...Their Preacher, which debuts Sunday night at 10, is faithful to the spirit of the comic, but screws around on the letter a fair piece. I imagine the changes will fill some Preacher purists with the same kind of rage the comics' chief villain felt about improper use of inverted commas, but as someone who owns every issue (along with the various spin-off titles), often in multiple formats, I enjoyed the hell out of the first four episodes. The story may deviate wildly at times, there may be new and/or revamped characters, and the show isn't always graceful as it ambles from one tone or genre to the next. But more often than not, it gave me the same giddy sensation I first experienced when a cardboard box filled with Preacher issues arrived from my friend Scott with a note advising, "Read this. You can thank me later. P.S. I'm sorry for much of what you're about to see."...
...This is an oddball show, yet even as it's figuring out its proper pace and how seriously the audience should be taking any given scene, individual moments ? particularly the chaotic, yet meticulously-choreographed, fight scenes ? thrum with such energy that you want to forgive its sins in the same way some of Jesse's parishioners beg him for help feeling closer to the Almighty. Rogen, Goldberg, and Catlin's alternate narrative may ultimately be proven too small to contain Ennis' huge, crazy ideas, but it's not going to be a boring journey on the way to finding that out.