Groo with love blinders is a sight to behold.
Creative Staff:
Story: Mark Evanier
Art: Sergio Aragones
What They Say:
For the swordswoman Chakaal there are only two rules for survival: first, be more able with your sword, and second, avoid Groo! From the award-winning team of Sergio Aragonés and Mark Evanier.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
It’s hard to believe we’re seven installments into this series as it moves through the various friends and foes of our title character. Groo over the years has had quite the cast of characters that it’s built up and it’s impressive when you consider the scale of it. Some obviously stand out more than others, but the diversity allows for some fun stories to be told that most certainly aren’t the same thing issue after issue, even with Groo doing what he does best. The Sage installment was a fun one that changed things up a bit and this one does more of that, but in a different direction as they bring in Chakaal, the one woman that Groo has a real crush on. Of course, she can’t stand him.
With Groo making his way across the lands, noting that he’s now quite far from where the Sage was, he’s entered an area that’s definitely different from before. While the visuals are still largely familiar, it’s people speak in a different tongue and he hasn’t a clue what they’re saying – though he’s shocked that they can understand each other. his lack of grasping the nuances of language plays for some good laughs here, especially as we get lizard people moving into the storyline, as we see him trying to navigate the area while believing that he is the most important person in the world. That the word Groo is the only one that stays the same no matter the language adds for some real fun as you realize that his name has spread here as well – eventually. Through all of this we get a good lay of the land, and a way for Groo to make money.
That comes in the form of hooking up with a deposed queen that’s looking to get her Queendom back from the woman that took it from her. Unbeknownst to Groo, that woman is Chakaal, his one true love. So when he finally gets the invading army going in the right direction and attacks, it all falls apart when he sees Chakaal. Who is quite dismissive of him of course, since she knows what kind of chaos he brings. Groo’s shift to a puppy dog around her is hilarious and seeing the various attempts at putting him off is great. It moves quickly and there’s a lot of really fun chaos with the fight scenes that get underway but also the humor, from the doubles brought in to confuse Groo as well as the way Rufferto really, really doesn’t like Chakaal.
In Summary:
The series uses one of the characters that I’m not terribly familiar with, though recall from a few appearances in older works. Chakaal doesn’t have a huge role here but she plays her part well and it factors into the overall storyline in a good way. We do get some regional politics of sorts with what she’s doing and there’s a good bit of background story going on that helps to keep it all flowing and fun rather than just a straightforward Groo/Chakaal kind of event. Just the bits with the language alone and Groo’s astounding self importance is worth the price of admission in the first half as he works with the villagers and the deposed Queen.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: June 17th, 2015
MSRP: $3.99
