[Groop]Da Scoop!

[E C]

Hi guys/grrls!

Photos from Wondercon:
http://www.geocities.com/mightyhero/page2.html

Saw Sergio and Scott Hudlow at Wondercon.  Sor-
ry I didn't see Bubble, Lucky Cat, or Jorge
there.  Maybe next time.

Sergio had a table in artist's alley.  He had
one new item for sale, the photomosaic poster.
The posters he had were mounted on foamboard.
The last time I checked, it was priced at $100.

Sergio said that had been busy for the last
few months, catching up on his MAD magazine
work.  MAD wanted enough material to be a few
months ahead of publication.  He said that he
was caught up now.  There were a couple of
marginal pages that he was working on at his
table.

The T.C. Mars series is on hold (indefinitely).
Sergio said the first issue was done, but new
characters would not sell well in the current
comic book market.  As Jorge mentioned, there
will be a new 12-issue Groo series.  The Groo
series will be released before the T.C. Mars
series.

Sergio also had a panel, with Batton Lash mod-
erating.  I forgot he had a panel, until I saw
a Wondercon volunteer handling his table in
artist's alley.  Missed the first 5-10 minutes,
but still managed to sneak into the front row.
Sergio recounted stories of coming to New York,
sleeping in the park the first night, getting
a job in a restaurant, being a pseudo flamenco
singer, trying to sell cartoons, at last resort
going to see Antonio Prohias at MAD magazine,
the t.v. and movie industry, how he got into
miming, 10 years of thinking about Groo before
it was published, waiting for the right publish-
er to come along (which turned out to be Pacific
Comics), Groo's 1st appearance in Destroyer Duck
(the comic book Mark arranged during Steve
Gerber's legal battle over Howard the Duck), and
comic book conventions.  Sorry, I don't remember
anything else.  I was trying to figure out how
to take a good photo with my camera pretty much
the whole time.  Still haven't figured it out
yet ...

Near the end of the panel, an artist in the
second row (right behind me) said that he was
Sergio's greatest fan, and gave Sergio a
t-shirt.  Later (at Sergio's table), Sergio
saw him again, thanked him for the t-shirt,
and gave him some advice for his work.

Cassandra Peterson (the Creature Feature host
"Elvira") was also a special guest.  She's as
funny in-person as she is in her t.v. shows and
movies.

Joe Kubert was also a special guest.  He (and
writer Brian Azzarello) were promoting their
upcoming Sgt. Rock graphic novel.  The graphic
novel should be released sometime around Novem-
ber.  What's different is that Sgt. Rock's sup-
porting cast will be given distinguishable per-
sonalities, considering the character back-
grounds.  Brian wanted to make the war exper-
ience more realistic, including the type of
language soldiers would use.  (The publisher
is Vertigo.)  But, Joe said that he had been
in the military, and knew the type of language
that soldiers use, but made it crytal clear
(though several phone calls) that there are
some things he absolutely would not put in his
comics.  Someone in the audience then suggest-
ed using cartoon swear characters (@#!*) in-
stead ...

See you.

Eric

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