Long before The Simpsons or South Park, kids got their snarky humor from MAD Magazine. The blend of artists and writers covering a vast array of topics sometimes served as an educational primer about the forbidden topics of R-rated movies or grown-up politics. Among its longest-serving and favorite contributors was Sergio Aragones, whose doodles in the margins randomly broke up the larger proceedings. For his major contributions to the social delinquency of minors. Sergio Aragones is inducted into the Pop Culture Hall of Fame as an Artist for 2025.
Calling Aragones a writer might seem odd at first glance. His most famous work for MAD generally had no dialogue, relying on detailed visual storytelling. But every great idea has writing behind it, and he worked extra hard to tell his non-verbal stories. Considering that his biggest contributions to the magazine were actually the tiniest, he had to really excel as a storyteller to get the joke across.
There was something subversive about his doodles in that they just appeared whenever and wherever throughout an issue. How many kids were inspired to draw their own doodles in school textbooks by the work of Aragones? The graffiti-like nature of his work made it feel like little acts of rebellion. Even though his actual comics were drawn much larger, his ability to capture the essence of a gag in a single tiny panel without speaking is a true art form.
In the mid-’80s, Aragones showed comics readers what he could do with just a little more space and even some dialogue. Groo The Wanderer, his comic book series, launched in 1985 after some appearances in other publications. It’s the tale of a swordsman as strong as an ox and almost as intelligent. There’s a lot of humor in the dialogue, and the larger illustrations are sprawling and crammed with detail.
As with many of his fellow “Usual Gang of Idiots” from MAD, Aragones has continued working as he pushes 90 years of age. (Seriously, is there a profession that ensures a longer lifespan than cartoonist?) His draws with the same quality as he did half a century ago, still loose, chaotic, borderline sloppy looking, yet fully in control.
Such a long, vital career doing something as silly as doodles in a magazine and comic books about colossally stupid characters is quite impressive. This is why Sergio Aragones gets a prominent spot as an Artist in the Pop Culture Hall of Fame for 2025.
