May 05, 2008
Welcome to King-Cat.net
Hi everyone! And welcome to the King-Cat Comics website… here’s how to get around:
-This HOMEPAGE (please scroll down...) lists News, Notes, Old News and so on about King-Cat related stuff. It’s updated regularly, so check back often!
-The CATALOG lists all items currently for sale. The KING-CAT COMICS sub-page lists subscription rates and available back issues of the King-Cat Comics zine. The OTHER PUBLICATIONS sub-page is for non-KC comics, Book Collections, and other printed merchandise. BUTTONS and T-SHIRTS lists, well… Buttons and T-Shirts... but also a selection of musical releases from the heyday of Spit and a Half Records!
-For complete ordering instructions, click on the HOW TO ORDER sub-page heading on the CATALOG pages
-For the store nearest you that carries King-Cat stuff, check the LINKS page
-The rest of the pages are hopefully self-explanatory!
-If you have any questions, want to be added to the mailing list, or simply want to say hello, find out how to get in touch by clicking CONTACT
That’s it! Thank you for visiting, and ROCK ON!
John P.
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"There is nothing to express, nothing with which to express, nothing from which to express, no power to express, no desire to express, together with the obligation to express."
-- Samuel Beckett
“Those who serve a revolution plough the sea.” -- Simón Bolivar
"All I know is, when I was like six, Amy Poston said: 'Look- Potato Bugs!'" -- Misun Oh
"If it smells like shit wherever you go, check your own shoes." -- Jack D. Pingo
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KING-CAT NEWS NOSE:
Sniffing out King-Cat related news since June 2005
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MAY UPDATE:
--Thoreau at Walden is out! (see below)
--I'll be at the 3rd Annual Denver Zine Fest, to be held Saturday May 31st from 10 AM - 6 PM
--I'm gonna try (?!) to get King-Cat 69 out for Zine Fest, so wish me luck!
More info on all this is listed below somewheres... Thanks! John P.
THOREAU AT WALDEN: A long time in the making, my new book, Thoreau at Walden, is available NOW through your local bookstore, comics shop, or online. It's also available direct from me! Please click here for info. Thank you for your support!
Please also visit the website of the Center for Cartoon Studies.
A SWAN AT SMILEY'S: Smiley's is the World's Largest Discount Laundromat, located right here in Denver. A Swan at Smiley's is my dear friend Patrick Porter's new CD of amazing one-man rock n roll. Patrick's one of my favorite people, so obviously I'm biased, but even so I must say his art brings tears to my eyes. In a world filled with phoniness, Patrick is the real deal. And I wrote the liner notes. I like this record so much, I'm offering it for sale here on the King-Cat site! And while you're at it, check out Patrick's Myspace page for downloads etc.
FREE COMIC BOOK DAY: Will happen this year on Saturday May 3rd. Look for King-Cat events to be held in Boulder at Time Warp Comics, and Colorado Springs at the Pikes Peak Public Library! Times and details are listed below!
2008 DENVER ZINE FEST: The 3rd Annual DZF has been announced! It'll be held Saturday May 31, 2008 at the First Unitarian Church, 1400 Lafayette Street in Denver. I will definitely be there. So should you! Click for info.
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"Society always moves without direction. Within such a society it is the greatest contribution to sit immovably by oneself." --Kosho Uchiyama Roshi, The Wholehearted Way
FOX COUNT: 12
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KING-CAT EVENTS: April - May 2008
ABOVE: John P. at Boulder, Colo. signing; (photo by Delaine Derry Green).
SAT. APRIL 12: Denver, CO - Denver Bizarre Bazaar. Tabling with the Denver Zine Library with King-Cat merch. Plus music, zine readings, food etc! 10 AM - 6 PM
SAT. MAY 3: Boulder, CO - Book signing at Time Warp Comics, 10 AM - 1 PM.
SAT MAY 3: Colorado Springs, CO - Hands-on Mini-comics demo at Pike's Peak Public Library, East Branch; 3:30 PM - 5 PM. Make your own simple four-page comic book, and share it with other workshoppers!
SAT. MAY 31: Denver, CO - Denver Zine Fest! 10 AM - 6 PM
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2008: YEAR IN PREVIEW
Well I hope to knuckle down and get myself together after the long funk that was 2007... so I hope to have a couple new issues of King-Cat finished this year, as well as finishing The Hospital Suite, an all-new "Graphic Novel" about my Summer of '97. My most recent book, the all-new Thoreau at Walden , will be released in April '08. So here we go!
* * * OTHER MISCELLANEOUS, POORLY ORGANIZED NEWS, LINKS ETC: * * *
CALENDARS A-GO-GO: In an instance of cosmic coincidence, I've done a lot of calendar work recently-- the THROUGH THE YEAR WITH GORDON THE FOX 2008 calendar of course (see below), but also the March 2008 page for the new Midnight Fiction small press comix calendar (www.midnightfiction.com), and the cover to the 2008 Denver Zine Library Calendar ($10 donation to www.denverzinelibrary.org). Check them out and stay on schedule in 2008!
Recent King-Cat links:
Daly Crosshatch: a (sometimes too!) literal transcription of the talk I gave at Big Brain Comics in Minneapolis, 10/11/07, with photos: Part One Part Two
Quiet Bubble - a thoughtful review of King-Cat Classix.
A short interview on the Utne site, done at Big Brain as well.
VIDEO FUN: Watch my hairline recede over the course of a decade, in two videos recently posted to YouTube:
John P. at SPX, 1997
Felt Pilotes Reunion, Denver 2007
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KING-CAT IN THE NEWS -- Recent reviews/interviews etc:
Montreal Mirror (review)
Bookgasm (review)
Washington Post Express (interview, with LOTS of images etc)
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NEW ARTIST WEBSITES: Some of my favorite artists have recently revamped websites for you to check out:
Un'ichi Hiratsuka - one of my favorites, a real inspiration
Julie Doucet - A longtime hero of mine
Jonathan Larabie - Soul Brother
NEW LA MANO TITLE: The latest release from Zak Sally's acclaimed La Mano 21 is a great oversized "comic" (?) from Jason Miles - lovingly hand-crafted, with a surprise ending. At this point I would say Zak, and La Mano, have carved away their own very interesting aesthetic niche in the "comic book world." Check it all out at lamano21.com.
IT CAME IN THE MAIL:
Swedish cartoonist Henrik Bromander sent me a new zine called 3 Stories, and lucky for us it's in English! Nice simple funky artwork and good translations of stories about a Bogland Scientist, a French philosopher (names sadly escapes me now), and kinky lottery sex. (Not for kids, but for grown ups instead.) There are a lotta great European comics out there, but unless you're fluent it's hard for us Ugly Americans... so this is a treat.
$5 USD postage paid to:
Henrik Bromander
Lotta Svardsgatan 3c
41504 Gothenburg
Sweden
www.bromander.nu/
Marek Bennett has sent me his great zine Mimi's Doughnuts for the past year or so. They have a kind of homespun, charming quality to them that I really love. They feel very "New England" to me, but maybe that just comes from years of watching bad TV. Plus each issue also has nice autobio strips that are just beautiful. One issue came with a CD!!
www.marekbennett.com
Fart Party book by Julia Wertz The heroes at Atomic Books in Baltimore have collected Julia's amazing Fart Party comics in one handy book! Don't be put off by the title. Sure, they're crude at times, but they have a real sweet core to them that you can't fake. Julia's one of my favorite new cartoonists and I'd like to encourage you to check out this book!
Julia Wertz's website
ZINE WORLD #25 OUT NOW! The suckas are on a roll! Copies are $4 (postpaid in US) from: Zine World PO Box 330156, Murfreesboro, TN, 37133-0150. Visit www.undergroundpress.org for more info!
My old friend RAY is a complex guy. He has a great blog and website which I think you may enjoy experiencing. On his Myspace page he asserts: "I'm a poet. Whether I'm writing, cooking, singing, scribbling, or walking down the street. That's all I do. Ask anyone who's needed something more out of me; I'm just a poet; all the time." Yeah.
OK friends -- that's it. Thanks for everything!
--LOVE-- John P.
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THROUGH THE YEAR WITH GORDON THE FOX is a new ALL-COLOR 2008 calendar/mini-book I drew that's just been published by the wonderful folks at Little Otsu. It's now available for order directly from me! Click here for info!
KING-CAT CLASSIX OUT NOW! The King-Cat Classix book is available NOW! through the Drawn and Quarterly website, and at bookstores, comic shops and online retailers. This is a big 384 page hardcover collection of the "best of" the first fifty issues of King-Cat! (Click here for a description and cover image!) Find links to reviews, images, and ordering info at the D+Q blog.
MORE KING-CAT CLASSIX LINKS:
Library Journal review
Publisher's Weekly Q+A with John P.
Onion / AV Club Interview
Comics Journal review
Avondale Evening Mail
3:AM Magazine
Zak Sally's blog
Colorado Springs Independent
Las Vegas Weekly
Inkstuds podcast
USA Today
Kirkus Reviews
Randomville
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Plus:
COMIX CLUB #5 AVAILABLE NOW: If you're a King-Cat fan, and you read French, you might wanna check out the latest issue of this French comix magazine, which features a long interview with John Porcellino (that's me!), as well as comics and articles by Fafe, Jonathan Larabie, Kevin Huizenga, David Lasky, Lolmede, and Dave Kiersh about their thoughts on King-Cat Comics! I'm blushing! (And of course there's lots more in this issue...)
Comix Club Info: Editions Groinge
David Lasky's contribution (in English)
KING-CAT PODCAST INTERVIEW: Last month's Inkstuds radio interview with John Porcellino (me) is available online now by clicking here. Joe Chips says you should listen to it!
ZAK SALLY'S NEW BOOK IS OUT AND YOU SHOULD GET ONE OR TWO: Longtime King-Cat cohort Zak Sally (Recidivist, La Mano Pubs etc) has a new book out called SAMMY THE MOUSE; it's part of the IGNATZ comics line, published by the fine folks at Fantagraphics Books. Go get one! And while you're at it, check out these GREAT interviews with Zak at:
Best Of Most Of
The Comics Reporter (On the listing for Sunday July 1, 2007)
And read Zak's BLOG.
MR. MIKE, MAYOR. Longtime King-Cat readers may remember good ol' Mr. Mike Haeg, iconoclast, curmudgeon, sweetheart and handyman. You may or may not know that Mike has created his very own (completely legally official) city, Mount Holly, Minnesota. You can watch a newsclip about it (the marvels of the net) HERE, and read about it HERE. And you should.
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NOSTALGIA FOR SALE: I've added a listing for all the old Spit and a Half Records (from the Golden Age of the 90's) that are still available, on the CATALOG>HOW TO ORDER page of this website. Click here and scroll down to check it out!
DADDY NEEDS A NEW PAIR OF SHOES: As I mentioned last month, we're goin' broke over here. I've never really advertised it before, but I will now-- that is, that I do commisioned artwork for people who are interested. I've done work anywhere from 5x7 to really big, and I'd be happy to do some for you if you're interested. Prices generally start around $35 for something small and black & white and go up from there (to around $100-$150), depending on the size and complexity. I'm happy to do something random or really specific, depending on what you're looking for. If anyone out there is interested in getting some artwork drawn for them, please get in touch, and we'll go from there.
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Jenny Zervakis comic up at Urban Hiker.
And this Jenny Zervakis profile.
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COMICS ANTHOLOGIES: A bunch of great, recent book collections include some King-Cat stuff:
Kramer's Ergot #6 (Buenaventura Press)
What'Cha Mean, What's a Zine (Houghton Mifflin)-- This is a great zine publishing guide for kids, edited by Mark Todd and Esther Pearl Watson. www.funchicken.com
Anthology of Graphic Fiction, Cartoons and True Stories (Yale University Press, edited by Ivan Brunetti) includes a selection of stories from King-Cat #63.
Best American Comics 2006 (Houghton Mifflin) edited by Harvey Pekar and Anne Elizabeth Moore, reprints "Chemical Plant / Another World" from the Mosquito Abatement Man book.
Papercutter #4 (Tugboat Press) With stories from Sarah Oleksyk, Vanessa Davis, and John Porcellino. www.tugboatpress.com
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JOHN P. INTERVIEW / PODCAST: Available at www.cindycenter.com/KingCatFinal.mp3. It probably doesn't tell King-Cat fans much they don't already know, but it sure is weird to hear my voice coming out of a computer speaker!
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Spit and a Half CHILDREN'S FOLKLORE PROJECT
I am currently embarking on a major new project (that I've been wanting to do for years and years...): I'm collecting examples of Children's Folklore for an upcoming zine (or book) and I need your help! I'm looking for contributions of children's songs, riddles, jokes, parodies, insults, beliefs, rhymes and stories etc from all eras. For more information, or to contribute, please click on the "MISC" link at the top of this page and scroll down... Thanks!
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"RECENT" REVIEWS
Village Voice
Boston Globe
Comics Reporter
The Comics Journal
Baltimore City Paper
PopMatters
MadInkBeard
OC Weekly
Broken Frontier
Everything2.com
madinkbeard.com
Library Journal
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COMING SOON-- The Hospital Suite (all new graphic novel; self-published?), Thoreau at Walden (CCS/Hyperion, Spring 2008), King-Cat 69... etc etc.
