Sergio Aragones Funnies #1 – Review

By: Sergio Aragones (writer & artist), Tom Luth (colors), Karen Bates (letters) & Bill Morrison (editor)

The Story: A new series from the mind and pen of Sergio Aragones.

Review: This was really cute and adds some wonderful diversity to the comics industry.  Sergio Aragones needs little introduction to older comic fans who know him from his work in Mad Magazine and his creator-owned series Groo the Wanderer.  But, for those who haven’t been exposed to his work, you’re in for a treat because this issue will expose you to the work of a legendary cartoonist.

The format for this book is part of what makes it work so well.  It has two “main stories”.  One is a cartoony retelling of the story of the Trojan Horse.  It is complete with all sorts of tongue-in-cheek, PG-rated humor and has an ending that is funny as hell and not what I expected.  The other “main” story is a story of Sergio himself during his college days when he attempted to recruit fellow students to be extras in a film about the Alamo with disastrous results as his buddies are running around in sneakers, looking at the camera and otherwise ruining the filming.  Then, woven between these stories are a bunch of one-pagers where Aragones tells us a bunch quick and humorous stories.

Aragones is a cartoonist in the truest sense and he’s been doing this for a LONG time.  There isn’t a single panel in this issue where it is unclear what the characters are doing.  This is best exemplified by his one-pages that have no word balloons, but it holds true even in the main stories that feature plenty of dialog.  And, goodness the detail in these panels!  But, even with this detail, it looks effortless… Like he just cranks these pages out.  This is just the work of a super-experienced hand.

Conclusion: I really don’t need to go on and on about this issue.  It’s really good and this will be on my pull list for as long as Aragones wants to publish it.  Adults will chuckle at it, but then you should hand it to a kid, because they’ll love it just as much.

Grade: B

– Dean Stell

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