In a world where costumed heroes soar through the sky and masked vigilantes prowl the night, someone's got to make sure the "supes" don't get out of line. And someone will. Billy Butcher, Wee Hughie, Mother's Milk, The Frenchman and The Female are The Boys: a CIA-backed team of very dangerous people, each one dedicated to the struggle against the most lethal force on the Earth - superpower. Some superheroes have to be watched. Some have to be controlled. And some of them - sometimes - need to be taken out of the picture...

In The Boys: Volume Nine - The Big Ride, all the piece are falling into place, for The Boys as well as their most mortal enemies. The long-dreaded superhuman conflict is on its way. But first there are secrets still to be uncovered: like the story of the team's first encounter with supergroup The Seven, and the shockwaves from that disastrous meeting that still reverberate today. Hugie, meanwhile discover his comrades' hidden history, as their original leader Colonel Greg Mallory takes him through sixty years of the filthiest black operations imaginable. And finally, with good and bad guys teetering on the brink, a shadowy force sets events in motion that will push even Butcher over the edge.

This graphic novel collects three separate story arcs which were originally published in comic book form In issues #48-59.

In Proper Preparation and Planning, with Hughie absent, Butcher re-examines the Boys' first encounter with the Seven, trying to figure out what went wrong. But first there's some disquiet in the ranks to be dealt with, not to mention the return of an old and unexpected enemy who finally, incredibly, has come into his own. Meanwhile, on the Seven's floating headquarters, a flying lesson goes badly awry...

In Barbary Coast Hughie travels out west to finally meet Lieutenant-Colonel Greg Mallory, the man who started The Boys. All kinds of secrets await our hero, beginning with the terrible story of the first supes to see action in World War Two. When the revelations cease, will Hughie return, or walk away from the team forever?

In The Big Ride the countdown to the end begins, as Jack from Jupiter takes one step beyond... or does he? Hughie's triumphant return is not all he'd hoped for, but Butcher has bigger fish to fry. And The Boys meet the mysterious Doctor Peculiar...

So, another enjoyable collection from The Boys.

7

Nick Smithson