Groo The Wanderer!

(Groo can only dream of being Frazetta's Conan.)

And then there's Groo the Wanderer! He debuted in (of all places) Destroyer Duck #1, the original comic dedicated to raising funds for the legal case of one Steve Gerber as he battled Marvel for the rights to Howard the Duck. A few pages in the back and we had on our hands one of the most successful and durable comic book characters of all time.

Created by MAD man Sergio Aragones, the wildly talented humor artist, Groo tapped into the then-popular sword and sorcery lore which permeated comics like the seminal Conan the Barbarian among a multitude of others such as Warlord, Red Sonja, Arak, and many others would-be barbaric contenders.

(First Groo Story!)

Mark Evanier is the Groo-whisperer, a longtime writer for TV and comics who adds words to the stories that Aragones develops and draws. This team along with letterer Stan Sakai and colorist the late Tom Luth have been at the wanderings of the boobish Groo for a great many moons now. Generations have come and while Destroyer Duck and other shiny objects of the Indie wave have diminished into the West, still the moronic Groo abides. He was the "Dude" before the Dude. 

Before awarding Groo his own comic the mavens at Pacific Comics previewed him in Starslayer (another of those straight barbarian types). After getting his own title, Groo plugged along for a cool eight issues before Pacific fell victim to financial woes. Groo though, stronger than the company that nourished him found a momentary footing at Eclipse (where he'd debuted) before finding a rather permanent home at Epic Comics, the Indie brand of sorts for mighty Marvel. There Groo out-lasted nearly everyone and went to bounce around at Image and Dark Horse and all over even down into our modern day. 

I keep an eye out for Groo projects which pique my interest such as his team-ups with Conan the Barbarian and Tarzan of the Apes. Both projects brought in the talent of Tom Yeates to handle the illustration of Groo's partners. 

Here are the covers from Groo's very excellent original 1980's run from Pacific Comics. 

It seems there's no killing this doughty barbarian, as much as we might want that. He's the Energizer Bunny of comics, he just keeps running. I don't have many regrets when it comes to my comic book reading, but not including more Groo might be one of the few. Good stuff!

This post is dedicated to the late Tom Luth. 

This Post is a Revised Dojo Classic. 

Rip Off