ALBATROSS FUNNYBOOKS
[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]
CARTOONIST: Eric Powell – @goonguy
COLORS: Rachael Cohen and Eric Powell
EDITOR: Tracy Marsh
COVER: Eric Powell
VARIANT COVER ARTIST: Kevin Nowlan
24pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (March 13, 2019)
“A Ragged Return to Lonely Street”
The Goon is a comic book character created by comic book writer-artist, Eric Powell. The Goon is visually similar to a “heavy” or muscular-type villain from an old-timey Hollywood film or television series. To me, The Goon looks like a blend of Golden Age Hollywood leading man, actor Sterling Hayden, and Hollywood B-movie cult icon, Rondo Hatton. The Goon's adventures take place in a supernatural world in which he battles ghosts, ghouls, mutants, and various other monsters, as well as assorted undead/zombie types
The Goon is currently celebrating his twentieth anniversary. He has been the star of his own comic book series, The Goon, beginning in 1999, with most of his comic book run spent at Dark Horse Comics. Powell recently relaunched The Goon series via his own comic book publishing company, Albatross Funnybooks (formerly Albatross Exploding Funny Books). The new series is written, drawn, and lettered by Powell and colored by Rachael Cohen and Powell.
The Goon #1 (“A Ragged Return to Lonely Street”) finds The Goon and his pals, Franky and Rosco, returning to “the town with no name” after a time spent abroad serving with a mysterious organization (a tale for another publication). The Goon expects the town to be changed, since he cleaned the place up of supernatural baddies before he left... but even the zombies are back.
Now, needing a place to stay, The Goon and Franky must deal with a shady character, Horace Sinckelits (“Realtor of the Damned”). Plus, there is the issue of “Baby Galahad the East-Side Ghoul,” one of several unsavory types who have stepped in to fill the void The Goon left behind.
I am not a big fan of The Goon, but I enjoy reading it from time to time. My eyes, however, are always hoping to take in more of Eric Powell's beautiful art and illustrations. The Goon is truly an oddball creation. I think of it this way: if you took the tone and spirit of the horror comic books published by Marvel, DC Comics, and Warren Publications (to name a few) and blended them with the sensibilities of MAD Magazine; next, added a sprinkle of the more humorous episodes of Will Eisner's The Spirit; then, placed it in a Film-Noir big city setting, you would have The Goon.
The Goon also has more than one great character. First, there is the title character, and secondly, there is the irascible Franky, whose dialogue sounds like a low-level criminal-hood type from a Hollywood gangster movie. Powell makes Franky funny practically one-hundred percent of the time, and so, Franky makes The Goon twice as good. Honestly, I really can't get enough of a character; I guess I'm a Franky fanboy slash homer.
Now, that I think about. I liked The Goon #1 (2019) so much that I don't want to read it from time to time. I want to read it every issue.
http://www.thegoon.com/albatross.html
8.5 out of 10
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
The text is copyright © 2019 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site or blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.
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