"The Groo Library" is a collection of four complete comics from the Groo comic book series. As explained in the afterword, this book is not really a "library". It is merely one of the volumes in the collection of the Groo series. If you're not an comics fan, then you may not know that it is standard practice for a comic book series, once it has been published in the traditional comic book format, to be collected and published in book-form. However, whereas many on-going series number their collections (i.e., Volume 1, Volume 2, etc.), the producers of the Groo series decided to give each volume a sort of code name. Each volume would have titles which included a word beginning with a letter of the alphabet. For example, the first volume was titled, "The Groo Adventurer". Next came "The Groo Bazaar", then "The Groo Carnival". Get it?
If you've never read Groo before, you should know that this is a humorous comic, written and drawn by Sergio Aragonés, who was a contributor to "MAD Magazine" for many years. Groo is a silly version of Conan the Barbarian. Like Conan, Groo is strong, he wanders around carrying swords and fighting people. The main difference is Groo is very stupid. He knows very little, except how to "slay" people. In his mind, he is a great warrior who helps people stay safe from bandits wherever he goes. In truth, he often kills the wrong people, and ends up causing more problems than he solves. Groo is so childlike in his stupidity, though you can't help but love him.
Each Groo story begins with a kind of prolog written in verse, which sets up the story. It gives you the impression that you are listening to stories told by singing, rhyming bards as in the old days. Also, like many of the old bardic tales, each story ends with a clever moral.
The great thing about the Groo series is that you can jump in at any point. With very few exceptions, each story in completely inclusive, and it is not necessary to have read the other volumes in the series. In this volume, the first two stories center around Groo's dog, Rufferto. The first, titled, "Rufferto Reverie", has Rufferto dreaming about being a great warrior like his owner, Groo. While Groo is fishing, he daydreams he is a fearless warrior, chasing bandits and killing entire armies all in the efforts to saving a poodle named Fifi. Later, he gets the chance to prove his heroism when he hears a dog barking in the distance. Meanwhile, Groo tries to help save a rich man's jewels from being stolen by a group of bandits, when in actuality, he kills the rich man's guards, and lets the bandits escape.
If you're looking for a fun book to read that doesn't require much thought, and will have you rolling around on the floor laughing, then Groo is for you!