Review: The Goon #35

When I first heard Evan Dorkin was writing a new issue of The Goon I scratched my head in confusion. "Oh, crap," I thought. "Eric Powell just returned to work on The Goon and he's already too lazy to write his own material." Keep in mind this was before I read anything written by Dorkin--yes, before I read my beloved Beasts of Burden: Animal Rites. So after reading that collection and becoming a bit more familiar with his twisted little words I had nothing more than high hopes for The Goon #35. Why, you ask? Because Evan Dorkin has plotted some of the most entertainingly creepy tales I've read in the past year. Tales that could frighten the whiskers off a witches' chin. Tales that could revive Ronald Reagan from cryogenics. Tales that make you want to eat Arby's. And that's frightening.

But this issue of The Goon never reached that ark-of-the-covenant-melting-point that his other works had. The issue begins with the beloved duo Franky and the Goon driving in the midst of a "job" when all of a sudden a stumpy no-legged man rushes across the road. Much to their misfortune, the two discover their car wrecked and seek vengeance against the little freak. From here on I expected the story-line to pick up into something a little stronger. Unfortunately things turned out a little predictable. Not to ruin the entire story for you, I'll stop with the plot there.

In my opinion the most distracting feature in this issue was the expectation of Powell's story-telling. I waited for one of his enormous and insurmountable splash pages to come along but unfortunately Dorkin/Powell never delivered. Even the comedy felt slightly hindered, like this tag-team duo rushed the script without properly planning the comedic timing. When I read a Goon comic I expect to laugh out loud. This time I did not. I wanted to but the comedy is hardly worth sharing to friends. Who knows whose fault it is--but sadly, unless you are Goon-head that can't miss a single issue (like me), this is one Goon comic you can pass on.