Review – The Goon #1 (Albatross Funnybooks)

Publisher: Albatross Funnybooks
Written/Illustrated: Eric Powell
Colours: Rachel Cohen & Eric Powell
Release Date: 13th March 2019

On a silent, foggy morning, a solitary fishing boat lurches and crashes into a deserted, decaying dock front. An angry voice shatters the silence and once more The Goon, Franky and Roscoe are back in The Town With No Name. Years after The Goon finally vanquished The Voodoo Priest and rid Lonely street of the Evil and monsters that dwelt there, the gang are expecting a hero’s welcome at Norton’s but they soon discover that things are as bad, if not worse, than ever before, and that Evil never dies.

If you’ve never read Eric Powell’s The Goon, then there’s a good chance we can’t ever be friends. HOWEVER, this is a perfect opportunity to try to redeem yourselves! In a nutshell, The Goon is the bastard child of noir gangster and Lovecraftian horror, with a really twisted sense of humour. This year celebrates the twentieth anniversary of Eric Powell’s belligerent psychopath and I’m extremely excited to see what new adventures he has in store for us.

So what does this new entry into the ongoing saga of The Goon bring us? Well, for a start this is the same Goon, Frankie & Roscoe that we’ve grown to love over the last twenty years. They’re older, wiser (well, maybe not Franky, he’s always going to be a moron) and have a few more scars, but their love of mayhem, destruction and inappropriate behaviour is as sharp as ever.

It was too much to hope that their return would be parades and accolades but thankfully for us readers, it’s not long before The Goon is knee-deep (literally) in rotting corpses and slugging it out with giant deformed monsters. Whilst at first this might seem like more of the same, there is so much variety and fun in all the characters inhabiting The Town With No Name that you never get bored, and every tale is an exciting adventure.

Eric Powell is a master of the grotesque. He has an incredible gift for taking the nightmare-fuelled abominations of his fevered imaginings and bringing them to life as fully developed, three-dimensional characters. The variety of what he produces seems to know no bounds, from Zombies to aquatic demons, giant spiders and folklore creatures and everything in between.

There’s something for everyone. Hell, there’s even an all ages series called CHIMICHANGA if you want to start your kids young on his work. It’s gratifying to see that Powell still has just as much enthusiasm and love for his characters as he did 20 years ago, and it really shines through in the sheer quality of each panel.

I’m so happy to see The Goon back on the shelves, and long may he continue to be there! So in the words of Franky…

BUY THIS COMIC YA FILTHY SLACK-JAW OR IT’S KNIFE TO THE EYE TIME!

Rating: 4.5/5

[PREVIEW ARTWORK]