Sergio Aragonés

In 1967, he began writing and illustrating full stories for various DC Comics titles, mainly for the horror anthologies House of Mystery and House of Secrets. He wrote or plotted stories that were illustrated by other artists. Aragonés helped create DC's Western series Bat Lash and the humor title Plop!. Aragonés broke with DC when the company began insisting on work-for-hire contracts; when Aragonés balked, an editor tore up Aragonés's paycheck in front of his face. He'd been trying obliquely to sell a comic book premise to DC or Marvel, but neither company would allow Aragonés to retain the copyright. "I didn't want anyone stealing the idea", said Aragonés, "and they weren't able to talk on a theoretical basis." • Illustration — Groo the Wanderer vol. 2 #1 (March 1984) Aragonés had created the humorous barbarian comic book Groo the Wanderer in the late 1970s, but the character did not appear in print until 1982. Groo was so named because Aragonés sought a name which meant nothing in any language. Writer Mark Evanier subsequently joined Aragonés on Groo. Evanier's role originally was as something of a translator, as Aragonés was still somewhat shaky at expressing his ideas in English. Eventually, the two began collaborating on story ideas, and there have been several Groo stories in which Evanier is credited as the sole writer. Aragonés has since become fluent in English. The other regular contributors to the comic book are letterer Stan Sakai (himself the creator/artist of Usagi Yojimbo), and colorist Tom Luth. As a creator-owned series, Groo has survived the bankruptcy of a number of publishers, a fact which led to the industry joke that publishing the series was a precursor to a publisher's demise. The title was initially published by Pacific Comics, briefly by Eclipse Comics, then Marvel Comics under their since-discontinued Epic Comics imprint which allowed creators to retain copyrights, then Image Comics, and currently Dark Horse Comics. On 2 December 1982, Marty Feldman died from a heart attack in a hotel room in Mexico City. This occurred during the making of the film Yellowbeard. Aragonés, who was filming nearby and was dressed for his role as an armed policeman, had introduced himself to Feldman that night. He encountered Feldman abruptly, startling and frightening him, which may have induced Feldman's heart attack. Aragonés has recounted the story with the punchline "I killed Marty Feldman". The story was converted into a strip in Aragonés's issue of DC Comics' Solo. In the early 1980s, Aragonés collaborated with the Belgian cartoonist François Walthéry on Natacha, l'hotesse de l'air, a well known series from the magazine Spirou. This story was titled "Instantané pour Caltech". Aragonés appears in the strip as a police officer character (/ DUPUIS Editor – Belgium). • Illustration — Aragonés interviewed in 2011 In April 2022, Aragonés was reported among the more than three dozen comics creators who contributed to Operation USA's benefit anthology book, Comics for Ukraine: Sunflower Seeds, a project spearheaded by IDW Publishing Special Projects Editor Scott Dunbier, whose profits would be donated to relief efforts for Ukrainian refugees resulting from the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Aragonés's work can be found in other compilations, including The Big Book of the Weird, Wild West, in which he illustrates a retelling of the Donner Party incident. His cartoons have appeared in a series of paperback editions for Mad.

In 1976, he had an acting role in the film Norman... Is That You? where he played one of the desk clerks at the Buenos Noches Hotel. He appeared in the short-lived 1977 revival of TV's Laugh-In. In addition to printed work, Aragonés has worked in television animation. He worked on the NBC program Speak Up America (1980) where he would draw during the show. His segments were used for many years on the Dick Clark Bloopers programs. Frequent collaborator Mark Evanier related an anecdote from their time on the short-lived 1983 NBC series The Half Hour Comedy Hour, which featured a guest appearance by model Jayne Kennedy: This was one of the most beautiful women in the world, and she wore this dress that was very revealing. So much so, the censors wouldn't let us put her on the air in it without adding some material. So we're all talking to her, the writers and whoever, just in awe of this woman. And Sergio comes walking in looking like a homeless person, carrying his portfolio. And Jayne sees him and she shouts, 'Sergio!' and she runs over and starts kissing him passionately. They'd worked together before, it turned out. But Johnny Carson comes walking out into the hallway and he thinks Jayne Kennedy is being sexually assaulted by a homeless person in the NBC hallways. He came over to make sure she was okay. She said it was fine, that she knew him, and I said, 'It's okay, he's a cartoonist.' So Johnny gives that classic look and he says, 'I knew I should have taken up drawing.' Stan Lee interviewed Aragonés in the 1991 documentary series The Comic Book Greats. In 2009, Aragonés told an interviewer, "I'm thinking and laughing all day long. Every time I think of a joke, I'm also telling myself a new joke. It's a great way to live." He appeared as his own preserved head in the Futurama episode "Lrrreconcilable Ndndifferences", hosting the "Last Actual Comic Book Booth" at Comic Con 3010. In 2020, Aragonés guest-starred in The Casagrandes episode "Mexican Makeover" voicing Lupe's pet parrot and Sergio's cousin Paco.

• Illustration — Aragonés at the 1982 San Diego Comic Con (today called Comic-Con International) Aragonés's work has won him numerous awards. He won Shazam Awards for Best Inker (Humor Division) in 1972 for his work on Mad Magazine and for Best Humor Story in 1972 for "The Poster Plague" from House of Mystery No. 202 with Steve Skeates. Aragonés received an Inkpot Award in 1976. He won the Harvey Award Special Award for Humor in 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2001. He received the National Cartoonists Society Comic Book Award for 1986, their Humor Comic Book Award for 1973, 1974, and 1976, their Magazine and Book Illustration Award for 1989, their Special Features Award for 1977, their Gag Cartoon Award for 1983, and their top Reuben Award in 1996 for his work on Mad and Groo the Wanderer. In 1985 he was awarded the Adamson Award for Best International Comic-Strip or Comic Book work in Sweden. In 1992 he became the first Mexican ever to win the Eisner Award for his work on Groo the Wanderer, along with Mark Evanier. In 2009, an exhibition, Mad About Sergio, was held at the Ojai Valley Museum. Visitors saw examples of Aragonés's cartooning dating back to childhood, publications he has appeared in, some of his awards, and Marginal-style sketches by Aragonés literally drawn onto the museum's walls and display cases. The Comic Art Professional Society award's prize's name is "The Sergio", an homage to his work. On 11 October 2024, the Harvey Awards announced that Aragonés was one of five comics creators to be inducted into the Harvey Awards Hall of Fame at the 36th annual Harvey Awards ceremony on 18 October at the New York Comic Con. The other four inductees were Arthur Adams, Larry Hama, Akira Toriyama, and John Buscema. Upon learning of the accolade, Aragonés commented, "What an honor it is to be inducted into the Harvey Awards Hall of Fame. Harvey was a great inspiration to me and so many other cartoonists."