The Goon - An Irish Wake (2010) (Digital) (0x029A).cbr

http://www.usatoday.com/life/comics/2010-12-06-goonirish06_ST_N.htm

Eric Powell's 'Goon: Irish Wake' short story is long on creativity

By John Geddes, USA TODAY

Regular readers of The Goon already know two things that many USA TODAY readers are about to discover: Eric Powell is a uniquely talented artist, and he has a twisted sense of humor.

Powell, the creator of the award-winning Goon comic books, is proud to do things his own way. "I like departing from the norm," says the author/artist. That departure from normalcy has manifested itself in a darkly comic and visually compelling series about a street thug who battles supernatural foes.

As part of the USA TODAY exclusive DH:HD program (in conjunction with Dark Horse Comics and Toshiba), Powell uses his signature humor and artistic style to present The Goon: An Irish Wake, a story told in two parts today and Tuesday at usatoday.com.

For the Tennessee-based Powell, creating the eight-page story featuring his famously grim enforcer was an easy exercise. "I prefer doing short stories, to be honest. I have more fun doing them."

He faced a challenge, however, when it came to breaking such a concise tale into two parts.

"It's not hard to do the cliffhanger thing. It's easy to find a place to end a story half-way through," Powell says. "The hard part is picking up the story momentum again. It can be hard sometimes to come back into a story."

The writer says he typically has dozens of jotted-down story ideas that are ripe for finishing, but after looking through most of them, he didn't feel any would work for this particular task.

"Irish Wake was actually a spur-of-the-moment story," Powell says. "I got the idea and just started going with it." Much to the delight of existing (and new) fans, most of the hallmark features of a typical Goon story are included — fists, drinks, someone who needs defending, an obnoxious supernatural creature and an offbeat story resolution.

"I was really excited to do this one," Powell says. "Any chance I'm offered to get the word out about The Goon, I jump at it. Something unique like this gives me a chance to do that but also gives me a chance to do something a little bit different from the creative side."

It appears that Powell won't have much free time in the coming year. In addition to compiling his critically acclaimed Chimichanga series into a collection, the creator also will continue writing his popular Billy the Kid's Old-Timey Oddities series.

And what's on deck for Powell's most famous creation? "We're gearing up for more bimonthly issues of The Goon, too."