Groo Pin-up # 1 Paul Chadwick Concrete

Description

Groo the Wanderer is a fantasy/comedy comic book series written and drawn by Sergio Aragonés, rewritten, coplotted and edited by Mark Evanier, lettered by Stan Sakai, and colored by Tom Luth. Over the years it has been published by Pacific Comics, Eclipse Comics (one special issue), Marvel Comics (under its Epic imprint), Image Comics and Dark Horse Comics. Groo was one of the first widely successful creator-owned comics, one of the few successful humorous comic books (outside Archie Comics) during its time, and one of the longest-running collaborations in comic book history. In 2011 IGN ranked Groo 100th in the “Top 100 comic books heroes”. Groo (the epithet “the Wanderer” is informal and rarely mentioned within the stories) first appeared as a parody of the brutal sword & sorcery heroes who were popular at the time of his creation in the 1970s, especially Conan the Barbarian as presented in Marvel Comics. Groo is a large-nosed buffoon of unsurpassed stupidity who constantly misunderstands his surroundings. Possessed of superlative skills in swordsmanship (the only task at which he’s remotely competent) he delights in combat but otherwise is a peaceable and honest fellow who tries to make his way through life as a mercenary or by working odd jobs. He is incredibly accident-prone, and despite generally good intentions causes mass destruction wherever he goes. Most of his adventures end with him either oblivious to the mayhem he has wrought or fleeing an angry mob. His penchant for destruction has become so widely known that just the news of Groo approaching is sometimes enough to cause chaos among the population. Groo occasionally meets with respect and good fortune, but it does not last. Businesses, towns, civilizations and cultures have all been unwittingly destroyed by Groo. Such is Groo’s incompetence that so much as stepping onto a ship (except in Rufferto’s company) will cause it to sink. Groo has slain entire armies with nothing more than his swords, which appear to be a pair of katanas. Groo loves these frays, as he calls them, and often charges into the melee with a cry of “Now Groo does what Groo does best!”, similar to Wolverine’s catchphrase “I’m the best there is at what I do, but what I do isn’t very nice”. He is indiscriminate in the use of his battle skills, usually leaping into battle before attempting to ascertain the reasons for the fight, or even who is on what side. Even when Groo does join battle intending to fight for a particular side, he is prone to forget which side he’s on, or be tricked into fighting his unfortunate allies.

Paul Chadwick (born 1957) is an American comic book creator best known for his series Concrete about a normal man trapped in a rock-hard body. Born in Seattle, Chadwick grew up in its suburb Medina, where his father, Stephen F. Chadwick, was the City Attorney. As a teenager, he participated in Apa-5, the amateur press alliance of comics fans, and he then attended Art Center College of Design, majoring in illustration. Graduating in 1979, he began his career creating storyboards for Disney, Warner Brothers, Lucasfilm and other film studios, contributing to such films as Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, Strange Brew, The Big Easy, Ewoks: The Battle for Endor, Lies and Miracle Mile. Chadwick provided art for the Dazzler comic book, published by Marvel Comics, before creating Concrete, first published by Dark Horse Comics in Dark Horse Presents #1 (July 1986). He wrote Gifts of the Night for DC Comics’ Vertigo with art by John Bolton. After working on several Matrix comics, Chadwick was asked by the Wachowskis to write The Matrix Online. He outlined the general story direction (and various natural offshoots) of events to take place in the MMORPG game. He illustrated cards for the Magic: The Gathering collectible card game.

Near mint condition.