Part 2 of my cartooning trilogy (which, okay, only has two parts) is Mad's Sergio Aragonés, whose deadpan gags have adorned the magazine's margins for half a century. The marginals, as they're called, are one of Mad's trademarks, and being the graphic equivalent of silent comedy, they've aged better then many of the topical parodies which have become the magazine's post-Kurtzman stock in trade. Comics fans will also known Aragonés as the creator of Groo the Wanderer, the blissfully free-associative series that instantly outgrew its origins as a Conan the Barbarian take-off. It probably didn't hurt that, as he discusses in our A.V. Club interview, Aragonés let the character marinate for years, waiting to find a publisher who would let him retain the rights — commonplace in Europe, but virtually unheard-of in the U.S. at the time. Aragonés, who I talked to from his home in Ojai, turned out to be an utter charmer, and I'm especially chuffed I thought to ask for a copy of the sketch he drew while we were talking, which accompanies our interview. To be honest, I haven't picked up an issue of Mad or Groo in close to two decades, but talking to Aragonés brought back just what an important part of my formative years both played. In the interview's comments, thread, you'll see that he's a stand-up guy all around, and not just when he's on the record.