<BODY><P>[By all accounts Gary and I have been making some pretty sweet coin (or "kopins" if you will) over the years posing as rabid fans of all things Groo (Gary) and Aragones (Ruben). </P>
<P>Just FYI, this is a pretty common set-up. There are numerous Agents of Comic-Dom (ACDs), that are hired by Big Publishers, and Big Artists, to pose as rabid comic fans. Just do a google for all the comic-fan websites, forums, e-mail lists, and chat rooms. Half those people are ACDs and the other half don't actually exist. Ebay was a terrific propogator of this mythological fandom, set up by Gary and my good pal Archie Von Schminky, in order to promote the idea that there are valuable collectibes of years gone by just waiting to be scooped up by rabid ACDs with obviously too much money and time on their hands.</P>
<P>You'll notice this e-mail is all in brackets, so that means it is a secret, for your eyes only. We wouldn't want the world to know the truth about us comic book fans.]<BR><BR>-Ruben (aka Too Much Coffee Man)<BR></P>
<P></P><B>----- Original Message -----</B>
<P></P><B>From</B>: Eric Chun <ericchun@hotmail.com>
<P></P><B>Date</B>: Tuesday, March 14, 2006 1:16 am
<P></P><B>Subject</B>: [Groop] Just what I suspected ...
<P></P>
<P></P>> >From the Groop archives (July 10, 2000), "Gary Grossmann" wrote: <BR>> <BR>> >OK OK. The time has finally come. It's time to admit it. It's <BR>> true. I <BR>> >don't really exist. I mean, yeah, I am a person who pounds away <BR>> at his <BR>> >computer sending ridicules messages to you all; and Ruben and <BR>> Shane and <BR>> >Eric <BR>> >have actually seen a flesh and blood person answering to the name <BR>> of <BR>> >"Gary"; <BR>> >But the whole concept of Gary Grossmann, the Most Obsessed Groo <BR>> Fan in the <BR>> >Universe (and beyoooonnnnnnd!) is nothing more than an elaborate hoax <BR>> >thought up by Sergio & Mark! <BR>> > <BR>> >Think about it. A 45 year old man with an otherwise Ward Cleaver <BR>> existance>spending almost all his spare time hunting the world <BR>> over for every scrap <BR>> >of <BR>
> >paper on which Groo has been printed? And this guy JUST HAPPENS <BR>> to have <BR>> >one <BR>> >son in a tiny, academically exclusive college where the creator <BR>> of the Groo <BR>> >mailing list also goes/went and another son who JUST HAPPENS to <BR>> go to <BR>> >college 15 minutes away from the headquarters of the current Groo <BR>> >Publisher? <BR>> >It's all a little too much to swallow if you ask me! <BR>> > <BR>> >Here's what happenned. Mark created "Gary Grossmann" as joke to <BR>> amuse the <BR>> >mailing list. When Sergio was going to Vancouver BC, in Ruben's <BR>> backyard,>he decided to have the mythical Gary G. appear. I was <BR>> (and still am) an <BR>> >airport janitor when Sergio came across me in the Men's room and <BR>> asked if <BR>> >I'd like to make a few bucks. Having been asked that question <BR>> many times <BR>
> >before during the course of my employment, I was just about to <BR>> level him <BR>> >with my mop and call Security, when he sort of was able to <BR>> explain in that <BR>> >goofy accent of his (which I didn't buy for a minute!) what he <BR>> wanted me to <BR>> >do. So I showed up on que at the Vancouver Con and things have <BR>> sort of <BR>> >snowballed from there. <BR>> > <BR>> >Incidently, I'm not sure if "Ruben" actually exists either. For <BR>> all I <BR>> >know, <BR>> >the guy I saw in Vancouver and Seattle calling himself Ruben was <BR>> hired just <BR>> >like I was. The Sergiography & Groo List concepts are a little <BR>> too similar <BR>> >if you ask me. <BR>> > <BR>> >So what about all the stuff on the Groo List, you ask? Beats the <BR>> heck out <BR>> >of me! I don't even know if half of it exists! I just add stuff <BR>> that you <BR>
> >folks tell me about and then I add whatever Mark tells me to. I <BR>> mean come <BR>> >on folks, how the heck is anyone gonna find a Turkish comic book? <BR>> > <BR>> >And what about all the stuff I've written in the last few years? <BR>> Well, <BR>> >some <BR>> >of it I wrote-which is not bad for an airport janitor-and some of <BR>> it Mark <BR>> >wrote. Let me put it this way. If you thought it was funny, I <BR>> wrote it. <BR>> >If it wasn't funny, Mark wrote it. <BR>> > <BR>> >And finally, you may ask, what does one get paid for assisting in <BR>> this <BR>> >great <BR>> >charade? Well, once again I must say, beats the heck out of me? <BR>> Sergio <BR>> >told <BR>> >me to see Mark about getting paid, something about his green card <BR>> doesn't>allow him to have employees. Mark keeps referring me to <BR>> people who owe HIM <BR>
> >money, which seems to be everyone who ever sold a comic or put on a <BR>> >convention. <BR>> > <BR>> >So there you have it. The whole sordid story. I feel so much <BR>> better now. <BR>> > <BR>> >Take care all -Gary G. (real name Marvin Ribostat) <BR>> <BR>> <BR>> _______________________________________________ <BR>> Groop mailing list <BR>> Groop@groo.com <BR>> http://mailman.newdream.net/mailman/listinfo.cgi/groop <BR>> </BODY>