On the SDCC floor we caught up with creator of The Goon, Eric Powell, to talk about what could be the end for one of comic’s biggest cult icons as he wraps up The Goon: Once Upon a Hard Time. Read his thoughts about the challenges facing the modern creator owned era, an update from Hollywood, and some advice for throwing 4th of July parties.
Comics Beat: First I had a friend of mine, I told him I’d be talking to you. He grabs me on the shoulder and says “You gotta ask Eric if he’s ever lit a car on fire!” is there a story to that?
Eric Powell: Yes [laughs] and the answer is yes. No for a long time I lived in a town called Lebanon Tennessee, which is about half an hour outside of Nashville. I had about seven acres, so we lived out in the middle of nowhere and I used to have pretty epic Fourth of July parties every year. It escalated from, you know, just having a bond fire to an entire like living room suite that we set on fire. [We] sat on the couches and took photos with the entire living room on fire. [Laughs] And one year, this was the topper. I’m not endorsing this… this is not a good idea; it’s actually a very dumb idea. We filled an old wrecked 1972 Nova with about $600 worth of fireworks and about three gallons of gas.
CB: Wow!
EP: We had on a giant amp system… crap I’m drawing a blank. Oh, it was Jimmy Hendrix’s “National Anthem” blasting.
CB: [laughs] That sounds like the right way to celebrate America.
EP: It was an epic 4th of July party. It was so good and so over the top that I was just like… I don’t think I should have parties any more because this one will never be topped.
CB: Once you hit the top right.
EP: It was the pinnacle and once you hit the pinnacle, you know.
Comics Beat: That brings me to my next question about hitting the pinnacle with Once Upon A Hard Time. We’re approaching the end of this run; are you still certain this is going to be the last story with “The Goon”?
Eric Powell: I don’t want to give too much away but if you want to consider everything I’ve done [with the character] as one story; this is definitely wrapping up what I started in the first issue of The Goon back in 1999. Now, Dark Horse is putting out these Library editions. What’s great about it is we’ll be able to take this entire arc and have these nice hardcover collections that give you the entire story in one batch [including all the previous hard to find stuff]. But I’m not giving up on that universe that I’ve established. Like I said, I don’t want to give too much away but I will be doing some stuff that is directly connected to what I’ve established there. I’ve got a new project that hasn’t been announced yet, but will shortly, that deals with this universe.
The Goon: Once Upon a Hard Time #2
CB: That sounds awesome especially with so much to this universe readers might not pick up on. You’re not giving up the whole universe but will we still see The Goon?
EB: We’ll have to see. Read the last issue of Once Upon a Hard Time [laughs]
CB: That’s just wrong man! [laughs]
Issue four’s had a bit of a delay; has that been because of you going back and having difficulty finding the right note to go out on?
EB: A little bit of that. There was definitely a lot of back and fourth on the script and I’m putting a little bit extra into the art. Also my schedule just got really crazy with Big Man Plans and some cover work; then it was convention season so it got a little behind. Really I just wanted this issue because it is wrapping everything up… I just wanted to do the best I can on it.
Big Man Plans #3 from Image Comics
Comics Beat: Very few have ever created something and even fewer with the longevity of The Goon, I completely understand. So, what’s your take on the wave of modern creator owned work?
Eric Powell: I’m really excited and happy to see so many people doing great creator owned books and to see it finally breaking out. Where you can have a book with no movie or TV tie-in selling 20 or 30 thousand copies and competing with stuff Marvel and DC is doing.
CB: It’s been a great thing for comics overall.
EP: It has, it’s helped the industry.
CB: More now than ever with stuff by independent creators there seems to be a flavor for everyone.
EP: Exactly, and I’ve caught a lot of flack talking about the need for it.
CB: [laughs] you’ve caught flack for a lot of different things.
EP: Yeah, but I’ve cost my self some work from it because I was so vocal, but I felt like I should stick to my guns and speak up. I grew up a Marvel kid. I read Marvel Comics, I love that stuff. I love the Hulk. Seeing that scene in Avengers where he picks up Loki and smashes him on the floor; I was giddy. But do I think that stuff should be given special treatment on the stands or the thing shops are solely ordering? We should be like television and we should be like film and we should have something out there everyone can like [for different audiences] to build a broader readership. Over the last five years or so it’s been exploding. We’ve got a huge female readership that’s opening up. It’s great. We need diversity, we need diversification, and the content to survive and grow.
Comics Beat: True. With the recent partnership Dark Horse has announced. If that relationship were able to push The Goon into full feature (further than its been) would you come back and do another story to go along with it?
Eric Powell: Well we’re still working on our animated film. Tim Miller who’s the director of the Deadpool movie, his company Blur Studio, along with Jeff Fowler has been trying to get this thing off the ground. We’re still trying to get a studio behind it while finishing edits on the animatic we funded through Kickstarter. They’re putting together a package with Fincher again and going out and doing the hard sell. We’re still pushing it and trying to get this thing done.
CB: Well we hope to see it sooner than later considering you won’t tell me if I’ll ever get another Goon story. Thank you Eric Powell for talking with us; and every brutal, hilarious, and captivating moment since ’99.
Once Upon a Hard Time #4
Ladies and gentlemen, Eric Powell has been on a hell of a run with The Goon and we can’t wait to see how he brings it to a close. It’s not too late to jump into the world of The Goon. Once Upon a Hard Time #4 comes out August. His other current project, Big Man Plans, published by Image Comics is also in stores now. Pick them all up and invite him to your 4th of July party at your own risk.
By Davey Nieves
The Goon: Once Upon A Hard Time #1
Story & Art : Eric Powell
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
If there’s a textbook that exist on making comics, then Eric Powell probably wrote about half of it. The five time Eisner Award winner consistently crafts quality stories with every book he produces. His latest, The Goon: Once Upon A Hard Time is yet another example of how great a work of art comic books can be.
After the events of Occasion of Revenge, the witch coven that demolished Goon’s life is closer to their goal of total control of the unnamed town. Powell shows how a character like The Goon can only be bent but never truly broken. The series opening picks up in the middle of his vengeful rampage against the Magpies who played him for a fool and shattered his world. It wouldn’t be a Goon story if it wasn’t coming at him from all sides as he’ll also have to deal with an angry Don Rigatti who’s seeking payback of his own for Rory’s death in the perevious series. For anyone looking for the humor of the older stories, there’s none to be found here. This story is an unrelenting tale of a man pushed too far.
Books like this are rare. Once Upon A Hard Time uses emotion to justify its sheer gorgeous brutatlity. There’s anger, grief, and fervor bursting from the panels drawn by Eric Powell. Each nuance shows just how much the characters have become part of him. There’s only a handful of panels where Goon isn’t holding a bottle or a weapon, or a bottle to use as a weapon. After all these years of creating Goon stories, Powell doesn’t relent on any of the most minuscule details when it comes to character.
The previous Occasion of Revenge story marked a turning point for the character in more ways than one. Powell’s inking experiments on his own work refined his detailed touch and added more power to the emotions already expressed on the page. All this helped the shock value of seeing those bright colors on the final pages. Once upon a Hard Time continues the affair with color splash but Powell’s evolution in rendering emotion is what sets it apart. Every ghoul, monster, and human like face expresses feeling in a way that few horror books can. You’ll see just how far he takes it in the panels with spider.
Perhaps the most unique thing about Dark Horse’s 50th issue of The Goon is how new reader friendly it is. That’s odd because it really isn’t suppose to be. If you’re already a fan of The Goon you won’t be able to understand the direction of this issue unless you’ve read Occasion of Revenge. Those that have never read Goon, who can accept the premise at face value will find themselves in such a violent and gorgeous world that can’t help but go back and read them all.
Goon or Goonies Dave rants about it on twitter @bouncingsoul217
2015 celebrates 15 years of Eric Powell’s The Goon and Dark Horse is looking to have the character take next year by storm. Today they announced a new series, The Goon : Once Upon A Hard Time. Dark Horse is already promising major consequences for the Goon and his supporting cast in this mini-series.
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?
The Goon: Once upon a Hard Time #1 is on sale February 4, 2015
Last Sunday, Blur Studio completed its crowdfunding effort for the proposed animated feature, The Goon, based on Eric Powell’s comic book. They exceeded their $400,000 goal, and set a new crowdfunding record for an animation project by raising $441,900 from 7,576 backers. The previous record-holder, Starburns Industries, had raised $406,237 in September for their stop motion film Anomalisa.
During The Goon campaign, I wrote a critique of the fundraising effort owing to the fact that the money wouldn’t be used to produce any animation. Instead, the money will be spent to create a story reel for a feature film, at which point Blur and film director David Fincher will shop the project around to various studios for additional funding.
Among my critiques of the campaign was that the majority of backers wouldn’t be able to see the story reel. Following our piece though, The Goon filmmakers revised the campaign and promised that they would hold a screening of the story reel in Los Angeles for the backers. There is, of course, still no guarantee that an animated film will result from all of this, but Blur Studio should rightfully be proud of raising a record-setting amount of money for a crowdfunded animation project. And at the very least, fans of The Goon can be assured of a slick half-million dollar story reel.
Kickstarter launched with the promise of helping independent artists fulfill their ideas by raising funding for projects that otherwise couldn’t easily procure funding. As I wrote last month though, the site’s animation category has more recently turned into a place where established creators are raising six-figure dollar amounts from their fanbases. That’s not to say there aren’t plenty of independent projects on Kickstarter too, but those projects have been drowned out by the established creators who are drawing much of the attention nowadays.
While Cartoon Brew has a longstanding policy to not promote active crowdfunding campaigns, the prominence of crowdfunding demands that we report on key campaigns that have news value to the community. The project discussed within has already received plenty of media attention, but it also has broader relevance to the animation crowdfunding discussion.
Last week, a Kickstarter was launched to fund an animated adaptation of Eric Powell’s Dark Horse-published comic The Goon. The project has a lot of high-profile names attached to it including live-action director David Fincher (Fight Club, Se7en), vfx/animation outfit Blur Studio, and actors Paul Giamatti and Clancy Brown.
The idea has been around for a while—a proof-of-concept trailer for The Goon
was produced in 2010—but the project hasn’t moved beyond that stage. Now, Fincher, Blur, et al., are asking for the largest amount yet for a Kickstarter animated project—$400,000. What’s especially noteworthy—and troublesome—about their campaign is that not a single frame of animation will be produced for that amount of money.
Why?
Because they are asking for $400,000 to create a story reel for the feature film. Curiously, the story reel that will be produced won’t be made available to the backers of the campaign. While plenty of other rewards are being offered, The Goon represents a first for an animated project on Kickstarter—asking people to donate money to something they can’t see.
So what, you ask? We’ll be able to see the finished animated feature. Well, maybe. If these guys require nearly half a million to create a story reel, that means they’re budgeting it as a traditional mid-sized studio feature, which will run in the range of $40-70 million (give or take ten million). There’s no guarantee the film will be made unless they can get that funding from a major studio, something that they haven’t been able to do so far.
Should the film be made by a corporate film studio, that company just saved themselves half a million dollars on the backs of dedicated animation fans who believe they’re funding an indie project, when in reality they’re funding a mainstream Hollywood feature. There is nothing “indie” about the way Fincher and Blur are setting up the film, and they have a responsibility to be upfront about the reality of what they’re creating.
Of course, the Kickstarter crowd is a savvy group, and a number of contributors to the project smell a fish. Here are some of the most recent comments on the project’s page:
The problem with The Goon Kickstarter boils down to this: They’re not producing a story reel that will be made available to the project’s backers. That means it’s an open-ended project, and if that’s the case, then it’s a clear violation of Kickstarter’s policies.
Further, while I’m sure Fincher and Blur Studios are well intentioned in their desire to make an animated feature, their approach of mixing their fans’ money with those of media corporations, the latter of whom will receive all the profit from a Goon feature, leads to an uncomfortable situation that is contrary to the entire spirit of Kickstarter. Artists should use the generosity of backers in crowdfunding campaigns to fulfill a creative vision, not to help corporations make money, as The Goon Kickstarter is currently set up to do.
[UPDATE]: Blur Studio’s Tim Miller just posted a comment on the Goon‘s comments page in which he said he wouldn’t share the story reel online because, “[W]e believe having the whole film online would cause serious issues with any studio who wants to back the project.” This confirms my thoughts above that this project wouldn’t be possible without a major studio’s support. It also turns the Kickstarter campaign (in its current form) into an open-ended project with no complete project delivered to backers and no funding in place to take it further. This, as I mentioned above, is a violation of Kickstarter’s policies.
Consider me impressed. Here’s a 30-second trailer promoting the San Diego Comic Con panel for The Goon on Friday night. Based on the Dark Horse comic by Eric Powell, the animated feature is being produced by David Fincher and is currently in production at Blur Studios in Venice California. This could be interesting…
