Super-Powered Comics: Diamond Destinations July 2010 (for September)

p. 48 Billy The Kid’s Old Timey Oddities and the Ghastly Fiend of London #1 (of 4): The title may be a bit ridiculous length-wise, but Eric Powell and Kyle Hotz have already created one great series starring Billy and his freakshow gang, and this story which takes Billy in to conflict with Jack the Ripper looks equally impressive.

p. 78 New Teen Titans: Games: The fact that this hardcover is even being published is all around amazing. Unfortunately, DC likes to solicit its graphic novel programs months in advance, so this one won’t be out until November. Once it is... well, 144 more pages of the eighties Titans, even Danny “I’m too lame to live” Chase! All by Wolfman and Perez!

p. 17 Deadpool Pulp #1-2: I would show far more interest in Marvel’s new pulp-inspired story if it wasn’t with the already overexposed Deadpool. However, this follows in the tradition of the Marvel Noir books and takes an Elseworlds kick. Too bad the solicits also make it feel more like James Bond than old school pulp.

p. 78 X-23 #1: I am a fan of Marjorie Liu’s writing both in and out of comics. Sadly, her Black Widow run ends this month, but she starts up a new series starring Wolverine’s lady-clone instead. I’m not sure how I feel about the character getting her own ongoing, but Liu does make it more appealing.

p. 85 Incognito Bad Influences #1: I wonder if Marvel will try to advertise Deadpool Pulp somewhere near Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ pulp hero book. The first Incognito limited was nothing short of amazing, so we will see if this one lives up to the first. Oh, and the pulp essays by Jess Nevins in the back matter totally make the single issues well worth buying.

p. 263 Vampirella Archives Volume 1 Hardcover: Call me less than enthused about Dynamite’s lackluster debut for Vampirella with two reprint volumes. The character deserves better, but at least it gives me an excuse to run this classic Frazetta cover.

p. 286 Valhalla Cindermane #1: I know next to nothing about this throwback to the bad girl era. It sounds fun IMHO. Oh, and the character apparently already has her own Myspace and Twitter.

p. 300 Return of the Originals: Battle For L.A.: Moonstone begins its new pulp initiative with this graphic novel by CJ Henderson and Mark Sparacio. The goal seems to be to quickly bring all the public domain pulp characters back in both prose and comic form and this is where it starts. This is by far the book I am most interested in checking out this month.

p. 305 Guerillas Volume 1: I was quite intrigued by Brahm Revel’s tale of an all primate squad active in a very real Viet Nam when Image published the first half of it a few years back. Now those stories are being collected by Oni Press, hopefully with the second half of the story to follow.

p. 378 Scott Pilgrim t-shirts: Bryan Lee O’Malley’s soon to be movie star finally goes hog wild on a whole series of shirts.

p. 382 Iron Man 2: Arc Reactor Glow Accessory: Am I the only one that thinks thorwing htis in the middle of a shirt would be simple and freaking awesome Halloween costume?

Super-Powered Comics: The Goon: Chinatown & the Mystery of Mr. Wicker

This will be the last week of regular updates on this page for quite some time. Starting at the beginning of November, I will be participating in the annual National Novel Writing Month, a.k.a. Nanowrimo. I might stop in with a couple irregular reviews (just to break up the writing of the novel), but otherwise I will be concentrating on my 50,000 words. But for now, let’s get to the review.

Eric Powell has been writing and drawing The Goon for over a decade at this point, but we never really got a good look at the character’s past. That changes in Chinatown and the Mystery of Mr. Wicker. The story moves back and forth from the past (told in beautiful sepia tones) and the present day (in the book’s regular palette. After a short introduction, we meet Shorty and his chanteuse sister Mirna. They both regularly work at Goon’s favorite bar.

Mirna’s good looks bring us back to a younger, unscarred Goon. He sees another beauty as he visits Chinatown and the ancient warlord that serves as the neighborhood’s crime boss. Needless to say, Goon gets embroiled in the dame’s life which leads to more problems between his and Frankie’s own burgeoning crime empire and that of the Chinatown set.

In the present, Goon deals with a very different problem, that of the strangely covered new crime boss Mr. Wicker.

The two stories weave in and out of each other with the subtle grace of the most talented filmmaker. It is a style not often seen in comics but works to perfection under Eric Powell’s able hand.

Both plots build to a fevered pace, but it is the past story of Chinatown that really shows the skill of Powell. In the process, we learn the origin of the powerhouse’s trademark look.

Let me just say that I know The Goon is by no means everyone’s cup of tea. But if you like Hellboy, if you like Umbrella Academy, hell, if you just like some one of the finest pieces of graphic fiction this decade, you owe it to yourself to pick up a copy of Chinatown. Highest Recommendation.