Bookstooge's Reviews On the Road: Groo the Wanderer

Showing posts with label Groo the Wanderer. Show all posts

Thursday, May 29, 2025

The Glass Carafe (Groo the Wanderer #40) 3.5Stars

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Title: The Glass Carafe
Series: Groo the Wanderer #40
Author: Sergio Aragones
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 26
Words: 2K
Publish: 1988

Groo is trying to get a job but there is a very long line. Rufferto decides to “help” and it actually works! What do you say when a dog is smarter than his owner? Groo!

★★★✬☆

From Bookstooge

Groo is hungry and wants a job to earn some kopins to buy a meal. So he goes to a glassblower factory (without realizing what it is) and accidentally breaks a glass carafe. The owner tells him he will give him a job if Groo can replace the glass carafe.

So instead of making a new carafe in the factory, Groo goes on a quest that takes him months, to find a carafe. Every time he does though, it breaks through circumstances, and hence the quest goes on. Finally, Groo gets a carafe back to the owner, who immediately throws him out the front door. Ha!

All of My “Groo the Wanderer” Reviews

Thursday, April 24, 2025

A Groo’s Best Friend (Groo the Wanderer #39) 3.5Stars

Title: A Groo’s Best Friend
Series: Groo the Wanderer #39
Author: Sergio Aragones
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 25
Words: 2K
Publish: 1988

This was a GREAT wrapup to the “theft of Rufferto” story Aragones had going. Once again, a single panel really sums up the whole comic. I love when Aragones can do that!

★★★✬☆

From Bookstooge

Groo walks away from the battle of the last comic. He ends up stealing another dog to replace Rufferto, which leads to even MORE shenanigans. Pal and Drumm get involved, another army is involved, the thieves who originally stole Rufferto are involved and the owner of the stolen dog and his guards are involved. In the end, Groo and Rufferto are united and everybody gets the stuffing beaten out of them by Groo! A happy ending for (almost) nobody, hahahahaa.

All of My “Groo the Wanderer” Reviews

Thursday, March 27, 2025

Mealtime (Groo the Wanderer #38) 3.5Stars

Title: Mealtime
Series: Groo the Wanderer #38
Author: Sergio Aragones
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 24
Words: 2K

Groo thinks he has eaten his dog Rufferto. Look at those faces! Ahhh, I laughed my head off.

★★★✬☆

From Bookstooge

Groo accidentally destroys an army and is hired to replace it. On his journey, he thinks he accidentally eats his dog Rufferto. Rufferto was kidnapped by two rapscallions for the reward and they join an army to blend in. The problem is that it is the army that Groo is recruiting for. Groo meets up with his boss and everything goes straight to heck. Groo’s recruits fight the boss’s recruits and the city they were supposed to fight against sends out their own army to destroy the victor. During this whole time Groo keeps seeing Rufferto everywhere. So when he actually does see him at the battle, he doesn’t believe his eyes, thus allowing for the story to continue in the next comic.

All of My “Groo the Wanderer” Reviews

Thursday, February 27, 2025

The Village of Miggledy (Groo the Wanderer #37) 3.5Stars

Title: The Village of Miggledy
Series: Groo the Wanderer #37
Author: Sergio Aragones
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 25
Words: 2K

This is a game of telephone, but with Groo being the message and the consequences being the destruction of an entire village. The very IDEA of Groo is enough to wreck a village, and it’s funny. Now that is incredible work by Aragones!

While Groo is trying to be a hunter, and failing miserably, the village self-destructs and things escalate at an incredible rate. I’m going to leave the synopsis unhidden, because it’s so amusing (to me anyway).

★★★✬☆

From Bookstooge

Groo is hungry but has no money. He tries to train Rufferto to hunt and fails miserably. He decides to go to the nearest town to beg some food. Several villagers overhear him and return to the village with the bad news. By the end of the comic, the king’s army is in the town to protect it, the villagers have all been driven out by pimps, gamblers and land speculators and villagers from the next village over have bought all their houses dirt cheap. THEN Groo shows up while the town is burning to the ground.

All of My “Groo the Wanderer” Reviews

Thursday, January 30, 2025

Rhyme Nor Reason (Groo the Wanderer #36) 5Stars

Title: Rhyme Nor Reason
Series: Groo the Wanderer #36
Author: Sergio Aragones
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 25
Words: 2K

This was a direct sequel to the previous comic where Groo gets the All Powerful Amulet and makes very bad choices with it, despite the Sage desperately trying to help him NOT make bad wishes. I laughed so hard at this that Mrs B told me to just give this 5stars. She was right.

I’m including the three pages that I found the most amusing. Even thinking about them right now makes me grin and a chuckle begin to well up.

The rapid fire change just goes boom, boom, boom and for it to end with the wizard being turned into Groo is just priceless. I don’t know why, but man, it totally struck my funny bone.

It all works out in the end with the Amulet ceasing to exist. I think Aragones had stretched out the story for all it was worth and I applaud him for knowing when to end a joke.

★★★★★

From Bookstooge

Groo’s adventure with The Amulet continues. He continues to make ill-informed wishes and eventually Arba and Dakarba wish the Amulet to themselves. They in turn torment a wizard by turning him into various animals and then into Groo. Groo regrets some of his wishes and goes on a quest to recover the Amulet and make good. He does and in a fit of total stupidity, wishes that the Amulet didn’t exist. It ceases to exist much to everyone’s relief!

All of My “Groo the Wanderer” Reviews

Thursday, November 21, 2024

The Amulet (Groo the Wanderer #34) 3Stars

Title: The Amulet
Series: Groo the Wanderer #34
Author: Sergio Aragones
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 24
Words: 2K

Back in Issue 26, Groo was tasked with finding half an amulet for a pair of witches. Who were in turn tasked by a powerful wizard. And of course Groo found half the amulet, only it was the half the wizard already had, and Groo completely messed up everything by throwing the half everybody wanted into a lake without them know it.

In this issue, things get resolved. In a very Groo sort of way of course.

The Wizard is in some sort of war with “creatures” and appears to be losing. So once again he tasks Arba and Dakarba to find Groo so as to find the lost half of the amulet. The Sage gets involved, as does his dog. Groo gets turned into a fish (which is smarter than Groo as a human), finds the amulet and the Sage steals the amulet and sends the Wizard and all his minions to another dimension.

That is all I really want from a 24 page comic.

★★★☆☆

All of My “Groo the Wanderer” Reviews

Thursday, October 24, 2024

The Pirates of Salgari (Groo the Wanderer #33) 3.5Stars

Title: The Pirates of Salgari
Series: Groo the Wanderer #33
Author: Sergio Aragones
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 27
Words: 2K

Well, it turns out that Rufferto the dog is some sort of anti-kryptonite for Groo. If Rufferto is on a ship, it can’t sink, even if Groo is on board. But as soon as Rufferto leaves, if Groo is still on board, sploosh, that’s it for that poor ship!

This was a great misadventure of Groo ending up fighting for both sides and not having a clue, as usual. And the ending was just SO GROO. People are fighting, so he just jumps in, hahahaha.

I included this picture because of the first two panels specifically. It was SO expressive of just what was going on. It is simplistic but it conveys everything needful of that situation. From Groo (who isn’t even pictured but is kicking butt!) to the Leader of the Pirates to the onlookers. You read those two panels and you know exactly everything everyone is doing and feeling. How incredible is that? And I think that is why I keep reading this comic. Aragones is good at telling a short story and making his art support it every step of the way.

★★★✬☆

From Bookstooge.blog

Synopsis – click to open

A town is plundered by pirates and offers a reward for the return of all their goods. Groo hears about it and with his dog Rufferto’s help, sails to the pirate island, where he inevitably becomes the leader of the pirates. And leads a raid on the town who is offering the reward. Groo doesn’t get his reward and goes off to sulk. Soldiers from the king attack the pirates cum villagers and Groo ends up attacking everybody. The End.

All of My “Groo the Wanderer” Reviews

Thursday, September 26, 2024

The Bankers of Avara (Groo the Wanderer #32) 3.5Stars

Title: The Bankers of Avara
Series: Groo the Wanderer #32
Author: Sergio Aragones
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 24
Words: 2K

I read this. I enjoyed this. The end.

★★★✬☆

From Bookstooge.blog

Now that Groo has a fortune from his previous misadventures, everybody is his friend. Thinking he is getting lots of jobs to earn money, Groo accidentally sets in motion a chain of events wherein he has become the prime lender in the town of Avara. At the same time, the robbers who tried to cheat him before are tracking him down to steal back the money. And Groo gives his money to a bunch of monks for safekeeping, who use it to gild their little temple. Everything goes wrong at the end and nobody is happy.

All of My “Groo the Wanderer” Reviews

Thursday, August 22, 2024

The Arms Deal (Groo the Wanderer #31) 3.5Stars

Title: The Arms Deal
Series: Groo the Wanderer #31
Author: Sergio Aragones
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 23
Words: 2K

Ahhh, Groo. Sometimes when he tries to do the right thing he completely ruins everything, for everybody. Then you have comics like this where he pretty much lets well enough alone and Fate takes a hand and dishes out punishment to those who deserve it, through Groo 🙂

Groo’s lack of math skills are really shown here, whether’s counting thousands of kopins or fighting people, once he has to count above one, he’s lost. It still all works out for the best in the end though 😀

★★★✬☆

From Bookstooge.blog

Groo has plenty of money from the previous comic. Pal and Drumm cheat him out of it with bad weapons. Only for Groo to be so dumb as to make his money back but also to get another whole load of weapons. And he sells them all, makes tons of money AND gets to fight both armies at the end.

All of My “Groo the Wanderer” Reviews

Thursday, July 25, 2024

Rufferto II (Groo the Wanderer #30) 3.5Stars

Title: Rufferto II
Series: Groo the Wanderer #30
Author: Sergio Aragones
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 23
Words: 2K

Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about. No forgetting poor Groo this month!

Finally, Groo has found something even dumber than he is. Rufferto the dog. The opening page to the comic gives us the previous comic in one page with the people involved just shaking their heads and rolling their eyes at Groo’s stupidity. It was a good refresher for those of us who might have accidentally skipped reading Groo for a month.

Nothing but people trying to swindle Groo, each other and the Royal Couple. Groo ends up with money, Rufferto and gets to end the comic fighting everybody. Which is What Groo Does Best!

This wasn’t a deep read, nor can I spout some bull caca to make it seem like this was A Big Important comic with messages about the Human Condition and a funny message that will bring us all together. No, this was a comic book and it entertained me for about 15minutes and that’s all I needed from it. It delivered in spades, just like all the previous Groo comics and I am thankful for that. Sometimes a cheese pizza is all you really want. And sometimes a Groo comic is all I really want.

This is the last page in the comic and it manages to recap the whole comic for your viewing pleasure.

★★★✬☆

From Bookstooge.blog

Synopsis – click to open

The Adventures of Rufferto continue! The King and Queen continue to offer a reward for Rufferto and his 100,000 kopin collar. Soldiers try to find him. Swindlers find Groo and try to swindle him. Another King finds out about the collar and buys Rufferto off of Groo. The Swindler’s paint a dog to look like Rufferto and give it to the soldiers. And Groo is paid twice. And gets Rufferto back each time. And the comic ends with the soldiers, the swindlers and the other king all fighting over who cheated who the most. And Groo wins most of all with 2000 kopins and a fray!

All of My “Groo the Wanderer” Reviews

Thursday, May 23, 2024

Rufferto (Groo the Wanderer #29) 3.5Stars

Title: Rufferto
Series: Groo the Wanderer #29
Author: Sergio Aragones
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 23
Words: 2K

Hahahahaa, another great entry. I just love these comics. This starts out exactly how I would react to Groo being on a demolition crew. I just laughed my head off.

One interesting thing I found in this comic was that the lettering for the comic is done by a guy named Stan Sakai. I know that name. You’ll know that name too. If you read tomorrow’s post 😉

★★★✬☆

From Bookstooge.blog

Groo destroys a building, sets a royal dog free and then when the dog follows him, tries to eat it. It remains loyal to Groo and when Groo falls into some quicksand, the dog gets some villagers to rescue Groo. They recognize Groo and begin shoving him even quicker into the quicksand. Royal Soldiers track them all down and take the dog back. A random villager accidentally saves Groo. Groo sees a reward poster for the dog, attacks the royal palace and takes the dog for the reward, not realizing who the true owners are.

All of My “Groo the Wanderer” Reviews

Thursday, April 25, 2024

The Gourmet Kings (Groo the Wanderer #28) 3.5Stars

Title: The Gourmet Kings
Series: Groo the Wanderer #28
Author: Sergio Aragones
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 22
Words: 2K

I am getting a serious case of the “don’t want to writes”. It is kind of like writer’s block, except it’s not that I can’t write, it’s that I simply don’t want to! Big difference.

★★★✬☆

From Bookstooge.blog

Groo is hungry. He smells something tasty and tries to be a cook’s assistant. He quits when he finds out he won’t be eating the tasty food but only slop. He comes into contact with a King who is on the lookout for a new Head Chef. After several failures (cannibals, bat eating cave dwellers, etc) Groo remembers the Chef from the town where he quit. He kidnaps the Chef and the King prepares a vast feast for Another King, in advance of working on a peace treaty. Only, the Other King is the one who the Chef originally worked for and this display of kidnapping his own chef sets the two kingdoms warring, again. But at least Groo got fed this time.

All of My “Groo the Wanderer” Reviews

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Spies! (Groo the Wanderer #27) 3.5Stars

Title: Spies!
Series: Groo the Wanderer #27
Author: Sergio Aragones
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 23
Words: 2K

I don’t know why I keep “reviewing” these. Mainly to keep track I guess. I mean, these are regularly funny. Every time I read one I enjoy myself. How many ways can I say “I enjoyed this funny comic because Groo is an idiot”. So far, I’ve said it 27 times. I guess that’s enough. I think after this I’ll just start using this “review” place to talk about whatever is on my mind at the time. So be prepared to be wowed and amazed as I pontificate on matters most important.

★★★✬☆

From Bookstooge.blog

The Minstrel and the Sage are captured as spies and they tell a couple of stories about Groo as a spy to fend off their deaths. Groo is in the camp and when everyone starts making fun of him he attacks them. Minstrel and Sage use the chaos to escape and the issue ends with Groo furiously attacking everyone.

All of My “Groo the Wanderer” Reviews

Thursday, February 22, 2024

Arba and Dakarba (Groo the Wanderer #26) 3.5Stars

Title: Arba and Dakarba
Series: Groo the Wanderer #26
Author: Sergio Aragones
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 23
Words: 2K

Hahahahaahaha, this was another laugh out loud comic. Man, if Groo can DO something and yet still not do it, he will find a way. I am in awe at how Aragones even comes up with these ideas. What kind of mind is so fiendishly twisted that something this funny, this amusing and this twisted is even thought of? It’s just brilliant!

It is one thing to be funny, it’s not too hard to make Groo a complete idiot. But at the same time Aragones has made him this completely unstoppable force of nature who simply cannot do things as people want him to. Sure, he can stop an army. By burning down a forest and destroying all the villages in it. Whatever he is tasked with, Groo will do. But he will do it badly and in such a way that comes back to bite the person who made the initial request. Without fail!

The page I’m including is the last one. Groo has done his job but done it so wrongly that EVERYONE wants to kill him. Classic!

★★★✬☆

From Bookstooge.blog

Click to Open

Groo is hired by two witches to recover an amulet from some tiny people. The witches make Groo small and he attempts to steal the amulet. He fails but is told if he steals ANOTHER amulet from a wizard that the little people will let him have the first amulet. Both amulets end up being a part of an Artifact of Power. Groo steals the wizard’s amulet but in the process of giving it to the tiny people ends up stealing the first amulet, thus owning both. He throws away the wizard’s amulet, since “he” doesn’t need it any more and gives the original amulet to the two witches. Who turn out to be working for the wizard. The comic ends with the two witches, the wizard and the entire tribe of tiny people waiting in ambush to kill Groo for destroying all their plans.

All of My “Groo the Wanderer” Reviews

Thursday, January 11, 2024

Divide and Conquer (Groo the Wanderer #25) 3.5Stars

Title: Divide and Conquer
Series: Groo the Wanderer #25
Author: Sergio Aragones
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 23
Words: 2K

Groo is a pretty obvious comic, so when I saw this page (page 5), I knew exactly where the comic was going to go. I didn’t know how it was going to get there, but I knew the destination:

And sure enough, that is exactly what happens.

The fun is watching Aragones lead us down the path to that destination. Just because we know the destination doesn’t mean we know the path the journey will take. Especially as Groo is involved and no journey with him is straightforward or logical at all! 😀

★★★✬☆

From Bookstooge.blog

Click to Open

Groo rescues a town from bandits, only to have them be attacked by another group of bandits. He rescues the town from those bandits as well. Then the two bandit groups unite. Groo teaches the villagers how to fight and it is a three way fight. Then they realize they have destroyed the town and all three groups join up to go pillage a different village. Good job Groo!

All of My “Groo the Wanderer” Reviews

Thursday, December 14, 2023

Arcadio’s Quest (Groo the Wanderer #24) 3Stars

Title: Arcadio’s Quest
Series: Groo the Wanderer #24
Author: Sergio Aragones
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 24
Words: 2K

This was a little bit repetitive for my taste. The only change in the situation was each time that Groo had to get a new chess piece for the witch so she’d give him another potion. He’d attack the town and THAT was different each time. Even Aragones can only show that so many times before it gets boring. Considering we see Groo uglify the other town each time and Arcadio un-uglify it, it felt very much like complete and utter filler. Just something for Aragones to do to meet a deadline.

It was amusing but not really funny. Part of that was just how tired I am and how busy life feels right now and how my emotional life is relentlessly acting like a teenager and I’m just exhausted on every front. I’m too tired to even pick a page from the comic and showcase it.

★★★☆☆

From Bookstooge.blog

Click to Open

Groo is called by Arcadio to help break a spell on his town. Someone has turned them all stupid and mindless. They used to be ugly but Arcadio broke that spell when he married the princess. But it happened after Groo had left the village. So when Groo shows up and sees everyone absolutely gorgeous, he thinks THAT is the curse and gets a potion that turns them all ugly again. Arcadio had also gone to get a cure so when he returns he finds everyone ugly AND stupid. So he uses the cure to make them beautiful. This back and forth happens 32 times until Groo and Arcadio finally meet. Arcadio explains what is going on and of course Groo doesn’t understand. He uses the final potion to uglify everyone, including Arcadio and the Minstrel. The whole town is now smart again thanks to Arcadio and they all chase Groo out of the town, trying to kill him.

All of My “Groo the Wanderer” Reviews

Thursday, November 09, 2023

Groo Meets Pal and Drumm (Groo the Wanderer #23) 3.5Stars

Title: Groo Meets Pal and Drumm
Series: Groo the Wanderer #23
Author: Sergio Aragones
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 24
Words: 2K

Hahahahahahahaaa. This was another great entry in the Groo comic. Groo is suckered into putting on fake fights with another warrior and of course, he bungles, every single time.

I thought it showed Aragones’ creativity to be able to think of these “simple” situations and then make comedy gold out of them. It’s not easy to do humor on demand (as shown by almost all of our modern media writers, who are nothing but hacks, at best) but Aragones hasn’t let me down yet.

One thing I don’t think I’ve mentioned about the artwork before is how Aragones manages to draw a scene filled with people and it is busy and full but he shades things in such a way that your eye is drawn to the important part. That takes skill too and I appreciate it. The artist of a comic should be directing the audiences’ eyes and if he’s not, he’s a complete failure of an artist and should be tarred, feathered and run out of town on the rails! (I’m looking at you, modern comic artists who draw 2 page spreads with so much crap going on that the reader gets epilepsy just looking at it!) The following pix is the last page in the comic and I think illustrates this principle perfectly.

★★★✬☆

From Bookstooge.blog

Groo meets another warrior, Drum, who is working with a schemer called Pal. All three work together to put on “fights” which are rigged. The problem is that Groo keeps messing everything up and eventually everyone else catches on and the comic ends with Groo, Drumm and Pal all running for their lives.

All of My “Groo the Wanderer” Reviews

Thursday, October 12, 2023

Groo and the Ambassador (Groo the Wanderer #22) 3.5Stars

Title: Groo and the Ambassador
Series: Groo the Wanderer #22
Author: Sergio Aragones
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 24
Words: 2K

Groo gets into trouble, causes trouble and eventually just wanders out of the picture leaving death and destruction in his wake, as usual. Hhaahahahahaa!

Ahhhh, I love this comic 😀

★★★✬☆

From Bookstooge.blog

Groo the Wanderer is wandering around and at the same time an Ambassador named Gru is accidentally following the same path. Gru ends up taking all of the consequences that Groo creates by not paying for anything. Eventually war breaks out between two kingdoms and Groo is left wandering in the woods, clueless as ever.

All of My “Groo the Wanderer” Reviews

Thursday, September 14, 2023

Groo and the Witches of Brujas (Groo the Wanderer #21) 3.5Stars

Title: Groo and the Witches of Brujas
Series: Groo the Wanderer #21
Author: Sergio Aragones
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 24
Words: 2K

I not only like the humor of these comics, but I really appreciate Aragones ability to tell a silly story from start to finish in 24 pages. Not only does he do that, he keeps me entertained the whole time and never leaves me feeling like I wasted my time. I appreciate that he appreciates that my time is valuable.

★★★✬☆

From Bookstooge.blog

Groo is attacked by a wizard and then forced to help two witches against the wizard. They multiply Groo, he fights himself and then escapes with a scary boatman. The comic ends with Groo, the boat and the Boatman about to be sucked down into a whirlpool.

All of My “Groo the Wanderer” Reviews

Thursday, August 10, 2023

Groo and the Siege Second Try (Groo the Wanderer #20) 3.5Stars

Title: Groo and the Siege Second Try
Series: Groo the Wanderer #20
Author: Sergio Aragones
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 24
Words: 2K

Hahahahahaa! Oh man, I totally did not see the final part coming. I knew the Sage was going to be able to help Groo, but I just didn’t see him misunderstanding the whole situation. Oh, it took Groo’s level of destruction to a whole new level. If I lived in a world with a Groo, I’d try to figure out a way to harness his contrary-luck (it’s not necessarily “bad”, it just doesn’t work for anyone but Groo).

Of course, the enemies of Grooella do just that. Well, maybe not quite “harnessing” it, but they figure out how to make it work for them. Which is more than Grooella has ever done, hahahahahaa.

I’ve included the final panel where the enemies make use of Groo’s particular disability 😉

★★★✬☆

From Bookstooge.blog

Groo tries to help Grooella again and just makes things even worse. As always. To the point where the enemy uses Groo. Finally Groo decides to get help from the Sage, who helps Groo destroy the castle, because Groo forgot to tell him that the castle belonged to Grooella. The comic ends with both the Sage and Grooella chasing Groo down so they can kill him.

All of My “Groo the Wanderer” Reviews