MAD's Greatest Artists: Sergio Aragones: Five Decades of His Finest Works Hardcover – October 5, 2010

MAD Magazine has captured the American condition for decades, and no one has been able to make me laugh more than Sergio Aragones.His brilliance is in storytelling through art. No words Needed.There are many comic strips out there, but Sergio has created his own brand of cartoon humor that transcends generations. His humor is as funny now as it was when the art was originally published.This book offers A LOT of work by Aragones. Yes, I would have loved more because I love it so much, but the 200+ pages offer a fair amount of content.I'm happy to have found this book and I'll always go back to it for humor you have to think about in order to get.And that's the beauty of Sergio Aragones' art: it gets you INVOLVED with the drawings rather than passively reading them. You have to THINK to enjoy the jokes. That's brilliant.Get it now!

Artist behind such works as the comic "Plop!", "Groo", and of course "MAD Magazine", Sergio Aragones is perhaps best known for his ingenious "pantomime" comic strips. "MAD's Greatest Artists: Sergio Aragones: Five Decades of His Finest Works" collects some of his best work in Mad Magazine from his very early days to more recent stuff to his famous "marginals", alone and in collaboration with one or more members of that "usual gang of idiots". I was delighted to find 'toons in here that I had never seen and some that I had forgotten -can you tell that I'm a fan? There's lots to laugh at, separated in sections by decade (and even within the dust cover) as well as some imput from the artist himself. I am quite pleased with this collection. In fact, the only thing lacking is a volume 2!

Sergio Aragones is the single most creative cartoonist alive -- primarily in his ability to convey without any words an energy or emotion. I imagine that he has world-wide appeal because you don't need to speak English to "get" 95% of his work. My favorite feature is "A MAD Look At...." and there's plenty of that here. But I would love to see a companion book that is 100% "A MAD Look At..." with every single one Sergio has done. I would also like to see an entire book of "MAD Marginals" in large size to accommodate my vision. But until those two books are written, this is the book to get -- and at almost 300 pages, there is no shortage of genius inside.

When my wife and I first got married, we made it a point to go out to a 'special' dinner, once a month.We would pick up a copy of the latest Mad Magazine, bring it to the restaurant, and order the meal. Then, while waiting for the food to arrive, we would look ONLY at the wordless cartoons by Sergio. My wife is Chinese, and was fairly new to English, so she wouldn't be able to understand the text-based humor. But Sergio's masterpieces, as you know, didn't usually require a handle on English.We did that for the first few years of marriage, and always laughed hard. That was about 15 years ago.So it was a very pleasant surprise, to see that Amazon was selling a collection book of cartoons, from this comedic genius. I received the book yesterday, and today we cuddled in bed, and looked through some of the cartoons, picking pages at random. Our capacity for intense laughter has not changed.It will probably take us 3-6 months to finish this, because we want it to last, we don't want to overexpose the funny bone.Universal. You can share this with teenagers, with foreign friends or relatives. You can stop by your friend's desk, out of the blue, and say 'Hey, take a look at this one'. Gets a laugh, every time.Thanks for choosing cartooning as a profession, Sergio. Live long, don't stop.

I read MAD Magazine when I was a kid (much to my parents' distress) and particularly liked Sergio Aragones's work. I showed my 19-year-old daughter an old MAD compilation book of his cartoons and she was laughing out loud. I bought this book for her and I am glad I did. Not only does my daughter love it, but I have found so many of the panels and series that I loved as a kid. And there's an extra bonus: The "Marginal Thinking Department" little vignettes that were in the margins of MAD Magazine show up in this book, also.If you're a fan of Aragones, this book is for you.

Great book for coffee table use or for reading when you need a quick laugh. Aragones is amazing. His skill over so many decades is incredible. The true master of pantomime. He says so much without a single word.

After growing up with MAD, this purchase was only fitting. My husband is an artist so we frequent the comic conventions and had the pleasure of meeting Sergio. This book is funny, cute and a great collection of all his fine work. If you were or are a fan, you won't go wrong with this purchase. Amazon also had this cheaper than some of the Art Books that have it, so compare prices.