Groo and Tarzana, side by side!
Creative Staff:
Story: Mark Evanier, Sergio Aragones
Art: Sergio Aragones, Thomas Yeates
Colors: Tom Luth
Letterer: Stan Sakai, Adam Pruett
What They Say:
As Mark navigates through the dangers of Comic-Con International, Sergio–still lost in the Chula Vista Safari Jungle Land–meets snakes, vultures, and more lions! Meanwhile, Groo decides to help Tarzan defeat the slavers he’s been tracking–if only Tarzan knew Groo’s potential for disaster. Tarzan artist Thomas Yeates jams with Sergio Aragones! Also–Rufferto the dog continues to entertain in his marvelous backup strips!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The pairing of these two characters is one of the more unusual things out there that I can think of but it’s not done as one might expect. 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. While they existed separately in the first two issues, this one brings them together fully, side by side, and in action, which is just surreal. 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 initial thrust of this focuses on what Groo and Tarzan have to do to stop the slavers that Tarzan has been hunting. It is mostly Tarzan that deals with them as Groo is surprised by the guns that they have, viewing them as strange tube swords that make sounds, but he eventually gets a little bit of a clue about them when after the slavers are dealt with Tarzan shows him their true power. The two have the one-sided conversation that you’d expect as Groo really doesn’t hear or understand anything but he ends up taking away the idea that in order to deal with this strange new enemy, he has to go back to where he came from before this and bring back a lot of others to help fight against them. Not that Tarzan understands him or it’s something that Groo explains, but it essentially sends Groo back to his regular place.
While none of that does a thing for me, the other half of the book is fun stuff with Aragones as we see him continuing to try to survive in the jungle park. His time is getting worse and worse there, with a BB gun that’s ineffective against snakes and now empty, and more and more of his clothes being lost, making him more like a raccoon than anything else. While he does his best there, Evanier has decided to try and look for him again before his next panel gets underway – he does have his priorities straight – and discovering once he gets there that Aragones has become a bit of a trending celebrity because of his antics, which makes him feel mixed about whether to keep searching or not. Of course, there are a few twists along the way and plenty of amusing gags, as we see Evanier doing his best to rescue his friend while also ensuring he gets plenty of time for his own things.
In Summary:
As I said, this series has been a struggle in a way that other Groo properties haven’t. I’m enjoying all the real-world stuff that we get here and Groo in his own world, but the Tarzan stuff just falls flat. It’s simply not for me and even in this one, by bringing Groo into direct contact, doesn’t do enough to help. It’s just a blend that doesn’t work and feels forced. So I just stick to enjoying the time with Aragones slowly losing his mind in the jungle park and the indifference toward anything not-Evanier by Evanier.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 12+
Released By: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: September 29th, 2021
MSRP: $3.99
