For today's classic comic we have the first comic to star Sergio Aragones' Groo the Wanderer (though it's not his first comic book appearance - that happened in the Destroyer Duck fundraiser comic).Like any good humor comic, Groo almost defies description. It's the humorous adventures of the world's stupidest (and yet lovable) warrior. His only interests are eating (preferably cheese dip) and fighting (which is his one great ability - other than eating, that is).
He lives in a medieval world where magic exists and a dim warrior can always find employment.
It's always interesting to look at those early appearances of a character and see how he (or she) changes over the years, but to be frank - Groo is pretty much the same now (in his all-too-rare appearances) as he was then, although he does eventually become a little bit smarter. And he added a pet dog, Rufferto, and a huge cast of characters along the way.
His nose is about the only real difference. Here it seems to change a lot - sometimes big and bulbous, sometimes long and skinny - but like Groo, it's always funny looking.
One of the many running gags in the series was the question: what does Mark Evanier do? Here he's listed as the Interpreter, but whatever he did, he and letterer Stan Sakai would have a hand in every Groo comic that followed (which must be somewhere close to 200 issues total by now).
This Pacific Comics issue, cover dated December 1982, set the tone for all those that followed. Groo is on the run from an angry mob of soldiers, and he wonders, "Why do they want to kill me?" As he thinks back, he remembers his recent dunderheaded mistakes that led to death, destruction and excommunication. In other words, just another day for Groo.
It's a deceptively simple concept that has, over the years, spawned an amazing number of funny, clever, thoughtful and touching stories, demonstrating that there seems no end to the skill and imagination of Sergio.
It's sad that Groo is not a monthly comic these days, because if there's anything the comics industry needs, it's more humor. He still puts in occasional appearances - there's one coming up soon, in fact, and the rumored crossover with Conan is still in the works (this I gotta see). And there are stacks of collections that are still available at fine comic stores everywhere (or eBay, whichever's closer).
But getting back to the heart of the matter: everyone knows that Jack Kirby was the King of action comics, but when it comes to humor comics, Aragones wears the crown.
Grade: A+
4 comments:
"Did I err..?" Wow, Groo is such a great comic... Gotta tell you Chuck, your "Classics" posts are always my favorite of the week... always bring back some great memories or pique my interest in something "new"...
Kyle, thanks! I was trying to work in a mulch joke, but Evanier I ain't.
Glad you like the "Classics" - of course, if comics get much more expensive, I may switch over and just write about old comics, with one new comic review a week.
That's what I'm doing. I read about a dozen comics each week: 11 classics and one new one that I read on Thursday... which was always "new comics day" when I was younger.
I'm amazed at how much I've cut back in comics buying - there was a time when I bought almost everything that hit the stands. (Of course, comics were a lot cheaper then.)
These days, it's usually somewhere between seven to 12 comics a week max. I'm actually trying to whittle it down to six a week (the minimum I need for this blog), but I'm not quite there yet.
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