Groo vs Conan #1 Review

groo vs conan 1Groo vs Conan #1 Review

Dark Horse Comics
Writers: Sergio Aragones and Mark Evanier
Art: Sergio Aragones and Thomas Yeates
Colors: Tom Luth
Lettering: Richard Starkings and Comicraft
Cover: Sergio Aragones and Thomas Yeates

Reviewer: Tom Barnett

He’s back! They’re back! Beloved creator, Sergio Aragones along with his characters, Groo the Wanderer and his loyal dog Rufferto.

If you are not familiar with Groo, he made his first appearance some 32 years ago and has been bumbling his way through adventures ever since, with the help of Rufferto and as much cheese dip as he can find. Groo is not exactly a swordsman in the vein of Conan, although maybe just as deadly, but far less intelligent. So what will it be? Will intelligence and pure brawn win out? Or will Groo’s stupidity and blind luck be enough to overcome Conan?

The first issue of this four issue series begins with beautiful artwork from Thomas Yeates showing a tale of Conan’s prowess. Some villagers witness Conan saving the day and yearn for him to be their champion – not Groo. The story then switches to the real world, where Mark Evanier and Aragones are arguing about whether doing a Conan vs Groo story is even a worthwhile project. As Aragones puts it, panel one Groo meet Conan. Groo slay Conan in panel two.

This comic is filled with puns and tons of humor. Groo was never intended to be as serious as any Conan story. While this story switches between Conan’s world, the real world and Groo’s world several times, it never loses its momentum. I love Groo, but I hesitated on this because I don’t like multiple art styles in one book. Yeates and Aragones pull it off though. Two completely different art styles and the artists blended it perfectly. At times I couldn’t tell whose work was whose in the backgrounds of the blended scenes. I would love to see how they did those blended scenes and I can’t wait for the next issue. This is going to be a fun series not quickly forgotten.

If you’re looking for something completely stupid to read you’ve found it. I mean there are some great crossovers out there; JLA vs the Avengers, Avengers vs the X-men, Godzilla vs King Kong. But Groo vs Conan? Sergio Aragones must have lost his mind!

Story: 5/5
Art: 5/5
Overall: 5/5

Tom is a contributing writer for Drunk On Comics.  You can follow him on Twitter at @tphoto10.

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