''Butcher, Baker, Candlestickmaker'' is a six-issue

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

limited series In the field of comic books, and particularly in the United States, a limited series is a comics series with a predetermined number of issues. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is finite and determined ...

Garth Ennis Garth Ennis (born 16 January 1970) is a Northern Irish-American comics writer, best known for the Vertigo series ''Preacher'' with artist Steve Dillon, his nine-year run on Marvel Comics' ''Punisher'' franchise, and '' The Boys'' with artist Dar ...

and

Darick Robertson Darick W. Robertson is an American artist best known for his work as a comic book illustrator on series he co-created, notably ''Transmetropolitan'' (1997–2002) and ''The Boys (comics), The Boys'' (2006–2012; 2020). Robertson has illustrated ...

. Originally published as a spin-off of ''The Boys'', set between issues #59 and #60, following

villain protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a ...

Billy Butcher William J. "Billy" Butcher is a fictional character and antihero/supervillain appearing in the comic book series '' The Boys'', created by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. He is the leader of The Boys, a group of FBI-sponsored black ops agents ...

as he attends his father's funeral before thinking back on his

origin story In fiction, an origin story is an account or backstory revealing how a character or group of people become a protagonist or antagonist. In American comic books, it also refers to how characters gained their superpowers and/or the circumstances ...

, serving in the

Royal Marines The Royal Marines provide the United Kingdom's amphibious warfare, amphibious special operations capable commando force, one of the :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, five fighting arms of the Royal Navy, a Company (military unit), company str ...

, fighting in the

Falklands War The Falklands War () was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British Overseas Territories, British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and Falkland Islands Dependenci ...

, meeting and then losing his wife

Becky Saunders The following is a list of fictional characters from the comic series '' The Boys'', created by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, and subsequent media franchise developed by Eric Kripke, consisting of a live-action adaptation, the web series ' ...

, and joining the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

and in-turn the Supe-focused

black ops A covert operation or undercover operation is a military or police operation involving a covert agent or troops acting under an assumed cover to conceal the identity of the party responsible. US law Under US law, the Central Intelligence Ag ...

group The Boys following her death. ''Butcher, Baker, Candlestickmaker'' was collected in trade paperback in March 2012 as the tenth volume of ''The Boys'', as ''The Boys: Butcher, Baker, Candlestickmaker''. ''Butcher, Baker, Candlestickmaker'' was adapted as the seventh episode of the second season of the

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

streaming television Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as films and television series, streamed over the Internet. Standing in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air aerial systems, cable t ...

adaptation of '' The Boys'', with

John Noble John Noble (born 20 August 1948) is an Australian actor. He is best known for his roles as Denethor in ''The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy (2001–2003), and Dr. Walter Bishop in the Fox science fiction series '' Fringe'' (2008–2013). ...

and Lesley Nicol portraying Sam and Connie Butcher, as well as to the third season episode " Here Comes a Candle to Light You to Bed", with Jack Fulton portraying Lenny Butcher.

Premise

Part 1: ''Bomb Alley''

After attending the funeral of his estranged father,

begins talking to the

corpse A cadaver, often known as a corpse, is a dead human body. Cadavers are used by medical students, physicians and other scientists to study anatomy, identify disease sites, determine causes of death, and provide tissue to repair a defect in a li ...

about his time spent serving in the

, fighting in the

, from the heights of love to the depths of tragedy, revealing the terrible nature of the forces that drive him.

Part 2: ''Harriet''

In 1982, on the desolate

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; ), commonly referred to as The Falklands, is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and from Cape Dub ...

, young

Royal Marine The Royal Marines provide the United Kingdom's amphibious warfare, amphibious special operations capable commando force, one of the :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, five fighting arms of the Royal Navy, a Company (military unit), company str ...

finds his calling. On the war's end, he begins to indulge his love of conflict in civilian life, leaving it locked on a grim course until an unexpected source brings him a chance at salvation.

Part 3: ''It Must Be Love, Love, Love''

Finding love with

, turning his life away from one of crime,

explores a life of joy.

Part 4: ''The Last Time to Look on This World of Lies''

Over the course of two years, Billy Butcher set up home in 1980s Britain under the reign of

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

, living with Becky, before she suddenly grows distant, and months later, gives birth to a Supe baby, the process of which kills her. On seeing this, Billy beats the baby to death.

Part 5: ''Here Comes a Candle to Light You to Bed''

Arrested for Becky's murder, Billy Butcher is recruited from

solitary confinement Solitary confinement (also shortened to solitary) is a form of imprisonment in which an incarcerated person lives in a single Prison cell, cell with little or no contact with other people. It is a punitive tool used within the prison system to ...

to the

by Colonel Mallory, and on reading his wife's diary, believes he has discovered the identity of the one responsible for her pregnancy and subsequent death.

Part 6: ''Every One of You Sons of Bitches''

Beginning a new life in America, which turns out to mean life ending for a good many unsuspecting superheroes. Billy Butcher embraces his destiny as the enforcer of keeping Supes in-line as part of the

group "The Boys".

Reception

Collected editions

Adaptation

In September 2020,

Eric Kripke Eric Kripke (born 1974) is an American screenwriting, writer and television producer. Kripke came to prominence in the late 2000s for creating The WB/The CW, CW fantasy drama series ''Supernatural (American TV series), Supernatural'' (2005–2020) ...

, the showrunner of the

adaptation In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the p ...

of ''The Boys'', confirmed that ''Butcher, Baker, Candlestickmaker'' would be adapted as the seventh episode of the series' second season (starring

Karl Urban Karl-Heinz Urban (born 7 June 1972) is a New Zealand actor. His career began with appearances in New Zealand films and television series such as '' Xena: Warrior Princess''. His first Hollywood role was in the 2002 horror film ''Ghost Ship''. ...

), featuring

and Lesley Nicol portraying Sam and Connie Butcher, characters introduced in ''Butcher, Baker, Candlestickmaker''. Unlike the source material in which Sam Butcher is depicted as having died, and Billy Butcher returning for his funeral, Billy returns to find his mother had lied to him about his father's death, in an attempt to have the two reconcile before his father actually dies. In addition, Butcher's family history from the series is adapted to the third season episode " Here Comes a Candle to Light You to Bed", with Jack Fulton portraying Lenny Butcher.

References

External links

''Butcher, Baker, Candlestickmaker''
at

Dynamite Entertainment Dynamite Entertainment is an American comic book publisher founded in 2004 by Nick Barrucci in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, known for publishing comic book adaptations of licensed feature film properties, such as ''Army of Darkness'', '' Terminator ...

{{Dynamite Entertainment The Boys (comics) Comic book limited series 2012 graphic novels Dynamite Entertainment titles Falklands War fiction