*GIGANTIC K CHRONICLES BOOK RECEIVING FINE REVIEWS..

..in addition to the Onion.com giving it an "A" and the Washington Post, an "A-", cool comix magazines Tripwire and the Comic Foundry have nice pieces on the book running this month.

Tripwire listed the book as one of 15 that they recommend fro people who don't read comics. An excerpt:

"Frankly, it's a wonder this award-winning strip isn't better appreciated as one of the great auto-bio cartoons of our time. Keith's certainly on par with the likes of Joe Matt and Harvey Pekar..."

Nice!!

Labels: dark horse collection, reviews

 
*AUGUST GREETINGS FROM THE WORLD'S WORST BLOGGER..
All right. A little catching up to do. But this new dad thing is kicking me arse..

*COMIC-CON 2008 WRAP-UP..
The San Diego Comic-Con was the biggest year ever for me here at K Chronicles Ink. Seeing as I had not one, but TWO new books for sale, lots o' folks came by with their well-wishes and cold, hard cashish.

Thursday's slideshow went exceptionally well. Especially considering they didn't have a laptop set up for my slideshow. Luckily, I was in the middle of Geek Mecca, so finding a laptop in the audience wasn't very hard.

It was also cool cuz it was the first time I was showing Knight Life dailies. They went over really well.

I noticed that the seats weren't completely filled when I started my slideshow, but were when I finished. Turned out there was a huge amount of folks in the crowd who were there for the panel following me. Which was great, because about 90% of the sales following my slideshow began with folks saying "I never seen your stuff before, but I caught the last 15 minutes of your slideshow and now I have to buy all your stuff.." Excellent!!

(By the way, the panel following me was "Humor in Science Fiction")

Notables: The audience was filled with some big time celebs in the comic world, including my Knight Life editor and fellow CWA-er Ted Rall, CWA-er Stephanie McMillan, Pulitzer prize winner Signe Wilkinson and family, United Media sales rep extraordinaire Ron O'Neal and Publisher's Weekly OG and unfortunate Yankee fan Calvin Reid. Good stuff!!

Of course, Comic-Con wouldn't be Comic-Con if I wasn't running around with my Con partner in crime, Mr. Steve Notley. Though we were disappointed by the demise of our annual cheap Maine Lobster dinner at the now defuncted Ol' Madrid restaurant on 5th, we did manage to crash a Dark Horse/LucasArts/Weta party for some free booze and schwag..And the next night we found ourselves in the middle of some of the hottest and most successful web cartoonists in the world, sipping ancient whiskey that tasted like dirty smoked sausage and being serenaded by the likes of Avery Brooks and Jonathan Frakes.

Thanks to everyone who came by to say hello. To those who saw the slideshow. And to those who have picked up the new books online or in real, live bookstores.

*NEW, EXCLUSIVE TWO-PAGER AT THE DARK HORSE MYSPACE PAGE..
As if I don't have enough to do, I did a 2 page/full color comic for Dark Horse's MySpace publication. It's up for the month of August, so I suggest you get on over there and check it out.

*KEEF NEEDS YOU!!
..to post some swanky reviews for the new 500 page book at various websites like Amazon, etc. Say how it changed your life or better yet, ruined it. And when the cops are taking you away and the reporter asks you why you did it, turn maniacally to the camera and say "The Complete K Chronicles" made me do it.

*I WAS GONNA POST A LOT MORE, BUT I AM TOO TIRED AND MY WHOLE FAM IS IN TOWN TO SEE THE BOSS. AKA THE FETUS FORMALLY KNOWN AS LIL GRAVY.
ZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Labels: dark horse collection, san diego comic-con

 
*COMPLETE K CHRONICLES GETS "A" RATING IN THE ONION!!
Nice!! My 500-page Dark Horse K Chronicles collection received the highest rating in this week's A.V. Club section of the Onion. you can read the review by going here and scrolling down.

Plus a coupla nice reviews have been posted up in Amazon review section. Keep em comin'!!

Labels: dark horse collection, reviews

 
*THE 500 PAGE DARK HORSE/K CHRONICLES COLLECTION SHIPS TODAY!!
Ooh la-la-la!! The book o' the year is here!! The new Complete K Chronicles collection is shipping out today and folks who have pre-ordered through the site should be gettin' theirs soon. I will not be selling this thing on my own. It's too big. The shipping costs would be deadly. I have no room in my apartment for them.

I'll have copies at my table in Small Press at the San Diego Comic Con, but if you've already purchased one, bring it by and I'll sign it!!

Let the reviews begin!!

Well, so far there's only one review. But as soon as y'all get yours, start posting swanky reviews. Will ya?

*I'M DOING A CARTOON WORKSHOP AT THE HAMMER MUSEUM IN LOS ANGELES..
..later this month on behalf of 826LA. It's open to kids 8 to 12. We'll be covering all the basics of creating a comic strip. But I'm really just in it to steal children's ideas. To get more info about it, go here and scroll down.

*THE WIFEY'S DUE THIS WEEK..SO I'LL BE EVEN WORSE THAN THE WORLD'S WORST BLOGGER!!
Ciao!!

Check out my new daily strip!!

Labels: cartooning workshop, dark horse collection, reviews

 
*ANNOUNCING THE FIRST KEITH KNIGHT SOLO COMIC ART EXHIBITION!!

For Immediate Release: May 28, 2008
Contact: Keith Knight, keef@kchronicles.com
Images Available Upon Request



The Knight Life:
Bay Area Spotlight on Keith Knight
Cartoon Art Museum Exhibition: June 14 - November 9, 2008



The Cartoon Art Museum is honored to host the first comprehensive exhibition
of Harvey and Glyph Award-winning cartoonist Keith Knight, creator of the K
Chronicles, (th)ink and the new United Features syndicated daily comic strip
The Knight Life.

The exhibition, co-sponsored by Dark Horse, coincides with the release of
The Complete K Chronicles (Dark Horse/$24.95), the 500 page omnibus
collection that incorporates the first four K Chronicles compendiums (three
of which are out of print).

Keith Knight, a Bay Area institution whose move to Los Angeles left a gaping
whole in the S.F. reprobate and indie comics community, will dig deep into
his vast catalog of original artwork for this retrospective. The K
Chronicles, (th)ink, the brand new daily comic strip The Knight Life, his
work for Mad Magazine and ESPN: The Magazine, Marginal Prophets poster and
album art, plus some early high school and college work will be represented
in the exhibit.

Information regarding the official reception for this exhibition will be
announced shortly.

About Keith Knight

Keith Knight is an award-winning cartoonist whose two self-syndicated comic
strips, his humorous, autobiographical the K Chronicles and (th)ink, which
skewers politics and current events, can be found in over 35 alternative
weekly, college and daily newspapers and websites nationwide. He's also a
frequent contributor to Mad Magazine and ESPN: The Magazine. His new daily
comic strip, the Knight Life, has recently launched, courtesy of United
Features Syndicate. For more information or to schedule an interview with
Keith Knight, visit his website at
www.kchronicles.com, www.knightlifecomic.com or send an email to
keef@kchronicles.com.


]{[^]}[
Cartoon Art Museum ? 655 Mission Street ? San Francisco, CA 94105 ?
415-CAR-TOON ? www.cartoonart.org
Hours: Tues. - Sun. 11:00 - 5:00, Closed Monday
General Admission: $6.00 ? Student/Senior: $4.00 ? Children 6-12: $2.00 ?
Members & Children under 6: Free

*A PREVIEW COPY OF THE DARK HORSE BOOK IS HERE!!
And it looks FANTABULOUS!
It's HUGE!! Like a phone book!! Chock full of K Chronicles strips the way you wish papers would run it. BIG!! Kerstin was saying that she never noticed all the little things that I put in the strips because the collections were too small.

She also loves the notes that I put in below the strips. Little factoids and things about the work. I'm psyched!! And I'm looking to get a lot of publicity re: this book, so if you know where to send it to, tell me!!

You can pre-order the Dark Horse Book here.

*NORTHERN CALIFORNIA WRAP-UP..
Had a spectacular time in San Francisco and Santa Rosa last week. Thanks to the JCCSF for bringing me up there for their Serial Boxes panel. It was nice hangin' with fellow creators and comic fans alike.

I also rolled into a coupla old spots including the Edinburgh Castle, which still had a pinball machine in the back. I tossed a coupla quarters in the machine to see if I still had it.

40 million points, one free game and a "shoot again" later, I realized I did still have it. I walked away after just one ball, cuz I knew it wasn't gonna get any better than that. It'd make someone's night to find all that free stuff on a pinball machine...

I also hit one of my fave Haight St. foodspots, Askew, for a little pepper encrusted Ahi, but they jacked up the price on that thing BIG TiME. The gas crunch has seriously affected the menu (it was still delicious, though).

There was more food, booze and fun seein' as it was Bay to Breakers weekend, but I won't bore you with all the details. Let's just say that if you ain't spent any time in San Francisco, yer missin' out.

Special thanks to Greg and Jose at the HI SF Downtown Hostel for putting me up. I really enjoy coming into SF from a traveler's perspective.

*I ALSO DID A COUPLA SWELL INTERVIEWS .
One was with Chris Lanier for an upcoming ish of McSweeney's and the other you'll be able to find right here.

*INDIANA JONES REVIEW..
What can I say? If you like Indy, you'll see it. If you're looking for a good movie, don't bother.
Some good parts (the opening stuff, the college chase, the jeep and sword fight), some bad parts (swinging through the trees, THREE waterfalls?), and a sorta weird walk-on by Karen Allen (was she supposed to be acting?)..

T'was the weakest but still far better than any of the new Star Wars movies.

*I KNOW, I KNOW..JACKIE ROBINSON WAS A REPEAT..
..But it was a classic!! Being on the road, coupled with the news of Rory Root's passing threw me for a loop, so I hope you didn't mind the week off.

*LETTERS/EMAILS OF THE WEEK...
Hey Keef,

We've must've seen the same photo. Berra has the ball and misses the tag, Jackie slid towards the inside of the plate, and his toe catches the top corner. We are probably in the same boat as we were too young too have seen him play live. The image of Jackie dancing off the bag at third, and just messing with the pitcher's head, then taking off, arms flailing, the crowd does a collective gasp, somebody yelling, "there he goes!!!!!!!", just gives me the chills. The Original Bum Rush. Truer words have never been spoken.

Just wait until you tell your son about it.

Keef, I love your strip, and look forward to it every week.

J.
(a transplanted Bostonian)
----------
Hey Keef,

Don't know if you ever heard of Major Taylor, but he was one of the most famous, and well-paid, athletes of his day, from about 1895 to 1915. He was a bike racer, he was amazing, he was black, and like Jackie Robinson, he also faced a mountain of prejudice. What most people don't know, is that he ever existed. And he wasn't just famous in the U.S. either, he was world famous--cycling was a huge sport here and internationally in the days before the automobile screwed things up. Anyway, whenever I come across praise for Jackie, I feel the need to make sure Major Taylor gets his due.

Peace,

D.

(i actually did a strip about major taylor when i was contemplating doing a black history panel called "betcha didn't know"..i never pitched it, but if i find the taylor panel, i'll post it.-kk)
-------

Hi Keith,
I look forward to reading (th)ink every week in Boston's Weekly Dig, and just wanted to
write you a note to tell you that I really appreciate the strip. When I read your recent
comic about Mildred Loving, it caused me to look for more information about her - I
listened to the online NPR piece from last year. I realize that on top of entertaining
your audience, you're also informing them - art, commentary, and historical notes all
rolled into one. Nice work! Your strips that address interracial couples always catch my
eye, since I'm white and my girlfriend is asian-american - I often show my favorites to
her, especially the one I mentioned. I also enjoy Tak Toyoshima's "Secret Asian Man"
strip for similar reasons. Anyway, keep up the good work - I look forward to reading many
more of your comics in the future!
-D.

----------

Hi Keef:

I opened the mailbox today and found the book waiting for me. Thanks
for the personalized note on the inside cover. I hope all is well with
your's and your wife's impending parenthood.

I haven't found any local papers that carry you since Pacific Sun and
you parted ways. I'm curious if you're going to be writing anything
about the economy up in these parts.

By day I'm a hard working commercial real estate broker. I also have
three kids, two for whom I pay child support, one who I raised on my own
(his mother passed away). In 2006 I made a little over $117,000. I was
responsible with the money (I always pay my child support and bills) and
my only excursion was a seven day trip to Maui. After taxes and all, I
entered 2007 with a little under $70k in savings. And then the fucking
earth spun off her axis and the market dropped. I was worried, but I
kept the expenses in check and distracted myself with my night time
endeavor. But I kept watching irresponsible,
greedy bankers and lenders make unrealistic loans to small businesses
and investors who were fooled in to thinking that Bushenomics would
continue to expand. It's like thinking you can re-use a rubber:
eventually some spunk is going to be squeezed out and then the chain
reaction begins. In 2007 my income dribbled to less than $7,000. Now,
in late May 2008, I'm faced with eviction. Me! The guy who was never a
dead beat dad, the guy who works 10 hours a day, then comes home and
works some more. The guy who warned people, "Don't take those loan
terms....lock in a fixed rate...you pay a little more up front but you
won't be exposed to the impending melt-down". I'm 44 years old and
facing starting all over. How the f--k did that happen?

Obama in 08, Knight. He's not going to hand us a fix, but he's sure as
hell gonna hand them some pink slips. Let those irresponsible f--ks
face their sins against this nation without jobs for a while. As I sit
here wondering if I'm going to be sued for eviction, I stress out. I
have anxiety attacks and spend hours better invested sleeping staring at
the ceiling trying to figure, hope, pray for a way out of this mess. I
can only imagine how they might feel with the hope of them one night
laying awake wondering how they're going to fare in congressional
hearings.

Best Wishes,

Pi

-------

Whaddaya mean you didn't know I went daily?
http://www.knightlifecomic.com

Labels: cartoon art museum, dark horse collection, email of the week, Indiana Jones movie review, interview, letters of the week, San Francisco

 
IN THIS ISSUE:
-KEEF GOING DAILY!!
-PRE-ORDER THE 500 PAGE K CHRONICLES OMNIBUS AT 30%
OFF
-KEEF COMING TO SCHULZ MUSEUM/INTERSECTION FOR THE
ARTS

Dearest K Chronicles/(th)ink Readers,

Finally!! I can now blab all I want about the top
secret project I've been working on these past 9
months (the OTHER 9 month project)..

*INTRODUCING 'THE KNIGHT LIFE'..
The Knight Life is the new daily strip being
syndicated by United Features Syndicate!! It's
premiering on Monday, May 5th (Cinco De Mayo AND
National Cartoonist's Day)!!

Honestly, folks. This is a dream come true. This is
what I dreamt about as a kid. It's the big leagues.
I want to thank everybody who has supported my work
over the years. I hope you will continue to support
it as it grows and expands like an American waistline.

FAQs-
WHAT'S 'THE KNIGHT LIFE' ABOUT?

It's autobiographical like the K Chronicles. But
different. It has to be, because of the format. It's
a much more character-driven strip.

Sundays will be a combination of reformatted K
Chronicles and new stuff-- all in sparkling, vibrant
color!!

WHERE IS IT RUNNING?

It's starting up in a few choice places (Seattle,
Portland, Las Vegas, Detroit, the Boston Herald,
the Washington Post and more) , but not enough places.
THAT'S WHERE YOU COME IN!!

HOW CAN I GET 'THE KNIGHT LIFE' IN MY LOCAL PAPER?

I need everybody to send a polite email, letter, or
make a phone call to your local newspaper editor and
kindly request that they consider adding 'the Knight
Life' to their comics page. You can tell 'em that the
artist won a 2007 Harvey Award for Best Comic Strip,
and that their circulation will quadruple if they add
it. Don't threaten. Don't nag. Don't be too harsh
about other strips. It may back fire. Please be nice.

Newspapers will sometimes ask their readers directly
about the comics page. Others sometimes do a test run
of strips.

BUT GET THIS: THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE HAS NOT
PICKED IT UP!!

After all the years I gave to San Francisco. Damn.

Definitely send some emails the Chronicle's way.
They've been asking for feedback..

*Also, talk it up on yer blogs, podcasts, websites and
all that stuff.

*If you know any publications/radio/TV shows who could
possibly do a piece about the strip or mebbe an
interview, let me know!!

WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN TO THE K CHRONICLES AND (TH)INK?

I'm gonna keep on doing them. Plus the daily. Plus
MAD and ESPN. With a baby on the way. NO PROBLEM!!

IS THERE A PLACE ONLINE I CAN FIND THE STRIP?

You'll be able to see it at comics.com, I believe. I
will also be carrying it a week later on my site.

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, FEEL FREE TO SEND ME AN
EMAIL..AGAIN, THANKS FOR YOUR HELP AND SUPPORT!!

*THE COMPLETE K CHRONICLES: NOW AVAILABLE FOR
PRE-ORDER!!
You can now go to my website and pre-order the
upcoming 500-page K Chronicles Omnibus Collection
(being published by Dark Horse this summer). It
collects the first four books (including the
out-of-print 'Dances with Sheep', 'Fear of a Black
Marker', and 'Passion of the Keef'), sketches, notes
and a foreward by Kyle Baker!! Click on the link
below to got to the pre-order:

http://www.kchronicles.com/store/index.shtml

I'm looking for places to promote this book as well.
Man, it just don't stop!!

*KEEF AT THE CHARLES SCHULZ MUSEUM/INTERSECTION FOR
THE ARTS
I'll be up in the Bay Area in late May for a couple of
events. On Sunday, May 18th, I'll be the guest
cartoonist at the Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, from
1-3pm. I'll be signing copies of 'I Left My Arse in
San Francisco'. If you've never been there, go!!
It's a really swanky place.
http://www.schulzmuseum.org

On Tuesday, May 20th, I'll be sharing the stage with
co-horts Miriam Libicki, Ariel Schrag and Jaime Cortez
for a panel discussion about graphic storytelling as
part of a month-long series of comic strip and cartoon
based events put on by the Jewish Community Center of
San Francisco. It takes place from 7-9pm at the
Intersection for the Arts, 446 Valencia St. (between
15th and 16th) San Francisco.

http://www.jccsf.org/content_main.aspx?catid=448

Oof!!

-Keef
http://www.kchronicles.com
http://www.knightlifecomic.com

Labels: dark horse collection, Knight Life daily, Schulz museum, upcoming events

 
*GREETINGS FROM THE WORLD'S WORST BLOGGER..
I'm supposed to be updating this every Tuesday night for Wednesday. It ain't working out too well. But I've been hard, hard, hard at work on the not-so-secret-anymore secret project that is set to launch on May 5th, National Cartoonists Day (and Boy's Day somewhere else).

Anyhoo, come see me at the Festival of Books this weekend and I'll tell you all about it.

*LOS ANGELES TIME FESTIVAL OF BOOKS..
This was my first big event that I attended after I moved to La-La Land last year. The festival smothers the UCLA Main Campus with tons and tons of authors, publishers, book shops and the people that love them. I will be parked in ye olde McSweeney's Booth once again hockin' my brand new not-sold-in-stores K Chronicles collection, I Left My Arse in San Francisco. I'll also have copies of the extremely rare out-of-print Dances with Sheep and Passion of the Keef collections. Git yer ass out there this Sat and Sun from 10am-6pm. Booth #685

*DARK HORSE'S 500 PAGE K CHRONICLES COLLECTION..
..is on it's way to the printer. Gosh-darn it looks swell!! I hope to have a page up in the store where you'll be able to pre-order the book for lots off the cover price. I'll give a holla when it's set up. But for now, you can pre-order here.

*CHEAP-ASS MOVE OF THE WEEK..
Since we're in a recession, I've decided to add a new feature to this blog called "Cheap-Ass Move of the Week". It's where I, the Phat Friar of Frugality, share with you a nugget of money-saving goodness...

The big question is--How can a cheap-ass get even cheaper in times like these? I've always lived life like there was a recession, so what do I do now?

Go to McDonalds!!

That's what I did for the past two weeks. They just introduced their new Iced Coffee. And in one of the local rags they had a coupon to try it for free ..

I'm generally a tea drinker, but I'll try anything once...Twice if it's free (actually, 15 times if it's free)..

Apologies to folks who opened their free weeklies and saw something mysteriously ripped out. It wasn't Big Brother.

Anyhoo, so every other day I go get my free Iced Coffee and head on over to the library to draw comix. Pick up a coupla DVDs and walk home. No money spent!!

Oh..And I gotta give it up for the Santa Monica Main Library for having Pete Bagge's big fat Hate collection on their shelves. Guess it helps to be located near the fine comics shop Hi-De-Ho.

Okay...Good luck to everybody going up to Stumptown up in Portland. Let me know how it is..

Cheers,

Keef

Labels: cheap-ass, dark horse collection, Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, stumptown

 
IF YOU'D LIKE TO PRE-ORDER THE 500 PAGE K CHRONICLES OMNIBUS COMING OUT THIS SUMMER FROM DARK HORSE..
go here.

Labels: dark horse collection