http://chud.com/nextraimages/geprgonetotxlg.gifIt was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

Preacher, the excellent Vertigo/DC Comics series about a priest with the commanding voice of God, his contract killer girlfriend and their drunken Irish vampire best friend, is going to be a one hour HBO show. Of all the comic book properties that people talked about as HBO series, Preacher is the best fit. The comic had a long main arc, in which Jesse Custer, the titular preacher, was searching America for God, who had abandoned Heaven. But it also had plenty of smaller stories, colorful side characters, sex, swearing, graphic violence and supernatural stuff rooted in a relatable real world.

That’s the good news. The other news is that the pilot is being written by Mark Steven Johnson, the man behind Daredevil and the upcoming Ghost Rider. The pilot is being directed by Howard Deutch, who last directed The Whole Ten Yards. And The Odd Couple II. And Grumpier Old Men. To be fair to him, he directed Pretty in Pink as well.

So while the comic is getting the home it deserves (after coming dangerously close to being adapted into a two hour movie by the director of Tank Girl. Tank Girl!!!), the creative forces behind it leave much to be desired. I guess we couldn’t have expected a slam dunk at this point. And hey, maybe Mark Steven Johnson just needed to get the bad comic book adaptations out of his system before delivering something great.