I really don't have a problem with violence, gore or general shock value. Sometimes those things are necessary and can provide a good element to the story.
But not when you're Garth Ennis.
I genuinely did like his run on the MAX Punisher books, but that's about it. Garth Ennis is like an overgrown 10 year old who just discovered swear words and R rated movies. He's less interested in telling any kind of story insomuch as he just wants to be as shocking and "edgy" as humanly possible. Whatever good points or ideas Ennis may have are ruined by the utterly juvenile shock tactics he wraps them in. It's one thing to use violence and sex occasionally and for great effect, it's another to use them all the fucking time.
Crossed takes all of that to the worst extremes. The basic premise is nothing terrible; in fact, it could've been great - a darkly gripping horror story of survival and desperation in a world gone to shit. And the idea of a Hate Plague that brings out the worst of human nature is not a bad concept on its own and could've been an interesting subject to explore. But there is only so much gorn and grimdark you can put into the story before it just looks like utter wankery. The characters are nothing more than props that only exist to either die horribly or commit atrocities. And the sheer over-the-top atrocities of the Crossed looks more laughably stupid and you become desensitized to it really quick. This series might as well be screaming "Look at how edgy and shocking and offensive I am!! Aren't I just so edgy?!?!?!"
If you want grimdark gorn but with an actual story and characters that are not just props and are still genuinely worth rooting for, go read Über instead. It also helps that Kieron Gillen is actually mature and thoughtful writer who treats his subject matter with genuine respect (and his run on Crossed is about the only one I liked in all honesty).
So edgy I just cut myself on it
I really don't have a problem with violence, gore or general shock value. Sometimes those things are necessary and can provide a good element to the story.
But not when you're Garth Ennis.
I genuinely did like his run on the MAX Punisher books, but that's about it. Garth Ennis is like an overgrown 10 year old who just discovered swear words and R rated movies. He's less interested in telling any kind of story insomuch as he just wants to be as shocking and "edgy" as humanly possible. Whatever good points or ideas Ennis may have are ruined by the utterly juvenile shock tactics he wraps them in. It's one thing to use violence and sex occasionally and for great effect, it's another to use them all the fucking time.
Crossed takes all of that to the worst extremes. The basic premise is nothing terrible; in fact, it could've been great - a darkly gripping horror story of survival and desperation in a world gone to shit. And the idea of a Hate Plague that brings out the worst of human nature is not a bad concept on its own and could've been an interesting subject to explore. But there is only so much gorn and grimdark you can put into the story before it just looks like utter wankery. The characters are nothing more than props that only exist to either die horribly or commit atrocities. And the sheer over-the-top atrocities of the Crossed looks more laughably stupid and you become desensitized to it really quick. This series might as well be screaming "Look at how edgy and shocking and offensive I am!! Aren't I just so edgy?!?!?!"
If you want grimdark gorn but with an actual story and characters that are not just props and are still genuinely worth rooting for, go read Über instead. It also helps that Kieron Gillen is actually mature and thoughtful writer who treats his subject matter with genuine respect (and his run on Crossed is about the only one I liked in all honesty).