Dear Becky Explained

Limited:	y
Superhero:	y
Publisher:	Dynamite Entertainment
Startmo:	June
Startyr:	2020
Endmo:	December
Endyr:	2020
Issues:	8
Writers:	Garth Ennis^[1] ^[2]
Artists:	Russ Braun^[3] ^[4] Darick Robertson (cover art)^[5]
Pencillers:	Russ Braun
Inkers:	Russ Braun
Letterers:	Simon Bowland
Colorists:	Tony Aviña
Tpb:	Dear Becky
Isbn:	978-1-5241-1990-4
Subcat:	Dynamite Entertainment
Sort:	Dear Becky

Dear Becky is an eight-issue comic book limited series written by Garth Ennis and drawn by Russ Braun.^[6] Published as an extended epilogue to The Boys as a tie-in to the second season of its television adaptation,^[7] set twelve years following The Bloody Doors Off, and divided into the chapters Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and January, the series follows Wee Hughie as he builds up to finally marrying Annie January in his hometown of Auchterladle, Scotland (from Highland Laddie), as he is mailed the diary of Billy Butcher, addressed to Becky and detailing Butcher's mindset over the years before he murdered the rest of the Boys and forced Hughie to kill him, Hughie reading through it while investigating who sent it to him. Published in 2020, Dear Becky was collected in trade paperback in February 2021 as The Boys: Dear Becky.

The series received a generally positive critical reception.

Characters

See main article: List of The Boys characters.

• Hugh "Wee Hughie" Campbell

A former CIA black ops agent, the series follows Hughie as he "struggles with the trauma of his time with the Boys while trying to get his act together to marry Annie".^[8]

• Annie January

Hughie's longtime fiancée, a retired superhero who discourages him from dwelling on his past with Butcher.

• Roberta "Bobbi": Hughie's childhood best friend and a former member of his mystery-solving team, who is a muscular trans woman.
• William "Billy" Butcher

The deceased leader of the Boys, whom Hughie was forced to kill years prior after he plotted to wipe out all supes and supe-adjacent humans, numbering at billions, after Butcher had personally killed Mother's Milk, the Frenchman, and the Female. Butcher appears through flashbacks detailing his time with the Boys in their first incarnation, around 1999/2000, over which sequences, Butcher himself remembers his time with his wife Becky, back in the mid-1980s.

• Becky Butcher (née Saunders)

Butcher's red-haired deceased wife, to whom he addresses the entries of his diary.

• Greg Mallory: The founder of the Boys, previously an active member before Hughie joined.
• "Beezer" Holmes: The bartender of McCluch's pub in Auchterladle, Scotland.
• Reverend Jimmy Dandy: The mentally ill local priest of Auchterladle, who is perpetually drunk.
• The Children of Stormfront: A Vought-American superhero team the Boys took out before Hughie joined.
  • Vikor: The team's leader, a Viking-themed supe and former informant of Butcher's.
• Julian Baxter-Pugh: The head of MediaCorp, a British offshoot of Vought-American officially attempting to expand into the superhero industry, Baxter-Pugh aiming to have them move beyond the entertainment industry.
• Susan L. Rayner: The former director of the CIA and Butcher's ex-lover.
• The Skorchers: An experimental team of sexualised "anti-heroes" put together by MediaCorp.
• The Vought Guy: The insane former puppet master behind Vought-American, who now runs a pineapple plantation.

Reception

Issue #	Publication date	Critic rating	Critic reviews	Ref.
1	June 2020	7.3/10	11	^[9]
2	July 2020	7.4/10	6	^[10]
3	July 2020	6.5/10	1	^[11]
4	August 2020	5.9/10	2	^[12]
5	September 2020	5.1/10	2	^[13]
6	November 2020	7.0/10	1	^[14]
7	December 2020	6.3/10	1	^[15]
8		6.8/10	2	^[16]
Overall		7.3/10	26	^[17]

External links

• Dear Becky at Dynamite Entertainment

Notes and References

1. Web site: January 23, 2020. The Boys Co-creator Garth Ennis Returning for New Comic in April. January 23, 2020. The Hollywood Reporter. McMillan. Graeme.
2. Web site: February 19, 2020. Interview: Garth Ennis discusses his return to The Boys with Dear Becky. February 19, 2020. Comics Beat. Destito. Deanna.
3. Web site: January 23, 2020. The Boys Is Getting A Sequel With Dear Becky. January 23, 2020. GameSpot. Downey. Mason.
4. Web site: January 23, 2020. Garth Ennis Is Penning The Boys Prequel Comic. January 23, 2020. Gizmodo. Pulliam-Moore. Charles.
5. Web site: December 24, 2020. Diabolical! The Boys Board Game Unveils Dear Becky Variant, Adds Terror and Lamplighter Figures. December 24, 2020. Syfy Wire. Weiss. Josh.
6. Web site: Arvedon. Jon. January 23, 2020. Dear Becky – Garth Ennis to Pen Sequel Series for Dynamite. January 23, 2020. Comic Book Resources. en-US.
7. Web site: January 23, 2020. The Boys Return to Their Comic Book Roots. May 26, 2021. The New York Times. Gustines. George Gene.
8. Web site: Hughie gets the pitch from Reverend Dandy in Dear Becky #2 preview. GamesRadar+. June 29, 2020. June 29, 2020. Newsarama Staff.
9. Web site: Dear Becky #1 Reviews. June 3, 2020. June 3, 2020. ComicBookRoundup.com. en-US.
10. Web site: Dear Becky #2 Reviews. July 1, 2020. July 1, 2020. ComicBookRoundup.com. en-US.
11. Web site: Dear Becky #3 Reviews. July 29, 2020. July 29, 2020. ComicBookRoundup.com. en-US.
12. Web site: Dear Becky #4 Reviews. August 26, 2020. August 26, 2020. ComicBookRoundup.com. en-US.
13. Web site: Dear Becky #5 Reviews. September 30, 2020. September 30, 2020. ComicBookRoundup.com. en-US.
14. Web site: Dear Becky #6 Reviews. November 4, 2020. November 4, 2020. ComicBookRoundup.com. en-US.
15. Web site: Dear Becky #7 Reviews. December 2, 2020. December 2, 2020. ComicBookRoundup.com. en-US.
16. Web site: Dear Becky #8 Reviews. December 30, 2020. December 30, 2020. ComicBookRoundup.com. en-US.
17. Web site: Dear Becky Reviews. February 23, 2021. February 23, 2021. ComicBookRoundup.com. en-US.
18. Web site: Braun. Ennis. Russ. Garth. Garth Ennis. The Boys Volume 13: Dear Becky. Previews World. February 23, 2021. March 3, 2021.