This is the fourth in a series (of indefinite length and regularity) explaining the context behind (using reader danjack's term) "meta-messages." A meta-message is where a comic book writer comments on/references the work of another comic book in their comic. Each time around, I'll give you the context behind one such "meta-message."

Today we look at an instance of Garth Ennis parodying Neil Gaiman...

Cassidy: Blood and Whisky was a one-shot where Cassidy, the Irish vampire from Garth Ennis' Preacher series, goes to New Orleans and encounters the first vampire he's ever met.

The vampire has a little bit of a cult of personality, with a bunch of vampire enthusiasts who treat him like a god.

One of his fans should be quite familiar to a lot of comic book readers...







Yep, that is quite clearly a bit of a parody of famed comic book writer, Neil Gaiman...



right down to the lettering font...



I don't exactly get the precise connection of Gaiman to Anne Rice's vampire novels (which make up the majority of the parody Ennis goes for in the issue), but for whatever reason Ennis chose to parody Gaiman a bit (and really, it's quite a light parody - doesn't appear to be malicious or anything like that), there it is.