'The Goon: Fishy Men, Witchy Women and Bitter Beer' – Langridge, Norton, Louise (Albatross Funnybooks)

In this world of working from home (which is starting to come to an end for me but that's another story...) it is so easy to loose track of time. For me, it was feeling like I read 'The Deceit of a Cro-Magnon Dandy' only yesterday and then checking, only to realise that it was right at the back end of last year... Oh well, apparently time flies whether you're having fun or not, which is strangely comforting to know but anyway...

When I realised it had been that long, the arrival of 'Fishy Men, Witchy Women and Bitter Beer' (hereafter just to be known as 'Fishy Men', I'm done being all insecure over my word count) made a lot more sense. I was intrigued though to see absolutely no mention of Eric Powell on the cover at all. For this particular collection of issues, Powell takes up cover art duties and that's it. What did this mean for the plot and it's accompanying art (something that had been done so well by Powell up until now)? Well, let's put it this way... You've got nothing to worry about ;o)

A stand alone Goon tale by acclaimed creative team of writer Roger Langridge (Fred the Clown, The Muppets) and artist Mike Norton (Battle Pug, Revival). When a brewing war between Mother Brewster's clan and Kaiser Fishhelm's Old Peculiar distillery breaks out, it looks to undermine the stability of the local unions. And the Goon can't have that, can he? Witches… Fish Men… and Beer! It’s a calamitous mixture as the Goon and Franky try to keep the Brewer’s Union in line and chaos from erupting in the streets.

I'll get straight to the point. If it hadn't been for the fact that there were different names on the cover, I wouldn't have noticed the difference (storytelling wise at least). We'll get onto the artwork etc in a couple of minutes, lets stick with the storytelling for now. It's pretty clear that Langridge knows what the Goon is all about, as a character and in that setting, and doesn't stray too far away from what is already a winning formula, that mixture of the Goon trying to do the right thing (while punching monsters) and Franky being a little pervert but generally helping out as and when. If it isn’t broken, leave it alone and that’s just what Langridge does. The result is a very solid foundation for the rest of the tale which just so happens to be a very good one. ‘The Goon’ works best when it mixes a little bit of the weird with ‘old school crime’ fiction and it doesn’t get a lot weirder/’old school crime’  than fish men going to war with witches over supplying beer to the thirsty. You know how it’s going to end but Langridge gives us enough twists and turns to have us wondering a little in the meantime. Not only that, we get the Goon starting to accept that he is a bit of a hero after all, even if it’s only so he can maintain the status quo and keep the cash flowing his way. And that was just what I needed from this book, a bit of ‘Goon’ through new eyes but familiar enough that I could just get straight into it without thinking too much. Langridge very much delivers on that front and I for one would be happy to see him take up writing duties, for ‘The Goon’, in the future.

Mike Norton’s art really captures the pulp stylings of Lonely Street and its inhabitants as well as the action when the Goon brings his fists into the game. If you’ve got those two areas covered then even if you’re not Eric Powell, you’re still good if you want to draw the Goon’s world. What really struck me though were the slightly muted colours of Marissa Louise and how these act as a kind of transition between the art of Powell and that of Norton’s. It’s a good move.

‘Fishy Men’ was a great read and sets a real standard for any other writers and artists wanting to play in Eric Powell’s world (I’m hoping that this is the start of something along those lines). And it’s a stand alone story as well so newcomers don’t need to worry about getting all. One, I suspect, for old fans and newcomers alike.