The Boys is, at the beginning, the story of an unassertive young man who has had the good fortune to love and be loved by an incredible young woman -- who is brutally killed in front of him by a careless superhero.

The hero, a speedster named A-Train who was in a hurry to get ... somewhere, is dutifully if insincerely apologetic for the incident, and the young man -- Hughie Campbell (Jack Quaid) -- is offered a $45,000 payout for his anguish. He's not impressed -- but it brings him to the attention of Billy Butcher (Karl Urban), who pretends to be a federal agent just long enough to get Hughie's help in laying a trap for the "supes" he despises.

That begins The Boys, an ongoing Amazon Prime series in which the heroes are certainly heroic, when the cameras are rolling and there's a paycheck waiting in the wings, and a handful of normal citizens are gearing up to take back their streets.

On the side of the "heroes," we have the likes of Homelander (Antony Starr), Queen Maeve (Dominique McElligott), A-Train (Jessie T. Usher) and The Deep (Chace Crawford), analogs respectively of Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash and Aquaman, and newcomer Starlight, aka Annie January (Erin Moriarty), who has just been raised to the big leagues, The Seven, which is this world's version of the Avengers or Justice League. The team is run in a cutthroat business-like manner (in the first season) by Madelyn Stillwell (Elisabeth Shue), who makes sure the profits keep coming, and the heroes are (mostly) concerned with maintaining their image and cushy lifestyle.

On the side of Billy and Hughie we have Frenchie (Tomer Capon), Mother's Milk (Laz Alonso) and the silent, powerful Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara). They also have the sympathetic ear of Starlight, whose introduction to The Seven was not very positive (blame The Deep for that), and whose introduction to Hughie was of meet-cute proportions.

The series is violent, profane, bloody and a whole lot of fun for anyone who appreciates the notion of superhero tropes being turned on their gory ear. Some characters will leave the show, usually in horrible ways, and new ones will be introduced to take their places. Meanwhile, the "good guys" -- if, in fact, this show has anyone who deserves that name -- are having a pretty rough time of it, and it's really not a good idea to get on the bad side of Homelander.

The series is two seasons in, and whether or not you follow the comic-book series on which it is based, if you like hyper-realistic superhero adaptations you will be quickly absorbed into The Boys.