The Neverending Fray: Evanier has to get paid somehow

Groo the Wanderer #70
By Sergio Aragones, Mark Evanier, Stan Sakai (lettering), and Janice Parker (coloring)
Published by Epic Comics, 1990



The members of the Groo Crew have made enough cameo appearances in this series that it was probably only a matter of time before at least some of them took the leap and became actual characters. And that's what they do here, in a funny story about a writer seeking to chronicle the exploits of a hero and being stuck with Groo as his subject matter. That would be a good enough idea for a story on its own, but casting Mark Evanier as Weaver the writer (and throwing in Stan Sakai as the mute, dictation-taking sidekick known only as Scribe) is a stroke of genius, adding a layer of knowing in-jokes to what is already a very funny issue of the series. One could even go so far as to read a further subtext into the story, with Weaver's attempts to bring some level of coherence to the stories of his unpredictable subject acting as a symbol of Evanier working with Sergio, but that's probably a step too far. Any commentary on real life is limited to one-off jokes like this one:



There are plenty of other good gags though, like Weaver's increasing frustration at the way Groo manages to stymie every positive description of himself:



And when he decides to embellish Groo's actual deeds in order to make them sound more heroic than they actually are, it leads to what is probably the centerpiece of the story, several pages in which we see the images evoked by the descriptions of Groo's actions compared with the events as they actually happened:



Everything builds up to the expected results, as Weaver's deception is revealed, and it's pretty darn funny. In fact, the whole issue is pretty great, with some excellent lines from Groo, as in this moment when he finds out Weaver is looking for him:



And I also love the opening splash page, in which Weaver and Scribe happen upon a battlefield where an army is recovering from being decimated by Groo, and it's a truly impressive sight, with dozens of injured bodies scattered everywhere, heaped up into piles, hanging from trees, and looking like a natural disaster has struck:



At this point in the series, it's not exactly an unexpected sight, but I like that we're getting a glimpse of it through the eyes of characters unfamiliar with the level of destruction Groo is capable of. It's a good reminder of the extent of the damage that is commonplace in Groo's life, and something of a justification for how much he is hated. Or, as we'll see next month, how he can inspire other reactions...

Next: "Laughingstock"

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This issue's stats:
Recurring characters: Weaver and Scribe, who turn up at least once or twice more. And Sage shows up in the Groo-Grams header:



Hidden message(s): It can be seen being carved by this typesetter (typecarver?):



Moral: "Even when the words are true, they may not speak the truth."

Spanish words: None.
Running jokes: Surprisingly, this issue doesn't appear to contain any specific running jokes, limiting its humor to more general areas, like Groo being stupid or Groo wrecking bridges. But wait! There is one reference to Groo sinking a ship, so I guess that's the running joke for the month. Oh, and I just noticed that Scribe has some Usagi Yojimbo boxer shorts:



Mark Evanier's job(s): Model
Letter column jokes: Tony Marcello sends in an oddly-numbered list of questions (they are labeled 1, B, III, and Quatro) that includes who Groo's parents are, how old he is, what the pouch on his belt is for, and where he got the tiny skull on his belt. Mark replies by plugging the forthcoming graphic novel The Life of Groo, saying Groo is 31 zorgiks old, claiming that he keeps steel marbles in his pouch in case someone asks him to do a Humphrey Bogart impression, and noting that the tiny skull is the average cranium size of a Groo reader and also a memento of the last time someone numbered their questions oddly. David Edward Taeusch sends in his family's secret cheese dip recipe, but asks Mark not to tell anybody, lest his mother disown him. Mark says he doesn't need to worry, considering the series' sales figures. Razik Shaikh asks why the names of various European cities can sometimes be seen at the end of pages of the comic, and Mark explains that Sergio travels a lot and writes the location where he drew a page at the bottom, which is a lot cheaper than buying souvenirs. Erik Carvalhal Miller asks if there are any plans to make Groo closed-captioned for the hearing impaired, and Mark says those people have enough problems. Brandon Copeland contributes this issue's Grooism, in which he tells of a science class where students were learning about the equator, and one of them asked why someone doesn't just paint a line around the earth so they can stop saying the line is imaginary. And Mark finishes up by plugging Hollywood Superstars again.
Miscellaneous: Here's an ad for a Mission: Impossible game for the NES:



I didn't realize Mission: Impossible was still popular enough to be adapted into video game form as late as 1990, but there was apparently a revival series that ran from 1988-1990. Whaddyaknow.

The Neverending Fray: Who's crazier, Groo or Klaus Kinski?

Groo the Wanderer #69
By Sergio Aragones, Mark Evanier, Stan Sakai (lettering), and Tom Luth (coloring)
Published by Epic Comics, 1990



I strongly suspect that the Groo Crew was influenced on this issue by the Werner Herzog film Fitzcarraldo, in which a 19th century businessman hauled a ship over a mountain in order to access a remote part of the Amazon river. Although the movie was based on a true story, that idea is perfectly suited for Groo, being a preposterous-seeming scheme featuring the non-intuitive idea of a ship being transported over land and the possibility of all sorts of destruction and chaos. The results, however, are only so-so, but that might just be because the visuals here can't match the spectacle of the film, in with Herzog basically recreated the events himself and hauled an actual ship over a mountain in order to film it.

Comparisons to other media aside, this issue has plenty of fun stuff, with Groo getting involved in a race between two ships to win a lucrative shipping contract, even though neither crew wants him on board their vessel. He ends up being paid by the owner of one ship to stow away on the other, and wouldn't you know it, good old Captain Ahax is the man in charge, which leads to one of those delayed reactions that Sergio does so well:



Ahax is sure that Groo will sink them, but the ship's owner has been informed that the Wanderer is "a brilliant skipper and a seasoned seaman," so he decides to follow Groo's idea of bypassing the journey around a cape by traveling over a small strip of land to get to their destination. And that's what they do, but as neat as this idea is, not much comes of it; if anything, the story kind of grinds to a halt here, just waiting for a final moment in which Groo can manage to ruin everything. He does, of course, in an entertainingly destructive manner, but what should be the most interesting part of the story is actually much less funny that everything leading up to it, and without the impressive Herzogian spectacle of the overland journey itself, there's not much left. This is about as thrilling as the journey gets:



It seems like a missed opportunity for Sergio to really deliver on what should be a jaw-dropping sight.

That can be a flaw of this sort of issue, in which the creative team came up with a neat idea to base a story around, but weren't able to do much other than just present that idea, failing to capture the normal energy of the series while it's playing out. This isn't a common circumstance, but it does happen occasionally, as if the particular alchemy that makes the plot, characters, and jokes all gel into something special just doesn't fully cohere. Oh well, I guess they can't all be complete winners. But they won't be complete losers either, as long as they provide moments like this:

Next: Mark Evanier and Stan Sakai join the supporting cast in "The Greatest Hero".

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This issue's stats:
Recurring characters: Captain Ahax, and Mark and Sergio show up in the Groo-Grams header:



Hidden message(s): The owner of the ship has a necklace bearing a letter that changes throughout the issue, with the letters combining to read "hidden message":



Moral: "The shortest distance between two points is not always the safest."

Spanish words: The town of Salida is named after the word for "departure", and ships leaving there are destined for the aptly-named city of Puerto, which means "port". Groo's ship is amusingly named Hundido, which means "sunken", and its rival ship is named Veloz, or "fast".
Running jokes: In a story with ships in it, Groo sinks at least one, and he says "Did I err?" after doing so. He also mentions that he is good at choosing canyons, which is a callback to issue #65, and he suggests finding a dragon, like he did in issue #67.
Mark Evanier's job(s): Canalizer
Letter column jokes: Mark announces that Sergio was given an award at the 1990 awards ceremony of the National Cartoonists Society, and he also notes that his other employer, Jim "Garfield" Davis, won the Reuben award, which Mark thinks is good, since it might lead to more work for him, and he could use the money. The letters for the month end up following a theme, that being cheap threats. Iain Tonner threatens to blow up the Groo-Grams page, and starts counting down from 10, but only gets to 7 before Mark acquiesces. Patricia Vaz says that Groo stole her dog, who is not named Rufferto, but the much more original "Spot". She threatens to slay Groo for doing so; Mark suggests notifying her next of kin first. Brian Wojckik gets upset at Mark for "soil[ing]" the February 10th (1990, I assume) episode of Garfield and Friends by mentioning cheese dip as a flavor of yogurt, and says he should be "flayed, eviserated, and impaled." He also adds a postscript telling Mark to print the letter, or he should also be quartered. "Gary and Steve" write to tell Mark they have his dog and he should send money. In a series of threats based on gaining Groo-Grams fame, Scott Novotny says he'll shoot his letter if it isn't printed, Mark Schelvan threatens to "buy your comic" if his letter isn't printed, And Jay Woziack threatens to eat a cheeseburger, then decides he's going to eat one anyway, so they don't need to bother printing his letter. Blair Krauter contributes the issue's Grooism, relating a time when some friends were walking by a fence which had a sign reading "Barbed Wire!" One person said the sign was stupid and unnecessary, and another replied "Well, there are blind people you know!" Finally, Mark closes out the column by plugging his upcoming series Hollywood Superstars, which was illustrated by Dan Spiegle (with Sergio also appearing in every issue in some aspect) and is about some of Mark's experiences in Hollywood. I've never read it, but it might be something worth checking out if I ever find it in any back issue bins.

The Neverending Fray: Dragons - to kill or not to kill?

Groo the Wanderer #67
By Sergio Aragones, Mark Evanier, Stan Sakai (lettering), and Tom Luth (coloring)
Published by Epic Comics, 1990



After a couple of "message" issues, this one veers back into just-plain-funny territory, with a story about Groo slaying a dragon, then discovering that it had been tamed and trained by a village who used it in an annual mock battle. Groo resolves to make it up to them, which leads him on a long journey to find a replacement, and then to find a magical way of aging the baby dragon he eventually obtains into adulthood. This leads to several rather amusing moments, but also some troubling thoughts, at least for those who immerse themselves in the world of Groo. The passage of time, for one, is enough to make one stop and consider, as Groo spends an entire year searching for a dragon and then working at a dragon farm to pay for one. That's a lot of dedication for a guy who usually doesn't plan more than a few minutes into the future.

And this might just be the comics fan's need to explain moments or behaviors that seem incongruent, but back in issue #53, Groo and Chakaal were busting up a dragon-farming operation run by Pal and Drumm, while he doesn't have any problem with such a thing here. The obvious explanation is that Groo doesn't remember that far back, and he didn't care that much even then and was just following Chakaal's lead. And also that I've read entirely too much Groo over the past several months and shouldn't worry about such trivial matters.

Anyway, the only real issue here is whether the story is entertaining, and luckily, the answer is yes. There are plenty of the usual jokes, but I especially liked Groo's fight with the (initial) dragon, which occurs mostly over this page:



It's nice to see a full action sequence, since we usually only get a glimpse of Groo's fighting style as he is attacking an army or something. Here, we get to see the whole battle play out, and I especially like the way the dragon is sort of standing in front of the page. Sergio often has characters or objects break panel borders, but here it's almost like a separate panel on a different plane from the rest of the page. It's an interesting technique.

Back in the area of jokes and whatnot, I liked this version of the recurring scene in which Groo tries to come up with an idea:



And in another bit of funny art, I liked this depiction of what Arba and Dakarba do when Groo goes to them for help getting his dragon to grow up quickly:



The final gag of the issue, what happens when Groo finally brings the dragon to the town, just in time for the annual performance, is another great bit of comedy, a perfectly-timed surprise moment that gives Sergio a chance to do some really funny cartooning. I won't spoil it though; it's worth the anticipation of reading the story and getting to that last reveal. This Groo Crew is a bunch of comedy pros, and by this point, they definitely know what they're doing.

Next: The next issue I have is #69, "One If By Land, Two If By Sea!"

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This issue's stats:
Recurring characters: Arba and Dakarba, and a Groo-Grams banner that contains pretty much the whole supporting cast:



Hidden message(s): I didn't spot one, although there are some books in Arba and Dakarba's lair with titles like "Trina's Magic", "La Magica Leialoha", "La Vida y La Muerte", and, of course, "Mad".
Moral: "A substitute is never as good as the genuine article."

Spanish words: The town of Gafas is named after the word for "glasses".
Running jokes: Groo says "Did I err?" In a callback to a joke from issue #47, Groo tries to find someone who can help him with some magic, and Rufferto tries to point him in the direction of Arba and Dakarba, but Groo thinks of the Sage instead.
Mark Evanier's job(s): Enabler
Letter column jokes: The majority of this month's column is taken up by letters that Stephen Philpin and Garrett Mulder sent in, with each of them asking to have their letter printed before the other. Mark prints Stephen's letter first, since it will make Garrett mad, but thinks he might switch them around when Garrett threatens to have a duck follow him everywhere armed with a bucket of cheese dip. Another letter from Stephen convinces him to go with the original order to demonstrate his decisiveness. Stephen and Garrett also comment that they've discovered that Mark's real name is Zigfried, which Mark adamantly claims isn't true, even when he responds to the column's other letters, so this definitely kicks off another running joke in future issues. Spanky Belew writes in to tell somebody at Marvel how much he enjoyed Champions #17, hoping to finally have his praise for that issue printed somewhere (he had previously tried sending letters to Spider-Man, Captain America, Avengers, and even some non-Marvel titles); he also asks the name of the character in Groo with the big nose. Mark says he doesn't know, and he never figured out who the Champions were either, even though he "wrote half an issue of them once". Finally, this month's Grooism comes from Michael Collofello (from my backyard of Joliet, Illinois!), who relates a time he and his brother were talking about people in the future living on the moon, and his brother said, "I wouldn't live on the moon if it were the last place on Earth!" That's definitely worthy of a nonexistent certificate.

The Neverending Fray: Groo is the best Guru

Groo the Wanderer #66
By Sergio Aragones, Mark Evanier, Stan Sakai (lettering), and Tom Luth (coloring)
Published by Epic Comics, 1990



Here's a good example of an issue that uses the supporting cast well, establishing a premise and then seeing how each character reacts to it, and how their actions affect Groo, managing to find humor in each variation before bringing it back around to Groo himself and coming up with a satisfying conclusion. Plus, there's a bit of social commentary, with the story being a satirical look at people's nonsensical attraction to "gurus", which could be interpreted as "New Age" cultists or religious leaders (TV evangelists were a common target in the 80s and 90s), but also as motivational speakers, purveyors of self-help philosophies, or messianic public figures who don't really tell anybody anything they don't already know. Whatever the metaphor is representing, the Groo Crew doesn't have much respect for them or their followers, starting with the platitude-dispensing wise man that Pal and Drumm come across at the opening of the story who says things like "Man knows he cannot fly, and so he does not! Birds do not know this and so can fly!" When he notices how much is being donated for the privilege of listening to such nonsense, Pal gets the idea to exploit this gullibility, and he recruits the Sage to offer similar advice.

I'm often fascinated by the Sage, since he could be portrayed as a pure, selfless wise man who is always right, but he's a much more complex character, often showing frustration at people who don't heed his advice (especially Groo), and seeking to enrich himself when he gets the chance. Here, he jumps at the chance to get paid to speak, since it flatters his ego and makes him money, but he also comes up with an amusing interpretation of his own words of wisdom to make it seem like he's just trying to help people out:



It's an interesting glimpse into his character, demonstrated that he's more than just a bearded guy who shows up to dispense pearls of advice. His new career prompts Groo to attempt public speaking as well, with the expected results:



But this also kicks off a string of similar enterprises as other characters get wind of the scheme and come up with their own spin on it: Granny Groo pretends to channel an ancient warrior, and Taranto manages to convince people to pay him so he can tell them how worthless they are. And most amusingly, Groo manages to become the most influential guru of all after giving up on the enterprise altogether and refusing to tell people anything:



It's a great reversal, and a perfect encapsulation of the emptiness of this sort of thing, the way meaningless words can be twisted into something "deep" and "meaningful" if a receptive audience wants to interpret them as such. The creative team manages to get a lot of mileage out of the idea of Groo offering the most wisdom by telling people that he doesn't have any wisdom to offer them (and, by extension, neither do the other gurus), and the comeuppance that everyone (but not Groo, for once!) receives is quite satisfying. It's a perfectly-structured story, making great use of the included cast, offering up expectation and either delivering on them hilariously or twisting them into even funnier results. This is the kind of issue that I think of when I think about reading Groo; I expect more of the same from here on out.

Next: "Dragon Quest"

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This issue's stats:
Recurring characters: The Sage, Pal and Drumm, Granny Groo, Taranto, and you can see the Groo Crew in the crowd on the cover:



Hidden message(s): It's scattered among the flowers filling the letters of the issue's title:



Moral: "Wisdom cannot be bought. It can, at best, be rented until you can find your own."

Spanish words: None
Running jokes: Drumm is pretty sure that either Pal or the Sage were going to buy him a house, and he remembers to ask "What pirates?"
Mark Evanier's job(s): Morphemist
Letter column jokes: Doug Smidebush starts off his letter with "Dear Groo people," then fills a lengthy parenthetical with thoughts that this might not be correct, since it would sound like he is writing to characters within the book, then considers other options and specifies that it could include everyone who works on the book, including Sergio, Mark, Stan, and all the various colorists and editorial staff. By the time he gets to the actual content of his letter, he forgets what he was going to say. Wes "Einstein" Eccleston says he used his superior brain to find the hidden message in the Groo poster, but Mark says his brain would have been more superior if he hadn't bought a Groo poster at all. John Chandler contributes a single-sentence letter saying that he wrote the letter all by himself, but he notes in a postscript that his mommy helped him with the first sentence. Vincent D. Taverney asks why Groo's nose looks like the number 3, and Mark says it's because that's the average number of times per hour someone wants to punch him in it, and that his own nose looks exactly the same. Jason Santa contributes the issue's Grooism, in which he saw an act with a parrot that was supposed to fly to somebody's hand, but instead it attacked a spectator, prompting a young boy to comment "I wonder if it took them a long time to train it to do that." And Andy Neumeyer complains that Groo has never sneezed on an elephant, which he finds insulting because he sneezes on elephants for a living, so he demands that the title of the comic be changed to Groo, the Guy Who Sneezes on Elephants. Mark agrees, and refers to the series by that title at the end of the letter column. I don't remember if he kept up this joke in future issues, but I hope so. 

The Neverending Fray: I feel dirty

Groo the Wanderer #65
By Sergio Aragones, Mark Evanier, Stan Sakai (lettering), and Tom Luth (coloring)
Published by Epic Comics, 1990



This might be the most overt "message" issue of Groo yet, in that it seems intended to highlight a topic and spur the reader to action. The issue at hand here is garbage, and the problems caused when it piles up without any long-term plans to do anything about it, with the encouragement to recycle as a solution. Of course, this being Groo, as much time is given to goofy jokes and general silliness as to speechifying, which is an approach that tends to make the message go down like the proverbial spoonful of sugar. It's when that balance is off that the comic can suffer (I can think of a few examples from further down the road...), but it's quite well-managed here, making for a fun romp that might just make one think.

So: Groo is hanging out with the Sage, who comments on all the garbage littering the streets in a city they are passing through. Groo says that people might pay to have somebody take it away, a thought which he finds hilarious (because he is dumb, you see). When the two of them run into Pal and Drumm, and Groo repeats his joke to them, Pal immediately seizes on the moneymaking opportunity. And so the plot is off, as Pal quickly starts making money in the new business of waste management, but immediately runs into problems disposing of all the refuse he collects. He tries burning it, but this pollutes the air. He tries dumping it in the ocean, but that kills all the fish. They seem to find a decent solution when Groo suggests dumping it all in a canyon, but when it fills up, they're stuck once again. Sage eventually comes up with the solution of reusing the garbage, even using the word "recycle" to make sure readers get the message, but Groo manages to find the most disgusting way possible to ruin everything, providing a memorable finish for the issue.

This all makes for a fun romp of a story that manages to deliver plenty of jokes and still cover all the aspects of the issue being addressed, including an exaggerated montage of people treating their new, garbage-free lifestyles with carefree abandon (which could be seen as a metaphor for all manner of aspects of modern life):



If there's any complaint, it's that the issue focuses mostly on Pal and Sage, giving Groo little to do except provide comedy in the background. He does get to do a bunch of that though, as well as act as Pal's enforcer when other garbage collectors try to muscle in on his territory:



Drumm also gets relegated to the background, which is kind of a shame; I always thought the best Pal and Drumm stories involved them both contributing some sort of antagonism to Groo, with Pal using brains (yet still managing to find his schemes stymied by Groo) and Drumm using brawn (and Groo always beating him up). The creative team has found a good way to use Pal as someone who is constantly conniving his way into some profitable enterprise, but they're still working on getting Drumm involved. I know there's at least one story coming up that makes us of them both, so as usual, I suspect they mange to figure it out.

The art, as ever, is lovely, full of Sergio's usual detail and energy, but the thing that really stands out for me this issue is the depiction of the garbage as a sort of grey-brown sludge, which is rather gross:



There's something viscerally upsetting about the images of trash that fill the issue. It might be the chunks of stuff like fish bones and banana peels that are all mixed into the muddy gunk, or the ever-present flies and stink lines, but it's all quite disgusting, and it makes the issue's finale especially repulsive. I don't know if that's a recommendation, or just an acknowledgement that Sergio and pals managed to really strike a nerve here, but it's enough to really make the issue stand out.

Next: "The Gurus"

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This issue's stats:
Recurring characters: The Sage, Pal and Drumm
Hidden message(s): It can be found, letter by letter, on the sheath of Pal's sword, combining to form this aggregate message (which, due to the printing on my copy, is difficult to read):



Moral: "Eliminate a problem before it eliminates you!" There's also a parenthetical after the "The End" that reads "(Unless we do something about it)".

Spanish words: The region of Basura is aptly named for the word for "trash", and what's more, towns in the area include Quisquiliae (Latin for "rubbish"), Ordures (French for "filth"), and Sordes (a medical term for "deposits of dirt or bacteria on the body").
Running jokes: Getting the obvious one out of the way, see Mark Evanier's job for this issue. Drumm says "You never bought me a house!" and "What pirates?" to Pal. The running joke for the issue is that after Sage says that there is money in garbage, Groo spends the rest of the story searching through piles of trash for some cash.
Mark Evanier's job(s): Mulching Consultant
Letter column jokes: Mark D. Warner writes that he has solved the mystery of the blue thing on Groo's chest; it's an ita-koshiate, or a kind of sword-holder made of a board with holes and fastened to a belt. He also says that the little skull on Groo's belt is a netsuke, his dagger is a hamidashi, and he suspects the water in Sage's flask is aqua vitae, or "the water of life". He says that the Groo Crew needs to try a bit harder to be dumb, because "you're starting to make sense to me." Jason Wagner threatens to start buying two copies of Groo each month unless Sergio sends him a picture of Groo. Mark says that from now on, they're not going to send him 12 pictures each month, so he'll have to buy 24 copies of every issue (I think this becomes something of a running joke in the letter column; we'll see). Tunc T. Olcer has a question that's been bothering him: "Just who is that ugly idiot with the orange tunic and the blue thing on his chest?" Mark decides any joke would be too easy, so he skips ahead to the issue's Grooism contest winner, Jason Dalio, who recalls the first words of his grammar school teacher, who said "If you want to succeed in my class, and in life, just remember these three words: think before you act." This issue also contains the Statement of Ownership (average copies sold for the previous year: 90,830; copies sold of issue nearest to the filing date: 92,100), but Mark fails to make any jokes about it. What a letdown.

The Neverending Fray: My five-year-old could draw that!

Groo the Wanderer #64
By Sergio Aragones, Mark Evanier, Stan Sakai (lettering), and Tom Luth (coloring)
Published by Epic Comics, 1990



Here's an issue that I remembered as being something of a criticism of modern art (as in "That's not art, it's just a bunch of paint splatters!"), but while that is one aspect of the issue, the story is more of an excuse to have Groo romp through the art world, starting with a funny bit in which he joins what he thinks is a huge battle between two armies, but is actually a bunch of models posing for a painting. There's a nice spot-the-differences moment as Groo attacks a bunch of people who are trying to remain still:



Those first two panels look almost like duplicates, but there are subtle differences, such as the banners moving slightly and characters' expressions changing, to indicate the passage of time between them, and some hilarious larger movements, like the guy Groo is attacking in the first panel falling onto another guy in the second panel. It's a pretty great scene, managing to sell how hard these people are trying to remain still while a violent nincompoop is raging through their midst.

From there, Groo decides to take up art himself, since it seems like an easy way to make money, which leads to an amusing bit in which he bullies two armies into posing for him, then makes them hold the pose while he goes to get paint (and some cow tails to use as brushes), then proceeds to produce a painting that looks nothing like the scene he is attempting to recreate:



The following scene, in which Groo goes to sell his paintings to the king, is where the art world satire comes in, as the royal art critic, afraid of being killed for a bad review, pronounces them masterpieces, completely upending the dominant artistic paradigms as all the easily-influenced hangers-on of the kingdom decide to switch to Groo's style:



This is the sort of thing that I was kind of dreading with this issue, since I hate it when people declare something "not art" because it's different from what they think of as art (Like Serrano! Or Pollock! Or Picasso! Or Van Gogh! And so on throughout history...). But while this story does sort of play into that populist attitude, it's more of an "Emperor's New Clothes"-style attack on people who don't think for themselves, but assume that because a supposedly-knowledgeable person tells them something, then it's true. Which isn't to say that criticism is useless (I wouldn't want to put myself out of a job hobby!), but it's pointing out that people should form their own likes and dislikes rather than embracing or rejecting something just because somebody told them to.

And anyway, this is a goofy comic book making a joke about what it would be like if Groo was an artist, not some grand statement about artistic intent, so everything is handily deflated when the Sage shows up, and Groo asks his opinion on his paintings, insisting that he be honest. Since he's just about the only person who could get away with being truthful and keep his life, his frank assessment of Groo's work as "garbage" quickly sets things right. And so, it's back to the status quo. Groo can only remain in people's good graces for so long; eventually, everyone will come back around to the realization that he is an idiot.

Next: "The Garbage Issue"

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This issue's stats:
Recurring characters: The Sage, plus Sergio as one of a bunch of artists:



Hidden message(s): I would have expected to find one somewhere in the various paintings that we see, but I did not.

Moral: "Garbage that is well-wrapped is still garbage."
Spanish words: King Pecanins might be named after Mexican-American blues singer Betsy Pecanins.
Running jokes: In a case of a joke from the letter page making its way into the comic, Groo pesters an artist with questions, one of which is "Can I have a sketch?"
Mark Evanier's job(s): Palatine
Letter column jokes: Monika Maxa writes that she likes Mark's poems, and offers one of her own, which goes like this:

Roses are red,
Violets are blue.
This poem isn't original,
But yours are.

David Seigler complains about people coming up with cute ways to try to get their letter printed, since that's not what fan mail is about. He promises not to try anything like that, hoping to "teach you not to underestimate the high scruples and principled character of a true Groo fan!" Mark says he only printed the letter because of that sentence and wonders why he and Sergio can't come up with funny stuff like that. Lon Wolf wonders if Groo is part of the Marvel Universe, the "Multi-verse", or the "Shadow Race", whatever that means. Mark says Groo takes place in the real world, and the rest are just comic books. Levi Stahl, representing "The Entire Population of Grooville, Illinois", says that everyone in his town loves Groo, but they've started a feud over whether he is better at eating or slaying, and he asks Mark to settle the issue before violence breaks out. Mark says he wasn't paying attention and asks what the question was again. Finally, Steve Moore contributes the issue's Grooism, which is a story that happened to a friend of a friend about a family that was so excited about paying off their house that they held a mortgage-burning party, got drunk, and burned the house down. I find this tale somewhat dubious.

The Neverending Fray: He never bought me a house either

Groo the Wanderer #63
By Sergio Aragones, Mark Evanier, Stan Sakai (lettering), and Tom Luth (coloring)
Published by Epic Comics, 1990



I've always liked Pal and Drumm as supporting characters, probably because they make for an entertaining comedy duo, with Pal (who sort of fits the ugly stereotype of Arabs as unscrupulous, cheating businessmen, although I don't think Arabia actually exists in Groo's world) coming up with elaborate schemes that Groo inevitably screws up, and Drumm acting as more of a physical (and mental) equal to Groo that can be satisfyingly clobbered for calling Groo a mendicant or something. This particular issue focuses more on Pal than Drumm, although the latter does get to act as the dumb foil for the former's trickery, and his increasing offense at what appears to be an act of beneficence toward Groo instead of himself provides a good bit of comedy, and a gag that continues well beyond the confines of this issue.

Said scheme? Real estate price manipulation, stemming from Pal's realization that he could potentially make a lot of money by using Groo to drive prices down, then after buying as many houses as he can, selling them for a large profit after Groo moves away. So he buys Groo a house, which provides several good jokes, as Groo is so enthused by being a homeowner that he remarks excitedly about every mundane detail:



Unfortunately for Pal, other local businessmen get wise to his scheme, and they take it a step further, offering Groo larger houses in other villages so they can profit off his absence in their own vicinity, eventually gifting him with a castle, just as he gets over the novelty of owning a home and realizes that he doesn't want to be tied down to one location. It ends up being an amusing sort of chase, as Pal struggles to keep up with Groo and get him back to the confines of his original plan, but only making things worse as he struggles to contain the force of nature that he unleashed. As I always say, basing any plan around Groo is a sure path to failure, and probably death and destruction as well.

I had remembered this issue as being hilarious, and it's got its moments, but it didn't quite live up to the memory, being more of a low-key form of a chase that doesn't really allow Groo to unleash his full potential for mayhem or destruction. Usually somebody trying to get him to do something leads to much more catastrophic results, but it is satisfying to see Pal and Drumm totally ruined by their own scheme.

The issue does feature one of the series' more chaotic title pages, depicting the results of Groo trying to help out in the construction of an aqueduct:



Just look at all those flying figures, collapsing timbers, and fleeing spectators! How he managed to do all that just by pulling the wrong rope is quite impressive. There's just so much going on in that image: guys flying through the air or barely hanging on; all sorts of tools and materials flying about; people staring in bug-eyed disbelief; people falling on top of each other; a couple guys standing on a platform that is slowly collapsing under them; so many screaming faces; people running away clutching small children. I do like seeing people going about their normal lives before Groo shows up and throws them into disarray, and this issue has plenty of that. It's not as funny as I had remembered, but it's a good time nonetheless.

Next: Now that I've caught up on issues which I had skipped, we're finally getting to "The Painter".

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This issue's stats:
Recurring characters: Pal and Drumm (whose names, by the way, seem to be a play on the word "palindrome", but there's not really any deeper meaning there, as far as I can tell). And look, Sergio's in the box in the upper left corner of the cover!
Hidden message(s): I didn't find one, consarn it.

Moral: "You can always buy another house but you cannot put a price on a home."
Spanish words: The town of Madrina is named for the word for "godmother", while nearby Rio Largo means "long river".
Running jokes: This issue is the origin of the "You never bought me a house!" joke, which Drumm always says to Pal whenever they appear from this point forward. He also asks Pal "What pirates?", of course.
Mark Evanier's job(s): Realtor (too obvious, if you ask me)
Letter column jokes: Jason Woods writes a nice, complimentary letter about how reading Groo has reawakened his interest in comics, but Mark tells him it's not at all fitting for the Groo letter page, so he provides some examples of more appropriate letters. First, there's one from "Hermit" Wilson, which simply says "(letter withheld by request), and then Sean Scanlon writes to Alien Legion and realizes halfway through that he's in the Groo letter column and starts screaming for help. Rol Hirst's letter also probably counts; he(?) says that he likes Groo, "especially the pointy ears, long flowing cape, and yellow and black symbol." Mark replies by saying that Kim Basinger is nowhere near good-looking enough to play Grooella. Shawn Cier provides the issue's Grooism with a story of being on the beach when it started to rain and seeing a man urge his daughter to get into the ocean before they got wet. Mark also mentions receiving a bunch of letters from a Mark Lockwood, each consisting of an envelope containing a foil letter sticker, but not being able to figure out if they spell anything. I don't know if there's ever a resolution to the story, but it's worth mentioning, just in case.
Miscellaneous: Look, it's Fabio!

The Rabbi's Cat: It's as good in motion as it is on the page

The Rabbi's Cat
France, 2012
Directed by Joann Sfar and Antoine Delesvaux
Based on the comic by Joann Sfar



Joann Sfar has such a particular, idiosyncratic style of artwork that one might not expect his comics to translate all that well to animation, but this adaptation of one of his best-known (in the United States, anyway) works proves that notion wrong. If anything, Sfar's artwork makes a lovely transition to movement, with his tactile shading providing a lush, textured look to surfaces while still retaining a hand-drawn look, the characters moving with a nice combination of realism and cartooniness, and beautifully detailed art filling the screen, mostly sticking to a single style but occasionally shifting to distorted or simplified exaggerations for dream sequences and the like. It's absolutely lovely, a joy to watch play out throughout the film's running time, and along with some excellent voice acting and a plot that just kind of meanders along in whatever direction it feels like going, it makes for a wonderful, whimsical bit of entertainment, but one that also provides some thoughts to ponder if one is so inclined.



For those unfamiliar with the source material, the story follows a cat and his owners (if a cat can be considered to be owned by anyone), a rabbi and his daughter who live in Algiers in what appears to be the 1920s or 30s. Early on in the story, the cat eats the rabbi's parrot, which gives him the power of speech and kicks off all sorts of interesting shenanigans as the rabbi tries to teach him about Judaism. Later, the cat loses his power to talk, and the plot heads off into some weird places, as the rabbi ends up caring for a Russian Jew who fled to Algeria, then goes on an expedition with him to find an Ethiopian Jerusalem that was supposedly the origin of both the black and Jewish races. It's an odd and kind of flighty plot, but what exactly happens isn't really the point; it's more about following around these characters as the cat struggles to understand humanity and religion, even though he would just prefer to spend time with his mistress, the rabbi's daughter. But for viewers, any time spent with these characters is a treat, with the voice acting and animation allowing them to display a real warmth for each other, both a physical closeness and also the kind of affection and irritation that families have.



The discussions of religion are fascinating as well, with the cat attempting to learn about Judaism but fighting against a lot of the ideas on logical grounds with a feline contrariness, while allowing viewers to understand the comforting feelings that faith can provide. The rabbi himself has a wonderful attitude, solid in his beliefs but willing to say he doesn't know when the cat prods him with an inconsistency or contradiction. Later on, he meets up with an Arabic cousin who joins the trek to the Ethiopian Jerusalem, and they make a wonderful pair, holding what seem like conflicting beliefs, but willing to accept each other for what they are and share each other's joy and sorrow. It's a rather feel-good look at religion, an inclusive, accepting atmosphere that puts people before dogma (while still acknowledging, through both Jewish and Muslim characters that appear in the story, that there are those in any religion who are much more concerned with the letter of the law than with its spirit). It might be a rose-colored view of a past that never was, but by making some of the most contentious religions on the planet seem warm and friendly, it provides a window into what can make beliefs so important to people, without condemning those who don't toe that particular line.



Religion aside, the film is a gorgeous trip into a world that springs to life from Sfar's imagination, and it's full of great visuals, goofy asides (including a meeting with Tintin that reveals him as kind of a racist, or at least a condescending jerk), cute character moments, love and warmth between people (and animals), expressive flourishes, nice voice acting (I like the way the cat's meows don't try to replicate an actual feline sound, but just consist of actor François Morel saying "Meow"), and a wonderfully realized setting. It turns out that there was no need to doubt the suitability of Joann Sfar's sensibility for animation; it ends up being a perfect realization of the look and feel of his comics. And hopefully it won't be the last time we get to see it either.