Sergio Aragonés interview 02

8/13/2019 Sergio Aragons interview 02

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Sergio Aragons

Its a safe bet that, in the history of illustrated humor, no artist has a bigger gap between the size of his

influence and the size of his drawings than Sergio Aragons. Although hes filled whole pages with his

long-running series AMad oo! At"# and entire comics with the ad$entures of bumbling barbarian

%roo the &anderer, Aragons is best !nown for the microscopic scribbles that ha$e lur!ed on the edgeofMadmagazines pages for most of the last fi$e decades. 'he marginals,# as he calls them, are comedy

reduced to its purest, tiniest essence, split-second blac!out gags that re(uire neither words nor

e)planation to ma!e their point. *erhaps the funniest aspect ofMads Greatest Artists: Sergio

Aragons, a well-appointed hardco$er spanning his + years at the magazine, is its substantial size,

enough to reprint hundreds of his full-page strips and still lea$e plenty of room around the edges.

eached by phone at his house in /ai, 0alifornia, Aragons tal!ed to The A.V. Club about ma!ing his

way from his nati$e 1e)ico toMads 1anhattan offices, learning mime s!ills with Ale/andro

2odorows!y, and why he waited more than a decade to publish his first Groo story. And he e)plained all

this without putting down his pen.

'he A.3. 0lub4 Its a safe bet that most of The A.V. Clubs readers and writers had our brains warped

byMad at an impressionable age, and a lot of us grew up on Groo The Wandereras well. Its fascinating

to loo! at this boo! and see how your wor!, and the magazine, ha$e de$eloped o$er the decades.

Sergio Aragons:A lot of people dont understand that, but to me, its the same thing. I$e been not

only a cartoonist, but a fan also. So I remember e)actly what you were /ust tal!ing about, when I was

growing up and loo!ing at cartoons by all the guys that later I got a chance to meet. I !now e)actly the

feeling, because withMad, it was the same thing. I was in high school when I saw it. I couldnt belie$e it.

It was sort of, h my %od, what is this5# 'hat was in 1e)ico. &hen I saw it, it /ust blew my mind. I wasalready in high school, and in my first tries with cartooning. So when I sawMad, I was li!e, If this is

the (uality of the wor!, I really get better fast6 'here is no way Im going to ma!e it if I continue to do

BySam AdamsNovember 16, 2010
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the things that Im doing.# So those type of cartoons to me were really eye-opening, not only as a reader,

but as a future cartoonist.

AVC: Do you remember whose artwork particularly made an impression on you?

SA:&ell, because I didnt come from art. I ne$er studied art. I was more impressed with the ideas. Igrew up with silent cartoons from 7rance and other places that arri$ed to 1e)ico, so my forte was

pantomime cartooning more than anything else. &hen I sawMad, it was so different from what I was

doing. I ne$er thought ofMadas an influence for anything. It was /ust something I could read and

admire, because there was no way I could draw li!e 1ort 8ruc!er or any of those guys, e$er. I couldnt

belie$e there were artists of that caliber in humor. 'hat was /ust fascinating. 9ut the early influences to

me of the Americans was a gentleman called 3irgil *artch, who signed 3I*.# &hen I saw that style, I

!new thats how I wanted to draw. &ith the pointy noses and both eyes at one side. ther influences

were :uropean material.

AVC: Do you remember where you came across his stuff?

SA:&e had a magazine in 1e)ico calledJa Ja, and it reprinted cartoons from American syndicates and

:uropean material. ne of my first encounters with American cartoonists was with this magazine,

which also was the first magazine which I got published in. 9ecause when I was in high school, I was

doing the newspaper at school, and one of my classmates sent it direct to the magazine and sold a

cartoon for me, because I ne$er thought I was ready for publication. She saw it. 'hat was in ;


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get into politics, because theres no blac! and white. 'heres an in-between in e$erything. So loo! at that

side, dont ta!e one point, because then you are negating half of the other people. 'ry to find the logic

on a problem, something that you belie$e, and ta!e the position that you belie$e, but be $ery careful

about it.# So I was $ery well trained in that aspect.

AVC: 1ne of the most elaborate pieces in the book is the three2page spread de,oted to*oodstock$ Did you or didMad, feel a kinship with the +34s counterculture?

SA:Madhas always been counterculture because of the aim of the audience.Madis written by people

who ne$er thought !ay, Im going to write for !ids,# or Im going to write for adults.# 'he opinion of

the writers and the artists was Im going to say something that is funny and rele$ant about a particular

issue.# And many people say I used to readMad, butMadhas changed a lot.# :)cuse meDyou grew up6

>ou ha$e new interests. 'he reason thatMadhas endured all these many years is that it tal!s to e$ery

new generation that arri$ed. &e are approaching a problem with a humorous point of $iew, not into a

particular age, but so generic in a way that it appeals to the younger people who ha$ent disco$ered that

big problem yet. 'hey ha$ent really spoiled their mind by opinions. In the moment they decide Im a

epublican# or Im a 8emocrat,# that man has already established that whate$er the other party says,

hes not going to pay attention. 'he young man doesnt thin! li!e that. 'he young man has an open

mind. SoMadhas an open mind about e$ery problem, and it tal!s about it. So the change doesnt come

from the magazine, it comes from the people who grow or dont grow. Sometimes I remember when I

was readingMadand I didnt understand something, so I went to my daughter, Boney, what does this

mean5# h, this is a rapper who is bad, and this is a new mo$ie star who does this.# Ahhh. :$entually, I

as! my daughter and she didnt !now what was in the article, because she also grew up. So that passes

from generation from generation.

AVC: %ou+,e gotten significantly older while working forMad. 5ow do you hold on to that

perspecti,e yourself?

SA:*robably from my upbringing of trying to see both sides without getting too in$ol$ed in one

persons opinion. If I see that something is wrong, I dont care who says it. &hether its a epublican or

8emocrat, the left or the right. If they are on the opinion of the right thing, thats what I will tal! about.

I wont proselytize or ma!e the strong things to influence other people about any particular politics,

e)cept the decency of things, the logic of things. 'hats why I dont get that much in$ol$ed in politics

directly. 9ecause I ha$e a lot of friends in 1e)ico, we grew up together, they are cartoonists and

e$erything, and many of them were from the left, and they start tal!ing about communist this and

communist that,# and that was a slap in their faces, because suddenly the whole thing that they belie$ed

in collapsed. 1any of the American cartoonists that want to ha$e a /ob and go so much for the total right

without thin!ing, sometimes they get a slap on the face when their politician lets them down. So it goes

on and on. 'he thing is staying in the middle and not getting committed, trying to get the best of both

and do that with a sense of humor.

AVC: Are the drawings perhaps particularly the .marginals0 that appear in the

magazine pretty much in the form in which you first drew them? 5ow do they get to that

point?

SA:7irst comes the sub/ect matter. 7or instance, when Im doing the marginalsDbecause in a way,


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those are $ery, $ery general cartoonsDI thin! of a word or situation, and I start elaborating on that.

&hen it comes to an article, sometimes the magazine suggests it. &hat about a man who goes to this

particular mo$ie, or a particular sub/ect that we ha$ent touched5# 'hats fine.# 'hen what I do is get

my head into the problem and start researching it, loo!ing in the computer, or boo!s or magazines, or

the library, and once I !now the problem more or less well, then I start thin!ing about whats funny

about it. I dont draw it, I write it first, so when I draw it in the magazine, it gets a totally freshapproach.

AVC: & assume you draw straight onto the page in ink? "hey ha,e a loose )uality that

suggests you don+t sketch them out in pencil first$

SA:>es, $ery much so.

AVC: 5as that always been the case?

SA:>es, because of the simplicity of the drawing. Sometimes when Im doing the Madoo!",#

because this is a multi-panel, EIll s!etchF. Ideally, you try to do one-shot, one-gag, li!e the marginals.

9ut when youre telling a story, thats impossible. And the Madoo!",# you are telling a $ery short

story, so you need more panels. 'he less the better, but they are necessary. So those cartoons,

sometimes they ha$e to loo! li!e the ones from the first panel, and the second panel, they ha$e to loo!

ali!e. So yes, I ha$e to do little pencil mar!ings so I can draw them on the right place on the right

connection with the other people with the right bac!ground and all that. 9ut this is $ery minimal.

AVC: *hat size are the marginals when you draw them? Are they larger than they

appear? &t seems it would be difficult to actually draw them that small$

SA:Co no no. &hat happens is, I dont want to add too much details, because when they reduce, all the

lines get mushed together. So I try to draw them as small as I can, which in this case is twice up. i!e

this, I dont tend to add detail, because I !now its going to be reduced to half, and its going to mi). So

when I draw them small, I use the apidograph EpenF, which I dont use for my regular wor!, but for the

marginals. &ith the apidograph, what happens is that its a straight line, and it cannot be confused

with other lines. So I draw them $ery small, and I dont add too much stuff. &hen you draw them much

larger, youre drawing a policeman, and then you start putting the buttons on the /ac!et and the little

lines, and more e)pression, and the little star on the cap. And when that reduces, its /ust a blob. A blur.

So I do them almost same size as normal.

AVC: 5owdifferent is it when you drawGroo The Wanderer,which is much more

detailed?

SA:'hats a completely different story. A comic boo! is the opposite of a cartoon. In a cartoon, you

want to simplify the idea, so when they loo! at it at a glance, they get it. 9oom. Simple. 8irect to the

point. 9ut when youre drawing Groo, now its a narrati$e, a story. >ou want the $iewer to get in$ol$ed

in the story. >ou want him to feel li!e hes in the town to follow your main character. So I lo$e to add

lots and lots of things in it. 'hings that people will en/oy going bac! to and say, h yeah, thats how amar!et must ha$e loo!ed in this fantasy world, with people selling meat here and dishes here.# So I try

to feel an atmosphere. I$e been $ery fortunate that I$e tra$eled all o$er the world, and I$e lo$ed to


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loo! at things li!eational Geogra$hic. So to me, now, it comes $ery natural, the things that I drawD

I$e been there. &hen Im drawing a bottle or a town or a mar!et, I transport myself there. So I start

drawing e$erything that Im loo!ing at while Im there. Beres a guy selling the meat, and he will ha$e a

hoo!, and you start adding things, and its a lot of fun. 'he story to tell is different than a cartoon. So the

two are completely different things.

AVC: %ou created 6roo a long time before he was first published but you waited until you

could do so without ha,ing to sell the rights to the character$ "hat was a foreign idea in

the 7$S$ at the time$ *here did it come from?

SA:I had the opportunity to go to :urope for a couple of years in the @s. 'he reason I hadnt wor!ed

in comics before, I was /ust wor!ing atMad, is because there were no humor comic boo!s in the ?nited

States. 'here were ad$entures, superheroes, teenage humor, li!e Archie, funny animals.

9ut hu%orhumor, there was nothing. &hen I was in :urope, the undergrounds appeared. 'hey were

the first humorous comics. 'he sub/ect matter was $ery strong, but they were humorous. And I said

'his is fantastic6# &hen I was in :urope, I also realized that half of the comics were humor, but the

difference is that in :urope, the artists own all their own material. I thought 'his is how it has to be.#

&hen I arri$ed in the States and started proposing to do comics and telling them I wanted to own my

material, they laughed in my face. 'hey said 'hat cannot happen.# So from the beginning of the Gs to

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with me. I li!e to thin!. I dont use any modern con$enience to be tal!ing to other people, because I li!e

my time to thin!. I go to the garden in the morning, and this time, Im thin!ing ideas, Im not drawing,

Im thin!ing. Some stories for Grooand drawing some stories for The Si%$sons, doing a new article

forMad. >ou !eep switching from one thing for another, and then when it comes time to draw at @

ocloc! in the e$ening, I sit in my des! and wor! until = ocloc! in the morning. And thats because time

/ust flies when youre sitting there drawing. I put the tele$ision on as companionship. I lo$e old mo$ies,and I put on the 'urner channel and watch mo$ies I$e seen a million times, but its li!e a companion in

the bac!ground. I put tapes on, or 838s or old mo$ies that I lo$e, and sometimes Ill watch a mo$ie and

Ill loo! up and its another mo$ie. h my %od6 &hat happened5 I wasnt e$en aware of that.# And I

!eep in!ing until I get really tired and then I go to bed.

'he problem is that if I watch something li!e the Cational %eographic channel, my eyes get glued on the

'3 and I dont wor!. I ta!e brea!s. 7or instance, I lo$e The Si%$sons. I$e always been a fan of 'he

Si%$sons. &hen The Si%$sonscome in, the reruns, e$en if I$e seen it a million times, I /ust put my

pen down and for half an hour I /ust en/oy the silliness. And its a brea! and then I continue, and then

my wife calls me for dinner. 'hen we eat and I go bac! to wor!. So its a constant wor!. And e$en when I

ta!e $acations, we go $isit many, many places, name it4 Bawaii, 'ahiti. &hat we do is di$ide my time. If

she wants to do something in the morning, then we do something in the morning, but the e$ening is my

time to wor!. 9ut if she wants to do something in the e$ening, then I wor! in the morning. So its half-

time on the $acation. Its rela)ing, because you sit in a $ery nice chair loo!ing at the ocean, but Im

thin!ing of ideas.

AVC: So you don+t want to stop

working entirely e,en for a few

weeks$

SA:I$e ne$er done it. I wouldnt

!now how that feels. 2ust the thought

of it is $ery scary. 'o imagine not

ha$ing a pencil in my hand5 ight

now while were tal!ing, Im drawing

a Santa 0laus that I want to gi$e my

wife for 0hristmas.

AVC: & was going to say & feel bad

about keeping you from your

work but & guess &+m not doing

that$

SA:&hen Im doing Groo, and

suddenly theres a double-page spread that ta!es a lot of cartoons, I ha$e to do at least a page a day

for Groo. So when my telephone rings, I put it aside and ta!e this massi$e drawing and start adding

things to it. After the con$ersation, I ta!e the massi$e drawing and put it aside. So any brea!s I ta!e, I

start adding things. So that page will ta!e probably the whole month to draw. 'hey say, Bow can youdo that5# 'hey thin! of it as a one-pager or a two-pager. 9ut its not true, that page too! so long to draw

because its not a regular page. It becomes natural.


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Sergio Aragonés interview 02