Make With the Funny Comics: Groo By LUKE FOSTER People often equate the use of violence with a lack of intelligence, and that if someone could think their way out of a situation, they wouldn’t need to resort to physical altercations.
Boy, is Groo a perfect example of that.
Groo is a long-running series about the world’s dumbest and most violent barbarian, created by cartoonist Sergio Aragones. Soon after he brought writer Mark Evanier on board, and with colorist Tom Luth and letterer Stan Sakai in tow, they unleashed on the world a character matched by few.
When I say Groo is dumb, I mean dumb. Rarely do more than two synapses fire in his brain at once. He is feared not just for his skills on the battlefield, but also because he destroys nearly anything he touches simply by his own ineptitude. If he tries to cut down bamboo, it will turn out to be scaffolding. He sometimes has to double check that he is Groo, like he always thought. He’ll try to protect merchants from ambush by smashing their valuable pots of oil, so no thieves can hide in them. And he somehow manages to sink boats just by standing on them.
He’s also as strong as he is stupid. When he sees a fray, he’ll jump into the middle, not caring whose side he’s on. In fact, he’ll most likely slay everyone on both sides before that little issue is cleared up. The fiercest warriors in the land run whenever he appears, and most would rather march off a cliff or into a volcano, since it would be a quicker and less painful way to die.
Frays are one of Groo’s favorite things. He also likes cheese dip and his dog, Rufferto. As long as he has those, he’s happiest. It must be nice to get such simple pleasures out of life.
Rufferto joined Groo in issue 29 of the Epic Series (reprinted in “The Groo Houndbook”). Rufferto was a local queen’s favorite pet, but he ran away because he craved a life of adventure and excitement. And he found that in spades when he found Groo, or to be accurate, when Groo released him from a snare. Groo was trying to catch food. The dog thought he was being rescued, and instantly found a new hero. Rufferto is loyal as only a dog can be. He hero-worships Groo, constantly admiring him for his strength, bravery, and intelligence. Rufferto sees the chaos that follow Groo not as something to be feared but to be admired. And Groo, for his part, knows Rufferto is his best and most loyal friend, and never gets as angry as when his dog is missing or threatened. Everyone say it with me: “Awwwww.”
Groo and Rufferto spend their time wandering from town to town, looking for adventure, work, food, or all three if possible. It’s a pretty freeform setup that allows for any number of amusing scenarios to befall our heroes. Sometimes they get hired to join an army, or they go on quests to find magical artifacts, or adventure finds them. And sometimes Groo just has to cut down trees or load boxes on a ship or knock down old buildings. Of course, our friend has found ways to screw up all those jobs, even the demolition one. But he wouldn’t be Groo otherwise.
Groo and Rufferto have run across (or over) a number of people from all walks of life. There’s the Minstrel, who sings ballads of Groo’s misadventures across the land, for the amusement (and as a cautionary tale) of others. The Sage is a wise sage (yeah, I’m lazy) who also wanders around the land with his dog Mulch, dispensing wisdom to people and sometimes helping Groo to win the day.
Arba and Dakarba are witches. Pal and Drumm are a con man and an idiot. Pipil Khan is a warlord who talks with a lisp. They are all people on the villainous side who’ve had the misfortune of crossing Groo and having their many plans foiled. It almost makes you feel bad for the bad guys. Almost.
Then there are the women in his life (other than Arba and Dakarba). Grooella is Groo’s sister. She has his nose but otherwise she couldn’t be more different. She’s a Queen who can’t stand how her brother manages to destroy everything good in her life, even when it’s her fault for getting him involved. Granny Groo is Groo’s grandmother (see my line about the sage) who frequently mistreated Groo in her get-rich-quick schemes. And Chakaal is a beautiful warrior woman who travels the land righting wrongs and helping the helpless. She has completely stolen Groo’s heart, and he will do anything he can to win her over. Poor Chakaal. Rufferto just worries he might someday succeed.
And those are just a few of the many colorful characters in this series. Now you’re gonna have to read the series if you want to know who everyone else is.
The series has many running jokes. Often you will see Groo get angry that someone calls him a mendicant, even though he doesn’t know what it means. He’s never outnumbered in a fight just because there are more opponents than there is Groo. And if you see a nice, happy town, you know Groo has never visited.
Aragones’ art style has been fairly constant since he began the book, a fun, cartoony look where violence never gets bloody and the backgrounds can be packed with details, where extra gags can easily be found. The characters look almost exactly the same now as they did in the earlier issues of the series, too, which must do wonders for brand recognition.
Groo has had many publishing homes. It started off at the now-defunct Eclipse Comics, moved over to Pacific for a short stint, back for a one-shot at Eclipse, then had an impressive 120-issue run at Marvel, as part of the Epic imprint (the joke about Groo being at two publishers and one imprint that no longer exist has already been made by funnier people than I). After that, it went to Image Comics for 12 issues, and then to Dark Horse, where it is still published.
The good thing about Groo is it appeals to so many different people, from regular comic book fans to people who just like a laugh. True story: Groo is the only comic series that I’ve been able to get my little sister to read and enjoy. She went through eight trade paperbacks in a few weeks when she was in junior high, and she’s someone who’s never gotten through more than a few pages of any other comic I’ve lent her.
You’d think after 25 years of running with the same premise, Groo would wear out its welcome. Hardly. How dare you? One way Aragones and Evanier have kept the book fresh is by doing on a regular basis what many comics do only rarely: tackle current events and global issues. While at Epic they did that occasionally, they have done it regularly at Dark Horse. Aragones and Evanier have done four miniseries there: “Groo,” “Groo and Rufferto,” “Groo: Mightier than the Sword,” and “Groo: Death and Taxes, each of which addresses a different subject.
The first one (subtitled “The Smartest Man in the World” when collected) addresses the subject of drug abuse. They make everyone but Groo stupid. They make him a genius. Woops.
“Groo and Rufferto” addresses the over taxation of the working class, the corruption of wealth, and how our modern world has become a cesspit through the eyes of Groo (in the past) and Rufferto (trapped in our world thanks to magic).
In “Mightier than the Sword,” Pipil Khan’s son uses the media to manipulate public opinion in his favor and against Groo, so he can take over his father’s throne.
And in “Death and Taxes,” an undertaker, a king, and some rich merchants conspire to go to war against the other kingdoms in the area, because violence is profitable, and since there’s no violence to be had after Groo takes a vow never to slay again, they need to make it happen somehow.
Yeah, these books do teach their lessons in a bit of a ham-fisted way, but Groo isn’t known for his subtlety, so why should his books be any different?
There have been no Groo series since “Death and Taxes” five years ago (FIVE YEARS? Sergio! Mark! Why did you abandon us in our time of need?), but this year we’re lucky enough to see not one, not two, but five new issues of “Groo!” First off is the “25th Anniversary Special,” which came out just a few weeks ago.
The 25th Anniversary had several stories in it, starting off with Aragones and Evanier talking about the book, the silver anniversary, and how Aragones can’t wait until the gold anniversary, when he expects the book will be printed in gold. Evanier doesn’t have the heart to tell him that won’t be until 2032.
The main story follows the trend of the past few Dark Horse series, where the guys use Groo to address a social issue that’s up their craws. But rather than tackle just one issue, they nail a whole bunch simultaneously. And all within the span of 24 pages, because they clearly had a lot to say and look like they’re trying to make up for lost time. Groo and the Sage arrive in a town afflicted by a sneezing disease that’s passed along by kissing. Groo tries to beat people into not kissing, but it’s only a temporary solution. So over the course of the story we get commentary on abstinence-only lifestyles, the pharmaceutical industry’s desire to keep people sick and keep selling medicines that address the symptoms, and the rich and powerful keeping the cure from the commoners while using it freely themselves, which the medicine men don’t mind at all. All done with the quiet subtlety Groo is famous for, of course. Oh, and there’s lots of fraying and chopping stuff down, too.
After that story, Evanier takes the time to debunk a bunch of urban legends surrounding the series, like Aragones doesn’t speak English and Evanier doesn’t get paid for his work, for example. It’s a fun behind-the-scenes look.
And after that, there’s a story about young Groo, and his grandmother’s latest scheme to make money off him. She sells him to rich people who immediately pay her to take him back when they see how destructive he is. But then one family keeps him because they want their real son to look good by comparison when the king picks an heir. And then that plan backfires when the king decides he likes Groo best. And I think you can figure out how this trend continues.
Finally, there’s an A to Z of many of the characters that have appeared in the book over the last quarter-century- from Arcadio to Zoola- giving new readers an extremely quick look at the series’ long history and prepping them for more Groo stories after the one I’m about to talk about. I hope. Pretty please?
Starting this month is the four-part “Hell on Earth.” It looks like Aragones and Evanier are continuing their practice of tackling current events by having the world’s dumbest barbarian deal with global warming. The world’s dumbest barbarian addressing global warming? It’s not often that conservatives and liberals can use the same example to support their side of an argument, but I as sure as heck bet they can use this book to do so.
Dark Horse has done us funny wanderer fans a big favor by collecting a good amount of the series in trade paperback. All their miniseries are in collections, as well as about a quarter of the Epic run. Unfortunately, they haven’t published any new ones in a long time, and I really want more. Even more than Groo wants cheese dip or a fray.
Luke Foster is a writer and stand-up comedian who does more with comics than just read them and write this column. He is also a member of the podcast “Nine Panel Nerds,” which is all about comics and comic culture. It can be found at ninepanelnerds.libsyn.com. Cheap plug: complete.Posts: 21254 | From: PA | Registered: Aug 2002
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posted
Great article about a fantastic comic. But you never mentioned Groo's place in the hierarchy of creator owned comics since it was the first creator owned comic to be published by one of the "big" companies and also given national distribution through newsstands (not limited to direct distribution through comic specialty stores).
posted
Thanks, and you know, I did not know that. One of my readers teaching me something with my column? My mind has officially been blown.
Posts: 71 | Registered: Jul 2007
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