The Goon


The Goon is a supernatural crime comic book series written and drawn by Eric Powell. The series mixes both a comical tone with scenes of violence, which pit the titular character against conventional crime villains such as mobsters and gang leaders, as well as creatures from horror and science fiction, including zombies, ghosts, ghouls, mutants, giant squids, extra-dimensional aliens, mad scientists, and robots.

Publication history

An early prototype of The Goon was first published in 1995, in a book called Best Cellars #1 from Out of the Cellar Comics. This prototype was called Monster Boy, and the story was written and illustrated by Eric Powell.
The Goon first appeared in a cameo in a one-page preview in Avatar Illustrated by Avatar Press. Powell was unhappy with the quality of the book, so after three issues, he ceased producing new material and waited for his contract to expire. After this, he was unable to find another publisher, so he moved into self-publishing in 2002 with Albatross Exploding Funny Books. These self-published issues caught the eye of Dark Horse Comics, which approached Powell by telling him that did not know why they had passed on the book, and in 2003 publication of The Goon moved to Dark Horse.
The character appeared in Satan's Sodomy Baby.
After Dark Horse Comics published issue #18, The Goon went on hiatus to allow Eric Powell to work on Chinatown, a graphic novel exploring the Goon's backstory, and which was released as Chinatown and the Mystery of Mr. Wicker in 2007. The series returned with issue #19 on July 11, 2007.
A one-shot comic was released titled Dethklok vs. The Goon on July 22, 2009. Both Powell and Brendon Small co-wrote the comic.
Another one-shot comic was released titled When Freaks Collide in July 2011. It was a collaboration between the Criminal Macabre comic series and The Goon by Steve Niles, Christopher Mitten, and Eric Powell.
In 2019 Eric Powell's Albatross Funnybooks began publishing a new ongoing Goon series. The series ran for fourteen issues from March 13, 2019 to February 22, 2022.

Characters

Main characters

The Goon

An orphan raised by his Aunt Kizzie, a strong-woman for a carnival. When wanted gangster Labrazio made the carnival his hiding place, Goon snuck into his trailer after hearing about the man's reputation for viciousness. Labrazio showed the young Goon a book containing the names of his enemies, people who had done him favors, and people who owed him money. The police managed to track Labrazio down, however, and surrounded the trailer. In the resulting shoot-out, Goon's Aunt Kizzie, while trying to protect her nephew, was gunned down by stray bullets from Labrazio's firearm. When Labrazio dismissed Kizzie as a "stupid broad" for getting in the crossfire, the young Goon snapped and beat the mobster's skull in with a rock. Figuring the late gangster owed him something, Goon took Labrazio's book and took over the entire operation, collecting money and offing deadbeats, all the while insisting that Labrazio was still alive and the Goon was merely his "enforcer". The Goon is a hulking figure, normally wearing green pants, a white or black shirt, and the hat he removed from Labrazio. Occasionally he wears a faded blue shirt with green stripes on the sleeves—the uniform from his football days. The left side of his face is horribly scarred, caused in a fight with a Triad leader who could turn himself into a dragon by the use of dark magic. His eyes are blue, with the scarring on the left side of his face rendering his left eye blind. He has brown hair cropped short, almost always covered by his trademark cap.

Franky

After killing Labrazio, the Goon met Franky, a cowardly kid who was continually picked on by bullies. They became fast friends after the Goon beat up a kid who tormented him. The Goon involved Franky in his criminal business, setting out to burn down a barbershop which refused to pay protection to "Labrazio". During the arson attempt, they were attacked by zombies. Franky, not believing he could, killed one in self-defense, at which time he underwent a change in personality, adopting a haughty "tough-guy" persona similar to the Goon's, and taking up the position of the Goon's right-hand man. Franky normally wears brown pants with suspenders, a white tank-top, and a brown fedora on his bald head. Franky's eyes are drawn without pupils, similar to the comic strip character Little Orphan Annie or Jiggs from Bringing Up Father. Franky is nowhere near the Goon's level in combat prowess, but he has proven himself useful many times, if nothing else than to watch the Goon's back and act as another set of hands. His signature move is the "knife to the eye".

The Zombie Priest/Nameless Man

Arch nemesis of the Goon, the Priest is a mysterious man who dwells on Lonely Street, protected on all sides by his undead hordes. The Zombie Priest is steeped in the occult, and seems bent on building up his rotting army, perhaps to one day conquer humankind. He is grizzled and almost zombie-like in appearance himself, sporting a top hat decorated by the flayed skin of a face. The Priest's chief creations are the greenish animated corpses that occupy much of Lonely Street, but he has also succeeded in reanimating an enormous chimp more than once. Evil appears drawn to him, as vicious hags and giant bats provide extra protection for his stronghold, and goat-like demons advise him in his undertakings. The Zombie Priest was recently revealed to be a demonic creature himself, and perhaps the inspiration for the folk tale "Rumpelstiltskin", as he spent a thousand years in hell after a princess discovered his name. The Priest's true name is his most closely guarded secret, as anyone who knows it has power over him.
Due to the recent reappearance of the Buzzard and the efforts of the Goon, the Zombie Priest's undead hordes have dwindled to nearly nothing. Faced with oblivion at the hands of his enemies, the Nameless Man has taken drastic measures to rebuild his army. Resurrecting one last zombie known simply as "Mother Corpse", the Zombie Priest plucked out one of his own eyes to imbue her with a special power: procreation. With a termite-like abdomen that fills an entire room, Mother Corpse spawns countless miniature demons who are grown and lethal within six hours of birth. With a new legion of monsters at his command, the Zombie Priest is far from being defeated; the full cost of this new power, however, has yet to be seen.
The Priest has fallen from grace, with the arrival of another of his kind, dressed as an Indian warrior. This creature cut out the Priest's remaining eye to somehow create or bring back Labrazio. The Priest spends his days now writhing in pain, being tortured, and enduring endless humiliations from his successor. After Labrazio was defeated by the Goon, the Priest was then freed by Buzzard after being held captive, to be used as a weapon against Labrazio. He has recently taken the eye of The Cat and begun to make preparations for the Indian Warrior's return, saying: "He'll bring the others when he comes back ... But this town is mine!"

The Coven

A clan of supernatural entities from the same inhuman race as the Priest. Called sorcerers, priests, demons, and witches, they are referred to as 'magpies' by the Goon and his crew. The Coven plots to exploit the power of the curse lying over the town to restore their race to its former greatness. Their arrival in town sparked an all-out war with the Goon. The Coven each have bizarre animal familiars with misshapen human heads, like the Priest's cat familiar, who vanish when they are slain. They regard the Priest as the least of them, and look upon him with disdain after having cast him out long ago. The Priest has allied himself with the Goon to destroy the Coven, revealing their powers and weaknesses to his former enemy.
  • The Arab – The leader of the Coven. He plans to break Goon's spirit and then kill him, adding to the power of the curse over the town which he intends to command.
  • Longfingers – Described as the 'general' of the Coven. A sadistic, ghoulish monster with an inhuman appearance, Longfingers feeds on stolen children and the suffering of their parents. He may have inspired the 'Boogeyman' legend as the Priest inspired the legend of Rumpelstiltskin. Longfingers has a tall, thin body and his hands can sprout vicious nails. He is able to fight physically on par with the Goon, with neither opponent being able to defeat the other. Of all the Coven, Goon wants to kill Longfingers the most.
  • Spade – A being claiming to have the power to see through the eyes of men. He was killed by Willie Nagel with a shotgun blast to the head – as an eyeless zombie, Nagel was immune to Spade's power.
  • Spindle – An old woman with the power to turn herself and the other Coven members to fog. Goon countered her power by throwing acid bottles into her fog form, causing her to be burned by the fumes and forcing her back into her physical form. Goon then killed her by pouring acid on her.
  • Stone – A member of the Coven with unknown abilities. He was killed by the Goon with an axe.
  • Rake – A member of the Coven with unknown abilities. He was killed by Longfingers after a falling out among the Coven over the Arab's machinations.

    Claire Buckley (Buzzard)

Former sheriff of a Western town where the Zombie Priest came as a "missionary". As Buzzard was the only doubter of the Priest's unholy wisdom, he was shunned by his people and spiraled into an alcohol-fueled despair. Meanwhile, the town was stricken by a virulent plague that killed the townfolk, then brought them back from the grave. After being mocked by the Zombie Priest for failing to protect his citizens, the sheriff became consumed by vengeance and rode through the town, slaughtering zombies and storming the Nameless Man's camp. The terrified Priest attempted to use his necromancy on the sheriff, but rather than turning him into a zombie, it had a reverse effect. He became a living man with an insatiable hunger for the flesh of the dead, which garnered him the name "Buzzard". In the years that followed, he tracked the Priest across the countryside in a single-minded quest to avenge the town he didn't protect. As the trail led Buzzard into the city, he met the Goon and Franky in the midst of a zombie ambush. After telling the men his story, he informed them both he was going to storm the Nameless Man's tower. Despite the protests of the Goon, he continued his hunt into the very stronghold of his enemy. Upon reaching Lonely Street, Buzzard found himself surrounded. As the zombies closed in, he continued firing until both his handguns were empty, and the panel fades to black.
Seemingly dead, he was forgotten for months. He was, however, imprisoned in the tower of his enemy, tortured for months and starved to a near-skeletal state. Buzzard then managed to send a message to the Goon through a small spirit he befriended in his cell. The Goon gathered a rescue party and stormed Lonely Street and, with the help of Hieronymous Alloy and his robot Bruno, Buzzard was freed from torment. The last words yelled from the Zombie Priest were a reminder to Buzzard how he had failed in his mission to protect the town where he was once the Sheriff. The knowledge of his defeat drove him to despair and he attempted to commit suicide by shooting himself in the head. However, the Zombie Priest's curse kept him alive. After regaining strength, Buzzard buried himself alive beneath a tree on the outskirts of town. His mind wandered as he lay entombed, and the spirits in the woods told him many secrets, including the origin of the Zombie Priest, and the Goon's destiny as the only one who could triumph against the Nameless Man. His purpose renewed, Buzzard clawed his way free of the roots and soil to aid the Goon in his fight. Buzzard now guards the city's graveyards, preventing the creation of new zombies.
During the attack by Labrazio, Buzzard enslaved the Priest as a weapon against the resurrected mobster. After the battle was over, Buzzard commanded the Priest to reverse his curse, only to be told that the spell has evolved, making Buzzard an unknown type of creature that even the Priest does not understand, and that there may be no cure.