Sergio Aragonés Groo 1 (1994) Page 8 by Sergio Aragones (Image Comics)

Here's a quintessential Groo page. It's a self-contained monologue that displays his stupidity and Rufferto thinking it to himself. Thus, this also highlights Mark Evanier's scripting and Stan Sakai's lettering skills.

From an art viewpoint, Sergio Aragones gives a storytelling masterclass: Groo is in every panel; his facial expressions change appropriately with each passing thought; and the camera zooms in then out in each panel to prevent redundancy.

Then in the most Sergio-way, he packs so many details: seagulls, refugees, tents, cooking pot, small chair, starfish, shell, patches, twig.. all in the top panel. Then in the bottom panel we got: four boats - all of different designs, barrels, ropes, a single seagull, and two pelicans.

Are these elements all truly necessary for a page where a dumb wanderer is simply talking to himself? Well they are if it's Sergio and that's why he's the maestro and no one else can do what he does!

I am glad to own this page because: (1) it is from a Groo issue that I actually picked up myself in the comic store when I was still a teenager; (2) it is a Groo #1; and (3) this may actually be the first series I ever collected starting from the first issue.