Comics
[Comic Book Review] A War is Raging in “The Goon: Occasion of Revenge” #2
I have to thank the comic book gods (and my editor) for the sweet streak I have been on reading great books! “The Goon: Occasion of Revenge” #2 (aka The Goon #47) this week gives us another beautifully grimy rendered book of monsters, witch gangs, mobster violence, ghouls and dames. A war is raging on in this town and our big fisted galoot isn’t going to lose…easily.
WRITTEN BY: Eric Powell
ART BY: Eric Powell
PUBLISHER: Dark Horse Comics
PRICE: $3.50
RELEASE: 27 August 2014
Reviewed by Your Friendly Neighborhood Brady
Twitter: @MrBradySteele
This saga has been percolating long before this mini-series started. Enemies of enemies have become allies. You know that is never an easy thing to pull off well but creator Eric Powell has woven such compelling characters, motivations and designs that you simply cannot look away from the page. It’s so hard for me to separate the writing and the art for this story. It’s all meshing together so succinctly that it reads as a complete package unto itself.
Again, Powell’s subdued color palette sets a grubby noir tone for each of the storylines herein. Legend Tomb of Draculaartist Gene Colon must have been in Powell’s long box or bookshelf at some point in his life. It shows and it works so well here in this story. You can almost hear the grizzled voice-over narration as you read on through all the doomed souls congregating in this tale of settling of scores. Powell has obviously kept his characters connected enough from past adventures that all of this will come to a head no doubt in explosive abundance. Combine that with the new spirits haunting and gathering and you know something big is going to go down.
I can’t spoil anything because it’s just worth reading and enjoying. Love is found and love is haunting others. There are even poop jokes here so no one takes this too seriously. Powell’s story is sweet when it needs to be, warm and touching when it wants to be, and brutal and gruesome when it has to be. Pick up last issue if you haven’t and treat yourself to a double shot of The Goon this week.
The supernatural world of Korean folk horror movie Exhuma grows larger with the arrival of prequel spinoff webtoon Maengjong this weekend, Variety reports today.
Naver Webtoon debuts Maengjong on May 30.
The series hails from Haemuri (Olgami) and will trace the high school origins of how shaman duo Hwarim and Bonggil, played by Kim Go-eun and Lee Do-hyun in the 2024 film, came together to face occultish threats.
The story is set to begin when “Hwarim, who has been concealing her identity following a childhood encounter with a snake spirit called Jin, crosses paths with Bonggil at their school.”
Variety notes that Exhuma director Jang Jae-hyun participated in the project’s early concept stage.
“We are presenting ‘Maengjong,’ a new series capturing the appeal of the horror-occult genre, ahead of the full summer season,” said Lee Jeong-geun, Naver Webtoon’s Korea webtoon content leader. “With the high school story of Hwarim and Bonggil, who left a strong impression in the film ‘Exhuma,’ enhanced by Haemuri’s characteristic tense direction, we expect it will be a welcome work for genre fans.”
“It is meaningful that the spin-off story of ‘Exhuma,’ loved by many audiences, expands by meeting the new grammar of webtoon,” said Lee Hyeon-jeong, managing director of the film business division at Showbox, which distributed the film. “We hope it will be a fresh experience for both film fans and webtoon readers.”
Exhuma was a breakout hit in 2024, becoming the first Korean occult film to surpass 10 million ticket buyers and the country’s highest-grossing film of the year. I wrote in my review that “the intricately woven Exhuma delivers one of the year’s biggest surprises in horror so far.”
The bond between Hwarim and Bonggil was one of the film’s highlights, making this prequel webtoon a must for fans.
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