Groo: Gods Against Groo #3: In Groo We Trust

Issue #3 of Gods Against Groo is a lot of fun, if boring.

In its praise, each issue of this series has offered a lot in terms of social commentary. This issue offers the next step in Groo’s accidental warfare, stemming out of the book’s satire on religious worship. Despite the classically trained cartoon style, this book does have a lot to say about the darker aspects of religion, all done with humor. There are two scenes that, in this issue in particular, exemplify the team’s views on worship culture.

The first is a quite comedic back-and-forth about church donations, which ends in all the other gods slapping themselves for never cashing in on what was collected. The manipulation of others for the gain of the priesthood is a common point of ridicule in this series. The second occurs during a narrative return to The Jester and his daughter that opened up the series back in issue one. Through their blind devotion to Groo, they wind up in jail having done nothing wrong. However, the way their plot is structured, we are supposed to laugh at both groups. Everyone is an idiot, making decisions based on assumptions or ignorance.

The book is less than subtle about its commentary, but this isn’t intrusive as it is mainly focused on its comedy as a reason for commentary. At times this issue can feel like an extended cartoon strip, which will work for some in a way it doesn’t for me. While I found this issue to be the funniest out of the bunch so far, it also dragged the most in its plotting because of its narrative style. Even during the outbreak of our brewing war, I found myself uninterested and bored. Groo is the main character, but he is written passively to allow comedy around him to occur, so the story fails to connect on a long-form level.

Sergio’s art is masterful cartooning. Even when I couldn’t find much to grasp with the story, his control over character design and expression kept the often-used visual comedy fresh and of quality. If jokes fall flat, it’s because of the joke itself, not the execution. His style, Sergio’s art is perfect in every way, colored to a perfection that is impossible to criticize.