Since I’m “too old” for MAD, I tend to catch the rest of Sergio’s prolific work through his contributions to Bongo Comics (Matt Groening’s company). I’m sure he’s doing Groo and other stuff for Dark Horse too.
Anyway, Sergio has been writing various Simpsons stories since 2009 and had an awesome cameo last year in Futurama (as a head in a jar of course). It was cool to hear him speak. Now Bongo gave him his own comic book. Where this man gets the energy to keep going blows me away and at 74, it doesn’t look like he’ll be slowing down anytime soon neither.
Funnies is a filled with his trademarked silent cartoons, a couple puzzles (spot-the-difference stuff), a short illustrated story and personal tales about his past or current activities. The section regarding his past is what got me hooked. Within the last year, I caught an interview the Onion AV Club did which probably gave me the impetus to know more about the guy.
Kids will probably skim through the stories and feel gypped over the small silent gag sections. It’s definitely aimed at a more adult audience wanting to enjoy Sergio’s storytelling abilities as an alternative to the long-underwear comics are known for. After three issues, I give it my personal endorsement but I’ll probably keep the issues I’ve accrued around until I can replace them with trade paperbacks before donating them to someone else who will appreciate these.