Have you ever wanted to run away from what passes as fantasy nowadays? Whether we're talking about sparkling vampires with fantastic abs or trouble girls who fall in love with sparkling vampires with fantastic abs or werewolves who wish to fight for the love of girls who have previously fallen for sparkling vampires with … well you get the damn picture, right?
It's all crap.
With this in mind I picked up issue #34 of The Goon with trepidation in my heart and a deep blood-lust for a good laugh and fantastic read that had nothing at all to do with what "sells" in the fantasy world nowadays, and boy was I rewarded. Smart, brutal and brutally funny The Goon is truly a wonder to behold.
Every single panel in this book and every single line of dialogue was pitch perfect, even the short opening vignette where writer Eric Powers takes the utter piss out of what goes for modern-day vampires (and then moans about whether the readers actually think he would do that for the entirety of the comic as it's too easy and ultimately not worth it) before he dives into a nice and nicely story that ends with things even more improbable than one can even imagine.
For instance … Powers has The Goon's favorite team actually win a match. I know. I know. Huge spoiler alert but someone has to point out that Powers is off his rocker with the "anything goes" power trip here.
All kidding aside, it was fantastic to see The Goon back in action and it was even more fantastic to see that he will be doing so on a fairly regular basis, as the comic will roll out on a bi-monthly basis. Sure it's not as awesome as when The Goon was produced monthly up until 2008, but six issues per year of awesome is way better than one to none, right?
Due to be released on June 29, 2011, The Goon #34 is a full-color 32-page release filled with dark humor and some brilliant artwork from Dark Horse Comics and will be priced at $3.50. You can pre-order it now from Dark Horse or try (key word is TRY) to catch it later at your local comic shop: UPC: 7 61568 12592 4 03411
It's going to sell fast, though, so choose wisely.
Article comments
1 - GeekyGirl
Do you do reviews on new up & coming comic books? I would love to see ur thoughts on Asa's Dad.
2 - Michael Jones
Generally I review what I am fortunate enough to be sent or those that I am fortunate enough to see. There are no local comic shops here so it's more difficult to see what's new and out there.
I will look up Asa's Dad, though. I'm always interested in new reads or new sounds. Thanks for the head's up!