I haven't really read his opinions of his own work, but yeah, I think the Boys puts Billy up on a pedestal. Even in the end, he's ultimately the one who stops himself. He set up the safeguard in having Hughie around, he even had to hold Hughie's hand through the process of killing him. If Billy wasn't up on that pedestal, he wouldn't be helping Hughie do the right thing. The book is littered with little moments like that and they're too cutesy and ultimately portray Billy as this flawed hero when he's more of a monstrous bastard whose evil was sometimes coincidentally helpful.