The Self-Preservation Society
The Self-Preservation Society is a four-part graphic novel written by Garth Ennis and illustrated by Carlos & Hector Ezquerra and John McCrea & Keith Burns, that was published by Dynamite Entertainment as the sixth volume of the American comic book series The Boys, consisting of the four-part story arc The Self-Preservation Society, released from June 3 to September 2, 2009 across the chapters You Fuckin' Want Some, Then?!, And Then There Were Four, You're Next, Cunts, and Who Do You Think You Are Kidding, Mister Hitler…, the two-part Nothing Like It in the World, released from October 7 to November 4, 2009 across the chapters You Remember the Thing I Said About Superpowers? and Vale of Tears, and the single arcs La Plume De Ma Tante Est Sur La Table, released December 2, 2009, and The Instant White-Hot Wild, released January 6, 2010, the former from which the novel takes its title. Preceded by the story arc We Gotta Go Now and the miniseries Herogasm, it is followed by the story arc The Innocents.
The events of The Self-Preservation Society were loosely adapted as the series' second season of the Amazon Prime Video adaptation of The Boys, with Payback adapted to the series' third season.
The series received a universally positive critical reception.
Premise
In The Self-Preservation Society, the Supe team Payback, led by former Nazi Stormfront, attempt to take out the Boys, while at Vought Tower, Starlight attempts to work around company attempts to sexualise her costume, while the following arcs Nothing Like It in the World, La Plume De Ma Tante Est Sur La Table, and The Instant White-Hot Wild explore the respective origin stories of Mother's Milk (M.M.), the Frenchman, and the Female, recounted to Wee Hughie.
Adaptation
On the production of a television adaptation of The Boys from Amazon Prime Video, the events of The Self-Preservation Society were loosely adapted as the second season, with Aya Cash portraying Stormfront, depicted as a woman who was married to Frederick Vought and is a love interest of Homelander instead of his father, with the role of Homelander's father replaced by Soldier Boy in the third season, depicted as the leader of Payback in place of Stormfront, which also loosely adapting the backstory of Mother's Milk from Nothing Like It in the World, albeit depicting him as human instead of a Supe, with his role as the first natural-born Supe adapted to Ryan, son of Homelander, while Payback ere adapted to the series' third season, with Laurie Holden portraying Crimson Countess, Joel Labelle portraying Swatto, and Ryan Blakely portraying Mindstorm.