mark Grayson who finds out that he is a powerful Viltrumite just like Omini-Man, his father who is the strongest being on the whole planet.
He soon puts on a suit and becomes a superhero only to discover the dark truth about his origin generating a massive conflict between father and son. This comic run has an ample amount of gore and dark content so it’d be safe to say that you are not going to miss Homelander ripping people apart.
3. Preacher
Created by Vertigo Comics, the imprint of DC Comics targets more mature readers. This comic series revolves around Jesse Custer, a preacher who lives in the small town of Annville, Texas. After a series of events, he is forced to be willingly possessed by an entity named Genesis, who is later revealed to be the child of an angel and a demon which makes it the most powerful entity in the universe in turn, making Jesse the most powerful being in the universe.
If you are someone who enjoys reading suspense with undertones of some horror and some insane brutality and gore, you will really dig the Preacher comic run, so do give it a shot!
4. Judge Dredd
If you are someone who loved Robocop, this comic series will give you a run for your money. Judge Dredd made its debut in 1977 set in a dystopian future. This comic brought us to a civilization that has been built into megacities and is budding with crime. The law has been reduced to supercops called Judges who have the right to apprehend, judge, and execute criminals on the spot. The comic book series revolves around a Judge named Dredd who never takes off his helmet. This comic is running to date and has built a massive mythology and universe of itself.
The comic also got a live-action movie released in 2012 and Billy Butcher AKA Karl Urban was the one who played the role of Judge Dredd in the movie. Trust me when I say this, the comic run will certainly make you not miss The Boys comics.
5. Brat Pack
If you want to read something that is exactly like The Boys, Bratt Pack is the comic run that will make you feel like you are reading something right out of The Boys universe. This comic book takes place in the fictional city of Slumburg, Pennsylvania which is the base of a team of superheroes who call themselves the Black October. In a conspiracy carried out by the supervillain Doctor Blasphemy, all their sidekicks get killed and now, they recruit teenagers to be their new sidekicks.
However, everything that they do is completely based on corporate agenda and personal profits. The young recruits are made to go through extreme ill-treatment in the form of abuse, Humiliation, harassment, and every other form of downgrading you can think of. If you can’t get out of the zone The Boys has sent you in, Brat Pack will give you exactly what you want.
6. Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E
Agents of H.A.T.E is set in the main Marvel continuity and the events of this comic run take place at the same time as the famous civil war among The Avengers. This comic brings us a private military organization called Highest Anti-Terrorism Effort made to rival S.H.I.E.L.D. This comic brings us a team of misfit heroes with a rather botched moral compass.
The team is led by a somewhat invincible and massively immoral guy who goes by the name of “The Captain”. However, he tells us that earlier he was called “Captain ☠️☠️☠️☠️” (The skulls are a massive cuss word) but when he introduced himself to Steve Rogers with this name, he beat the crap out of him and left him in a dumpster with a soap in his mouth telling him to mind his language and since then, he is just “The Captain”. Agents of H.A.T.E is silly, extremely violent, and revolves around a team of misfits who have to work with each other, sounds similar doesn’t it?
7. Watchmen
Alan Moore’s Watchmen is by far one of the most iconic comic books that have ever been written. This comic book is dark and gritty, has a twisted sense of humor, and of course, has a lot of spilled guts. Watchmen takes us to an alternate reality created during the Manhattan Project in 1938 that resulted in the origin of Doctor Manhattan. In this reality, The United States won the Vietnam War and President Nixon is still in office.
Superheroes became a common occurrence after World War 2 but later on Vigilantism was made illegal in the United States sending all the heroes out of commission. However, the murder of a superhero called The Comedian forced his former teammates back into action to investigate what was happening with Rorshach as the lead. This comic will give you the dark taste you felt while reading The Boys but will also spice it up with elements of suspense and thriller.
Aparna Ukil
