The Pro is a

prestige format American comic book tropes are common elements and literary devices related to American comic books. Continuity Comics continuity almost-always refers to the existence and use of a shared universe, although any comic can have internal contin ...

one-shot

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 ...

written by

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 Dari ...

, with pencils and lettering by

Amanda Conner Amanda Conner is an American comics artist and commercial art illustrator. She began her career in the late 1980s for Archie Comics and Marvel Comics, before moving on to contribute work for Claypool Comics' '' Soulsearchers and Company'' and Ha ...

and inks by

Jimmy Palmiotti James Palmiotti (born August 14, 1961) is an American writer and inker of comic books, who also does writing for games, television and film. Early life Palmiotti attended the High School of Art and Design in New York City. Career Palmiotti star ...

. It was originally published by

Image Comics Image Comics is an American comic book publisher and is the third largest comic book and graphic novel publisher in the industry in both unit and market share. It was founded in 1992 by several high-profile illustrators as a venue for creator-ow ...

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

Plot

parody A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its subj ...

of mainstream superhero comics, the story details the brief career of an unnamed

prostitute Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-penet ...

given superhuman powers by an alien called the Viewer. The Pro reluctantly joins the League of Honor which is a parody of the Justice League, composed of the Saint, the Knight & the Squire, the Lady, the Lime, and Speedo who are a parody of Superman, Batman & Robin, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern and the Flash, respectively. Together, the League fight an array of lackluster villains, such as The Noun and The Adverb, until the Pro’s coarse language and actions, violence, bloody retributions, and her fellating The Saint result in her being expelled from the League. The Pro rejoins them to fight a

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

attack, flying into space holding a

nuclear bomb A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...

, and facing death (more in an effort to save the life of her young child than anyone else in the vicinity). Later editions feature an additional eight-page story entitled "The Pro Vs. The Ho" in which the Pro squares off with a 12-armed prostitute. In the story, the Ho receives powers in much the same way that the Pro does via the alien "Viewer" that orbits the Earth in a cloaked ship. Because the Pro has superpowers, she is able to perform sex acts using superspeed. The problem arises when several of the Johns complain that by the time they relax enough to enjoy themselves, their "job" is over. The Ho then appears and confronts the Pro, who knocks her into the river and eventually saves her from drowning. Subsequently the two women get to know one another. The Ho explains that she never wanted superhuman powers, and all she ever wanted to do was work with small animals as a

veterinarian A veterinarian (vet), also known as a veterinary surgeon or veterinary physician, is a medical professional who practices veterinary medicine. They manage a wide range of health conditions and injuries in non-human animals. Along with this, vet ...

. The Pro resolves to take the Ho to animal husbandry facility where she uses all 12 of her arms to "service" the animals for breeding.

In other media

On June 15, 2010, 5finity Productions released a limited edition sketch card series, including original art by Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmotti and notable sketch card artists. In July 2010, an animated short based on the comic was released on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

Film adaptation

On October 12, 2009, Conner and Palmotti proposed a live-action adaptation of the graphic novel. They have said that they would like to have either

Sarah Silverman Sarah Kate Silverman (born December 1, 1970) is an American comedian, actress, and writer. Silverman was a writer and performer on ''Saturday Night Live'', and she starred in and produced ''The Sarah Silverman Program'', which ran from 2007 to ...

Ellen Muth Ellen Muth (; born March 6, 1981) is an American former actress best known for her role as Georgia "George" Lass in Showtime's series ''Dead Like Me'' (2003–2004 series, 2009 film). Early life Muth was born in Milford, Connecticut, to Eric ...

as the lead. In March 2017,

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

picked up the film rights to The Pro and hired Zoe McCarthy to write the screenplay.

Collected editions

Three volumes collect both of The Pro's adventures: *''Pro Oversized'' (72 pages, deluxe, oversized and hardcover, November, 2004, ) *''Pro'' (80 pages, paperback, September 2007, ) *''Pro'' (72 pages, paperback reprint of ''Pro Oversized'', June 2010, ) The 80-page new edition sold out and has had to be reprinted, thus Image's decision to reprint the ''Oversized'' version in paperback.

Reception

Craig Lemon of

Comics Bulletin Comics Bulletin was a daily website covering the American comic-book industry. History Silver Bullet Comicbooks The site was founded in January 2000 as Silver Bullet Comicbooks by its New Zealand-based publisher/editor Jason Brice. During this ...

responded positively to ''The Pro'', calling it "a hilarious piss-take" while commending the "

morality play The morality play is a genre of medieval and early Tudor drama. The term is used by scholars of literary and dramatic history to refer to a genre of play texts from the fourteenth through sixteenth centuries that feature personified concepts ( ...

" twist ending. Similarly, Geek in the City's

Aaron Duran Aaron Duran (born 1976 in Susanville, California) is an American writer and media producer in Portland, Oregon, of Mexican and Italian descent. Duran currently hosts the weekly podcast ''Geek in the City Radio'' (FKA ''Film Fever Radio''), with ...

, who placed ''The Pro'' at #4 on a list of the best

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

s of the 2000s, labelled the book "One of the most vile, disgusting, perverse, and gut-numbingly hilarious comics of all time". ''The Pro'' ranked at #14 in the

Comic Book Resources ''Comic Book Resources'', also known by the initialism CBR, is a website dedicated to the coverage of comic book–related news and discussion. History Comic Book Resources was founded by Jonah Weiland in 1995 as a development of the Kingdom Co ...

list The Greatest Garth Ennis Stories Ever Told!, where it was described as "off-kilter" and "hilarious". Upon receiving a press release for the book, writer and artist

Jim Steranko James F. Steranko (; born November 5, 1938) is an American graphic artist, comic book writer/artist, comics historian, magician, publisher and film production illustrator. His most famous comic book work was with the 1960s superspy feature " ...

lambasted it as "psychotic,

nihilistic Nihilism (; ) is a philosophy, or family of views within philosophy, that rejects generally accepted or fundamental aspects of human existence, such as objective truth, knowledge, morality, values, or meaning of life, meaning. The term was pop ...

garbage" produced by evil cultural terrorists, which prompted its creative team into inserting the sarcastic dedication "For Steranko".

References

External links

* *
Ho Power
''

Tucson Weekly The ''Tucson Weekly'' is an alternative newsweekly that was founded in 1984 by Douglas Biggers and Mark Goehring, and serves the Tucson, Arizona, metropolitan area of about 1,000,000 residents. The paper is a member of the Association of Altern ...

'', September 26, 2002
Pro review

, August 16, 2002
Review of latest edition

, September 26, 2007
The Pro sketch cards from 5FinityThe Pro review at 1FOE.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pro, The 2002 comics debuts Comics by Garth Ennis Parody superheroes