Sergio Aragonés
Born	September 6, 1937 (1937-09-06) (age 70)
Occupation	Cartoonist, Writer

Sergio Aragonés Domenech (born September 6, 1937^[1], San Mateo, Castellón, Spain) is a cartoonist and writer best known for his contributions to Mad Magazine and creator of the comic book Groo the Wanderer. Events 3114 BC - According to the Proleptic Julian calendar the current era in the Maya Long Count Calendar started Year 1937 ( MCMXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 3114 BC - According to the Proleptic Julian calendar the current era in the Maya Long Count Calendar started Year 1937 ( MCMXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The word cartoon has various meanings based on several very different forms of Visual art and Illustration. Mad is a monthly American Humor Magazine founded by editor Harvey Kurtzman and publisher William Gaines in 1952

Biography

Born in Spain, Aragonés had a passion for art since early childhood. Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. As one anecdote goes, Aragonés was once left alone in a room by his parents with a box of crayons. His parents returned sometime later to find that he had covered the wall in hundreds upon hundreds of drawings.

Aragonés emigrated with his family due to the Spanish Civil War and settled in Mexico. The Spanish Civil War was a major conflict in Spain that started after an attempted Coup d'état committed by parts of the army against the government of The United Mexican States ( or commonly Mexico (ˈmɛksɪkoʊ () is a federal constitutional Republic in North America. He made his first professional sale in 1954 but continued to doodle humorous cartoons while studying architecture at the University of Mexico, and also learning pantomime under the direction of Alejandro Jodorowsky. Year 1954 ( MCMLIV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1954 Gregorian calendar) Pantomime (informally panto) (not to be confused with a Mime artist, referring to a theatrical performer of mime is a performance genre traditionally found Alejandro Jodorowsky (ɑːlɛˈxɑːndrɒ jɒdɒˈrɒvskiː (born February 7 1929 in Tocopilla, Chile, of a Jewish Russian (Ukranian immigrant family In 1962, Aragonés moved to the United States. Year 1962 ( MCMLXII) was a Common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. He currently resides and works in Ojai, California. Ojai (ˈoʊhaɪ is a city in Ventura County, California, United States. California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean.

Aragonés first went to the U. S. in 1962. Year 1962 ( MCMLXII) was a Common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. According to the artist, he arrived in New York with nothing but 20 dollars and his portfolio of drawings. New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous After working odd jobs around the city, Aragonés went to Mad's offices in Madison Avenue hoping to sell some of his cartoons. Mad is a monthly American Humor Magazine founded by editor Harvey Kurtzman and publisher William Gaines in 1952 Since his knowledge of English wasn't very extensive, he asked for the only Mad artist he knew of that spoke his language, Cuban-born artist Antonio Prohias, creator of the popular Spy vs. Spy. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States The Republic of Cuba (ˈkjuːbə or) consists of the island of Cuba (the largest and second-most populous island of the Greater Antilles) Isla de la Spy vs Spy is a wordless black and white Comic strip that has been published in ''Mad'' magazine since 1961 Aragonés hoped Prohias could serve as a translator between him and the Mad editors. According to Aragonés, this proved to be a mistake, since Prohias knew even less English than he. Prohias did receive Aragonés very enthusiastically and, with difficulty, introduced the young artist to the Mad editors as his "brother. "^[2] Mad editor Al Feldstein and publisher Bill Gaines liked what they saw, and Aragonés became a contributor to the magazine in 1963. Albert "Al" B Feldstein (born October 24, 1925) is an American painter of Western wildlife and an influential author-editor who wrote drew and William Maxwell Gaines ( March 1, 1922 &ndash June 3, 1992) (more frequently referred to as Bill Gaines) was the publisher and co-editor Aragonés became famous for his wordless "drawn-out dramas" or "marginals" which were inserted into the margins and between panels of the magazine. The drawings are both horizontal and vertical, and occasionally extend around corners. Prior to Aragonés' arrival at Mad, the magazine had sometimes filled its margins with text jokes under the catch-all heading "Marginal Thinking. " According to Aragonés the staff of Mad enjoyed his marginals, but expected him to only last one or two issues. They did not expect him to be able to maintain the steady stream of small cartoons needed for each issue. ^[3] However, Aragonés has provided marginals for every issue of Mad since 1963 except one (his contributions to that issue were lost by the Post Office). A post office is a facility authorized by a Postal system for the posting receipt sorting handling transmission or delivery of Mail.

In addition, he has a featured section called "A Mad Look At. . . . ". As of December 2007, Aragonés' work has appeared in 408 issues of Mad, second only to Al Jaffee (435 issues). Al Jaffee (born March 13 1921 in Savannah Georgia) is an award winning American Cartoonist. ^[4]

Aragonés is a very prolific artist; Al Jaffee once said, "Sergio has, quite literally, drawn more cartoons on napkins in restaurants than most cartoonists draw in their entire careers. Al Jaffee (born March 13 1921 in Savannah Georgia) is an award winning American Cartoonist. A napkin or serviette is a rectangle of Cloth or Paper used at the table for wiping the Mouth while Eating. A restaurant is a retail establishment that serves prepared Food to Customers. " ^[5]

In 1967 he began illustrating full stories for DC Comics under such titles as Plop!. Year 1967 ( MCMLXVII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the 1967 Gregorian calendar. DC Comics is an American comic book and related media company Plop! - "The New Magazine of Weird Humor!" was a Comic book published by DC Comics in the mid 1970s He also wrote or plotted stories that were illustrated by other artists, including the Western series Bat Lash and stories for various horror anthology titles. Bat Lash is a fictional Western character in the DC Universe. Aragonés claims that he originally looked for work in the comic book industry and was warned off. He was told that he would be better paid working for Mad Magazine.

Groo the Wanderer cover page Issue #1

In the late 1970s he created the humorous barbarian comic book Groo the Wanderer (so named because he sought a name which meant nothing in any language) with Mark Evanier. This article is about the Decade 1970-1979 For the Year 1970 see 1970. Mark Stephen Evanier (born March 2 1952) is an American Comic book and Television Writer, particularly known for his Evanier's role originally was as something of a translator, as Aragonés was still somewhat shaky at expressing his ideas in English. Eventually the two began collaborating on story ideas, and there have been several Groo stories in which Evanier is credited as the sole writer. Aragonés is currently fluent in English. The other regular contributors to the book are letterer Stan Sakai (himself the creator/artist of the equally famous Usagi Yojimbo), and colorist Tom Luth. Stan Sakai ( Japanese: 坂井 スタン Sakai Sutan; born May 25 1953) is a third-generation Japanese American who became known is a Comic book series created by Stan Sakai. Set primarily at the beginning of Edo period Japan (early 17th century with anthropomorphic As a creator-owned book, Groo has survived the bankruptcy of a number of publishers, a fact which led to the popular joke that publishing the series was a precursor to a publisher's demise. Creator ownership is an arrangement in which the creator or creators of a work of fiction retain full ownership of the material regardless of whether it is self-published or The book was initially published by Pacific Comics, briefly by Eclipse Comics, then Marvel Comics under their since-discontinued Epic Comics imprint, then Image Comics, and currently Dark Horse Comics. Pacific Comics (PC is best known as one of the independent Comic book publishers that flourished in the early 1980s but was also a chain of comics shops and a distributor Marvel Comics is an American comic book company owned by Marvel Publishing Inc Epic Comics was a creator-owned Imprint of Marvel Comics started in 1982 lasting through the mid-1990s and being briefly revived on a small scale in the mid-2000s Image Comics is an American Comic book publisher It was founded in 1992 by seven high-profile illustrators as a venue where creators could publish their Dark Horse Comics is one of the largest independent American Comic book publishers behind dominant publishers Marvel Comics and DC Comics

Aragonés has written and drawn many other comic books, including:

• Plop (1973-1976, DC Comics), Aragonés provided intros, stories, gags, and/or prologues for 23 issues of the 24 issue run.
• DC Super-Stars Presents. . . (1977, DC Comics), the thirteenth issue of this DC Comics artist anthology series is subtitled "The Wild and Wacky World of Sergio Aragonés" and features all new stories and gags.
• Jon Sable, Freelance (1986, First Comics). The thirty-third issue of this Mike Grell comic book features 23 pages of Aragonés' art for a story called "Cave of the Half-Pints. "
• The Mighty Magnor (1993-1994, Malibu Comics), six issue superhero mini-series (with Mark Evanier). The Mighty Magnor is a six-issue 1993 superhero comic book series published by Malibu Comics.
• Louder Than Words (1997, Dark Horse Comics), six issue mini-series of wordless humor. Louder Than Words is Lionel Richie 's fourth studio album which was released on April 16 1996.
• Boogeyman (1998, Dark Horse Comics), a four issue mini-series of humorous horror stories (with Mark Evanier).
• Dia De Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) (1998, Dark Horse Comics), one shot comic about the annual Mexican celebration honoring the dead (with Mark Evanier).
• Fanboy (1999, DC Comics), six issue mini-series on comics and society's reaction to them, from the point of view of a self-described "fanboy" (with Mark Evanier).
• Blair Which? (1999, Dark Horse Comics), one shot comic spoofing the movie "The Blair Witch Project" (with Mark Evanier)
• Space Circus (2000, Dark Horse Comics), four issue mini-series of a boy joining a circus that travels throughout the galaxy (with Mark Evanier).
• Actions Speak (2001, Dark Horse Comics), another six issue mini-series of wordless humor (seqeul to "Louder Than Words").
• Sergio Aragonés Massacres Marvel (1996, Marvel Comics), Sergio Aragonés Destroys DC (1996, DC Comics), and Sergio Aragonés Stomps Star Wars (2000, Dark Horse Comics), the artist's comical interpretation of the superheroes of both Marvel and DC and the mythology of the Star Wars franchise (all with Mark Evanier). Sergio Aragonés Destroys DC is a comic book written by Sergio Aragonés and Mark Evanier and published in 1999.
• Solo (2006, DC Comics), the eleventh issue of this DC Comics artist anthology series features various stories written and illustrated by Aragonés, some biographical, and a Batman story written by Mark Evanier.

His work can be found in other compilations, including The Big Book of the Weird, Wild West, in which Aragonés illustrates a retelling of the Donner Party incident. The Donner Party was a group of California -bound American settlers caught up in the "westering fever" of the 1840s He also designed the animation used for many years on the Dick Clark Bloopers programs. The bouncing ball animation (below consists of these 6 frames Richard Wagstaff "Dick" Clark (born November 30, 1929) is an American Television, Radio personality, Game show host TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes was a television series and a group of Television specials that aired in the United States by NBC and His cartoons have also appeared in a series of paperback editions for Mad.

The Comic Art Professional Society award's prize's name is "The Sergio," a homage to his work. ^[6]

Awards

Aragonés's work has won him numerous awards. He has won Shazam Awards for Best Inker (Humor Division) in 1972 for his work on Mad Magazine, and for Best Humor Story in 1972 for "The Poster Plague" from House of Mystery #202 (with Steve Skeates). The Academy of Comic Book Arts is an American professional organization of the 1970s that was designed to be the Comic book industry analog of such groups as the Mad is a monthly American Humor Magazine founded by editor Harvey Kurtzman and publisher William Gaines in 1952 The House of Mystery is the name of several horror-mystery-suspense anthology comic book series Steve Skeates is an American Comic book writer for industry leaders DC Comics and Marvel Comics, among others on characters including the He won the Harvey Award Special Award for Humor in 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2001. The Harvey Awards, named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman (1924-1993 and coordinated by the publisher Fantagraphics are given for achievement in Comic books He received the National Cartoonist Society Comic Book Award for 1986, their Humor Comic Book Award for 1973, 1974, and 1976, their Magazine and Book Illustration Award for 1989, their Special Features Award for 1977, their Gag Cartoon Award for 1983, and their Reuben Award in 1996 for his work on Mad and Groo the Wanderer. The National Cartoonists Society is the world's largest organization of professional Cartoonists It presents the Reuben Awards. The National Cartoonists Society is the world's largest organization of professional Cartoonists It presents the Reuben Awards. In 1985 he was awarded the Adamson Award for Best International Comic-Strip or Comic Book work in Sweden. Adamson Awards is a Swedish award awarded to notable cartoonists named after the famous Swedish comic strip "Adamson" (Silent Sam "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation. In 2003 he was awarded La Plumilla de Plata (The Silver Inkpen) in Mexico.

Notes

References

• Evanier, Mark, Mad Art, Watson Guptil Publications, 2002, ISBN 0823030806

External links

• Sergio Aragonés' personal site
• NCS Awards
• Scan of an Aragones flyer for the 1972 New York Comic Convention
• Interview with Aragonés on the Comic Geek Speak podcast (January 2008)