So a lot of you know that I was at San Diego Comic-Con about a week ago. One of the things that I always try to do as I head down to a Convention is pick up at least one book that I'd heard great things about for a while, but for whatever reason I was never able to buy it (it wasn't at my bookstore/ comic shop, I didn't have money, or whatever). This year, I saw that Eric Powell was hanging out at his booth so I thought there was no reason why I shouldn't be take the opportunity to pick up his acclaimed One shot Hardcover,
The Goon: Chinatown.Now, I had never had any experience with The Goon whatsoever, but I was familiar with a few elements. He's this mob enforcer for the supernatural world, he's got a side-kick named Frankie, etc. But for the most part I was going to be going into this blind. And let me say that I don't regret picking this up for a moment.
I'm going to start out with the first thing that will jump out at you: the art. Wow. This book is GORGEOUS. Powell's art wordlessly conveys such varying feelings of loss and depression that you will find yourself just flipping through the book just to stare at how pretty it is.
This story is an origin of sorts for the Goon to detail how he received his scarred visage, but more striking than this is the lack of humor that I've heard so many enjoy from Goon books. The book opens up with a message that reads, "This Ain't Funny" and man does Powell mean it. This book is dark, serious, and downright depressing. With this book being that depressing, I'm afraid at how striking the more humorous Goon tales are going to be once I dive into those.
I cannot recommend the Goon: Chinatown any higher. If you've been wanting to get into the Goon, I would recommend going with this if not the first trade. This thing deserves nothing less than a full 5 smileys out of 5
