Sergio Aragonés Domenech (/ˌærəˈɡoʊnɪs/ ARR-ə-GOH-niss, Spanish: [ˈseɾxjo aɾaɣoˈnes ðoˈmenek];[a] born 6 September 1937 in Sant Mateu, Castellón, Spain)[1] is a Spanish-Mexican cartoonist and writer best known for his contributions to Mad magazine and creating the comic book Groo the Wanderer.

[5] Born in Sant Mateu, Castellón, Spain, Aragonés emigrated with his family to France, due to the Spanish Civil War, before settling in Mexico at age 6.

"The teacher would give us homework, which would consist of copying Chapter Eleven, including the illustrations ... a beetle or a plant, the pistil of a flower, or soldiers – that type of thing.

"[3] He made his first professional sale in 1954 when a high school classmate submitted his work to a magazine without telling Aragonés.

He continued to sell gag cartoons to magazines while studying architecture at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), where he learned pantomime under the direction of Alejandro Jodorowsky.

"I joined the class", Aragonés recalled, "not to become a mime but to apply its physical aspects of movement to my comics."

Aragonés taught Mexican Popular Art at the University of Mexico, and became engaged to one of his American students, Lilio Chomette.

Sergio had to put on the Sheena costume and did some stunts which I understand included swinging from a vine and diving into water.

After working odd jobs around the city, Aragonés went to Mad's offices on Third Avenue hoping to sell some of his cartoons.

"[8] Mad editor Al Feldstein and publisher Bill Gaines liked what they saw, and Aragonés became a contributor to the magazine in 1963.

[9] When associate editor Jerry DeFuccio encouraged Aragonés to submit more material in the future, the cartoonist took it to heart, producing a full article on motorcycle cops overnight.

"[10] With little money and no connections in the United States, Aragonés spent so much time at the office that publisher Gaines allowed him to sleep there overnight.

[citation needed] Aragonés worked continuously for Mad from 1963 to 2020, only stopping because the magazine transitioned into an almost-all-reprint format.

Aragonés convinced Feldstein to use his cartoons by creating a dummy sample issue with his Marginals drawn along the edges.

The staff of Mad enjoyed his marginals, but did not expect him to be able to maintain the steady stream of small cartoons needed for each issue.

"[13] Aragonés is a very prolific artist; Al Jaffee once said, "Sergio has, quite literally, drawn more cartoons on napkins in restaurants than most cartoonists draw in their entire careers.

"[14] In 2002, writer Mark Evanier estimated that Aragonés had written and drawn more than 12,000 gag cartoons for Mad alone.

[15] His new marginal gags in the April 2024 Mad marked the 509th issue that Aragonés has contributed to, the most of any writer or artist.

[16] In 1967, he began writing and illustrating full stories for various DC Comics titles, including The Adventures of Jerry Lewis, Angel and the Ape, Inferior Five, Young Romance, and for various horror anthologies.

Aragonés helped create DC's Western series Bat Lash[18] and the humor title Plop!.

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.

"[citation needed] 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.

The other regular contributors to the comic book are letterer Stan Sakai (himself the creator/artist of Usagi Yojimbo), and colorist Tom Luth.

[20] 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.

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.

[21][22] 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.

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.

In 2020, Aragonés guest-starred in The Casagrandes episode "Mexican Makeover" voicing Lupe's pet parrot and Sergio's cousin Paco.