Dwight T. Albatross’s The Goon Noir #1-3
by Various
$2.99/each

Eric Powell’s The Goon is an insane, hilarious, and often brilliant blend of everything cool: zombies, giant robots, and 1930s tough guys. With the three-issue miniseries Dwight T. Albatross’s The Goon Noir — named for Powell’s crudely funny amigo and series “host” — the creator hands over the reigns to friends and peers (including Mr. Show vet Brian Posehn, comedian Patton Oswalt, penciler Humberto Ramos, and many, many others) and proves that the universe of The Goon is the ultimate sandbox to play in. Arvid Nelson has Goon fight a two-headed monster with a snake for a tail; Bill Morrison writes and draws a stellar Yogi Bear parody in “Hey Goon, Comics!”; John Arcudi’s Goon roast, led by the appropriately named “Spider” in “Man of the Hour” is seriously hysterical. A nice companion piece to the regular series, and a fine jumping on point for newbies, Noir is great — if ultimately, in its biggest flaw, inessential — fun.
KFR Rating: B+

Wolverine #50
Writer: Jeph Loeb
Artists: Simone Bianchi & Ed McGuinness
$3.99

You have to hand it to Jeph Loeb: he knows what fans want. In his semi-classic Batman: Hush, he gave us Bats vs. Supes, Bats vs. Jason Todd, and Bats shackin’ up with Catwoman. So naturally with Wolverine #50, the first issue of his run on the title, he has Logan and Sabretooth at each other’s throats by page seven, and the (quite simply) awesome fight lasts the rest of the issue. Loeb hints at revelations to come throughout — including the true relationship between Wolvie and Sabes — but the real reason to pick this up is for the work of penciller Simone Bianchi. Unique and beautiful, Wolverine #50 marks the full arrival of an exciting talent. A great ride, with looks to boot. (Note: There’s also a clever backup story drawn by Ed McGuinness, equally worth the price of admission, in which Wolvie recounts his first fight with the Hulk).
KFR Rating: B+

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