Albatross Funnybooks 2019
Written & Illustrated by Eric Powell
Coloured by Rachael Cohen & Eric Powell
The Goon's return to Lonely Street is off to a bumpy start. And it's about to get bumpier when he crosses paths with up and coming crime lord Vinnie Nosferatu.
Well hell to the yeah here people! First of all let me just reiterate if you haven’t yet read any of The Goon stories before now that’s okay this run is a very new reader friendly series. You can jump into this and just enjoy what it is. Eric has a stellar vision when it comes to the characters he loves and writes and it comes through better than a fortune teller with a crystal ball. The book oozes so much feelings and emotions and it makes you laugh have the kind of time that makes you forget your troubles, come get happy, ya better chase all your cares away.
I very much am enjoying the way this is being told. The way that this is structured is perfectly done and seeing the opening depict the events of Vinnie Nosferatu and his life leading him into becoming who he is, is just perfectly done. It captures the readers’ attention, makes them want to see more and makes for a very intriguing depiction of this man turned monster. The characterisation is so well done and so nice to see that we have a perfect picture of what he’s about, what drives him and the limits, or lack thereof, he’s willing to go.
They say the measure of a man isn’t what he does it’s how he’s seen by others. In this case now that he’s come home the merchants and everyone in town has taken a new stance in how things are supposed to operate. The Goon, his presence and his reputation mean that the townsfolk are no longer going to live in fear and that speaks a lot of how we should be seeing the Goon, and Franky. Well I like that Franky is brave so long as he has the Goon to hide behind. Still how we see the idea behind drawing Vinnie and his goons out was pretty genius and it’s shame we only get a peek of that butt while he’s doing that. The humour and sense of protectiveness we see in the same moment is not what I was expecting but should have been.
The interiors here are utterly spectacular and bloody brilliant! The work in the opening in that pencil is so gorgeous and rendered in such a way that there is a grace and beauty that we see which is undeniable. It is also like getting to see a look into the process and definitely leaves an impact and shows why I love getting original artwork at conventions. I love the sparse utilisation of colour in this book and how it’s really just a whole variety of shades of grey. Then of course moments like Kizzie which stand out as well. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show off this mastery of storytelling. Backgrounds that we see are utilised extremely well and really expand the moments and bring a size and scope to this world. The creativity and imagination here are so well rendered and brought to life.
I fell in love with this last issue and this one strengthens that and this really is the first time I am reading The Goon. No one told me how good it was or that I should be reading it over the years. So tell your friends, tell your local shoppe to carry it and make sure that you tell people that Albatross Funnybooks is the creator owned company that needs to on everyone’s lips.