A Pair Of Goons
THE
GOON #6: More Eric Powell fisticuffs and funny
stuff. In this issue, an otherworldly monster breaches the
fragile
fabric of our dimension, only to be soundly (and quickly) defeated by
the Goon. But before the monster expires, it has another trick up
its sleeve: It ingests a nearby horned Mexican fire toad and
gives birth to a second monster, one which towers over the city and
breathes fire. Luckily Dr. Alloy is on hand to lend the Goon
assistance.
Not much to comment on beyond the usual: Another hilarious issue
involving the usual monsters and mayhem. If you've been enjoying
the series so far, you'll probably like this one just as much.
Most of the humor this time around comes from the easily sidetracked
narrator with, uh, certain other things on his (its?) mind, and from
the strange Spanish insults spewing from Lagarto Hombre's
mouth. (And for those of you looking for a translation of the
monster's dialogue, Eric Powell himself has helpfully posted
one
on the Dark Horse message boards.)
THE
GOON: ROUGH STUFF: This trade collects some of
Powell's earliest work on
The Goon (issues 1-3 of the
Albatross volume)
and, as Powell himself admits, it's not the work of a polished
artist. But as Powell also notes, it is a revealing look at a
creator refining his ideas. In addition to the three issues
collected, Powell also includes early sketches outlining the evolution
of the Goon. It's interesting to see how the concept changed over
time, from a brutish young monster attending school with other children
to a half-man, half-ogre monster hunter to the Goon that finally saw
print. Also interesting is seeing how Powell's art
developed: Early drawings of "Mog" are very reminiscent of Dale
Keown while Powell's early paintings are very strongly influenced by
Simon Bisley, yet I hardly see any traces of those influences in
Powell's current work.
As for the stories themselves, well...they are pretty rough, to be
honest. They don't quite have the same comedic charm of the
current Goon series. Most of the humor is a little more obvious
and a little meaner, with the end result being noticeably less
amusing. Still, I'd recommend the collection for Goon fans, if
for no other reason than to see how the series has
progressed. For one thing, it's interesting to compare the
Goon's origin as told here with its compressed retelling in
issue
#1 of
the Dark Horse series. Some nuances were lost in the
straight-ahead, shorter version, but I can see why Powell decided to
abridge the origin for the new series.
