One of The Boys series’ two primary characters is Hughie Campbell. He goes from being a normal, everyday person to becoming one of New York’s most sought vigilantes, working with William Butcher to watch out for superheroes.
Hughie Campbell made his comic book debut in The Boys issue 1, “The Name of the Game, Part 1,” released in October 2006, written by Garth Ennis and illustrated by Darick Robertson. His appearance in the comics resembles the animated appearance in The Boys Diabolical and differs from that of the live-action series.
His appearance and backstory were modified for the TV series. He resided in Scotland with his adopted parents in the comics, but he is portrayed as an American citizen in the television series. One of the major incidents in A-life train’s is the murder of his girlfriend, which occurs in both the comics and the television show.
But in the comics, he receives his just desserts when Greg Mallory administers dosages of compound V to all of the Boys, giving them all instant strength. Hughie has superhuman intelligence and power, which he used to exact revenge on A-train. So without further ado, let us get started with today’s movie, in which we explain how Hughie destroys the A-train.
HUGHIE KILLS A-TRAIN IN THE COMICS
In ‘The Boys’ Tv series Hughie saves A-train’s life by applying CPR, whereas he takes his life in the comics. ‘The Boys’ comics, issue 63, finally lets Hughie bring out his rage. The issue belongs to the fourth part of the story “Over The Hill With The Swords Of A Thousand Men.” Hughie has been bottling up all his emotions and hatred for the superheroes, and that was only because of A-train. In the comics, he wasn’t even aware of Vought or its superheroes as he grew up in a small town in Scotland.
He was a regular ordinary guy, until A-train crashed on his girlfriend and killed her. Hughie lost all his happiness and has been terribly disturbed after his girlfriend’s death. He joined the Boys only because Butcher promised him revenge. The story begins with William Butcher taking Hughie to the terrace for a surprise. Butcher unmasks a tied-up and injured A-train before Hughie on the terrace.
Butcher fulfills his promise of getting Hughie his revenge. Homelander has been busy planning his attack on the white house to seize the government by force, and Butcher has been keeping an eye on A-train with the aid of his bugs placed at the Seven headquarters. It is not shown how, but we can assume Butcher managed to get hold of A-train by surprise as he was on V as well. Although Hughie had joined The Boys only on the condition that they would help him take revenge on A-train, he seemed nervous and confused seeing him.
A-train killed his girlfriend, which changed his life, and ruined his peace, and now that he has the best chance to complete the task, he is hesitant. Butcher tells him that he knows Hughie is soft and has tried many ways to make him ruthless. He failed every time, and this was his final chance. He then plays a recording of the members of the Seven that he had managed to capture with the help of his bugs.
The recorded conversation starts with A-train panicking about smashing into a girl and killing her by mistake in Scotland. The other members laugh at it, and Homelander joins the conversation asking what he did after that. A-train tells him that he disappeared from the scene, to which Homelander gives him a cookie. He then talks about how Back Noir had once taken out a school bus, and they all share a laugh.
The conversation proceeds as Hughie gets infuriated and demands William to stop it. William Butcher plays another recording where the Seven are discussing Lamplighter’s replacement. The members bring up Starlight’s name and share their perverted ideas as to why they want her on the team.
Hughie, by then, has lost his calm and starts shouting at A-train while A-train keeps on apologizing and begging for mercy. Hughie is on compound V as well, and after finally surrendering to his rage, he kicks A-train on his face so hard that it beheads him.
CONCLUSION
Hughie Campbell’s story and origins from the Tv series have been quite different from the comics. Played by American actor Jack Henry Quaid, Hughie from the tv series is an American who lived with his father and loved a girl named Robin. However, in the comics, he lived with his adoptive parents in Scotland, and when A-train killed his girlfriend there, he decided to move to America and work with William Butcher for their crusade against the Superheroes.
In the comics, the character’s visual design was made after Simon Pegg, who played Hughie’s father in the Tv series, owing to his age. He was bald and had a blonde goatee. After getting injected by Compound V, he acquired super strength, durability, and superintelligence. This, too, was changed in the tv series, and Hughie could teleport after taking temporary V, which stayed for a day.
Hughie is repressive and never really got a chance to vent his anger after the death of his girlfriend. His confusion and trauma often brought him trouble in his relationship with Starlight, and after getting A-train, all the chain of complex thoughts and fear started bothering him.
Getting his revenge on A-train was the main goal of his life, and after a little push from Butcher, he did get it. He beheaded the man who killed his girlfriend. The scene is a powerful one as A-train, the fastest man alive, keeps begging Hughie for his life, who finally kills him. A-train’s apology was one the best moments in the comics, and we also get to see that in the Herogasm episode from the Boys tv series.