King-Cat Classix
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"Unvarnished. Punk."-The New York Times
King-Cat Classix collects material from the first fifty issues of John Porcellino's King-Cat Comics as they appeared in self-published, handmade zines throughout the 1990s. These strips span Porcellino's dynamic evolution from saturated, punk drawings to his characteristic refined minimalism, revealing his work as nothing short of a catalyst that has inspired artists like Chris Ware in the emerging literary comics scene. In the inky drawings featuring beloved pets, awkward teenage one-night-stands, and everyday blunders, we see a nascent style steeped in truth and transparency--one that continues to ring true today.
Porcellino's mind is spread out on the page, with an uninhibited id running wildly about dreams and sexual fantasies, not unlike the gritty, stabbing pen strokes of Julie Doucet. He sketches fragmented moments and glimpses of interaction that seem to reflect the very manner in which we process memory: we are made up of a stream of consciousness, captured in fleeting mental images, and Porcellino externalizes that messy internal reality. Follow along the path of Porcellino's dynamic evolution and relish in the inspirational power of this groundbreaking collection.
About this Author
John Porcellino was born in Chicago in 1968, and has been writing, drawing, and publishing minicomics, comics, and graphic novels for over twenty-five years. His celebrated self-published series King-Cat Comics, begun in 1989 and still running, has inspired a generation of cartoonists. He lives in Illinois.
Reviews
"Unvarnished. Punk."-The New York Times
"Porcellino is a master at miniature poignance."-Entertainment Weekly
"Drawn & Quarterly has picked the ideal time to revisit [Porcellino's] early work with three volumes... Porcellino's introversion, nonconformity and perpetual struggles with ill health made him the consummate poet of the pandemic -- 30 years before anyone ever heard of social distancing."-NPR
"A Porcellino comic... is about nothing and everything. Corny as this sounds, dear reader, to read him is to be reminded you are a part of a larger world, and broader existence -- and all of the spiritual whatevers that suggest."-Chicago Tribune
"Porcellino's short stories and observations about his life and the nature around him are simple and spare, but manage to capture his awe at the world."-The Globe & Mail
"The best way to treat this book is like a collection of poems, to be dipped into lightly, a few pieces at a time... Porcellino has crafted an affecting scrapbook of a part-time artist's life."-The AV Club
"A comprehensive introduction to the work of a great living artist as well as a tribute to the foundational efforts of an icon."-Library Journal, Starred Review
"[King-Cat Classix] collects his greatest hits from the early years, many involving sex, dreams, cats and any combination of the three... they swell with passion and heart."-USA Today Pop Candy
"It's striking how far ahead of his time Porcellino was."-Las Vegas Weekly
"[John Porcellino's] work illuminates the greatness of all humanity, for in his own existence, he finds beauty in his surroundings, in nature, his pets, in encounters with strangers."-New City
"Porcellino immortalizes the places that most people would drive by without a second glance... It's the kind of drawing that makes you want to go outside and pay attention to the world."-The Chicago Reader
"Porcellino... is a master of the form. His genius comes from the deceptively unpretentious nature of his work. The black and white drawings, the irregular squares of his panels, and his deep, often painful subject matter all coalesce to display singular comics craftsmanship of the highest order."-Comics Beat
"What began as an experiment in tune with the punk aesthetic of the time has evolved, over all these years, into a vision and body of work that continues to push the boundaries of artistic expression."
-Broken Frontier
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