Wherein we meet people dumber than Groo.
Creative Staff:
Story: Mark Evanier
Art: Sergio Aragones
What They Say:
The world’s stupidest warrior encounters two old friends who are most definitely foes: Pal ’n’ Drumm—the greatest of con artists and his sidekick, the world’s second-stupidest warrior. Brought to you, like all Groo comics, by the award-winning duo of Sergio Aragonés and Mark Evanier, with lettering by Stan Sakai and coloring by Michael Atiyeh!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
With so much material behind Groo over the years I keep feeling like I must have missed so much of it as there are characters I simply don’t recognize. Which makes this Friends and Foes series so much fun in its own way because it either comes as a mild rediscovery or a flat out introduction to some characters. Though I may have read issues involving Pal and Drumm before years ago, none of it has stuck with me so getting to meet them here and understand their dynamic for the first time is definitely a lot of fun. But the book works beyond that as well as Groo has some great moments and we get to see with Kayli and her continuing quest to find her father. Something that poor Groo just can’t get straight when it comes to asking around about it.
As that’s kind of his secondary quest here as time goes on with him asking about the little boy looking for his mother, much to Rufferto’s chagrin. Where it’s amusing at the start here is that he ends up asking the minstrel, who didn’t realize Groo was in the area. The Minstrel’s material is always kind of hit or miss for me at the start of each issue, but I really liked his being taken by surprise as it’s almost a breaking the fourth wall kind of moment. Groo’s adventure here is one that has him asking his question easily enough of anyone he comes across and naturally they flee for the expected reasons. He has a great little side adventure to make some kopins along the way as well as a little arena, which naturally turns to chaos as nobody wants to fight him. While I expected the crowd to freak out, and they do, they’re more upset at the lack of a good show here and instead burn the place down. Another poor business ruined because of Groo.
When it comes to the foes of this installment, Pal and Drumm, they try to present themselves as friends to Groo in order to win him over and acquire Kayli so they can get the wealth of her father. Unfortunately, Kayli’s been picked up by a numbskull who has sold her off to an orphanage. Pal and Drumm try to work up a plan to get her back and there’s silly marriage stuff thrown in and reminders that Drumm’s not the sharpest tool in the drawer. While they’re fun to watch as they do their best to navigate the sphere of chaos that Groo creates, it’s Kayli that steals the show at the orphanage. She takes a bit of time to understand what’s going on there with the other kids and realizes that they’re not in the same boat as her and that gets her pretty sad. Being as smart as she is she ends up working a simple if crafty plan to save them all. Admittedly, it feels like the whole people who buy rabbits around easter thing and I can imagine a lot of these kids ending up dead or kicked out before long. But as strange as it might sound, Groo books tend to be about optimism overall, so I’m really trying to believe that.
In Summary:
With a few more installments to go, Groo: Friends & Foes has another fun adventure here with a pair of characters that I’m not all that familiar with. They’re not given the prime treatment in a way as we get Kayli getting a good bit of time to herself, yet the two definitely make an impact and are fun to watch as they go through their plans to try and score big while dealing with Groo as a potential problem. Pal and Drumm aren’t the dumbest characters in the series, but they’re angling downwards to be sure just for trying to take advantage of Groo and his own dumbness. The installment has some good silly material throughout, some predictable things as well, but even still I find myself enjoying those elements. Rufferto has nothing new to say in general yet there’s always a grin when he talks about Groo, his own loyalty, or problems with others. It just clicks and works if you’re able to get into the rhythm of the series. Pal and Drumm probably could have had a better story overall to work with but I think it works out for the best here, particularly for Kayli.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: September 16th, 2015
MSRP: $3.99
