Around the world, 2015 will probably be best remembered as the year of a twelve-issue Groo series, the first installment of which goes on sale January 21. It's called Groo: Friends and Foes and each issue, Groo and his faithful canine companion run into a different character (or two) from Groo's past. Here's a sneak preview of #1.
It will probably not do any good but I would like to (again!) try to correct a recurring error that people make about this comic. Often on promotional materials, they say "Story by Mark Evanier, Art by Sergio Aragonés." That's not really accurate. For one thing, Sergio made up the story in that issue, as he does in most issues. He's mainly responsible for the plots, I'm mainly responsible for the dialogue. Sometimes, we overlap or I suggest a plot idea or a visual gag or he suggests a line. Mainly though, he does the stories and I do the words…but not totally.
There have been instances in past comics where the guy who did what I do would take the entire writer credit. Those instances often have led to blatant misattribution of who contributed what and often to resentment and ill feelings. To avoid that, Sergio and I decided years ago on Groo to avoid credits that said one guy wrote it and one guy drew it. Once in a while, I contribute so much to a story that Sergio insists I be credited as Writer but usually, the official credits we designate say "by Sergio Aragonés" and then the credit for me is either a joke or something vague. Lately, it's been "Wordsmith."
You'd be amazed how infrequently it is that people get this. Not long ago, I found myself explaining this to a longtime comic book writer who kept asking me, "Which of you is in charge of the writing?" and was not satisfied with my explanation that we both are.
"No, no," he kept saying. "Suppose you want Groo to do one thing in a story and Sergio wants him to do something else. Who has the final say on that?"
I said we both do.
"No, no, no," he said. "Two people can't both be in charge. If you don't agree, one person has to have the deciding vote."
I said no, if we don't agree, we talk it over until we do agree. "Human beings can do that," I explained. "Not everything in life has to be a power struggle."
"No, no, no, no," he said, escalating yet another no. "There must come a time when Sergio insists Groo slay the green dragon and you insist Groo slay the red dragon and neither of you will budge."
I said, "We've been doing Groo since 1982 and that's never happened. The longest argument we've had lasted about three minutes before it was settled to our mutual satisfaction. And by the way, in that situation, we would probably have Groo slay both dragons and the maidens they were menacing."
The guy never got it. A lot of people don't get it…or else when they write articles or promotional materials for this comic, they see a blank space that says "Story by" and another that says "Art by" and they figure Sergio draws it so they'll give him the latter credit and stick my name in the first slot. When you see that, don't believe what you see. Usually.
This may sound trivial but I really feel uncomfy when I get a credit that rightly belongs to someone else…or sole credit when it should be shared. I don't really have a lot of respect for anyone who doesn't.