Review: The Goon Volume 2

Cover

Come one, come all and see how Francis goes from a sissy little boy to the maniac Franky.  Learn how a sweet little boy became palls with The Goon.

Come one, come all and meet the harlot to the sea. See what happens when The Goon tries to salvage a safe from the bottom of the sea. Nothing scares The Goon! Well, nothing except the ladies.

Come on, come all and read about the superhero type mad scientist and his killer robot versus The Goon.

And much more...

How is it?

Like the previous volume, this is a compilation of issue long stories and some short ones also. There is little narrative to hold all these together. In fact, apart from the stories about young Franky and the early days of Zombie Priest there is not much evolution of the Goon's story.

The Goon VS Killer Robot

But that's not a bad thing. The Goon is supposed to be fun (remember when comics where fun kids?) and it manages just that. Its a joy to read the pages of this comic book. Eric Powell has a strange, disturbing but very imaginative mind that creates the wildest stories about a mob enforcer and zombies. Its like the Twilight Zone in comics but with zombies and mooks.

I won't go into detail here, but there are two that stand of of the fray. The Goon in the clutches of... the diabolical Dr. Alloy and A lost tale of The Goon.

In the first one the Goon has to go against a mad scientist with a killer robot that decides to conquer the city. The contrast between the superhero type villain and The Goon is just delicious and makes for a super fun story. In the second you get to read about young Francis and his first encounter with The Goon.

Its mine!

The art is great. Eric Powell and Kyle Hotz do a great job putting this Universe on paper. There are some different art styles (apart from the regular for The Goon), but that doesn't create that jarring felling one gets with filler artists. Basically some of the short stories have distinct art styles. That helps Eric create a different mood for every story.

Then there are a few artistic details that are just genial. Little things like portraying the femme fatal in a distinct style or the flashback art style. These little details make all the difference.


Verdict?

If I had to grade this book it would be a point bellow the previous volume. While it was a fun reading experience it lacked a bit of the WOW factor the first volume had. Having said that, this is a great book and you'll be grad you read it.


Publisher: Dark Horse
Year: 2010
Pages: 128
Authors: Eric Powell, Kyle Hotz
ISBN: 1595826165

Follow Reading Graphic Novels on Facebook and Twitter.