I'm a Goon
Seriously, how bad was that review on the podcast at the weekend there? The Goon is funny. The Goon is hysterical. It's really funny. Funny. Funny. Funny. Tell you what's not fucking funny; me making an arse of that review. Especially as I think The Goon is one of the most exciting and original comics I have stumbled across in a long time. After a large dose of lamentation and a gentle prod from the wonderful Iain Connell (if you're a comic fan and not reading his blog, you better get fucking started - link at the bottom of this post), I decided to try and recover something from that car crash of a spoken review. The Goon deserves it. Eric Powell deserves it. Frankie and Dr Alloy and all the other characters deserve it. And also, this gives me the chance to showcase some of lush artwork I was making an idiotic attempt to describe. So anyway, yes, I think what grabs me in particular about The Goon is the humour. Powell writes his jokes in a style which mesmerises me because it is simultaneous wacky, slapstick and goofy coupled with this dark surrealness which feels like it should probably be frightening. It gives this feeling of being stupid and yet incredibly intelligent at the same time. Spontaenous yet you know Powell has carefully thought out the rythym and nuance of every syllable. The Goon is all about duality - like Light and Dark performing a stand-up routine down your local Jongleurs. And the artwork, fuck me, that wonderful, glorious artwork. It skirts the brashness of a Saturday morning ITV kids show while always having a layer of grittiness inherited from the noir comics of the 40's and 50's. If you were to try and lay a criticism at Powell's pencil work, the worst you could say is 'obvious'. There's nothing subtle about it and yet it always feels just right. Even tertiary charcaters are memorable because of the almost deceptful way Powell makes caricatures out of the simplest thing. From Frankie's high-waisted trousers to The Goon's flat cap.
Frankie and The Goon seem as natural a partnership as Morecambe and Wise, Vic and Bob or Liam and Noel. They have such distinct and fulfilled personalities and yet quickly, they became inseperable to me - like a single machine designed purely to entertain me, make me laugh and drag me through the story.
So I am sorry that my first review was so pish. I doubt anything written here makes things much clearer but that is purely because of my own limitations as a reviewer. Ultimately what makes The Goon so joyous is just how pschysophrenic yet complete it feels and the way that I feel challenged without it ever having read that way as an issue ends. Please go down to your local shop and pick this up. You owe it to yourself.
Oh aye, and don't forget - it's funny.
Dave
Iain's blog: http://www.connellandflorence.com/iain/blog/
