Groo the Wanderer #24 - Video Review by 80s Comics

Welcome to the future. Welcome to the 1980s survival chamber, where today we’re taking a look at Groo the Wanderer issue number 24 after a game of Pac‑Man. Yeah, man.

We’re going all the way back to February 1987 with Groo the Wanderer #24. I love Groo the Wanderer. It’s clever and so well drawn by Sergio Aragonés. Look at all the detail in the background — you can spend hours just looking at all the weirdos and the dog. I love the dog. The way he draws dogs is great, and animals in general. It’s awesome.

For those who don’t know, Groo is basically a parody of Conan the Barbarian and sword‑and‑sorcery in general, except Groo is bad luck. He’s totally incompetent, and whatever Groo does, he screws up, and that’s the whole joke. So this issue features Groo doing something poorly. It also features M&M’s. Packs of fun for everyone. I love M&M’s and so do you.

We’ve got a great story here. It’s this minstrel — I think it’s Arcadio’s quest — and Groo is involved, and there’s laser tag, and old‑school comics, and all the stuff that makes these issues fun. It’s fantasy, it’s nostalgia, it’s swords and devastation, and it’s filled with those classic ads that make you want to play laser tag alone in the woods.

There’s a witch with a potion that changes people’s attractiveness. The potion flips the appearance of everyone in the village — the attractive people become ugly, the ugly people become attractive. The whole city gets flipped from one state to another. Arcadio tries to change people’s traits, Groo causes problems, and the whole thing is funny. It’s not meant to be an in‑depth novel; it’s just enjoyable and humorous.

Groo makes people ugly, Arcadio makes them attractive, and the whole town gets transformed multiple times. Meanwhile, you’re admiring all the background details and the silly writing. There’s even a toxic‑waste‑container moment straight out of RoboCop. Someone’s running around slaughtering everybody, the town gets flipped again, and the artwork is incredible. The bishop’s armor, the cinematic wide panels — Sergio Aragonés puts so much effort into every page. It’s a joy to read.

I love the old ads in these books. The Hostess fruit pie ads are amazing. I also enjoy reading the letters in the back of the comics. It’s like the comments section, except not filled with whining and complaining — it’s people who actually enjoy this stuff. One guy talks about picking up issues of Groo when the price dropped from a dollar to 95 cents. That’s a five‑cent difference. That was a big deal in 1987.

Someone asks, “When’s the Groo movie” and they get a smart‑ass response. Then you get the listings: Kung Fu Mamas playing at 4:45–8:30, Nurses Go Berserk at 2:45, and Groo the Wanderer. It’s perfect.