Sergio Aragonés Groo the Wanderer #33
Issue #33, titled 'The Pirates of Salgari,' is a narratively significant early chapter in the post-Rufferto era of the Marvel/Epic run — arriving just four issues after the lovable dog's debut in #29 and serving as one of the first stories to formally establish Rufferto's in-universe superpower: his presence aboard a ship counteracts Groo's legendary ability to sink any vessel he boards, a running gag that would drive plots for the rest of the series. The issue is also part of a creative stretch (issues #29–36) that transformed Rufferto from a guest character into a permanent fixture, cementing the Groo-and-dog dynamic that became inseparable from the strip's identity. As part of the Marvel/Epic run — one of the most celebrated creator-owned arrangements in 1980s comics — each issue in this period stands as evidence that Aragonés and Evanier's insistence on retaining rights produced a sustained, inventive body of work well into the series' middle act.
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The Marvel/Epic run of Groo began in early 1985 after Aragonés and Evanier negotiated a deal with Epic Comics — Marvel's creator-friendly imprint — that preserved full creator ownership, a hard-won arrangement after earlier stints at Pacific and Eclipse. By the time issue #33 shipped in August 1987 (cover-dated November 1987), the creative team of Aragonés (plot and art), Mark Evanier (co-plot and dialogue), Stan Sakai (lettering), and colorist Janice Cohen — who had recently taken over the coloring duties from Tom Luth for this portion of the run — was operating at a confident, prolific pace, producing monthly self-contained stories within a loosely connected ongoing narrative. Evanier's letters column in this issue notably confirmed, in response to reader questions, that Rufferto would be staying on as a permanent cast member, having originally been conceived as a character for only a few issues.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Title of the story in issue #33: 'The Pirates of Salgari,' released August 4, 1987, with a cover date of November 1987.
- The pirates in the story are named after 19th-century Italian adventure author Emilio Salgari, who wrote multiple series of pirate novels — a characteristically literary in-joke from Aragonés and Evanier.
- Plot: Groo attempts to earn a reward by capturing pirates who raided a village, inadvertently becomes their leader after defeating their captain, and ends up caught between the buccaneers and the village he was hired to protect.
- This is an early issue featuring Rufferto as a supporting character; Rufferto's first appearance was in issue #29 ('Rufferto,' July 1987 cover date) — not #33.
- Issue #33 establishes a key series mechanic: Rufferto's presence on a ship suppresses Groo's ship-sinking curse, a story element that recurs throughout the rest of the run.
- Full creative credits: story co-plotted by Sergio Aragonés and Mark Evanier, dialogue by Evanier, art by Aragonés, lettering by Stan Sakai, coloring by Janice Cohen.
- The issue was later collected in the Dark Horse trade paperback 'The Groo Inferno' (1999), which collects Marvel/Epic issues #33–36.
- The Marvel/Epic volume that contains this issue won the Eisner Award for Best Humor Publication in 1992, reflecting the overall creative achievement of this run.
Cast · 2 characters
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Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
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Groo foils the plans of pirates.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).