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Kareem Ali 4.5

The Goon: Occasion of Revenge #1

 

  • The good

    Impressive action, gorgeous artwork, and the establishment of the town in all its creepy glory.

  • The bad

    Main characters' connection to town isn't explored and so the motivation to defend it isn't entirely clear.

  • The ugly

    • The Goon: Occasion of Revenge #1 is a new series written by Eric Powell and published by Dark Horse Comics about the Goon, who must protect his current town from the arrival of a mysterious priest and his horde of witches. It opens up with two of them discussing their current situation and the concern of their numbers growing thin. But all is not without hope as one has found a town they could call their home, and just in time for their gathering. And it’s not an ordinary town but one that is cursed and draws on the pain and suffering of its residents, which would be perfect for them. However that’s extremely unfortunate for the residents as evidenced by the life of Fred Paulsey, a man so heartbroken over his girlfriend using him and then dumping him that the town has him contemplating suicide. He tells her over the phone how she said she loved him and wanted to spend the rest of her life with him just two days ago but now he could see her for the monster she is. He would end his life with a pistol while on the phone with her but the town wasn’t done with him, and he would become an angry spirit filled with loneliness and despair. Maybe that’s why the town likes her since she revels in what she does and embraces the fact that she’s a monster because she’s immediately thinking about the next one she’ll get, and the next one she’ll use. But there are others in the town, like Goon, who have other reasons for being there and when he receives a note informing him that even more trouble is coming to town he tells one of his comrades to start preparing and to get the others ready. As if there wasn’t enough going on in the town already, now there are priests and witches set on using it for their own gain.

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    After reading the preview of this issue a while back I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it, and the start of this issue didn’t disappoint as the importance and power of the town was laid out in a wonderfully creepy fashion fitting the artwork and the tone of the story. Fred Paulsey’s tormented and manipulated soul was indicative of what fueled the town and why the curse in it meant so much to the priests, and Sandy Wayne, his ex, came off as the perfect metaphor for the town itself. But for all the details given about those two characters and the accompanying haunted visuals, the same can’t be said for the priests the issues opens with as well as the Goon. In their cases this issue had the feeling of prior knowledge being necessary to fully understand the main characters and what led them to their current situations.  Even though that led me to conclude there was some backstory that wouldn’t be shown here because it might have been shown in a previous series, it would have been beneficial if this was made clear in a brief synopsis somewhere at the start of the issue. At least in the Goon’s case this was addressed in the form of haunted visions at times, which would make the town the perfect location for him. Thankfully, the story would unfold in such a way that you wouldn’t need those characters’ back story as it was full of impressive sequences such as the Goon and his crew preparing for the arrival of the priest. And even though I read that sequence in the preview a little while back it was still intense, and the action was thoroughly enjoyable. And I just loved the artwork, which was also done by Eric Powell, because it was just as expressive regarding the characters’ personalities as any of the words on the pages. I don’t know how well a character can be developed just based off images alone but this came very close to giving me a greater appreciation of the characters’ personalities just based off the artwork in different situations, and the sequence that unfolds on page 21 is a prime example of that. I don’t know the full extent of the Goon’s capabilities or his motivation at this point but I do know I’m motivated to keep up with this series now.

     

    SUMMARY

    The Goon: Occasion of Revenge #1 is a solid start to the series with its mesmerizing setting in the form of a cursed town, engrossing story, and gorgeous artwork that is perfectly suited for it and its array of characters. And the way the defense of the town took was an extremely enjoyable series of events, and revealed even more about the characters’ natures and progression. The only problem I had with this issue was the way the main characters weren’t as developed early on as James and Sandy, so in the case of the Goon his connection to the town isn’t entirely clear and there was no mention of what led him there. However, I’m pretty excited to get my hands on the next issue and see what unfolds.

     

    Release Date: 7/23/14

    Writer: Eric Powell

    Artist: Eric Powell

  • Rating ( 8.75 )
  • Total score 8.8

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