[Groop] WONDERCON: THE SERGIO & MARK SHOW
Eric Chun
ericchun at hotmail.com
Tue Mar 6 00:38:06 PST 2007
>This sounded a LOT like Eric was dissing Gary and saying he's not a
>real fan, but JUST knowing Eric the way I do, I can't for the life of
>me believe that that is what he meant to say.
Gary is one of the nicest people you will ever meet on this mailing
list or -anywhere-. At his very core, he is a good guy. He would be
the very last person that deserved to get dissed on this mailing list.
>Gary is obviously WAY more than "merely" a collector, even though he is
>Groo Collector Supremo. He's done so much for other Groo Fans around
>the world, getting Groo freebies from Cons and shipping them worldwide,
>buying things and shipping internationally from places that only ship
>US for relative strangers.
He is collector above and beyond the call of duty, and a real fan. Who else
has a Groo license plate on their car? Who else volunteers to create mem-
bership cards and t-shirts and ship them to the ends of the earth? He is
the
only one.
I keep saying that someone else should step up to the plate every now
and to give him a break.
But it is a fact that there are different classes of fans.
There are collector fans (collector junkies) who just can't wait until the
next
item is released. When they get it, they hardly enjoy it, and just can't
wait
for the next item. For some people, it is just a check mark in their
collection.
It happens on this mailing list. (Check the mailing list archives if you
don't
believe it.) It happens everywhere.
There are other fans who enjoy what they have, and try to share it with
others. When I walk around conventions, I take a moment to look at the
costumes people have made and are walking around in. Even take photos
of some of them. They must -really- like the characters to spend the time,
effort, and cost to make the costumes and are brave enough to wear them
in public. Why else would they do it? Very few of them win masquerade
prizes. They even stop to take photos with other fans.
I was right there when the gentleman with the Groo tattoo showed it
Sergio, and both Sergio and I were were floored! It was unbelieveable
that someone would do that! Sergio said, "You're sure you wanted to do
that? Now you're stuck with it forever!" (or something to that effect.)
The gentleman said, "Yeah, I really love Groo." Sergio then said that he
wanted to take a photo of it. I said I did too. While Sergio searched for
his camera, I snapped my photo. Sergio said that he wanted to get the
gentleman's face in his picture, when he snapped his photo. The gentle-
didn't want anything in return, just wanted the chance to meet Sergio.
There's no question that this is a "real fan." No question at all.
You may have seen Kaytee's (literally) award winning bead work. These
take many, many hours to create, and are at her own expense. After
entering them in the art show, she gives them away. (Stan proudly dis-
played one on the wall of his Usagi Yojimbo booth. Note the "1st Place"
ribbon!) Is she a "real fan?" She gets my vote.
http://www.geocities.com/groosite/Rufferto2.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/groosite/sd2004.html
I simply cannot say that all fans are the same, that those who go out of
their way to promote their favorite characters without any thought of
reward are the same as those who are "fair weather fans," ("collector fans")
who only help their own collection, who disappear when no new comic
books are being released. It just wouldn't be fair.
Evidently, I can't spur anyone to action.
At the comic book shop that I go to, the best one in the bay area,
there was a separate shelf for Sergio's books. The shelf was even
labeled with his name on it. It used to be stocked with the Sergio's
latest books and even the back issues. Now, the shelf is gone.
The last Groo comic book was released in 2002. (5 years ago!)
The last Groo TPB was released in 2003, and Dark Horse doesn't
even want to continue releasing the alphabetical series. Nothing is
being solicited in Previews. Nothing on the horizon. Is it any
wonder that Sergio's shelf is gone? There is no visibility for Groo.
Out of sight, out of mind.
Now, there is a golden (well, silver) opportunity -- something that may
never happen again. Out of the hundreds of choices that Comic Con
could have selected, they have selected "Groo's 25th Anniversary" as
one of the themes for this year's souvenir program book. Fans are en-
courage to submit fan artwork or articles for the program book. The
program book is given to each attendee. 100,000+ of them. Most of
them comic book reading, comic book buying fans. What better way
to get Groo back into their memory? To remember the adventure, the
laughter, the great times reading Groo comic books. The last Groo comic
book circulation was down (from 100,000 with Epic Groo #1 to 20,000
with Dark Horse). You could reach 5 times the last circulation.
The alternative is to do nothing. Not bother. An inconvenience. But
then, don't cry as the shelves once full of Groo comic books slowly dis-
appear. (My comic book shop this time, next time yours.) Wait 'til next
time to do something you say? If the Groo movie doesn't get released
for some reason, will there be a 30th anniversary in the program book?
Will -we- be around for the 50th anniversary? Sergio turns 70 this year.
He'll be 95 at the 50th anniversary.
I'm willing to risk taking a lot of flak for these posts -- they're nothing
new. (I already get hate mail from well-known posters from time to
time.) But, if I can spur/shame anyone to at least attempt to get into
the program book, then my efforts won't have fallen on deaf ears and
will have been worth it. You may not make it into the program book,
and even if you do Groo may disappear by the wayside, but the saying
in basketball is "you miss 100% of the shots you don't take."
Let's shoot some shots ...
>And the thing is, Eric (who is only 3% mean, and I don't even think
>THAT much, heee heeeee) doesn't have a nasty bone in his body. He's the
>SINGLE nicest person I've EVER met, anywhere! So I think (correct me if
>I'm wrong, Eric) that the couple of people who posted here in support
>of Gary and who PMed me wondering what was up with the tone of his post
>should realize that whatever Eric meant to say about the nature of
>"real" fans, I GUARANTEE it wasn't meant as an attack on Gary.
>Makes sense?
----Original Message Follows----
From: Larry Steller <mrgrooism at yahoo.com>
To: groop at groo.com
Subject: Re: [Groop] WONDERCON: THE SERGIO & MARK SHOW
Date: Mon, 5 Mar 2007 21:32:43 -0800 (PST)
Dana Gabbard said:
> Gary is the man! End of story. Don't mess with the man.
>
Gary Grossmann said:
> >Ouch!
Eric Chun said:
> > > There's a difference between a "real fan" and a "collector fan."
> > >
> > > A "real fan" goes out of his way to promote his/her favorite
> things.
> > > For example, creating a costume and dressing up as your favorite
> > > character (like Trekkies / Star Wars fans or Ruben dressing up as
> > > Groo) at conventions, getting a permanent tattoo (this is heavy
> duty),
> > > creating bead artwork for the art show at Comic Con (like
> Kaytee),
> > > drawing fan art for Groo's 25th anniversary for the souvenir book
> > > which reaches 100,000 people (like Dougie and Conor), or creat-
> > > ing a web site.
> > >
> > > A collector fan buys product.
So Larry sez:
This sounded a LOT like Eric was dissing Gary and saying he's not a
real fan, but JUST knowing Eric the way I do, I can't for the life of
me believe that that is what he meant to say.
Gary is obviously WAY more than "merely" a collector, even though he is
Groo Collector Supremo. He's done so much for other Groo Fans around
the world, getting Groo freebies from Cons and shipping them worldwide,
buying things and shipping internationally from places that only ship
US for relative strangers.
And the thing is, Eric (who is only 3% mean, and I don't even think
THAT much, heee heeeee) doesn't have a nasty bone in his body. He's the
SINGLE nicest person I've EVER met, anywhere! So I think (correct me if
I'm wrong, Eric) that the couple of people who posted here in support
of Gary and who PMed me wondering what was up with the tone of his post
should realize that whatever Eric meant to say about the nature of
"real" fans, I GUARANTEE it wasn't meant as an attack on Gary.
Makes sense?
-Larry "Mr. Grooism" Steller, Master Mendicant (!!!?)
http://www.myspace.com/mrgrooism
"<i>I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity.</i>" Edgar
Allan Poe
Favorite Links:
BRONX COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY http://www.bronxhistoricalsociety.org
FORGOTTEN NEW YORK: http://www.forgotten-ny.com/
NEWS FROM ME: http://www.newsfromme.com/
POVONLINE: http://www.povonline.com/ ;
THE FAB FAUX: http://www.thefabfaux.com/index.html
PENGUIN PERSPECTIVES: http://janetharriett.blogspot.com/
DEFECTIVE YETI: http://www.defectiveyeti.com/
KONGISKING:http://www.kongisking.net/index.shtml
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