I did not have the pleasure to see Eric Powell’s panel on THE GOON and its movie at last year’s San Diego Comic Con. Apparently, he showed a teaser of the CG animated movie adaptation of his characters that just got fans foaming at the bit with desire. I wish I’d gone. Everybody knows I like to foam at the bit over something cool.
So said Powell to Splash Page recently…
"I can’t wait for people to see more of this stuff, because the stuff I’ve seen just blows my mind… They’re holding off on all that stuff, but as soon as we get a studio announced, I’m sure [Blur animation studio] is eager to show off all the good work they’re doing… Once that stuff is in place, there’s going to be a flood of new material coming out of there.”
I only had time to do exactly three “fan” things while I was at SDCC 2009 - - play the GOD OF WAR III demo, attend a Kaiju Big Battel cage match and test my strength at the HEROES carnival. None of those were panels and I’d really like to see one of Powell’s because, from what I’ve heard, we have similar philosophies about promotion. From numerous eye-witness accounts I’ve gathered, he threw one where a couple guys pretending to be smarmy studio execs came in and talked about their plans for a GOON movie. They were throwing all kinds of disrespect around and described an adaptation that would have little similarity to the comic. Powell then appeared half-way through and, I believe, proceeded to body slam and possibly suplex those suits off the stage. Now, that’s how you host a panel!
That was the kayfabe, here’s the shoot (as pro-wrestlers would say) about the faithfulness of the adaptation according to Powell…
"We had to adapt it for the film, but I wrote the script — so The Goon doesn’t fall from the sky in a meteor or have superpowers or anything like that… It is The Goon and it has the feel of the The Goon. The story had to change a little to get it to work in a film format, but the characters, the world, and the interaction between the characters are all the same."
I’m going to further this pro-wrestling extended metaphor, because it amuses me. As you all know, the road of converting a comic to screen can be a treacherous Survivor Series. Luckily, Powell feels he’s got trustworthy partners he can tag out to when things get hairy - - namely producer David Fincher and computer-cartoon-creators Blur Studio.
In the words of Mr. Powell…
"I think as soon as Fincher is finished working on the film he’s on now, they’re going to try and get this thing up and going… It’s in good shape. We’re slowly grinding forward, but all the blocks have to be in place first…I fell into a perfect situation with guys who really get the comic…You have to change things to make it fit in a format like this — especially with 'The Goon,' because the comics were such self-contained stories and so episodic. You can’t do it like 'Sin City' and do a linear telling of the comic."
Sounds good to me. Alright… DING! Three minutes have elapsed. Now, it’s time for more contenders to enter this Royal Rumble of Goon movie discussion.
What do you think, oh pugnacious Comic Vine community? Are you stoked for the Goon movie? Have any of you been to an Eric Powell panel and can thus vouch about the showmanship therein?
-- Tom Pinchuk is the writer of UNIMAGINABLE for Arcana Comics and HYBRID BASTARDS! for Archaia Comics. Watch out for the HYBRID BASTARDS! hardcover collection this March - - available for pre-order now on Amazon.com.
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