The Goon #11 starts a new phase in Eric Powell's comic book series. First off, Powell has decided to begin telling longer story arcs that take place over multiple issues. He has said that he will try to make each issue as self-contained as possible, but to get the most out of the stories you'll have to pick up two or more issues. The Goon has had long running story lines before, but now they are more obvious and directed. I fully support this change. As long as each issue can tell a satisfying story in an of its self, the idea is great. Since the issues are only published ever second month, the wait will probably be frustrating, however. The Goon #11 kicks off a brand new story arch. Dr. Alloy's golden skin is beginning to break down - its being eaten away by oxidization - but the only way to save him is to obtain a rare material from another dimension. Goon and Franky suit up and travel to another dimension where the laws of reality are not solid. Franky, in a hilarious sequence, goes quickly insane and experiences visions of the ominous and powerful Gilded Bear in Checker Pants. It comes out of the blue and is absurdly humorous. The rest of the issue is told with great pace and plotting. It opens with Alloy waking up to find his face full of holes, and he dispatches a robot to solicit Goon's assistance. When it finds them, Franky is arguing with a crippled kid about the sexual transgressions of his mother, and Goon is dispatching a talking zombie hocking black market watches by the side of the road. When Goon receives the message for help, he says to himself, "Somethin' tells me I don't want nothing ta do with this," yet he goes anyway showing that like most noir or pulp crime heroes he does have a chivalrous heart despite his life of thuggery, crime, and violence.

        The dialogue is snappy and funny, and Alloy comes across as his usual overtly-intellectual self, but quite more sympathetic in the depiction of his decrepit state and the introduction of Lewis, his beloved rabbit whom is treasures more than all the treasures in the world. Goon and Franky go through a portal to another dimension where, in the sci-fi and fantasy tradition of artists like Wally Wood, they float around in nebulous space and have to contend with the treats of creatures such as the Chicken of Teeth or eye-and-teeth-adorned tentacle creature that is featured on the wonderfully painted cover. Eric Powell has to be one of the best monster-men in comics today, and his gloriously painted covers sink right into the pulp tradition of primary colours, exiting images, and sensationalism. After their misadventures, Goon and Franky return home to save Alloy at the last minute, or do they? The last few panels make it obvious that they might have saved Alloys body, but possibly not his mind. Something nefarious is coming....

        The Goon #11 is a satisfying, fun, and entertaining read full of sci-fi and horror action and a great deal of humour. When Alloy reveals that Goon and Franky may only return to their reality if they push the buttons on their chests simultaneously, Powell makes a wink and the needlessly contrived sci-fi plots of the sensationalist pulp fictions that so much of the Goon is reverent towards. Although the writing is of great quality, I was left feeling somewhat unsatisfied by the issue as a whole. I mentioned previously that this issue marks two new changes to the The Goon. Along with the change in story telling format, Eric Powell has also changed his art style.

    Before the issue was published, Matt Dryer, the editor of The Goon posted on the Goon Zone at Darkhorse.com:

        I can't say too much yet, but expect more detail, more rendering, more Eric Powell goodness packed into every
        page. The decision came with the changing of our paper stock. As some of our observant readers have already
        noticed, The Goon is now on a slicker, shinier, more ink-friendly paper, as of issue #10. Because of the fantastic
        results of this new format, Eric finally has a little more freedom to run around, artistically. Be sure to check it
        out.

Although the new paper stock is really nice, I am unhappy with the stylistic changes. The new style change strays away from digital colours that, when mixed with Eric's personal style of watercolors and pencil shading, created a murky yet vibrant look to the book that was really exciting. He would use hazy pencil shading to signify flashbacks, add definition to flat colours, and add atmospheric shading. Now, it seems, Eric has added more pencil shading techniques at the expense of dark, ink/pencil lines for detail, and has muted a lot of the colours with grainy texture and shading. For a comparison of the art change, look at the composite to the left with a contrast between The Goon #6 and The Goon #11. In this case, it look really good on Franky, who doesn't have a lot of detail to begin with, and it looks good on Goon's face because it brings out his scars, but on zombies and monsters who have a lot of grotesque detail, the fuzzy lines and grainy shading colours detract from the art. In this issue, the hazy pencil shading works because when they go to the other dimension, the backgrounds of the other dimension are digitally coloured. Goon and Franky are in black and white against a Technicolor background and it looks marvelous, but when Goon and Franky are in colour in their "real" world, everything looks hazy, muted, and sometimes sloppy. Characters in the background like Lagarto Hombre are made up of sloppy lines. When Goon and Franky find the rare material they are after, a kind of yellow rock, it has no definition at all due to this new style, and looks quickly penciled in dull, blunt charcoal or pencil lines. I don't know if if this is because Powell was rushing or if it was a conscious decision. As a result, this issue features good use of the new pencil style in that it brings out definition in round, flat faces, like Franky's or Goon's scars, but on the other hand it mutes the details in the monsters and washes out all the other colours. I much prefer Eric Powell's previous hybrid use of these techniques. I find the over reliance on pencil shading and definition problematic and unsatisfying.

        In the end, The Goon #11 is an exciting issue in terms of story, dialogue, and pacing, but the new art style has me conflicted. I love the potential that the use of more pencils promises, but I don't think they should be used at the expense of the other tools available. Hopefully, Eric Powell can refine this technique. Regardless, this issue is very much worth getting. I look forward to seeing the development of the new storytelling format and the new art style as the series continues.

DID YOU NOTICE?

- Goon is wearing his "Dockside Fighting Fish-Canners" football jersey, as introduced in the back-story plot of The Goon #9.

- Lagarto Hombre's clone is still working as Alloy's servant, and continues to spout belligerently unintelligible Spanish. I'm going to try and translate it as best I can, but Powell purposely makes it untranslatable for fun. I'll see if I can't get confirmation from his message boards:

•  Page One; panel five: "Yes, I will bring ei [?] to him food, human purse of the meat that the smells of dead monkeys!"
• Page Six; panel five: "Come inside, you melenda [misspelled form of melena, meaning condition marked by black, tarry stool or vomit composed largely of blood that has been acted on by gastric juices?] filth!"
• Page Eighteen; panel three: "Ceste [?] brilliantly intelligent gringo [disparaging word for foreigner] is terribly insane!"

- When Alloy's skin is rebuilt, the bolts and the compound eye mesh make him look very similar to one of Powell's earlier concepts for Dr. Alloy as shown in the sketchbook included with the trade paperback collection, The Goon: My Murderous Childhood (And other Grievous Yarns).

Visit the official The Goon site: www.thegoon.com