Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Writer: Eric Powell
Artist: Eric Powell
Colourist: Eric Powell
Release date: May 13, 2015
Price: $3.50

Eric Powell deserves every bit of praise that has been heaped on him. Much of it feels like Powell is channelling Will Eisner, and that’s one of the highest complements a comic book creator can receive to my mind.

In this round The Goon, a monster-hunter, who debuted in 1998, and has been known to hang out with Hellboy, gets existential. The Goon is tired and disillusioned. So when he confronts Don Rigatti, who has a hit on The Goon, the Goon’s first words are: “Ever feel like it’s all pointless?”

The Goon muses for several pages about how life beats you down. When The Goon kills the capo it’s more de rigueur than out of defence, anger, revenge or justice. It just has to be done, but The Goon’s heart is not truely in it because The Goon is not sure if his killing makes any difference.

The malaise does not stop there. The real villain, the demon Corpus who wears another devil’s face sewed into his hat, also feels the bleakness of existence and loneliness. Corpus puts a new spin on the Rumpelstiltskin fairy tale. “Everybody knows the story, but they always get the name of the demon wrong,” Corpus says. Clever.

Philosophy aside, The Goon still has plenty of horror elements to please fans. One of the so-called “longfinger” demons puts his claws to graphic use.

Powell’s art is a gift. Even employing sparse backgrounds in many panels matters not a jot. The pages are so beautiful, moving from pen and ink to wash; more detail would be overkill.

One hopes The Goon can overcome his funk. We don’t want to lose him.

Reviewer: Joe Lovece
Reviews Editor: Steve Hooker