Groo is another comic I didn't collect or even see when I was young and it's a damn shame. But it never showed up in my neck of the woods. I think I saw some ads here and there because I knew the name, but just didn't have any opportunity that I knew of to get my hands on it. I guess Flo's Flea Market quarter comics boxes didn't have any Groo.
Of course, Sergio Aragonés is not simply the Groo guy. He was a Mad Magazine guy first, and a hell of a good one. He was known as one of the fastest cartoonists around.
Take a look at any Groo page and just marvel at the little details. The buildings look like they have real form and usage, the costumes are unusual but have a ring of truth to them. They are weird. The people are weird. But not in a "anything goes" kind of way. They are weirdly real. And yet wildly, wildly insane.
Aragonés has a command of form and movement and expression that is beyond superhuman. As a cartoonist myself, I am in awe of his powers. Just flip to any random Groo page and look at how he draws swords, for example. They have so much character. I caution people against holding any other artists in too high a regard. But I find myself breaking that rule and elevating Sergio Aragonés to a godlike status in my mind. And I think he deserves it.
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| Aragones' sword game is strong. |
This explains a lot of influences of your art. I know Groo a little through the Usagi Yojimbo comics, and I think I should give him a chance, much more now that I'm deeper into D&D themes
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, the comics are great! They are repetitive, of course, because the joke is always that Groo is very stupid. But Sergio makes it great.
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ReplyDelete'Groo' was one of the first comics I collected as a teenager in the '80s, and it was a firm favourite. I lived in Edinburgh and we were blessed with three comic shops within a short distance from my school - Deadhead comics, Forbidden Planet, and one other that I can't remember. I regularly bought 'Groo' before I eventually got into DC Batman comics and Spawn. Sadly, I threw my collection out into the recycling when I decided that lassies ranked higher than comics and wargames in my tiers of personal interests.
ReplyDeleteInto the BIN?? I can't fathom that. I know it happened a lot back in the day. Comics were printed on cheap paper and were assumed to be throw-away material. When I was a kid I certainly didn't bag anything. I remember when I first got into reading comics and you'd go to the flea market and they would just be in piles or in boxes, never bagged. Bagging wasn't a thing.
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