‘The Goon, Rough Stuff’ – Eric Powell (Dark Horse Comics)

A couple of weeks ago I picked the latest issue of ‘The Goon’ (number twenty five, I think) just to give it a go and see what it’s all about. Talk about a great read! There was plenty enough there to make me want to give the series a go in graphic novel format, and seeing as the best place to start is always at the beginning, I picked up a copy of ‘Rough Stuff’ (Volume 0 ) and started reading. If there was ever a book to show you that comic books are not just about superheroes then ‘The Goon’ is probably it. I’ll probably be picking up more of these in the future…

The Goon is a crime boss in a Depression Era city where his main rivals are zombies (under the rule of the Zombie Priest), the G-Men are corrupt, chainsaws can talk and the rats in ‘Rat Alley’ are the size of St. Bernards. ‘Rough Stuff’ collects the early adventures of The Goon, with his fight against the Zombie Priest, and gives us a little look at his childhood in a circus freakshow…

‘Rough Stuff’ basically sets the scene for stories to come and if it’s all like this then I’m certainly up for more. It’s pretty much one long fight all the way through but what raises it from becoming repetitive is Powell’s willingness to take the plot in unexpected directions all the time. Anything can happen and it usually does up to and including the talking chainsaw and a fight with a giant fish. The violence is suitably cartoonish but doesn’t pull any punches (‘knife to the eye!’) and is definitely not one for younger readers…
What really makes it for me is the humour on display, most of which comes from the psychotic midget Franky. Another word of warning though; tying a vampire to a car bumper, setting fire to him and then going for a drive appealed to my ‘non-PC’ side but might not be for everyone…

The artwork on display doesn’t match up to what I saw in Issue Twenty Five but the story makes up for it and I guess I’ve got all that good stuff to come in the future! :o)

‘Rough Stuff’ is a good slice of pulp action filled to the brim with mindless (but very funny) violence. I reckon I’m going to get a lot out of this series, if you like the sound of what you’ve read then head on down to your local comic store and get reading…

Nine out of Ten