A new year of wild and crazy – and silly – adventures.
Creative Staff:
Story: Mark Evanier
Art: Sergio Aragones
What They Say:
Each month of this yearlong series, Groo and his faithful pooch, Rufferto, encounter a different acquaintance–or enemy–with the usual dire consequences! In #1, Groo crosses paths with Captain Ahax, the seaman with the world record for most ships sunk by the all-time stupidest character in comics! Brought to you by the award-winning team of Sergio Aragonés and Mark Evanier!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
I can’t believe this book exists. I remember reading Groo books way, way back in the day when I was much younger and just loving the simplicity of the stories, the fun of the dialogue, the stupidity of Groo and the amazing detail and design of the artwork. The team of Mark Evanier and Sergio Aragones produces a lot of fantastic work for this character, though I’ll always admit it’s not meant to be read heavily at once, but rather in piecemeal to savor the individual aspect of it all. Dark Horse Comics has kicked off this series for the new year with plans for twelve books, one a month, the takes us through the lives of the friends and foes of Groo – which is often the same thing within the same panel. With the structure of his journey as normal, it’s a wide world that he can take us through.
The opening issue is one that certainly is fun and works well, as we’re reminded of the inept nature of Groo as he defeats the army that was hired to protect the port from him and he can’t understand why he’s not being paid to defeat them. It’s not so much that he’s inept, in a sense, but oblivious to the point of pain. For Groo, the thrill of life is certainly getting more coin, but that’s in service to food for him and his dog Rufferto. His real pleasure comes in combat itself as he just has a blast with it and is far more gifted than he has any right to be. So even unpaid, it’s no skin off his nose as he just goes about his way. It’s the most basic of living and one that works well for this wandering warrior. Thank goodness he can’t hear Rufferto’s thoughts since his ego would likely balloon up a billion times.
The focus for this issue is on Captain Ahax, an infamous sea captain that has lost every ship he’s ever had since each time he has a ship Groo ends up on it. That happens once again here, but we see as Ahax tries to find a way to make the expected destruction of the ship profitable. There’s a lot to like in seeing Ahax go from scared and panicked to quickly racing through a plan to come out ahead and use Groo to his advantage. And then to go to his constant worry and fear that this would be the one time that Groo does not perform as Groo always performs. Watching the ways in which Groo sidesteps his usual antics and actually comes across as largely normal is hilarious since it’s not his norm, and because Ahax continually flips out over it and can’t believe that it’s actually going this way. With what he has at stake, it’s just priceless watching him end up destroyed from a different angle, but from the same man.
In Summary:
Groo as a series is one that does work in a certain pattern and structure and having read so much of it over the years, even with a lengthy gap, it hasn’t changed. And that’s a good thing. This is a series that’s fun with its story, thoroughly engaging in the style of the dialogue and just a treasure to pore over and look at all the detail and quirks of the artwork. Aragones style really hasn’t changed much over the decades because what he does works and works so well. It’s detailed, quirky and each page has multiple stories that it could tell with what’s in there. The focus on Ahax here at the start is definitely a good choice as adventures at sea present their own quirks and we definitely get that with some really enjoyable material. I do think Groo is still something of an acquired taste, but it’s one I acquired years ago and continue to love.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: January 21st, 2015
MSRP: $3.99
