Sergio Aragones

[Visitor Q]

I know this is not really Underground but I thought I would share. When I saw Sergio at the NY show over the weekend he explained to me that the four covers I had of his one book could be piece together to form one big picture. Once I saw this I got the idea for him to draw something that when all four comix where put together it would form a picture as well...

Jason

[awillis]

That is cool!
Aragones Code?

[Visitor Q]

Thanks!

hahaha You mean like a secret code? Like Morris code?

Jason

[awillis]

Like Da Vinci.

[Visitor Q]

 

Now I just need some Jaffee art and I will have art by all my MAD favorites.

Jason

[awillis]

Does that include Don Martin?
He was a favorite cartoonist of mine!

[Visitor Q]

Don Martin is awesome, no doubt but Prohias, Aragones and Jaffee are my 3 favorites. Don't get me wrong, it's not like I don't like the others, it's just that those 3 have always been my favorite. Good call on Martin though...

Jason

[Rick Bradford]

Sergio's great. A real pleasant guy to chat with too.

[Visitor Q]

Sergio's great. A real pleasant guy to chat with too.

Hey Rick, welcome to the boards.

Yeah he was awesome! Very warm and friendly to talk to, extremely nice. It was really an honor for me to meet him as I have been a fan since I can remember.

Jason

[Rick Bradford]

Yeah, me too -- grew up on his cartoons in MAD. He's the guy who, nearly 20 years ago, really made "nothing new under the sun" hit home for me. I was showing him a bunch of my cartoons at a convention and when he got to a certain one he reached over to a stack of his books and started flipping through one. When he found the page he was after he showed me his vastly superior version of the exact same gag. I was a little embarrassed because I knew it was entirely likely that I'd seen it before and that's where my brain got the idea. But he made me feel very comfortable about it, explaining that it's not so much the joke itself but rather how you tell it and making it yours.

If any of you ever get an opportunity to see one of his "chalk talk"-style presentations (he used to do them at San Diego Comic-Con) I recommend it. He's an entertaining guy.

[Visitor Q]

The thing that truly amazes me about the guy is his ability to express a characters thoughts and feelings through his drawings. You can look at a person he draws and right away tell what that person is feeling, it's amazing! He really has a knack for telling a story without words.

Jason

[Rick Bradford]

Yeah, that's one of the fun things about his drawing presentations. He can draw at lightning speed -- it's not polished and ready for print, of course, but everything that needs to be there is there...

[Visitor Q]

Yeah... It's too bad Prohias is no longer with us. =[

Nice to see Jaffee is still banging stuff out, have you ever met him? I would love too but have not.

Jason

[Rick Bradford]

Never have met Al Jaffee but I'd also like to.

[Visitor Q]

Not sure if Jaffee puts himself out there much, I mean he's got to be what? 80 something?

Never the less, the guy is AMAZING!

Who else do you fancy from MAD? IMO MAD is the influence between so much that we see today.

Jason