''Herogasm'' is a six-issue

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

limited series Limited series may refer to: *Limited series, individual storylines within an anthology series *Limited series, a particular run of collectables, usually individually numbered *Limited series (comics), a comics series with a predetermined number of ...

Garth Ennis Garth Ennis (born January 16, 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 ...

, John McCrea and Keith Burns. Originally published as a spin-off of ''The Boys'', set between issues #30 and #31, ''Herogasm'' was collected in trade paperback in November 2009 as the fifth volume of ''The Boys'', as ''The Boys: Herogasm''. ''Herogasm'' was adapted as the sixth episode of the third season of the Amazon Prime Video

streaming television Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as TV shows, as streaming media delivered over the Internet. Streaming television stands in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air a ...

adaptation of '' The Boys'', with

Jensen Ackles Jensen Ross Ackles (born March 1, 1978) is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Dean Winchester in The WB/ CW dark fantasy drama series ''Supernatural'' (2005–2020) and appearing in television series such as NBC's ''Days o ...

portraying

Soldier Boy Soldier Boy is the name of three superhero characters in the comic book series ''Herogasm'' and '' The Boys'', created by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. The first character introduced (the second successor to the mantle, made by Vought along w ...

, a character introduced in ''Herogasm''.

Publication history

In February 2009, Dynamite announced the first spin-off mini-series of ''The Boys'' in ''Herogasm'', with art from John McCrea, who ''The Boys'' creator

had worked with numerous times before, and Keith Burns, a friend of McCrea's of whom he has said: "Keith's strengths are my weaknesses and vice versa." The series is ''The Boys'' version of the big 'event' storylines but, according to Ennis "while we're having a pop at the notion of mass crossovers within a shared universe, we're not picking on 'Crisis' or '

Secret Wars ''Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars'', commonly known as ''Secret Wars'' for short, is a twelve-issue American comic book crossover limited series published from May 1984 to April 1985 by Marvel Comics. The series was written by Jim Shooter, with ...

' or '

Countdown A countdown is a sequence of backward counting to indicate the time remaining before an event is scheduled to occur. NASA commonly employs the terms "L-minus" and "T-minus" during the preparation for and anticipation of a rocket launch, and eve ...

' or whatever in particular." The idea for the mini-series came about because the first part of the story does not involve the team and focuses on the superheroes, but will affect the main series:

Plot

The comic centers on the Boys as they infiltrate "Herogasm", an annual

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often featur ...

for Vought-sponsored superheroes to allow them

vacation A vacation (American English) or holiday (British English) is either a leave of absence from a regular job or an instance of leisure travel away from home. People often take a vacation during specific holiday observances or for specific festi ...

Collected editions

The series has been collected into a trade paperback: *''Herogasm'' (collected issues #1–6, 144 pages, Dynamite Entertainment, November 2009, )

Adaptation

In January 2021,

Eric Kripke Eric Kripke (born 1974) is an American writer and television producer. He came to prominence as the creator of the fantasy drama series ''Supernatural'' (2005–2020) which aired on The CW. He served as the showrunner during the first five seasons ...

, the showrunner of the Amazon Prime Video

adaptation of ''The Boys'', confirmed that ''Herogasm'' would be adapted as the sixth episode of the series' third season, featuring

portraying

, a character introduced in ''Herogasm''. Unlike the source material, in which Soldier Boy is depicted as a superhero who has yearly sex with

Homelander The Homelander (John Gillman) is a character and one of the main antagonists of the comic book series '' The Boys'' and the media franchise of the same name, created by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. The character is depicted as an egotistic ...

in an attempt to gain membership in

The Seven "The Seven" is the 123rd episode of the NBC sitcom '' Seinfeld''. This was the 13th episode for the seventh season, originally airing on February 1, 1996. In this episode, Elaine and Kramer turn to Newman to resolve a dispute over which of the ...

, Soldier Boy was depicted as the "Homelander before Homelander", a superhero from

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

brought out of

retirement Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

. In addition, the "Herogasm" event was held by Soldier Boy's teammates the TNT Twins at their house.

Reception

''Herogasm'' opened to largely positive reviews by critics. In 2017, ''CBR'' ranked ''Herogasm'' as the comic book showing the fourth-most nudity in the 2000s, praising its depiction of "bedroom proclivities that rival their inhuman abilities." Will Morgan of ''The Slings & Arrows'' praised the "overall tone gleeful, as Ennis strives for ever more depraved and ludicrous situations for the series’ colour-splashed supporting cast to get into, taking irreverent jabs at the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, several of Batman's Rogue's Gallery, and scores more. Artist John McCrea's talent for amiable goonery has seldom been deployed to better effect; even the most horrible and heinous acts are presented with a chirpy patina which offsets the darker scenes masterfully." '' Screen Rant'' lauded the miniseries' "controversial" aspects, describing it as "a shocking storyline, even by the standards of ''The Boys'' monthly comic" but praising the decision to address "the idea of men being sexually assaulted", specifically a scene in which

Hughie Campbell Hugh "Wee Hughie" Campbell is a fictional character, and the main protagonist of the comic book series '' The Boys'', created by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson and visually designed after Simon Pegg. He is a member of The Boys, a group of vigil ...

is assaulted by Black Noir.

References

{{The Boys The Boys (comics) Comic book limited series 2009 comics debuts 2009 comics endings