Was the thegoon.com website even up and running in 1998?
From the scans bcruze posted, it looks like it is a self contained short story as published in Dreamwalker #0, and if it was still a self contained short story in issue #1 of the Goon as implied by a couple comments mentioning it as "the last story" in the issue, then Dreamwalker #0 should be considered the first appearance, which was then "reprinted" in the Goon #1. Unless, of course, there was another short story published which also predated the Avatar #1 issue of the Goon AND the Dreamwalker #0 issue.......