Groo the Wanderer - Definition and Overview

Groo the Wanderer is a fantasy/comedy comic book series written by Mark Evanier and drawn by Sergio Aragonés. Over the years it has been published by Pacific Comics, Eclipse Comics (one special issue), Marvel Comics (under its Epic imprint), Image Comics and Dark Horse Comics.

The Characters

Groo the Wanderer is a dark-ages-era large-nosed buffoon who constantly misunderstands his surroundings, and, despite his generally good intentions, causes mass destruction wherever he goes. Most of his adventures end with him walking away oblivious to the mayhem he has wrought, or fleeing an angry mob. Groo occasionally meets with respect and good fortune, but it does not last. Towns, civilizations, businesses and cultures have all been unwittingly destroyed by Groo. Such is Groo's incompetence that so much as stepping onto a ship will cause it to sink.

The only thing that has kept Groo alive through all of his adventures is his excellent swordsmanship. Groo has slain entire armies on his own, with nothing more than his swords. Groo loves these battles - or "frays", as he calls them - and often charges into the melee with a cry of "Now Groo does what Groo does best!" So much is his love for battle that Groo seldom bothers to consider which side he is fighting for, and goes on to slay soldiers from either side.

In all of his travels, Groo has encountered literally thousands of characters. However, there is an assortment of recurring characters:

• Rufferto, Groo's dog and only true friend. Rufferto ran away from his life as a royal pet and endeared himself to Groo. In Rufferto's eyes, Groo is a hero and a tactical genius. Groo can also safely board a ship in Rufferto's presence.
• The Sage, a wise old man who is usually never far from Groo. The Sage often attempts to give Groo sound advice, but Groo's stupidity often means that the advice only makes situations worse. The Sage is never without his dog, Mulch. The Sage has known Groo since childhood and often tells his tales for all who are willing to listen.
• The Minstrel, a singing jester who speaks exclusively in rhyming sonnets. He often likes to sing of Groo's deeds, but Groo seldom appreciates his unflattering descriptions of his bungling.
• Chakaal, a beautiful female warrior who is Groo's equal in swordplay. Chakaal is strong, noble, and wise, and Groo is madly in love with her. However, she repeatedly turns down his idiotic advances.
• Taranto, a corrupt general who has had his plans for glory dashed by Groo several times, and is obsessed with killing the wanderer.
• Arba and Dakarba, a mother/daughter pair of witches who have suffered much trying to take advantage of Groo. They have repeatedly been stripped of their powers because of him.
• Arcadio, a handsome warrior who is considered the greatest hero of his time. He has often enlisted Groo as his "lackey", and while Groo has succeeded in his quests time and again, Arcadio always gets the credit.
• Granny Groo, Groo's gypsy grandmother. Granny Groo often tries to use her grandson to aid her in her moneymaking schemes, but invariably ends up giving him a good spanking when he fails.
• Grooella, Groo's sister. While she greatly resembles her brother, the two of them are totally different: Grooella is a queen. However, her occasional reliance on her brother for aid has spelled disaster every time, and she despises him.
• Pal and Drumm, two con men. The diminutive Pal is always looking for easy money, but his hulking partner Drumm isn't very bright. Their dealings with Groo have often left them in trouble with the people they were scamming.
• Grativo the Wizard, who often punishes Arba and Dakarba for their failures.
• The Witch of Kaan, an eccentric old hag who always has a potion ready for anybody who visits her.

In jokes

Groo's adventures have resulted in these "running gags" that have become staples for years.

• Mendicant: Groo becomes violently angry whenever someone calls him a mendicant, even though he doesn't know what it means.
• Early Groo tales began with a poem. Almost every Groo story ends with a moral.
• The handle of the minstrel's mandolin changes shape in every panel.
• Cheese Dip: Groo's favorite food. Whenever Groo comes across money, cheese dip is the first thing that comes to his mind.
• Mulch: This agricultural process is often mentioned in casual conversation. The Marvel/Epic editions had a long-running gag in the letter column, in which fans would ask Mark Evanier to define "mulch" and he would oblige with the same dictionary definition in every issue. It was later revealed that the Sage's dog, whose name had long been a mystery, was called Mulch.
• "Did I err?": Groo's understatement when he surveys the destruction he has caused. (A letter from a fan once pointed out that since "to err is human", the constantly-erring Groo must be the most human character ever created.)
• "I am the Prince of Chichester.": Granny Groo once made Groo memorize that phrase during one of their ill-fated scams. The con fell apart, but the phrase still sticks in Groo's head, and he says it from time to time when he cannot think of anything to say.
• "What do you mean, 'slow of mind'?": Groo is often called "slow of mind", but it is usually much later in the story when he finally responds to it.
• "I can plainly see that!": Groo's response to when somebody says "...as any fool can plainly see."
• "What pirates?": Once Pal lied to the queen who was the previous owner of Rufferto that it (the dog) had been kidnapped by pirates. Drumm asked "What pirates?" (there were none, of course) in front of the king and the queen, and later in the story he kept asking Pal that. From time to time, he STILL asks "What pirates?", especially when he's trying to kill Pal because one of his plans failed again.
• Hidden Messages: Many of Groo's Epic (Marvel) issues have a hidden message concealed in the artwork or the dialogue. The hidden message usually reads "This is the hidden message."
• Issue #1: Because of its unusual publication history (see below) there have been at least three different issues of the comic book that were numbered as the "first" issue. Part of the reason for this is that first issues tend to have higher sales and each publisher took advantage of this by starting the numbering over again when they took over. Aragones satirized this by proclaiming that every issue he wrote was #1.

The Creators

Groo the Wanderer is co-written by Sergio Aragones and Mark Evanier, and drawn by Sergio. Mark, who also answers the letters page and writes the poems, claims that no one knows what he does, and that he doesn't get paid. (His credit is often a ludicrously polysyllabic title that changes every issue.) Stan Sakai does lettering. Tom Luth is the colorist, who has the unenviable task of coloring Sergio's scenes (which are usually full of hundreds of people). Caricatures of Sergio, Mark, Stan, and Tom often appear as background characters within the stories.

Publication history

Aragones created the character of Groo in the late 1970's. However at that time no comic book company would allow creators to retain the rights to their characters and Aragones did not wish to surrender those rights. In 1981, a comic book, Destroyer Duck #1, was published by Eclipse Comic as a benefit to raise money for a legal battle over creator rights; a one-page story contributed by Aragones featured Groo's first published appearance. His second appearance was a few months later in a back-up story in Star-Slayer #5, published by Pacific Comics.

In 1982, Pacific Comics began publishing Groo The Wanderer as a regular series. However, Pacific faced various financial difficulties and was only able to publish eight issues of the title. With Pacific unable to publish new material, a single shot issue of material that was originally written for them, titled the Groo Special, was instead published by Eclipse. Aragones and Evanier eventually negotiated a deal with Epic Comics (a subsidiary of Marvel Comic) for that company to take over publication and this resulted in the longest run of Groo The Wanderer with 120 issues. In 1994, with Epic/Marvel facing financial difficulties, the title switched to Image Comics and was retitled Groo. When Image in turn faced legal problems after publishing twelve issues, the title switched to Dark Horse Comics in 1998 (while it may appear that Groo is a jinx destroying its publishers, the reality is comic book publishing is a financially difficult business and most publishing companies have a short life). Dark Horse is not publishing the title as a regular series but is releasing new material, as well as reprints, as periodic mini-series and collections.