Groo is the ultimate hot potato.
Creative Staff:
Story: Mark Evanier
Art: Sergio Aragones
What They Say:
See it happen in this issue: The rise and fall of the Star God, a pretender to the heavens and a deity who won’t last as long as this series by the award-winning duo of Sergio Aragones and Mark Evanier. You’d think a god could live forever . . . and maybe one could if his godlike path hadn’t been crossed by the wandering disaster that is Groo. With lettering by Stan Sakai, coloring by Tom Luth, and another actual, real letter column by Evanier. Miss it not.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The Fray of the Gods miniseries got off to a solid enough start the last time around but it was one that was filled with a ton of material. Groo books are dense to begin with as there’s so much going on with the artwork to be overwhelming, in a good way, but this series is dense in story and flow with what’s going on and that’s slowing it down in a way we rarely see. These books tend to be fast reads with great second readings that you dig into the artwork and all the little nods and winks amid it all. Here, I’m finding myself really almost crawling through it, not for lack of enjoyment, but just because Evanier and Aragones has so much going on with the back and forth of the story that it’s feeling more complicated than it needs to be.
As we saw with the previous issue, this series works with two different events going on. With Groo, he’s now being used by Saffi in order to take down his brother Cuffi and restore him to the throne so that the hardships of the citizens will be over. It’s a fun sequence but one that goes about as you expect as Groo makes it worse in the end, at least for the citizens, as they find themselves still working as slave labor but for a different purpose. This feels a little out of character for Saffi to go along with this considering what we knew of him but we do know that power corrupts. Saffi at least figures out how to use Groo for the moment by sending him after the exiled Cuffi but that’s the whole hot potato thing as you know he’s going to cause trouble elsewhere but that it’s likely to be tossed back at you sooner rather than later.
Amid the changes between Saffi and Cuffi, that makes an impact on what’s going on up in the heavens with the Star God. He loses his power when Cuffi is exiled but Cuffi takes advantage of it with another village and begins a quick ascent to power again under the Star God banner. That has its own humor but we see that with what’s going on in the heavens as the other gods are rolling their eyes about the Star God’s return. I’m still not sure where they’re going with all of this but it does provide for something different and Groo-less for part of the book and you know it has to make an impact along the way. Mostly, for now at least, it’s just a chance to see Aragones illustrate something a bit different and fun.
In Summary:
I always feel a little exhausted after reading a Groo book because there’s so much going on with it. That’s no exception with this series and this installment as we see Saffi and Cuffi both vying for power for different reasons but causing plenty of trouble for so many people. Groo’s role is definitely fun throughout this as he just does what he does and sets so much in motion for so many people. And just watching others realize who he is and do their best to avoid him is always fun. There’s a lot going on here and it’s definitely fun but it’s also surprisingly tiring by the end of it.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: August 31st, 2015
MSRP: $3.99
