Sergio Aragonés Sergio Aragonés ( born September 6 , 1937 , , , Spain ) is a cartoonist and writer best known for his contributions to " " and creator of the comic book " " . He currently resides and works in . Biography . Born in , Aragonés had a passion for art since early childhood . As one anecdote goes , Aragonés was once left alone in a room by his parents with a box of crayons . His parents returned sometime later to find that he had covered the wall in hundreds upon hundreds of drawings . Aragonés emigrated with his family due to the and settled in . He made his first professional sale in 1954 but continued to doodle humorous cartoons while studying architecture at the University of Mexico , and also learning pantomime under the direction of . In 1962 , Aragonés moved to the United States . According to the artist , he arrived in with nothing but 20 dollars and his portfolio of drawings . After working odd jobs around the city , Aragonés went to " " ' s offices in hoping to sell some of his cartoons . Since his knowledge of wasn ' t very extensive , he asked for the only " Mad " artist he knew of that spoke his language , Cuban - born artist , creator of the popular . Aragonés hoped Prohias could serve as a translator between him and the " Mad " editors . According to Aragonés , this proved to be a mistake , since Prohias knew even less English than he . Prohias did receive Aragonés very enthusiastically and , with difficulty , introduced the young artist to the " Mad " editors as his " brother . " " Mad " editor and publisher liked what they saw , and Aragonés became a contributor to the magazine in 1963 . Aragonés became famous for his wordless " drawn - out dramas " or " marginals " which were inserted into the margins and between panels of the magazine . The drawings are both horizontal and vertical , and occasionally extend around corners . Prior to Aragonés ' arrival at " Mad " , the magazine had sometimes filled its margins with text jokes under the catch - all heading " Marginal Thinking . " According to Aragonés the staff of " Mad " enjoyed his marginals , but expected him to only last one or two issues . They did not expect him to be able to maintain the steady stream of small cartoons needed for each issue . However , Aragonés has provided marginals for every issue of " Mad " since 1963 except one ( his contributions to that issue were lost by the Post Office ) . Aragonés is a very prolific artist ; once said , " Sergio has , quite literally , drawn more cartoons on napkins in restaurants than most cartoonists draw in their entire careers . " In 1967 he began illustrating full stories for under such titles as " Plop ! " He also wrote or plotted stories that were illustrated by other artists , including the Western series " " and stories for various horror anthology titles . Aragonés claims that he originally looked for work in the comic - book industry and was warned off . He was told that he would be better paid working for " Mad Magazine " . In the late 1970s he created the humorous barbarian comic book " " with Mark Evanier . Evanier ' s role originally was as something of a translator , as Aragonés was still somewhat shaky at expressing his ideas in English . Eventually the two began collaborating on story ideas , and there have been several Groo stories in which Evanier is credited as the sole writer . Aragonés is currently fluent in English . As a creator - owned book , " Groo " has survived the bankruptcy of a number of publishers , a fact which led to the popular joke that publishing the series was a precursor to a publisher ' s demise . The book was initially published by , briefly by Eclipse Comics , then Marvel Comics under their since - discontinued imprint , then , and currently Dark Horse Comics . His " Star Wars " – themed comics include " Sergio Aragonés Stomps Star Wars " , " Spare Parts " , and " Junkheap Hero " . He also illustrated the " Galactic Phrase Book & Travel Guide " . The character Serji - X Arrogantus was named after him .