Fear when the two shall meet.
Creative Staff:
Story: Mark Evanier, Sergio Aragones
Art: Sergio Aragones, Thomas Yeates
Colors: Tom Luth
Letterer: Stan Sakai, Adam Pruett
What They Say:
Evanier! Aragones! Yeates! The team behind the hit Groo the Wanderer series goes to Comic-Con, finding inspiration not only in their enthusiastic fans but in their fellow creators, too—especially those working on Tarzan comics. Sergio Aragones finds a way to introduce the two characters to each other, and so Tarzan, the lord of the jungle, is set on a path that will lead him to Groo, the master of cheese dip. Also includes the return of the Rufferto backup strips! Groo and Tarzan return to Dark Horse in this exciting crossover!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
It’s been a while since the last Groo series came out and I’m always game for more Groo because, well, Groo. This series is a little different – which is good – in how it’s approaching the crossover. With two very different characters, and the modern incarnation of Tarzan being treated as it is, the two really don’t mix in just about every way. So, for the moment, they’re existing in separate spaces but you get that sense of how things are getting closer and closer. Evanier and Aragones handle the writing for the whole thing and Aragones delivers us Groo as only he can, but we get some great pages from Thomas Yeates with an intriguing version of Tarzan that may be the first time people see it this way.
The book actually opens with the 2021 Comic-Con that never happened as we follow Aragones and Evanier around it as they get ready for their panel. There’s a lot of fun little in-jokes, such as Evanier being confused for Mark Waid, and Aragones having his own similar issue. I like these kinds of real-world pieces that Aragones does when we get the two-page spread as it has so much detail and covers so many companies and people that it’s just a hoot. There are a lot of good gags and small moments to be had here and the panel itself is a lot of fun, including seeing how Tom Luth reacts to the idea of Aragones drawing everything exactly. But everything goes off the rails when talk turns to heading to Chila Vista for a safari to study the animals, and Aragones gets asked about doing more Spy Vs. Spy, which just sets him off in a big way.
What we get from here is a mix as Aragones drifts to sleep and imagines a beautifully illustrated Tarzan, done by Yeates, which has him dealing with a problem that’s cropped up against with slave traders. It’s a problem he thought that had been cleared up before in working with the local police, but it’s going again and they start digging into it. But we also get Aragones dreaming of Groo as he’s looking for the town of Kaya (while being in it, of course) and we watch as the locals panic over his presence and try to find ways to nudge him out of there. It’s a lot of fun in seeing the groups trying to find ways to make him explore elsewhere, including sending him into the mountains to find the best cheese, but invariably they just conflict with each other and Groo causes more problems the more he goes to different places.
In Summary:
With a good bit of story for both characters that move them forward just enough, we also get a little more time with Evanier and Aragones at the reserve, which does not go well for anyone involved. We also get a Rufferto one-page on the bak cover which is a real delight. The book is awkward in the way it frames the stories for both Tarzan and Groo when you might expect something more traditionally told right from the start, but I’m liking the presentation and curious to see just how far it’ll actually go. Aragones is a really gifted artist and Yeates has some gorgeous material here for a character that is admittedly still a tough sell for many today. It’s a curious mix and I’m intrigued to see where this team will go.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 12+
Released By: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: July 28th, 2021
MSRP: $3.99
