The Goon, Volume 15: Once Upon a Hard Time

The Goon #15

by Eric Powell

After the tragic events of Occasion of Revenge, the witch coven believes that control of the unnamed town will soon be in their grasp and the Goon's tragic soul will contribute to the curse that increases their power. But has their plot destroyed the Goon or created a monster too savage for them to withstand?
Once upon a Hard Time is a climactic miniseries that has major consequences for the Goon and his supporting cast. If you're a Goon fan, you can't miss this. Collects issues #1-#4.

Genres: Comics, Horror, Graphic Novels, Graphic Novels Comics, Humor, Thriller, Fiction

136 pages, Paperback

First published May 3, 2016

About the author

Eric Powell has contributed work on such comics titles as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Hellboy: Weird Tales, Star Wars Tales, The Incredible Hulk, Black Panther, The Avengers, The Hood, MAD Magazine, Devil Dinosaur, Swamp Thing, the Avengers, She-Hulk, the Simpsons, Arkham Asylum: Living Hell and Action Comics.

Although eking out a meager living in the comics field since 1995, Eric didn't find true success until he launched his critically acclaimed dark comedy series The Goon. The Goon was subsequently picked up by Dark Horse Comics and boasts a diehard cult following.

Reviews

[Sam Quixote · Rating 3 out of 5]

Once Upon a Hard Time is the second half of the Occasion of Revenge storyline and it begins immediately afterwards too so don’t pick this up until you’ve read that.

Goon is losing it. The coven of witches, or "Magpies", have him on the ropes and his alliance with Don Rigatti is broken. He sees death in every outcome - even his own. Will Lonely St. lose its champion once and for all?

There are two kinds of Goon books: the whacky and the serious, and Hard Time is the latter. That’s also partly because the more tragic a figure Goon becomes, the more power the Arab has.

Like Occasion of Revenge, I didn’t love this one. The Arab, the Magpies - they’re decent villains but they don’t feel like the epic climactic nemeses Eric Powell’s set them up as. They just came out of nowhere as instant threats. It's the one major failing this series has - Powell's never created a Joker or Negan for Goon which is why conjuring one up now out of nowhere is ineffective.

I won’t give away the ending but how it plays out does seem a little corny - it has the kind of message you’ve probably seen before elsewhere. That said I was surprised at the end reveal of who That Character really was.

Surprisingly, the second issue is entirely about summarising HG Wells’ novel The Island of Dr Moreau! Given a lot of this book is Goon losing his grip on everything and becoming more vicious, perhaps Powell’s suggesting Goon is reverting to an animalistic state, that he’s losing his humanity? Still, it seems like something that could’ve been put across more succinctly than dedicating a quarter of the book to a Victorian novel!

Seeing how easily Goon deals with Don Rigatti and his flunkies, it’s a wonder why Goon thought they’d be worthwhile allies or why they were even an implied menace in the first place. We also find out the origins of the Cannibal Priest’s skin hat for what that’s worth.

Powell’s art is as outstanding as it always is - he utilises different styles in each book, all of which look amazing. The colours are often very muted to appropriately reflect the dour tone of the story which also heightens the effect of his superb line work. He’s easily one of comics’ best artists working today with the added (and rare) bonus that he can write really well too.

The storyline Powell set up in Occasion of Revenge is satisfactorily finished in Once Upon a Hard Time though the whole arc was only ever ok at best.

[Oscar · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great series with a good ending.

[Sud666 · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Goon is a weird one. I realize this is vol 15-and this is where I choose to start. I saw the cover and figured why not? What I found was not bad-just different.

The Goon is a very angry person and his casual use of violence helps him live up to his moniker. There is a coven of withes that want to use him for some nefarious rite. Goon doesn't think so. Goon rampages around beating people into a pulp (literally). A sort of anti-hero version of Hellboy. Goon fights demons and witches. Goon beats up random people. Goon beats up the witches who underestimate his power.

If that feels like a massive "meh". It is. The artwork works for this story and is actually the best part of this story. I certainly did not hate this. I might even look into some of the earlier works just to get a better feel. But that is unlikely as I am not that excited by this premise. I mean there is ALWAYS BPRD or Hellboy to read. Interesting and good art style, not a bad story overall-but the character of Goon is rather one dimensional.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Goon is a great and fun series with clever dialogue, scatological humor, top-shelf sarcastic punchlines and a scetchy art-style that the eye enjoys from the first panel. And, most of all, it doesn't take itself seriously not even for one moment - a trait the comic industry nowadays misses a lot.

Powell is here to express us, the readers, through mainstream comics in a whimsical and very adult (but refined as weird as it may seems) way. I saw myself's thoughts on goon's pages, the prime example being the story with superhero goon and the two-pager with the eisner awards. I know, these amount to nothing compared to the main story arcs but still.

It slackened a bit around tpb no. 10-11 as expected but the culmination with the five witches/demon spirits was a great finale to an even better series.

And hellboy appears. A comic book is always good when Hellboy is a guest star.

[Drew Canole · Rating 3 out of 5]

This basically wraps up the whole series. I know Powell has continued the stories past this, but this would be an okay exit point for most people. I keep comparing the series to Hellboy, but whereas Mignola was able to create a really interesting mythos for his character, The Goon's mythos really isn't up to par. Basically the town has a curse on it, anger and resentment building up through the generation. So the cure? Uhh... love... The other issue I have with the conclusion is The Goon beats up a few villains that were really only set up recently (besides for the Magpies) - they're not quite climatic enough with The Zombie Priest siding with The Goon. Some unknown gangsters from out of town want to kill The Goon too, but that doesn't really go anywhere.

[Dávid Novotný · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can understand that not everybody will be happy with ending of the story, there are some cheap writing tricks, and it won't suite everybody. But over and all, in context of whole series, it's pretty dignified ending. It worked pretty well for me, event if it is a little bit cheesy. It was a pleasure to be on board for this great ride with Goon, and I hope that new series won't drag behind. 4.5*

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

I gotta say, I didn't expect this series to be wrapped up with literally the "power of love", but alright.

[LordTBR · Rating 4 out of 5]

*I received an ARC from Edelweiss*

[Václav · Rating 4 out of 5]

(4,2 of 5 for the nice ending of that long arc before Powell turned his back to the Dark Horse)
I liked this book. Nice way to end long-running storyline both with a satisfactory finale and nice connection to next story. And I liked that short "connecting" story very much so I will try Powell's new Albatross stuff. Anyway, there is nothing more to say about the story in this book, but I would like to stop at the drawing and colouring. Yeah, it's good, but I love the changing of monochromatic, partial colouring and full vivid colours styles. Powell is a real deal in comic art. Anyway, I enjoyed this long ride with Goon, it's truly exceptional comics. The story is usually good, the humour is very enjoyable and the art is something worth of thousands of Eisners (with a shitload of new awards every year the inflation of Eisner is high, so one Eisner is worth almost nothing).

[Anchorpete · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not the final Goon story? There is more after this?

this is a pretty good stopping point for the series.

I always give the book praise. It is truly unique in terms of atmosphere, and is far funnier than most books that are exclusively comedic. this wraps up the battle between the Goon and the members of the group the Zombie priest belonged to. This is far more serious, and dark than previous Goon trades, but there are still bits of humor to enjoy. I hope it continues in quality, even though it feels like the series could have ended with this one.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Billed as a stand alone mini-series but it's really the rest of the story from the previous volume. This volume was too dark and depressing for me with none of the humor usually found in a Goon book. One whole issue was devoted to a retelling of "The Island of Dr. Moreau". It was basically just an issue of filler. A lot of plot threads are tied up and it feels like a series finale until you turn the next page and there's a little promo for the next volume. Eric Powell's art just keeps getting better and better. There's a definite Frazetta influence to it now.

[Ben Brackett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty unsatisfying compared to the earlier stuff in the series. Great art though.

[Corey Timmins · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved and cried reading the last of the goon.

[Szymon Dudziński · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect ending to the series. Shows how deep of a character Goon really is. Loved it

[Ollie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've got nothing but love for the Goon. Ever since I was a wee lad in my late 20s, I have had the pleasure to see this underdog of a comic book mature and flourish into a juggernaut. The Goon's universe operated by very basic and simple rules. A mysterious man defends his town from the powers of evil and the undead. Of course, the fact that The Goon is independently published and creator controlled is most definitely a plus in my book. But as of late, the Goon has seemed a bit out of place, and never more so than in Once Upon a Hard Time.


These pages are almost completely devoid of the humor and straightforwardness we've come to love from the series. Which is fine as long as the story is compelling in some way, but -- and this is hard for me to say -- it just isn't. Characters are one-dimensional and introduced just to propel the story and then promptly discarded. And even all the witchcraft and wizardry Powell seems to love seems like he's just making it up on the spot. I know, it's all technically made up, but here it's just frustrating and uninteresting. And even the story is one that has been told many times already: THESE bad guys are finally a match for the Goon, right? No they're not.


As always, the beautiful artwork has to be noted. Eric Powell has managed to turn his artwork from simple and cartoony into stratospherically incomprehensibly good over the years. Here, the Goon excels as it never has before.


So it seems like Powell has run out of ideas which would explain why he chooses to illustrate the Island of Dr. Moreau in the middle of this book instead of telling his own story. Weird! At the end of Once Upon a Hard Time, the characters seem to start a new chapter in their lives. About time! That old town of his might have been poison after all.

[Peter Derk · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one's a darker, twistier Goon book, but it works. I think this would be a huge book if it were published on its own, and it's because people have expectations of what the Goon is about that they are unhappy when it's not a monster romp.

[Ondra Král · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tak ani finále nezaujalo =/

[Petr Nakasharal Fabián · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jedna z nejlepších sérií, který jsem četl. Neni to sice žádný vysoký umění ale ta přímočarost, tempo, nálada a art prostě fungujou. Btw nejlíp ale stejně pořád vypadalo první volume.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review is for 15 volumes binged over three days

I don't know how I missed this during it's initial run, but - small favors - now I got to enjoy it with no waiting.
For such a long run there is surprisingly little difference in quality, occasionally dipping to excellent from exceptional and dragging - as most tales do - when it moves away from the episodic and into an ongoing tale.