'The Goon in Once Upon a Hard Time' – Eric Powell (Dark Horse Comics)

A quick 'search and scroll' through an old blog of mine told me that it was way back in 2008 that I came across the Goon for the first time in #25. Have a quick look at the cover because I'm feeling properly nostalgic right now...

Comics are full of heroes hanging up their capes while dealing with some personal crisis but even I could tell this was something a little different and that I needed to check it out. Little did I know then that some half hearted thoughts about picking up a trade (or maybe even two) would turn into almost twelve years of following one man's attempts to just survive while the world keeps crapping on him from a great height; running all the criminal rackets in Lonely Street while struggling with an internal voice that keeps telling him that he is far better than he thinks he is. And glittery vampires, mollusks in hot air balloons a very well meaning mad scientist and a psychotic best friend amongst the most zombies you've seen in a comic that isn't 'The Walking Dead'. 'The Goon' is brutal yet strangely touching, tragic yet strangely hopeful, weird yet full of jokes that will make you snigger like you're ten years old all over again. Having written all that, do I need to recommend it to you? Well, I just did.

And here we are at volume 15. I've still got a few trades to find but volume 15 is a good one to post about as it ties together and rounds off bits of plot that had been chugging away for years at this point. At this point, there was talk of 'The Lords of Misery' but no real sign (well, to me anyway) that this would happen. Hopefully we might see that now 'The Goon' is a series again.

In the meantime though...

After the tragic events of Occasion of Revenge, the witch coven believes that control of the unnamed town will soon be in their grasp and the Goon's tragic soul will contribute to the curse that increases their power. But has their plot destroyed the Goon or created a monster too savage for them to withstand?

What a volume to end things on (at least, that's what we all thought at the time)... When I reviewed Volume 16, a few months ago, I mentioned that things 'picked up a little bit' in 'Once Upon a Hard Time'. Well, I was wrong. Things do a lot more than just pick up here. Having re-read this book, I'd say we're looking at another 'Chinatown' here and if you've read that book, you'll know that this is high praise.

'Once Upon a Hard Time' sees the Coven push the Goon along a very dark road where those final few steps could be the last ones he ever takes. The humour of previous stories is gone now, there's no place for it in what is a searing character study, of the Goon, by Eric Powell. He is pushing the Goon to the absolute limit now and just documenting what happens next. The results are an interesting combination of introspection and full blown violence through situations like where the Goon gains an insight into himself by reading 'The Island of Doctor Moreau' (while waiting to ambush some Mafia button men). My favourite moment, along these lines, is below...

We've all felt like that and you can't help but sympathise with, and root for, someone who has been pushed long that road harder than most.

'Once Upon a Hard Time' has a strangely hopeful note to it though we see that even the worst of us (in our own heads, anyway) can have friends who will stand with us when life is at its worst. The bit with Willie Nagel in particular is really powerful, I can only wish I had a zombie friend like that.

And 'Once Upon a Hard Time' ends on a very hopeful note, a little bit cheesy at first but entirely appropriate given all the previous events. It goes without saying that Powell's art complements his writing perfectly; staying true to the dreamlike world of Lonely Street but switching gears effortlessly when the story demands it.

I've never ranked my 'Goon' trades in order which ones I like the best as no matter what the book is, it's 'The Goon' and I love them all just as much as each other. Having re-read 'Once Upon a Hard Time' though... I suspect that if I ever did rank them, 'Once Upon a Hard Time' would be up there with 'Chinatown' and 'Calamity of Conscience'; it's an amazing read (and yep, I'm a fan but I don't care, it's still an amazing read) and one that any comic book fan really needs to read. You'll have to read all the others first but that's not exactly a chore either ;o)