50 Word Review- The Goon in Theatre Bizarre: Halloween break from despair

By: Eric Powell & John Dunivant
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Released: 14th October 2015


Ephemeral, inconsequential, gorgeously illustrated and coloured, Halloween fun, made to make you smile, dialogue is jokes, butts, one-liners, asides, quips, spooky clown, ghost theatre, fog, olde no time, fun with the boys, no depths reached, read, enjoy art and jokes, Goon so depressed by recent events, takes Halloween holiday here.


Rating: 7/10

The Goon has been having a hard time recently, suicide inducing hard. He's been down in the dumps, betrayed, lost and in fight/drink/fight despair mode. Is there any point in living (hard as it is) when there is no love in your life, and no possibility of finding it in the future? Probably not, and when there is no hope, it's all over. Goon was in desperate need of a break from despair. He gets it here in this Halloween special where he takes a trip to a spooky theatre. The story relies heavily on beautifully painted artwork and silly jokes based on female posteriors. I didn't like the ending, it fell flat, but the book looked great, and most of the jokes hit. It's a decent Halloween book, not scary, not really doing much, but as a break from the trauma and despair of recent Goon stories, it's a welcome break and a silly, inconsequential, throwaway bit of fun.

Comic review: The October Faction #1: Halloween greetings from the Worm

Writer: Steve Niles
Artist: Damien Worm
Publisher: IDW
Released: 8th October 2014


I love Halloween. Everything about it screams (literally) silliness, fun, excitement and adventure. The cold, wet, dark nights, the Pumpkin lights, the trick or treating, the scary movies, and the even scarier comics as well, of course.

Worm and Niles are the spooky twosome who bought us the wonderfully gothic Monster & Madman, and here they’ve teamed up, just in time for Halloween 2014, to give us another dose of gloom and doom, comic book style.

Truth be told, I was already adding this book to my pull-list before I even read it. All you have to do is look at the names on the cover, flick through the book for a couple of seconds and you’ll already be a fan. The story involves a spooky Adam’s family scenario, monster hunters and mysterious goings ons involving a wife who has slowly become less attached to her husband. Is she having an affair? Nah, that would be far too boring. So what is she doing? What do you think? It’s coffin related, and that’s all I’m giving away.


The art, by the fantastically named Damien Worm, is gloriously gothic and enveloped in shadows, bloody memories of the recent past, seances, tormented spirits and haunted house atmosphere. It’s the colouring that does it. You have to look closely, but don’t linger for too long. You might not like what you find lurking in the gloom encrusted shadows, and once seen the spirits of the dead have a horrible habit of burying themselves into the deepest, hidden recesses of your mind. The book could be written in Mongolian for all I care. The art alone makes it a must by book for all fans of gothic horror.

Are you a Goth? If so, you need this book badly. If you’re not a Goth, then get the book anyway. Trust me, you’ll love it. You’ll discover something new, something awesome, as the kids says these days, or not, probably. I don’t know what the bloody kids are saying these days. What do I know? I’m old.

I’ll tell you what I do know though. I know a good slice of Halloween fun when I see it. This book is exactly what I need in my life right now. My decorations are up, my Medusa head is telling me to look into her eyes, my haunted tree is mocking me, and my Ghoul in a coffin is periodically jumping out at me as I scurry past his place of rest in my living room. Did I mention that I love Halloween? And I also love, love, love this comic. Put down that Batman book, and get yourself something spookalicious, just in time for Halloween.

Rating: 9/10