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Groo the Wanderer
The Groo Chronicles
- GenresComicsGraphic Novels
260 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1990
26 people want to read
About the author
Sergio Aragonés
576 books97 followersSergio Aragonés Domenech is a cartoonist and writer best known for his contributions to Mad Magazine and creator of the comic book Groo the Wanderer.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 18, 2011
If you're trying to convince a friend that graphic novels are a worthwhile medium, not just for kids, but with an artistic merit in their own right, chances are Groo is not the forst example that you're going to bring up. In fact, the existence of Groo will probably not help your argument at all.
However, if you've already made that not too difficult leap and are openminded enough to appreciate all forms of entertainment and you like good satirical humour that doesn't demand you have your brain switched on too much, then Groo is a fantastic read. Despite being a no-brainer, puerile read in the surface, and despite repeating the same jokes virtually every issue, there's something a little special about Groo that makes it stand out from the crowd. Maybe its Argones superior artwork, simplistic yet so colourful and detailed. Maybe its the good naturedness of the enterprise, the spot on satire of Conan as a (very)dumb brute, or the cast of colourful characters that inhabit Groo's world (and there are many, from The Sage, Chakaal, Tarantos and a bunch of power hungry kings- no Rufferto in these issues though). Possibly its because the jokes are just plain funny, the running gags seem to hit home every time (groo loves a fray, hates being called a mendicant, always ends up losing the fight for the side he's on, and so on) and the setups are just unique and intricate enough that the obvious closing gags still follow through. For instance, one excellent issue in this collection is a gag based on Groo having to go on a quest to retrieve a magic/precious item, a sword and sorcery staple. Groo continually finds that to get one item, he must travel to a distnat land to retrieve another one, since the mad witch, King, monster etc demands it of him. Eventually Groo realises he could just steal what he wanted anyway and ends up trading off six or seven items to get the one that he originally wanted. Well, the gist of the punchline to all of this is predictable, but the detail of the journey that got us there makes it hilarious, anyway.
The Groo Chronicles collects the 8 issues originally published by Pacific comics and the Eclipse special. It, frankly, doesn't take long for Aragones and Evanier to find their stride since there's not really a dud issue here. Whilst there's a chance that the formula won't outlast the long run of the comic for me, at this point it's still fresh and I'm wanting more, each issue presenting enough of the same but different and offering an easy and amusing read that rarely fails to put a smile on my face. There's possibly a jump in quality towards the end of these 8 issues with the introduction of Chakaal, a level headed intelligent presence in a world otherwise populated with buffoons, she's a good foil for Groo and opens up new story possibilites as his constant failures always somehow end up pleasing her... a nice twist.
However, if you've already made that not too difficult leap and are openminded enough to appreciate all forms of entertainment and you like good satirical humour that doesn't demand you have your brain switched on too much, then Groo is a fantastic read. Despite being a no-brainer, puerile read in the surface, and despite repeating the same jokes virtually every issue, there's something a little special about Groo that makes it stand out from the crowd. Maybe its Argones superior artwork, simplistic yet so colourful and detailed. Maybe its the good naturedness of the enterprise, the spot on satire of Conan as a (very)dumb brute, or the cast of colourful characters that inhabit Groo's world (and there are many, from The Sage, Chakaal, Tarantos and a bunch of power hungry kings- no Rufferto in these issues though). Possibly its because the jokes are just plain funny, the running gags seem to hit home every time (groo loves a fray, hates being called a mendicant, always ends up losing the fight for the side he's on, and so on) and the setups are just unique and intricate enough that the obvious closing gags still follow through. For instance, one excellent issue in this collection is a gag based on Groo having to go on a quest to retrieve a magic/precious item, a sword and sorcery staple. Groo continually finds that to get one item, he must travel to a distnat land to retrieve another one, since the mad witch, King, monster etc demands it of him. Eventually Groo realises he could just steal what he wanted anyway and ends up trading off six or seven items to get the one that he originally wanted. Well, the gist of the punchline to all of this is predictable, but the detail of the journey that got us there makes it hilarious, anyway.
The Groo Chronicles collects the 8 issues originally published by Pacific comics and the Eclipse special. It, frankly, doesn't take long for Aragones and Evanier to find their stride since there's not really a dud issue here. Whilst there's a chance that the formula won't outlast the long run of the comic for me, at this point it's still fresh and I'm wanting more, each issue presenting enough of the same but different and offering an easy and amusing read that rarely fails to put a smile on my face. There's possibly a jump in quality towards the end of these 8 issues with the introduction of Chakaal, a level headed intelligent presence in a world otherwise populated with buffoons, she's a good foil for Groo and opens up new story possibilites as his constant failures always somehow end up pleasing her... a nice twist.
July 16, 2021
I have decided to do a complete reread of the Groo comic books. He is one of my favorite characters ever and I'm a huge fan. It is so neat to see the origins of this character from way back in the early 80s.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews