Growth Potential: The Goon
Every month, Diamond Dialogue's "Growth Potential" column brings to your
attention titles that are particularly worthy. In June, the column focused on
The Goon Color Special from Albatross Exploding Funny
Books...
It wasn't long ago when it appeared the horror comic was dead as the Dodo, ready to be sent off to the Great Comic Book Stand in the sky.
Then along came Mike Mignola's Hellboy. Taking generously from H.P. Lovecraft (and his inner circle), Jack Kirby's monster comics from the 1950s and '60s, and Universal Monster and Hammer films, the book almost single-handedly helped bring horror back to the four-color medium. Mignola's man-monster left the super-hero trappings behind to face monsters like an old-fashioned hero - a pulp hero, really - should. And that, in a roundabout way, brings us to Eric Powell's The Goon Color Special (JUN021975F), which, like the Einser and Harvey Award-winning Hellboy, borrows from a number of sources, but does so in a way that makes it all new again.
Originally introduced to readers through a three-issue mini-series from Avatar Press, Powell's Goon is one helluva book. To paraphrase writer James Robinson, it's the heroes with the simplest stories that are often the most intriguing, if not the most entertaining. And Powell's hardboiled, hard-hitting ghostbuster is just that. Eerily resembling Eddie Campbell's Bacchus on steroids, The Goon has one simple mission: to beat supernatural baddies the only way he knows how - with his fists! Sure, this over the top, no-holds-barred horror story may not be appropriate for a College Lit course, but it doesn't have to be. It just has to be unabashedly good fun - and it's that in spades!
Similar to Mignola's Hellboy, the book has a delightfully pulpish feel to it, trading in superheroics for high adventure. Like the "World's Greatest Paranormal Investigator's" creator, Powell has borrowed from what has come before. You can't look at his deceptively clean art style and not see where he conjured the dark inspirations behind this book. There are homages to Bernie Wrightson, Gary Gianni...even the book's page layout will remind one of Mignola. With that said, Powell still makes this story his own. Although he wears his comic book muses on his arm (the one he draws with, apparently), he's not copying their work; he's celebrating it. After reading this book, readers will quickly decide they should, as well.
"Featuring solid storytelling and gorgeous (if, at times, grotesque) art, The Goon Color Special has all the ingredients of a monster book," said Diamond Director of Purchasing Mark Herr. "All it needs now is for retailers to scare up sales by introducing it to their customers."
Be sure to place an Initial Order for this title! Online ordering is open until July 2 at https://retailer.diamondcomics.com/main/ordering.asp.
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It wasn't long ago when it appeared the horror comic was dead as the Dodo, ready to be sent off to the Great Comic Book Stand in the sky.
Then along came Mike Mignola's Hellboy. Taking generously from H.P. Lovecraft (and his inner circle), Jack Kirby's monster comics from the 1950s and '60s, and Universal Monster and Hammer films, the book almost single-handedly helped bring horror back to the four-color medium. Mignola's man-monster left the super-hero trappings behind to face monsters like an old-fashioned hero - a pulp hero, really - should. And that, in a roundabout way, brings us to Eric Powell's The Goon Color Special (JUN021975F), which, like the Einser and Harvey Award-winning Hellboy, borrows from a number of sources, but does so in a way that makes it all new again.
Originally introduced to readers through a three-issue mini-series from Avatar Press, Powell's Goon is one helluva book. To paraphrase writer James Robinson, it's the heroes with the simplest stories that are often the most intriguing, if not the most entertaining. And Powell's hardboiled, hard-hitting ghostbuster is just that. Eerily resembling Eddie Campbell's Bacchus on steroids, The Goon has one simple mission: to beat supernatural baddies the only way he knows how - with his fists! Sure, this over the top, no-holds-barred horror story may not be appropriate for a College Lit course, but it doesn't have to be. It just has to be unabashedly good fun - and it's that in spades!
Similar to Mignola's Hellboy, the book has a delightfully pulpish feel to it, trading in superheroics for high adventure. Like the "World's Greatest Paranormal Investigator's" creator, Powell has borrowed from what has come before. You can't look at his deceptively clean art style and not see where he conjured the dark inspirations behind this book. There are homages to Bernie Wrightson, Gary Gianni...even the book's page layout will remind one of Mignola. With that said, Powell still makes this story his own. Although he wears his comic book muses on his arm (the one he draws with, apparently), he's not copying their work; he's celebrating it. After reading this book, readers will quickly decide they should, as well.
"Featuring solid storytelling and gorgeous (if, at times, grotesque) art, The Goon Color Special has all the ingredients of a monster book," said Diamond Director of Purchasing Mark Herr. "All it needs now is for retailers to scare up sales by introducing it to their customers."
Be sure to place an Initial Order for this title! Online ordering is open until July 2 at https://retailer.diamondcomics.com/main/ordering.asp.
