‘The Goon: The Deformed of Body and the Devious of Mind’ – Eric Powell (Dark Horse)


Enter a carnival of devastatin’ delights as the Goon and Franky take on the evils of the entertainment industry and the tyranny of the one percent. But when a bodacious burlesque dancer steals Franky’s heart, can the Goon nail her before she makes off with… the knickknack?

And the ‘Goon Re-Read’ continues; not for too much longer as we’re starting to approach the end of the books that I haven’t already featured. We’re not there yet though so… Lets talk about ‘The Deformed of Body and the Devious of Mind’, a book that went very well with my breakfast bagel and kept me company on the way home from work.

After you’ve finished your main plot arc, and given one of your supporting cast the mini-series that he absolutely deserved… Where do you go next? Well, luckily for us, life goes on in Lonely Street (and the surrounding burg) in much the same that it did while Labrazio and the Goon were fighting. This time, we get a close look at what that means and… Well, basically it’s as slightly surreal as it ever was with the Goon and Franky having a little more time to concentrate on the little things, whether that’s a monstrous orphan, Greedy Gut the Hobo, Fishy Pete’s mother (she’s back!) or a particularly fastidious goblin. Oh yes, and Roxi Dlite, a burlesque dancer who might just be a match for Franky’s libido… There’s plenty happening, in this vein, and Powell tackles it with his trademark humour and his willingness to go ‘full pulp’ with his characters and the setting. If it ain’t broke and all that… Where else would you find dialogue like "Why does every BBQ I have end with a dead hippie being molested?" Nope, don’t tell me. I’m happy with it here ;o)

There’s a lot to laugh at then but as we all know, Eric Powell isn’t just about the laughs. Powell can do serious with the best of them and clearly saved the best of what he is capable of for his tale of workers being literally sacrificed on the ‘Profit Margin Altar’. Yep, there is a demonic gorilla and the Nameless Priest is still lurking in the shadows but it is incredibly sobering to go from a tale of burlesque capers straight into a tale of tragedy and then violence as Powell shows us just what the rich are capable of if the poor need putting in their place. And while there may be justice (and it’s chilling), there clearly isn’t enough being meted out. Oh well, at least we don’t live in a world like that… oh… :o(

And on that note… That’s me done for now ;o) If you’re this far into a series then you’ll be reading no matter what but take it from me, ‘The Deformed of Body and the Devious of Mind’ is worth the effort. There’s something here for everyone.

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