Summary

• The Boys show vs. comics emphasizes how gritty the world of superheroes can be, with unique changes and new storylines.
• Starlight's ex Drummer Boy gets a friendlier portrayal in the show compared to his comic book counterpart.
• The Boys series adds new characters and storylines, deviating from the comics but still capturing the essence of Garth Ennis' world.

While the hit Amazon Prime Video series lovingly recreates the world of its source material, The Boys comic vs. the show highlights the major differences in the adaptation. From the mind of Garth Ennis, The Boys is set in a world in which superheroes, or "supes", are real and treated as everything from soldiers to movie stars to products. These supes can also be egomaniacal, reckless, and downright evil, which leads to a secret government operation in which Billy Butcher and his team seek to keep the supes in line by any means necessary.

Using the premise of the comic books as a jumping-off point, The Boys series has built its own unique story while taking some liberties with Ennis' work. While it retains the comics’ bloody sense of humor and satirical wit, Amazon’s series has scrapped several storylines, reworked many characters, and created new characters of its own. Gen V has continued to expand the universe while setting up The Boys season 4, bringing in more intriguing changes to the universe of The Boys that make the live-action version of Garth Ennis's world distinct from the comic books.

25 Starlight's Ex Was More Unlikable

Drummer Boy Was Starlight's Unfaithful First Boyfriend

Prior to being recruited to The Seven, the comic books established that Starlight was a member of the super ground Young Americans. While on the team, she began a romantic relationship with fellow teammate Drummer Boy, a conservative and patriotic super. However, after being disappointed by her time with The Seven, a homesick Starlight returns home to surprise her boyfriend only to discover that he has been cheating on her with another member of the Young Americans.

In the show, Starlight also has an ex from her past who used to go by the name Drummer Boy but he is a much more likeable character than his comic book counterpart. Now going by Supersonic, Alex reunites with Starlight as he seeks to become a member of the Seven, leaving behind his days in a supe boy band called Super-Sweet. While it's unclear why they broke up, Alex and Annie are shown to be on good . He is also a noble supe like her, trying to help her take down Homelander. Unfortunately, this results in his death.

24 Dakota Bob Was A More Powerful Politician

The President Of The United States Was A More Formidable Man Of Business

Robert Singer (Jim Beaver) has been a small part of the show so far but it is likely he will have a bigger role to play before long. He was introduced in the first season as a politician who doesn't seem to be very strong-willed with both Vought and The Boys pushing him around and trying to get him to do what they want. Season 3 revealed he is running for president, and though he still doesn't seem overly ambitious, he has adopted the "folksy" nickname of Dakota Bob.

Dakota Bob is also a politician in the comics and is in fact the President of the United States for the majority of the story. However, he is a much different political figure. He is rigid and hard-nosed, pushing back against Vought without fear. While the version in the show is seen as a liberal, the comics have him as more conservative with aspects of his personality based on Dick Cheney. He also has a vice president with ulterior motives similar to the show version as Dakota Bob's running mate is Victoria Neuman in The Boys.

23 The Vought Cinematic Universe Doesn't Exist

The Comic Book Version Of Vought Isn't A Media Empire

One of the most interesting differences between The Boys show vs. comics is how they tackle different eras of superheroes in their satire of the genre. The Boys comics feature characters that are clear parodies of the classic comic book characters of the Marvel and DC universes, warped into twisted and deranged new versions within this darker universe.

However, The Boys show deals with the genre during a time when it is one of the biggest in mainstream entertainment. The Boys is less a parody of comic books and more a parody of comic book movies. Vought's supes even star in superhero movies of their own origin stories with jokes about the MCU and Snyder Cut making their way into the series. It has helped the show stand out among the superhero genre by commenting directly on it.

22 John Godolkin Was A Supe Manager Rather Than A University Founder

Godolkin Was Changed To Lean Into Gen V's Setting

Godolkin University is the main setting of Gen V, introducing the prestigious supe school that prepares young superpowered people for a future in crime fighting and celebrity. The university was said to be founded by Thomas Godolkin and is revealed to simply be a front for Vought's observation and monitoring of supes to learn how to control them better.

Thomas Godolkin is not a character from the comics but shares the name with John Godolkin, a supe manager of the team G-Men and a dark spoof of Prof. X from the X-Men. Godolkin is one of the most disturbing characters in the comics with the revelation that he has been abusing his young students for years. It would have been interesting to see such a character in the show and there may be a possibility of a similar character appearing in later seasons of Gen V.

21 Tek Knight Was A Batman / Iron Man Spoof

The Live-Action Tek Knight Is Almost A New Character

One of the memorable new characters introduced in Gen V is Tek Knight, a supe whose powers basically make him a living lie detector. He uses these powers as host of a true-crime docies where he attempts to expose guilty parties and is known for taking his interrogation tactics too far. However, The Boys comics do not specify if he is actually superpowered.

The comic book Tek Knight seems to get his abilities from a supersuit, like Iron Man while fighting crime with a younger sidekick, like Batman. However, the show does feature one memorable aspect of his story as Tek Knight has a brain tumor that gives him a strange sexual compulsion. In the comics, this leads to his imagined scenario of him saving the world from an incoming meteor in a hilariously vulgar way.

20 The Origins Of The Name Mother's Milk Is Toned Down

The Comic Book Mother's Milk Still Breast Feeds

Mother's Milk is very different in The Boys comic vs. the show, especially when it comes to his memorable name. In The Boys comics, his mom ended up infected with Compound V when she was still nursing him as an infant and this meant Mother's Milk had to have his mother's breast milk to survive. This lasted into his adult years, and she was always on hand to provide him with what he needed to remain alive.

The Amazon Prime Video version of The Boys gives two much simpler explanations for the name with Mother's Milk, or MM as the show often calls him, being Marvin Milk in real life while he also explains it was a nickname given during his time as a medic due to his parental ways. It is not hard to see why the show decided to change to name origins of this fan-favorite character.

19 Soldier Boy Is Much More Capable

The Comic Book Soldier Boy Is A Pathetic Character

Jensen Ackles ed The Boys in season 3 as Soldier Boy, instantly becoming a standout character on the series, albeit one that was similar to his comic book counterpart in name only. In The Boys comics, Soldier Boy is the leader of the supe team Payback who had hopes of ing the Seven. However, when he leads his team against Butcher and The Boys, he ends up badly beaten and tortured for information.

Soldier Boy in The Boys show is much more capable and seen as the only supe who can take down Homelander. He is an unlikable version of Captain America with his patriotism just an excuse for his prejudices. He was one of the first Vought superheroes, fighting in Vietnam, while the comic book version lied about his military past. The fact that his DNA was also used to create Homelander is another detail not in the comics.

18 Queen Maeve's Redemption Gets A Happier Ending

One Of The Boys' Most Tragic Heroes Has A Bleak Comic Book Ending

There is a similar arc followed by Queen Maeve in The Boys comics and in the show, as she eventually finds her conscience again and decides to stand up to Homelander and his cruel ways in both. However, the outcome of her redemption is very different between the two versions. In The Boys comics, Maeve goes up against Homelander only to be brutally killed by him without even getting a chance to put up a fight.

However, at the end of The Boys Season 3, her fate improves, and she plays a much more important role than the comics. Not only does she stand toe-to-toe with Homelander, losing an eye in the process, but she takes down Soldier Boy as well. This fight supposedly kills her only to reveal she survived and is using her "death" to start a new life.

17 Herogasm Was A Smaller Scale Party

The Comic Book Herogasm Was A Vought-Sponsored Event

Herogasm was a notorious aspect of the comics that was always questionable if the show could ever pull it off. In The Boys comics, annual orgy that offers a vacation filled with debauchery to every superpowered person on the planet, all officially organized and sponsored by Vought International. While The Boys Amazon Prime Video series did its own version, it is a much smaller scale.

In The Boys show, Vought International has no hand in helping plan it as a way to blow off steam, and this isn't about all heroes attending. Only select people show up, but it is still the raunchy and deadly orgy, where normal people get hurt for the supes' pleasure. The show also has a major battle with Homelander, Hughie, and Soldier Boy showing up to crash the party, which didn't happen in the comics.

16 Stormfront Is A Male Character In The Comics

Aya Cash's The Boys Character Underwent Significant Changes

Stormfront is one of the evilest characters in The Boys' universe, and one of the characters with the biggest changes in The Boys comic vs. the show. Introduced in season 2, Aya Cash played the character, who was originally a man in the comics. The Nazi supe led the team Payback, a group of Nazi creations similar to the Seven.

In The Boys comic, Stormfront doesn't have the same relationship with Homelander or the storyline she does in the show. Though her origin is somewhat similar, with her true past and identity as a real Nazi being hidden from the public, she is made a much more prominent character in the show. The character's fate is also different, as The Boys comic version is beaten to death by The Boys, while the show has Ryan nearly killing her, only for Stormfront to end her life due to her injuries.