[Groop] El Maestro de Cartoonists

[Eric Chun]

El Maestro de Cartoonists
Sergio Aragones highlights WonderCon2004

By Kat Avila
Web Published 5.13.2004

It’s been 50 years since Godzilla stepped onto Japanese shores and 50 years 
since world-renowned MAD cartoonist Sergio Aragonés made his first sales to 
Mexican humor magazines.

At WonderCon 2004 in San Francisco, special guest Sergio Aragonés sold and 
signed copies of his GROO THE WANDERER comic books. The character of Groo, a 
simple barbarian, has been carving a path of destruction and laughter since 
1982.

GROO THE WANDERER is “one of the longest-running ‘creator-owned’ comic book 
properties,” writes GROO scripter Mark Evanier in the WonderCon program 
book. At the “The Sergio and Mark Show” panel, Sergio and Mark shared 
anecdotes about their longtime collaboration and friendship. Other dream 
team members of GROO, who have been there from the beginning, are letterer 
Stan Sakai of USAGI YOJIMBO comic fame and colorist Tom Luth.

“I’ve had these comics since I was seven years old,” says a 20-something man 
ahead of me at Sergio’s booth. He hands over the first and second issues of 
GROO THE WANDERER for Sergio to sign.

I buy Sergio’s DIA DE LOS MUERTOS comic, published by Dark Horse Comics in 
1998. The comic is about the Day of the Dead and the flood of obnoxious 
American tourists that overwhelms a Mexican town for the holiday spectacle. 
Sergio doodles a sugar skull and signs his name in my copy. We chat a bit. 
Then he pulls out a photograph of a folk craft of Christ on the cross. The 
artisan, Sergio reveals, is himself. I want to talk to him more about it, as 
well as his education in architecture and his performance experience in 
pantomime and clowning. But there are other fans waiting their turn.

Like many fans, I first became acquainted with Sergio’s work through MAD 
MAGAZINE. Years later, I used his wordless cartoons comprising JAG’s COMICS 
AND CONVERSATION series in my ESL (English as a Second Language) classroom.

I watch Sergio in action at the “Quick Draw!” panel, an improvisational 
drawing session, moderated by Mark Evanier. The other cartoonists are Kyle 
Baker (PLASTIC MAN for DC Comics), Scott Shaw (Simpsons comics), and Steve 
Leialoha (Spider-Man comics).

In one task featuring Sergio, he is asked to draw a coherent composition 
from a story given to him in short fragments: “A cat...fleeing from a 
dinosaur...while the Bedouins attack...the flood waters are rising...and the 
ninjas are invading....” Sergio’s black marker flies across the sketch pad 
and magically integrates each fragment.

Other challenges the cartoonists are asked to draw include their worst art 
jobs, weapons of mass destruction found at WonderCon, and new jobs for the 
Hulk. It’s all highly entertaining and makes you appreciates the skill of 
the cartoonists even more.

Besides panels, a comic/pop culture fan – in costume or out of costume – can 
find a number of related vendors in WonderCon’s Exhibit Hall. I spoke with 
Shawn Sanders, editor-in-chief at ComicsOne, which bills itself as “Your #1 
source for kung fu comics.” Kung fu comics, Shawn said, are frequently 
adapted from kung fu novels and movies. The Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 
comic they sell is from the novel. The artwork in these comics is incredible 
and in full-color. Of course, I couldn’t walk away without purchasing a 
STORY OF THE TAO comic with Andy Seto’s luscious and dynamic art. I also 
picked up a couple of their Korean comic titles. One of them was MY SASSY 
GIRL adapted from the Korean hit movie of the same name.

On the last day of the convention, Comics Salon was scheduled all day in one 
of the rooms across from the anime (Japanese animation) viewing rooms. 
Comics Salon began in 2001 when Rory Root, owner of Comic Relief, a famous 
Berkeley comics bookstore, asked Erik Nebel to organize a cartoonist 
get-together. Erik told me they meet about two to three times a year at a 
restaurant to do jams. “I’d say about 200 people have come to the salon over 
the past few years. But there is a group of about 30 of my cartoonist 
friends who are there most consistently.” On my way out of Comics Salon, a 
member of Student Art Publishing at UC Berkeley gave me several issues of 
their BEZERK comics magazine.

WonderCon 2004 was a good place to glimpse some of the work of Bay Area 
independent cartoonists and filmmakers. Additionally, it was for me a 
warm-up for this July’s humongous Comic-Con International in San Diego. If 
you are interested in comics at all, Comic-Con is the convention you don’t 
want to miss as it is the largest convention for comics and pop culture in 
the United States. Hope to see you there!

Kat's web site is at www.geocities.com/buscandocalifornia

http://www.latinola.com/story.php?story=1771

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