680 Sergio Aragones, Mad magazine artist, joins us on Mr. Media! - a podcast by Bob Andelman

Today's Guest: Sergio Aragones, legendary MAD magazine cartoonist, creator, "Groo" Mr. Media is recorded live before a studio audience of MAD cartoonist Sergio Aragones fans dressed up for Halloween as Groo the Wanderer… in the NEW new media capitol of the world… St. Petersburg, Florida!  Order MAD’s Greatest Artists: Sergio Aragones: Five Decades of His Finest Works by clicking the book cover above! (2010) My first issue of MAD magazine was purchased near the checkout counter at a Stop & Shop supermarket in my hometown of North Brunswick, New Jersey, in July 1970. I’ll never forget the cover: a parody of the summer’s big hit, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, featuring a couple of actors named Redford & Newman. I no longer have it, but I suspect that that was my first exposure to legendary artist Sergio Aragones. SERGIO ARAGONES audio excerpt: "I did about 20 Pocket Books for MAD with new material. The characters are what sell the book. I thought, 'Why not draw myself on every cover? That way they know it's my book.' So I became a comic book character." Sergio has been producing illustrated gags for MAD since 1963 and for many fans, his work and the humor mag’s name are forever entwined. He has been one of the Usual Gang of Idiots for longer than I’ve been able to spell “ee-diots.” This month, Sergio — who has already won the National Cartoonist Society’s top honor, the Reuben Award, as well as the Will Eisner Hall of Fame Award and the Comic Art Professional Society’s Sergio Award, named after, um… him — is being recognized in a different way with a book retrospective. MAD’s Greatest Artists: Sergio Aragones: Five Decades of His Finest Works, is an oversized coffee table collectible that reproduces some of his finest, crazy material in a hardcover format that will no doubt outlast us all. It is a great honor to have him as a guest today. Sergio Aragones Website • Groo • Facebook • Order MAD’s Greatest Artists: Sergio Aragones: Five Decades of His Finest Works Order 'Sergio Aragones Funnies,' named by the National Cartoonists Society the Best Comic Book of 2013, available from Amazon.com by clicking on the comic book cover above! Order 'Sergio Aragones' Groo: Library,' available from Amazon.com by clicking on the book cover above!   Order 'Will Eisner: A Spirited Life' (2nd Edition) by Bob Andelman, available from Amazon.com by clicking on the book cover above!   The Party Authority in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland!  

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