The Innocents (comic book)

The Innocents is a two-part graphic novel written by Garth Ennis and illustrated by John McCrea, Keith Burns, Darick Robertson, Richard P. Clark, and Russ Braun that was published by Dynamite Entertainment as the seventh volume of the American comic book series The Boys, consisting of the five-part story arc The Innocents (originally titled What I Know), released from February 3 to June 16, and the four-part story arc Believe (originally titled You Found Me), released from July 7 to October 6 (all 2010), the former from which the novel takes its title.

In The Innocents, every major character of the series answers themselves the question "What I Know?" – Billy Butcher discovers that Wee Hughie has been dating Annie January all along, and, becoming convinced he is a Vought plant, sends him alone to monitor the crazed supe Malchemical; MM follows what Butcher has been doing; Annie considers telling Hughie of her supe nature; and Jess Bradley joins the Guy from Vought's team, while in Believe, in the aftermath of this, Hughie and Annie break up, while the Homelander begins bringing together like-minded supes with the goal of eventually overthrowing Vought.

Preceded by The Self-Preservation Society, it is followed by the miniseries Highland Laddie and the sequel story arc Proper Preparation and Planning, with the events of Believe being loosely adapted to the first, third, and fourth seasons of the television adaptation of The Boys and elements of The Innocents adapted to the fourth, Colby Minifie and Susan Heyward playing characters based on Jess Bradley, and Shaun Benson playing a character based on Oh Father, Erin Moriarty playing a female incarnation of Malchemical, Marie from The Innocents being adapted as the protagonist of Gen V, portrayed by Jaz Sinclair, and Daveed Diggs portraying the real Oh Father in the fifth season.

The series has received a universally positive critical reception.

In The Innocents, ever major character of the series answers themselves the question "What I Know?" – Billy Butcher discovers that Wee Hughie has been dating Annie January all along, and, becoming convinced he is a Vought plant, sends him alone to monitor the crazed supe Malchemical; MM follows what Butcher has been doing; Annie considers telling Hughie of her supe nature; and Jess Bradley joins the Guy from Vought's team, while in Believe, Hughie and Annie break up, while the Homelander begins bringing together like-minded supes with the goal of eventually overthrowing Vought.

As Butcher looks over his latest intelligence, including information on the Seven's newest member Starlight (Annie), chuckling over his own murder of Soldier Boy III and nicknaming the unnamed Guy from Vought "Dead Man", feeling confident in "What I know?" about supe-goings-on, while Hughie has nightmares over Robin's death. The next day, as MM hires a prostitute to breastfeed him, Hughie and Annie visit a sex shop, while at Vought-American Consolidated (VAC), as the new CEO Mr. Brewster is sworn in, power-hungry executive Jess Bradley approaches the Guy from Vought and deduces his role as the puppet ruler of the company, recognising the current CEO as someone he would likely want to serve as a future fall guy for his actions, and asking to join his team. The following day, Frenchie attempts to curb the Female's violent tendencies with music, ignoring Butcher's wishes for her to simply be "treated like a dog". Later, as Butcher walks his dog Terror while getting groceries, he sees Hughie kissing Annie; while initially complimenting him from a distance, Butcher is left dumbstruck once Annie pulls back and he immediately recognises her as Starlight. As an oblivious Hughie and Annie see each other off in the distance, Butcher, now believing Hughie to be a spy for Vought, leans against a pillar whilst saying "Nothin'. Absolutely nothin'. That's what I fuckin' know.".

Butcher visits the Legend to investigate whether Hughie is in-fact a Vought-American plant, a concept the Legend believes impossible; on learning from Butcher of Hughie's relationship with Annie, the Legend questions whether Hughie simply may not know who Annie is, which Butcher dismisses, noting that while he could believe Hughie could be "that stupid", that stupidity being an act would make more sense under the new leadership of the Guy from Vought, who since looking into his eyes on Godolkin's lawn, Butcher believes that "in his own quiet way, he might be a bigger bastard than I am [with] the bollocks for the game". As the Legend lists more reasons to believe Hughie is simply oblivious, a still reluctantly disbelieving Butcher decides to test Hughie by sending him alone to monitor the crazed supe Malchemical, who has been transferred to the team SuperDuper, consisting of "innocent" supes with mental conditions. At Vought-American, the Guy from Vought discusses "What I know?" with Jess Bradley, showing her the files sent to the corporation and the Boys supposedly depicting the Homelander committing violent acts of cannibalism and necrophilia twenty years prior, noting how despite how at odds it is with the Homelander they know, who has "no psychotic tendencies at all", the photos are verifiable, with Bradley questioning why the Guy from Vought simply hadn't had the Homelander be liquidated, as the Guy from Vought has "the means" to do, the Guy from Vought responding by pointing out the revenue problems that would cause them. Meanwhile, at the headquarters of SuperDuper, their leader "Auntie Sis" cares for the invalid supes' various ailments, the team consisting of: Ladyfold, Stool Shadow, Kid Camo, Klanker, Black Hole, and Bobby Badoing.

The next day, as SuperDuper welcome Malchemical as their new leader, he makes fun of Klanker's Tourette's syndrome, slightly unnerving Auntie Sis; as the team leave for their daily patrol, she keeps an eye on him. As Hughie observes from a surveillance van, the team struggle to save a kitten stuck in a tree, Malchemical then dismissing them as "the abortions that live", much to Auntie Sis' chagrin. Meanwhile, at the Boy's headquarters, MM grows suspicious of "What I know?" of Butcher's reasoning for sending Hughie alone to monitor Malchemical, noting discrepancies between the information he gave them from the Legend and his own hacking of the company's files. At SuperDuper's headquarters, Auntie Sis learns of what Malchemical did to be transferred to them: using his shapeshifting to pretend to be his team leader and sleep with his girlfriend, and asks that he not expose the team to "that kind" of thing, noting that not all supes go to "the parties" or Herogasm, and "genuinely want to use the powers they have to do good to help people, to make the world a better place". After Malchemical makes another dismissive comment, Auntie Sis tells him that she'll be taking the team out for ice cream, asking that he not come. As the team go out, Annie calls Hughie (observing the team), talking about wanting to quit her job and considering telling him about her being a supe, before he is interrupted by Black Hole swallowing the spoon with his ice cream; breaking protocol, Hughie enters the scene and performs a tracheotomy (taught to him by Frenchie) to save the supe's life. As SuperDuper celebrate Hughie, he introduces himself as "Hamish", a secretly-watching Butcher growing enraged as one of the team describe Hughie as "our bestest pal!".

Sitting at a bench in Central Park early the next morning, MM calls the Legend, pretending to be following up on what he and Butcher talked about, learning not only of Butcher's suspicions of Hughie being a plant (which he also dismisses), but also that the Guy from Vought had authorised a kill order on Hughie during the fiasco with the G-Men, enraging MM. Meanwhile, as Hughie leaves a message on his progress, Bobby accidentally bounces into Hughie's car, crushing it, and the team invite him ("Hamish") inside to clean up. Meanwhile, Auntie Sis inside helps Marie (Ladyfold), another member of the team with blood-based powers, with her extra-long period in the bathroom, before the two are interrupted by Malchemical, who confronts Auntie Sis over reporting him for being "rude and abusive" to his team-mates, requesting that he be transferred out of the team, and informing him that since he is "here as punishment" she won't be letting him "enjoy it at these kids' expense". As Hughie observes the gentle nature of the team, seeing to the bruised Stool Shadow as she messes up her phasing again and walks into the wall, Malchemical enters the room. After witnessing Machemical mock Klanker's Tourette's, Hughie tells him to "stop bein' such a prick", all the while planting a bug, Malchemical then quietly threatening to rape him. As Auntie Sis offers Hughie coffee, and he agrees to a tour of the headquarters, elsewhere, in a coffee shop, Annie writes a draft of what she wants to say to Hughie about "What I know?" of life as a supe. Later, as Hughie observes Bobby outside, he hears "Bobby" (actually Malchemical in disguise) inside via the bug seem to go to Auntie Sis for advice of a nightmare he had, learning of her greatest fear being suffocation, caused by when she was trapped under a pair of her Aunt Mandy's underpants as an infant. That night, after Hughie calls Butcher and asks to come home, he is told to wait one more day, after which Butcher monologues to Terror about the only way to know for certain would be for Hughie and Malchemical to fight, since if he was one, Malchemical would be ordered not to kill him, while at the same time, a drunk MM prepares to confront the Guy from Vought over the kill order as he exits Vought-American headquarters.

After drunkenly confronting the Guy from Vought, MM is told to "grow up", before he tries to get through to Butcher all through the night. Early the next morning, Malchemical shapeshifts himself around Auntie Sis, slowly suffocating her within himself, before requesting Ladyfold and Stoolshadow sexually involve themselves with him; hearing this via his bug, Hughie rushes onto the scene to stop him. Outside, Butcher dismisses this action as not doing him any favours, before MM finally gets through to him on the phone, confirms the Guy from Vought gave the kill order, nand that the reason Hughie could not know Annie was Starlight was simply "Because he's Hughie, man…!". Inside SuperDuper's headquarters, Hughie punches Malchemical in the face, before Malchemical forces his arm down his throat as a tentacle, and converts himself to a mass of gases and tentacles while preparing to rend his body apart. Turning around to observe this from outside after berating MM for confronting the Vought Huy, Butcher finally believes him, and, entering the house as Malchemical is tearing Hughie's flesh apart, uses his lighter to ignite Malchemical's gases, killing him. Before Butcher can see to Hughie, Klanker unwittingly lets lose his Tourette's again, and believing it was intended as him, Butcher approaches the team to attack them; as the Auntie Sis and the rest beg him not to do anything, Butcher is availed only by the lacerated Hughie weakly asking them not to hurt them. Remembering him telling Hughie of how "I always wanted a little brother.", Butcher lifts the now-unconscious Hughie and leaves with, noting to Auntie Sis as he does how "Won't be long before it makes no difference anyway.". That night, MM and Butcher get into a shouting match over the latter's actions before the former goes to see Hughie in the hospital. As Annie flies back to the Seven's base, the Homelander, overlooking the city, says to himself: "What I know? I can do anything. Maybe it's time I got started.".

As the Homelander films a promotional spot for the upcoming Believe Event, a few months after Hughie's recovery from Malchemical's attack, Annie and Hughie relax in bed together, each obliviously noting how they've never met any of the people the other works with. At the Seven's base, as the Homelander struts and sings "Stayin' Alive" to himself, the Guy from Vought informs him he must attend, which the Homelander is reluctant to, as Annie arrives as Starlight and is told she also must attend, appearing on behalf of Capes for Christ. As Starlight explains that she's not a Christian anymore, she feels it would not be right for her to attend, the Guy from Vought informs her she should do so for those whose faith is intact, and further that she has been promoted to Minister within the Believe structure, as the first step in "upping your public profile", before making it clear to both her and the Homelander that their attendance is mandatory, Queen Maeve insisting upon it. Later, in Central Park, Butcher assigns Hughie some "light snooping", while A-Train comes across the Homelander in a ball crying to himself about "Why can't I do the things I can do…?" before using his super-speed to immediately flee, terrified at potentially being noticed. The next day, as Hughie and Annie walk to the park, he opens up about the death of his previous girlfriend Robin Mawhinney when she was hit by a superhero thrown into a brick wall by A-Train. Realising she has to tell Hughie the truth about herself immediately, since he will otherwise find out when the Believe Event begins, Annie tells him she's a superhero.

As Hughie believes her to be making a poor-taste joke, Annie levitates to prove it, informing him of her secret identity as Starlight. Recalling all the violence he has experienced as a result of supes, Hughie vomits and runs away. At the Believe Event, the Frenchman and the Female pose as father and daughter while doing reconnaissance, the Female fantasising about killing everyone there, until the Frenchman, reminding her to be "wholesome", instead has her hide within a set of balloons he purchases, while the Homelander meets with the religious-themed supe Oh Father, who "knows everybody", and on verifying with him the general amorality of those supes he knows, inquriing about how many would go along with "enforcing" Vic the Veep in implementing Vought's superpowers in national defense plan, purpotedly on behalf of the Guy from Vought, having him quietly arrange a "get-together" between everyone for later on. As Annie gives her speech at the Believe Event, Hughie, having returned home, panics over what he has learned and how he himself is "as big a liar as she is", before suddenly realising the implications of Butcher finding out and running out of his apartment. After trying to get a taxi, Hughie runs into Butcher, who walks him to the isolated location where they stashed Blarney's body, and, as tension rises, offers to finally "listen" to him.

Having told Butcher everything about his relationship with Annie and her being Starlight, Butcher pretends not to have known, before Hughie, noting how "bloody mental" it sounds, believes Butcher must think he's a spy and be about to kill him, before attempting to run away, Butcher laughing at the prospect, before returning to base with Hughie. At the Believe Event, the Homelander talks to Starlight about how impresse he was at her standing up for herself against the Guy from Vought, and how little they thing of him, before she raises the prospect of quitting the team with him. After suddenly being reminded of the photos he received seeming to show "the Homelander" doing horrible things, which greatly disturbed him, the Homelander tells Starlght she can take the night off, and that if anyone asks, it is on his authority. At their base, as Hughie questions whether Butcher will ever trust him again, Butcher decides to reveal the identity of his "insider" who provides them with footage of the Seven's activities - Maeve - who had been doing so for the previous decade over something that made her "livid", the Legend connecting them over the two's previous marriage, Butcher speculating her decision may have been over the release of photos of her having sex "a long, long time before she called", but not knowing for certain. Later as the sun sets, Butcher lets Hughie watch the surveillance tapes, repeating to himself about how one must "be cruel to be kind" as Hughie gets to the footage of Annie joining the Seven, and what she had to do to join.

As Hughie vomits to what he has seen, Butcher attempts to turn Hughie against Annie, describing her as "damaged goods" who is "either pissin' herself laughin' behind yer back or she's just plain mental". At the Seven's base, Maeve talks to Starlight about how supes can't "talk to the little people", and that as horrible as they are, when it comes to bonding, "all you have are the other fucking superheroes", before Annie receives a text from Hughie calling her to the park. At the Believe Event, the Homelander brings the event to an end, before lifting the car with the winners of the "Dinner with the Homelander" gtand prize into the sky, the Frenchman and the Female noting all the other supes to be following him. At the park, meeting with Annie, Hughie breaks down over the content of the tape of what she did to join the Seven, claiming to have received it over an email, and unable to look past the presence of A-Train, elects to break up with her, and deciding to return to Scotland. Meanwhile, in the sky, the Homelander, now apathetic, dismisses Believe as a scam to the family, and on stating "The only man in the sky is me.", drops the car and them with it, before turning to the assembled also flying-and-watching army of supes, all doing nothing, with "Okay. Let's talk.".

On the production of a television adaptation of The Boys from Amazon Prime Video, the events of Believe with regards Hughie and Annie discovering one another's identity and Annie attending the Believe Expo were loosely adapted as the first season episodes "Good for the Soul", "The Innocents", and "The Self-Preservation Society", with Shaun Benson portraying Ezekiel, a white adaptation of Oh Father, with the Homelander's recruitment of supes adapted to the series' fourth season, with Benson again reprising his role, and the Homelander's "The only man in the sky is me." speech being adapted in the third season episode "The Only Man in the Sky". Two characters based on Jess M. Bradley (introduced in The Innocents) appear in the series: Ashley J. Barrett (portrayed by Colby Minifie) and Jessica "Sage" Bradley (portrayed by Susan Heyward), the latter introduced in the fourth season, along with a female incarnation of Malchemical, portrayed by Erin Moriarty. Daveed Diggs portrays the real Oh Father in the fifth season.

Jaz Sinclair would portray Marie Moreau (from The Innocents) as the protagonist of Gen V, mostly adapting We Gotta Go Now.

• The Innocents at Dynamite Entertainment