[Groop] The Hogs of Horder #1

[Rocky Smith]

Well said, Porter. 

(Oh, and you too Gary).

rocky

Date: Fri, 4 Dec 2009 16:41:48 -0800
From: GaryG at DOR.WA.GOV
To: Groop at groo.com
Subject: Re: [Groop] The Hogs of Horder #1
















Hey
Porter!

 

I
agree with every word you wrote.  (Even the big one’s that I didn’t
understand) 

 

Take
care all, 

 

Gary
“Can’t Wait for HH#2” G. 

 

PS 
I like my spit roasted lizard with cheese dip, cuz it Tastes Great and
its Less Filling.  

 

 

 





From:
groop-bounces at groo.com [mailto:groop-bounces at groo.com] On Behalf Of Porter

Sent: Friday, December 04, 2009 3:30 PM

To: Groop at groo.com

Subject: Re: [Groop] The Hogs of Horder #1





 

I have been thinking about this subject for awhile now.



 





Were one to pick up a copy of Epic #5 ('Slavers') and, well,
Hogs of Horder #1, it is no great difficulty to see differences in the approach
to writing and storytelling and to some degree the art as well (never mind the
printing, layout and general physical qualities).  With that said, Groo
The Wanderer has ever been a social and political critique set amidst the
antics of a fool with swords.  This is one of the primary qualities The
Fool has evinced historically: both veiled and overt criticism by absurd means,
subversion through an innocuous and seemingly simpleminded medium (this exact
same argument, both pro and con, has been made in regards to comic books in
general for decades).



 





The difference between Groo and traditional fools, of
course, is that Groo is a genuine fool, not a scholar in a buffoon's uniform.
He, along with Minstrel and Sage on occasion, exists at various times (and
frequently all at once) as the voice, subject and cause of criticism.
But Groo and the stories themselves are different
because the storytellers are different. After 25 years or so, I would hope
their evolution as writers and artists would not have ended at the age of 30 or
40. One's craft, expertise, ideals, interests and motivations shift - and for
me it is equally interesting watching the creators themselves go through a
metamorphosis as it is to see the changes their characters go through.





 





But I don't think it so much an issue of moralizing or
politicizing the stories - they were always that (end-of-story moral, anyone?)
- but that they have become directly allegorical, overt and more current-events
based than in previous adventures. In that way I do think they have become much
more relevant, more immediate, and shed light in new ways upon issues that are
affecting us now.  In the same breath though, I think what has been
missing as a result is its universalism and timelessness, its intricacy in
simplistic form.





 





My general preference too is with the older, less
allegorical approach - it is by reading Groo that I discovered the very notion
of "relevance and applicability" in literature - but I do enjoy these
current stories greatly nevertheless. I love them all and like the change
of pace but hope for a return sometime soon.  And so continues the
great debate between applicability and allegory, Middle Earth and Narnia,
crackers and chips, salsa and hummus, pad thai and chow mein, ale and lager,
black forrest and red velvet cake... cheese dip and spit-roasted lizard.





 





Time to eat.





 





 ~ Porter.









 		 	   		  
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