Comic review: The Goon- Once Upon A Hard Time-Part 1- Painfully real

Writer: Eric Powell
Artist: Eric Powell
Cover Artist: Eric Powell
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Released: 4th February 2015

The Goon is so broken, so traumatised by feelings of hate and revenge that he’s in a mode of thought where violence is the only answer, and self-destruction appears inevitable.

Drink binges, violence, smashing everything into a pulp because there is nothing left, his friend muses, perhaps even concludes as a final summation on the end of his friend:

‘Maybe it’s better if he does die.’

There’s a sense of despair to this book, dripping from the dimly lit pages; cigarette smoke and whiskey permeate everything. It’s a book in a dusty old pub, yellowing, stagnating, rotting, dying, there is nothing left, it rages, fists thrown, collapsing, it falls to the ground, sobbing, no hiding now, just tears, regret, pain, emptiness, nothing to look forward to, no reason to carry on.

Is it exceptional, or is it just bloody depressing? The former, of course, because it is illustrating the human condition and what happens to us when we fall apart, when nothing is left, only rage, despair and the desperate lonely urge to self-destruct, to end it all, because what’s the bloody point anyway?

Get the book, but only if you are a million miles removed from all of the emotions that I have just described. If you are in despair then this one might push you off the edge. It’s a dangerous book because it is real, a painful real, so think carefully before buying.

Rating: 9/10