Here are reviews of some Dark Horse titles that are hitting stands this week!
THE GOON #34
There are very few comic books that make me laugh so consistently as Eric Powell’s superb undead action-comedy The Goon… Which is why it’s such a shame the title has been missing from stands for so long. Lucky you, you dogs, it’s back, and with one of the funniest issues to date. Powell takes on sparkly vampires, tween pop-phenoms, and his regular assortment of disgusting shenanigans without missing a beat.
For those of you new to Goon-dom, it’s pretty simple: there’s a guy called The Goon, he’s big and strong, and protects a town full of half-breeds and ingrates from undead monsters. That’s pretty much it. What makes it so great, beyond Powell’s unique designs that mix cartoon features with rich levels of detail and gorgeous shading, is the town of the book. This is pitch black comedy at its best, from orphans being tortured by the disgusting lady charged with their care, to quite possibly the best, most disgusting ending to a drunken story ever.
To say more about The Goon – and this issue in particular – would spoil the jokes, and the surprises. Suffice to say that anyone who likes comics, comedy, or awesome undead action will be thankful Powell brought his most famous creation back to comic book shops. We missed you, Goon.
THE STRANGE CASE OF MR. HYDE #3
As an unsolved case, the Jack the Ripper murders have inspired countless stories throughout the past century or so… Stories that reveal his true identity, or weave him into other stories are always extremely popular, as the murderer provides one of the most reliably clear villains in history. This series takes Jack, and pits him against – and mixes him up with – one of the great literary madmen, Mr. Hyde.
But we’re jumping ahead a little. Inspector Thomas Adye has been pursuing Jack, using Dr. Jekyll as Hannibal Lecter to his Clarice Starling. Only as time goes on, and Adye gets more mixed up by the evil brilliance of Jekyll (and his slightly more monstrous alter-ego), it starts to become difficult to tell who truly is the madman in the story. Though eventually it turns out to be Jack the Ripper.
Anywho, writer Cole Haddon has a firm grasp on period language, as well as a sense of the mores of the day; even if, occasionally, the plot points tend to go a little more Lost Girls than League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. And M.S. Corley’s art is reminiscent of a woodcut, stiff as the Victorian era the story is set in. That works extremely well for most of the scenes, which are centered on the uptight Adye fighting (and losing to, mostly) his baser urges. But for action sequences, not quite as well. A looser style, perhaps more Hyde than Jekyll, might serve them better, as the stillness of the action occasionally makes them a little difficult to follow.
Still, there’s something to be said for these sorts of mash-up stories, particularly as Jekyll makes a charming devil-you-know, a character we’d want to see more of after this series is over next issue. That is, if he survives his fight with Jack the Ripper…
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