[Groop]Groo Cartoon, Mark Stuff, & Mulch

[Gary Grossmann]

Hi Folks!  (and mostly Mark, I guess)

OK, first off to make a primarily non-Groo message Groo-pertinent: MARK!  Is
there a realistic possibility that someday there will be a Groo animated
series?  Or is it just one of those good ideas that will never happen
because of the vagaries of The Industry?  I know you've talked about this
before and that just the right deal has to be worked out, but I guess I am
rather pessimistic that it will actually ever happen.  Should I be?

With a 5 year-old in the house these days, I have been more aware of the
cartoons on TV lately, and most of them are crap!  I just don't get it.  You
are well known as the best (or at the very least one of the best) cartoon
writers and directors in the business.  (When I say this to people who don't
know anything, all I have to say is "Garfield" and they say "Ohhh!")  Sergio
is Sergio, for crying out loud!  So what's the problem?  Why won't they give
you guys the quality and creative freedom you justifiably demand?

Moving along,
I finally got caught up on my Groo-related reading.  Loved, loved, loved,
Space Circus!  I was laughing even before I started reading each comic just
from the text and formatting of the indicia page and continued to laugh all
the way through, EVEN, Mark, at your terrible, terrible puns at the end,
although that was more groaning then laughing.  (I was once told that a
successful pun is one that elicits groans rather than laughs.)   You guys
didn't miss a trick.  Sergio continues to amaze and dazzle.  Amidst the
cavalcade of art, he has all these tiny touches, like the rubber ducky with
the pirate eye patch in Captain Quark's bathtub or a non sequitor of milk
spelled out in eight languages on a milk carton.  And of course I perused
all that dense, dense art looking for Groos!  I can't believe I don't need
glasses yet.  I can't believe I haven't gone blind!!

Hey, Mark, really great columns in the CBG!  You are a good writer.  And
very funny.  Maybe you should think of doing it for a living.   I like the
variety of the themes, whether or not you tie them to comics.  And it is
amazing to me the funny situations you find yourself in, augmented by your
own quick wit (which you apparently get at least in part from your Mom.)
Your look at folks who never change their minds and can only see things one
way was very insightful.  I was talking to a friend the other day and
knowing his politics is the opposite of mine, I said "Well, I'm going hold
my nose and vote for X.  I suppose you will hold your nose and vote for Y".
Not only was he amazed that I could bring myself to vote for X, but he was
ready to defend Y as a great leader and fascinating person who would make a
truly great president.  Sheesh.  I didn't know Teddy Roosevelt was running
under an assumed name.

I am kind of a dilettante-ish (compared to you certainly) fan of dancers,
but I do know about Gwen Verdon and her place in the pantheon of great
Broadway dancers.  Plus I have never read a negative word about her.
Apparently she was just a lovely, lovely person, both inside and out.  My
favorite dancers are the Nicholas brothers.  In their prime they were
absolutely astounding with their combination of precision, style, and
athleticism.  Did you ever see a 60-something Harold Nicholas, as either the
co-star or star, of "Jelly's Last Jam" during one of your trips to Broadway?

By the way, you would make a great juror.

OK, now to end this on a Groo note of sorts:

On my way to work today I passed a truck on the side of which was written:
MUCHO MULCH  Lake (something-or-the-other), Florida.  Florida!  I live in
Washington State!  Uni!  That must be one helluva high quality variety of
Mulch you folks produce down there in Florida for folks to want it brought
all the way here.  I guess they do a better job making mulch in Florida than
they do making election ballots, at least in Palm Beach County.

Sorry if this is too many words and not enough Groo.   Take care all,

-Gary G.