Keith Knight

Cartoonist Keith Knight

Cartoonist Keith Knight

…was born and raised in the Boston area. Weaned on a steady diet of Star Wars, hip-hop, racism and Warner Bros. cartoons, Keith started drawing comics in grade school. After graduating from college with a degree in graphic design, he drove out to San Francisco in the early ’90s. It was in the Bay Area where he developed his trademark cartooning style that has been described as a cross between Calvin & Hobbes and underground comix.

Keith Knight is part of a new generation of talented young African-American artists who infuse their work with urgency, edge, humor, satire, politics and race. His art has appeared in various publications worldwide, including  the Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Salon.com, Ebony, ESPN the Magazine, L.A. Weekly, MAD Magazine, and  the Funny Times .

His comic musings on race have garnered accolades and stirred controversies, prompting CNN to tap him to grade America on its progress concerning issues of race.

AWARDS: Keith Knight  won the 2007 Harvey Award and the 2006, 2007, 2008 & 2010 Glyph Awards for Best Comic Strip.  At the 2010 Comic Con International, Keith was awarded the 2010 Inkpot Award. The Inkpot is a special award that Comic-Con International gives to a handful of folks every year for their achievements in their respective genres. Previous recipients include Charles Schulz, Harvey Pekar, Jules Feiffer, R. Crumb, and Sergio Aragones, to name a few.

Three of his comix were the basis of an award-winning live-action short film, Jetzt Kommt Ein Karton, in Germany. His comic art has appeared in museums and galleries from San Francisco (CA) to Angoulême (France).

BOOKS: Keith’s work has been collected in 10 books so far: six collections of his multi-panel strip, the K Chronicles, two collections of his single panel (th)ink, titled Red,White, Black & Blue and Are We Feeling Safer Yet?, and one collection of his nationally syndicated, daily newspaper comic strip, The Knight Life. He also co-wrote and illustrated The Beginner’s Guide to Community-Based Art.

MUSIC: His semi-conscious hip-hop band, the Marginal Prophets, will kick your ass!! Their last disc, Bohemian Rap CD, won the California Music Award for Outstanding Rap Album, beating out rap heavyweights Paris, Aceyalone, E-40, Too-Short, and Ice Cube’s Westside Connection. Hip-hop music with a punk-rock aesthetic!!

SPEAKING GIGS: Keith Knight is available to perform his hilarious and inspirational multimedia comic strip slideshow at your campus, library, community center or church. Keith has also led many workshops and panel discussions about various issues, including Cartooning is Serious Business and Comic Con’s Nappy Hour. For more details, contact the artist at keef@kchronicles.com.

Fun Facts

In 1984, Keith Knight was the official Michael Jackson impersonator of Jordan Marsh, a department store in Boston.

Keith Knight was born in Malden, Massachusetts, birthplace of Converse All-Stars, Extreme, and Jack Albertson, from Chico and the Man.

In May 2000, Keith performed naked onstage with his band at the world-renowned Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco. Supposedly for charity.

Spike Lee purchased an original piece Keith did about his film Do the Right Thing.

Find out when Keef is coming to your town in the calendar section.