Buttons and my introduction to Groo (was Re: [Groop]button, button) (fwd)

[Chad M. Riden]

I think he meant to email the entire groop instead of just me..

Chad

---------- Forwarded Message ----------
Date: Sunday, August 18, 2002 8:18 PM -0400
From: CrazySketchbook@aol.com
To: chadmriden@mac.com
Subject: Buttons and my introduction to Groo (was Re: 
[Groop]button, button)

First of all, I just want to say I'm surprised so many people gave
button comfirmations within the Groo list and not to Gary directly
as I did. I figured people wouldn't want an inbox flooded with
"button" messages, and the fact that I hunted and found Gary's
address was supposed to (in theory) suggest the sincere level of my
appreciation.  (thanks again, Gary!)

Also, this is a good point to tell how I got into Groo... when I
was about midway through grade school, I was starting to develop a
taste for cartooning.  My dad used to love MAD Magazine when he was
younger, and we were in an antique mall when he showed me something
he found there... Sergio's "In MAD We Trust!" paperback.  He
remembered having it when he was younger, and subsequently bought
it for me.  Thus started my deep love for Sergio's work.

I found Groo at the worst of times (issue 11, Image Comics...
second-to-last issue for quite a few years), and so it became my
quest to track down the other issues.

I love Groo, because it is deceptively simple... but, as was
stated, it can have complex thoughts beneath that seemingly goofy
exterior (okay, it is goofy, but the best kind of goofy).  Also, I
don't think simplicity is a bad thing.  Charles Schulz had some of
the simplist characters the comics page has ever seen, and I
believe he is one of the three true geniuses of the comic-strip
(among George Herriman and Bill Watterson).

If anyone ever has the chance to read Scott McCloud's brilliant
Understanding Comics, he has a small section devoted to why
cartoons have such broad appeal, and that its simply because the
less realistic image can be related to by more people.  I think
that really is the backbone of cartooning... the instantaneous
transfer of an emotion or idea from the drawing to the reader.
Sergio is absolutely the MASTER of this... few cartoonists have
been able to convey so much with such a simple expression.

But let's not gloss over the other members of the Groo Crew...
each of whom I truly believe the book would suffer without.  Mark
Evanier is quite possibly one of the smartest people in comics
today, and his spectacular (insert-occupation-here)work truly
stands out.  ;-)  Stan Sakai (besides creating the brilliant Usagi
Yojimbo) is the first letterer I've actually seen my lettering
influenced by... I looked at a sound effect I did the other day and
I sorta blinked, because I saw his style in that!  And Tom Luth is
the only man I believe could compitently color Sergio's work
(especially those HUGE crowd scenes).

To make a long story short:  I love Groo, and I really can't
understand why anyone wouldn't.

- Tyler Sticka




> although i will say i'm starting to lose interest in groo
> it's so immature, all the time with the mulch and cheese-dip jokes

In the last few years we've had pretty mature themes beneath the
mulch and cheese surface. As much as I love Mark's storytelling and
sense of humor, the reason I picked up my first issue was for
Sergio's art. As long as Mr. Aragones is drawing things and Mark is
writing stories, I'll be buying both.





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==
Thanks for putting up with my crap,
Chad M. Riden

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