K Chronicles by Keith Knight
(th)ink cartoon by Keith Knight

*I'M LATE GETTING STRIPS UP THIS WEEK...
..Cuz I was cramming to get lots of strips done before I took off for Vegas for the holiday.

It's the first road trip for the "Fetus Formerly Known As Lil Gravy" and he was quite the trooper. Meeting his grandpappy and great unks for the first time. Four generations of Knight men on the streets of Sin City.

*SIGNING TODAY (BLACK FRIDAY) AT ALTERNATE REALITY COMICS IN VEGAS..
Thanks to the very kind Ralph and Kate, I will be signing at L.V.'s finest comix shop from 4pm-6pm. I'll be signing Complete K Chronicles books and the latest self-published I Left My Arse in San Francisco. How appropriate for this Black Friday. The address:
4800 S. Maryland Pkwy. ste. D Las Vegas, NV 89119
phone:(702)736-3673.

*CONTROVERSIAL COMIC STRIP WRAP-UP: ARIZONA..
The University of Arizona brought me out to Tucson to address the students about my controversial comic strip (the K Chronicles: Stories from the Campaign Trail). The strip was mistakenly run the day after the election (world's worst timing).

My favorite part was doing a roundtable with a group of black students earlier in the day. They voiced their frustration which seemed more about the timing of the strip, than the strip itself. What I learned from them made it clearer to me why the strip caused such a ruckus. Besides their being .1% black students on a campus of 30,000, U of A is also one of the campuses where the white fraternities had "blackface" parties on Martin Luther King Day. And the paper that ran my strip, had previously run some questionable comics in the past (albeit with another editor and staff).

I was disappointed with the turnout for the slideshow itself. But from what I heard from some black students, whites were saying "What're you complaining for? The cartoonist is black." (which is crap, by the way. If you have a problem with the strip, it doesn't matter what color I am).

Anyhoo..There was a ton of T.V. news people there. and i turned down interviews from Fox , NBC and someone else. (I felt bad for the local FOX guy, since they don't have much to do with the evil national FOX news, yet they are forever stigmatized). Everyone did a reasonably good job in reporting it. Here are a coupla links:

http://media.wildcat.arizona.edu/media/storage/paper997/news/2008/11/20/News/No.Laughing.Matter-3554705.shtml
http://www.fox11az.com/news/topstories/stories/KMSB_20081119_dc_jh_cartoon.1cd01dc27.html
http://www.kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=9383508&nav=HMO6HMaW

After the slideshow, I sat on a panel about the n-word and Hate Speech, signed books, and met the managing editor who effed up. He and the editor both were very sincere when apologizing about the mix-up.

Thanks to Seema and Zeke for bringing me out to the campus. I hope Montclair in New Jersey does the same thing.

*LETTERS/EMAILS OF THE WEEK....
Hi Keith,

I've written you before to thank you for the Chronicles, but have to do it again. This
one is brilliant!

I read two newspapers a day, but had not heard that Toyota continued to pay workers to do
community service during a downturn. That's enlightened management. Why can't we
Americans do that?

I've believed in the value of a passenger rail network for years, although the size of
this country compared to Europe makes the question more complex.

In any case, you're insightful as well as funny. Keep it up!

Thanks,
J.
--------
Subject: 11/26 in Salon

Dude, that sh*t was on effin' FIRE. Great comic. Thanks.

And the daily. I make a point of reading it online every day.

Take care,

--A.

-----
Hi,

I don't know if you can make this work in two panels, but here goes.
I've been a fan of "K Chronicles" for many years and have written
five articles myself for "Funny Times" during these years,
meaning I have some concept of what makes humor works,
but when all is said and done, I don't know sh*t.


So here goes:

I drive my wife's truck to a garage for repairs. A guy in a fancy
Lexus pulls in the bay next to mine. While I'm waiting in the room
disdainfully leafing through old issues of "People Magazine," there's a big commotion
from the garage.
Incredibly, the guy in the Lexus had driven across Denver at 70 mph
with a tiny, black kitten trapped in his engine compartment under the radiator.
Miraculously, she was oily, greasy and traumatized but unhurt.
The mechanics talked about taking her to the "Dumb Friends League,"
but I figured this little girl had been through enough and I offered
to take her home.
(They did make me promise to name her "Lexus.")

So I arrived at home with this 4-5 week old kitten the size of a teacup.
We cleaned her off, she fired down twice her body weight in cat food
and then declared herself the queen of the household. Lexus is
vibrant, vivacious, whimsical, entertaining.

I showed up at a garage with nothing in mind other then
my credit card balance and I arrived at home with
the kitten of everyone's dreams. Sometimes the universe
purrs.

By the way, my favorite "K" story of all time is #1222.
Please keep the laughs and nurturing chronicles coming.

Love and aloha,

J.

-----

Life's Little Victories..

...like, having all 6 Obama yard signs on your road stolen the same night and seeing all
of them replaced the next day, most of them by a variety of hand-made, but perfectly
legible facsimiles. Yes, we can.


I see your work in Funny Times. I love it, keep it up!

G.
-------

Labels: (th)ink, controversy, email of the week, K Chronicles, Las Vegas, letter of the week, signing

 
*IF THERE WAS EVER A REASON FOR NEWSPAPERS TO STILL EXIST...
..it's days like this. Y'see, framing a screen shot of Yahoo proclaiming an Obama win doesn't rock it the way the cover of the Chicago Sun-Times or New York Times newspaper does.

I went looking all over the hood for an L.A. Times so I can frame that sucker, but it was sold out everywhere. I finally found one late in the day, practically hidden away in my local cafe. Newspapers across the country sold more copies today, than they have in YEARS.

So..the key to selling newspapers is to have something extremely incredible and inspiring to happen. Unfortunately, the past decade saw an administration that thrived on the negativity, fear and bu**sh**.

*THE CONTROVERSY THAT JUST WON'T END..
With the joy of an Obama win, came the pain of a very unfortunate mix-up at the Arizona Daily Wildcat, an indie publication for college students in Tucson.

Instead of running the Life's Little Victories Voter edition timed for the Obama win, they accidently ran the N-Word strip from a coupla weeks ago. Yes, the poop has been stirred up again--and this time I can totally understand why folks are pissed.

I talked to the editor on the phone and she apologized. Again, it was an accident due to a miscommunication between editor and managing editor. The paper is gonna run the intended strip with an additional apology to the readership.

--------
In case you missed it, I put together more links to blog posts about the controversy. Enjoy!!

http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2008/10/30/keith-knight-cartoon-causes-kerfluffle-in-jersey/

http://www.popcultureshock.com/blogs/college-paper-riled-over-knight-cartoon/

http://loudpoet.com/2008/10/29/apology-unnecessary/

http://dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2008/10/29/newspaper-apologizes-for-keith-knight-cartoon/

http://www.baristanet.com/2008/10/oops_montclairion_apologizes_f.php

EMAILS/LETTERS OF THE WEEK....

thats a dick move calling the new president of our free world a n***er. f**k you f**got.

-B.
----

Keef,

llv # 271

Somebody I voted for Won.

-J.
---

Labels: controversy, email of the week, letter of the week, newspapers, obama

 
*LETTER/EMAIL OF THE WEEK..
Hey Keith,

Labels: cartoon art museum, email of the week, letter of the week

 
*K CHRONICLES NOMINATED FOR A 2008 HARVEY AWARD!!
Whoa!! I could really get used to this!! The K Chronicles has been nominated for Best Comic Strip for a third year in a row. The Harvey Awards are named after the late great Harvey Kurtzman, whose work was a big influence on the K Chronicles.

Lost the first year, won the second. But I hear the 3rd time is also the charm, so all you folks in the industry, please download and fill out a ballot here. Let's shock the world once again!!

*THANKS TO EVERYONE..
..who participated in the online Q & A at the Washington Post online last week. A lot of great questions, and a coupla weird ones. You can still check out the interview here.

*FROM THE K CHRONICLES TO THE KNIGHT LIFE: SPOTLIGHT ON KEITH KNIGHT..
..is the title of the panel Ill be doing at this year's San Diego Comic Con on Thursday, July 24th at 4:30pm. I'll be doing my world-famous slideshow that'll highlight work featured in my new Dark Horse 500 page collection, and a look into how I developed the Knight Life, my new daily blazing a trail across newspapers nationwide and beyond (including Honolulu and Trinidad!!)!!

*KEITH KNIGHT COMIC ART EXHIBITION AT THE CARTOON ART MUSEUM IS NOW OPEN FOR VIEWING..
..in glorious San Francisco from now until November 9th. If you go see it, take some pics and send em my way. I won't be up there for a while. For more info on it, go to http://www.cartoonart.org.

*LETTERS/EMAILS OF THE WEEK...

Keef,

Because I have been reading K Chronicles for thirty-five years, I feel I have an
understanding of your work.

It is obvious The Knight Life is a love letter to wifey and your family.

And for letting us read that,

Thank You

Yours,
J.
Denver

-----
(RE: Alien Abduction Knight Life Strip)

K,

Barney and Betty Hill, perhaps the first and most famous alien abductees, were an interracial couple. Their account of their abduction introduced several features that are now commonplace in abduction stories (fragile gray aliens, surgical probes).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barney_Hill

--------

(RE: K Chronicles Vaccination strip)

Hey Keith!
I'm a devoted fan for your wit, wisdom, humor and slice-of-life
installments of The K Chronicles!
But, getting chicken pox as a kid was no big deal to me, fun to stay home
and miss school...at the time.
As an adult, I've become one of the 20% who suffer from SHINGLES, which is
no fun!
Medical science has learned that shingles is the SAME virus that is
responsible for chicken pox.
Read all about it at:
http://www.stopgettingsick.com/Condtemplate.cfm-1341-82-1

Also, be sure to check out Jenny McCarthy's info about "Green Our Vaccines"
and spacing out childhood immunization programs to avoid possible links to
AUTISM complications associated with multiple vaccine programs. Just
sayin'!!

Best Regards,
B. in SLC

Keith,

I've been a fan for a while now, but your recent articles have really hit close to home
since my wife is preggers with our first kid too!

After your most recent comic, I'm sure you're going to get a bunch of emails from
anti-vax folks telling you not to vaccinate your kid at all. Just wanted to temper that
a bit with some facts. Make your own decisions, but please inform yourself with the
science. Personally, I don't think there's any reason not to give all the vaccines to
your kid at once (they've been shown to be perfectly safe), but you're well within your
rights to space them out as makes you comfortable.

Don't listen to the anti-vax crowd. They completely ignore the sound research and divert
research dollars from where it should be going - to fund research into what actually
causes autism, and to finding a cure. Instead the NIH has wasted millions of dollars
appeasing these folks by funding study after study that tells us the same thing -
vaccines are safe. The "toxins" they claim to be in vaccines are not in there. The CDC
took the mercury out of childhood vaccines to appease these people, and there was no drop
in the autism rate (interestingly, the anti-vax crowd still claims that it's in there).
I can assure you that there is no anti-freeze or formaldehyde in any vaccine, they simply
do not understand the chemical nomenclature.

Alright, that's my rant.

best,
m.
----

(RE: K Chronicles Bucket List strip)

Mr. Knight,

We have a 6 month old, and while our lives are different (I?'m not used to be
up and sober at 4am), you?ll be amazed at what you can still do with kids.
Our daughter comes to happy hour (I call ahead to work it out with the
restaurant), formal dinners, goes on planes, buses, trolleys, and just took
a 3 ½ week cross country road trip with us. She loves new places, and is
actually far more flexible than we, the adults, are.

Good luck!

-E.
---
(Re: (th)ink U Miss. Pot strip)

Hi,

Saw your great comic in the chronicle this morning...Good stuff.

My husband is on the board of Norml and I know he'll get a great laugh. So thanks and in
October we are holding the Annual Conference in Berkeley if interested.

Take Care,
T.

------

Keith -

You got my vote in the WashPost survey. I've enjoyed your stuff in "Funny
Times" for years. Keep up the good work, and good luck with making it as a
regular in the "Post".

- A.

(folks can still put in a good word for my daily strip at the Post and a few other places:
go by their website and say something nice about the strip:

http://comicsurvey.washpost.com/survey.cfm

Another important paper testing the strip is in Raleigh, NC.:
http://share.triangle.com/node/3528?page=63

Also, the Orange County Register is taking a survey about what they should add to their paper:

http://ocregister.upickem.net/engine/ApprovedSubmissions.aspx?contestid=1864
thanks!! k.k.)

------

Keef,

I don't know if you remember me - I've E-mailed you a few times in the past asking for information in getting my own comic strip out there. (No luck yet, incidentally.)
Anyway, the topic this time is completely different - I'd like to bring up something that I think should be addressed in your strip. I know that you've got a lot to draw on in your own life at the moment, what with the upcoming baby and all (congrats, by the way), but I really think this is something that the more people know about, the better.
The topic I refer to is that of Zimbabwe. I don't know if you've been keeping abreast of the political situation over there at the moment, but let me tell you, it makes ours look like a cakewalk. Bush may be an idiot and a warmonger, but Robert Mugabe is an out-and-out MONSTER.
The reason I know about this is that my mom grew up in Zimbabwe, and she still has family and friends living there. They have been corroborating the news reports via E-mail, and adding to them. It's not just as bad as people have been saying - it's worse. The people are not only being starved, they're being beaten, bullied, killed, tortured and indoctrinated. Food is now seen by the government as a weapon - in a country that is dying of starvation, feeding someone is now a potential crime. Why? Because they might have voted for the MDC (the opposition party to Mugabe's ZANU-PF). Anyone who might have voted for the 'wrong side' is now automatically a target.
Keef, you have often addressed issues of racism and politics in your strip - and rightly so; as a black man in America, you've seen the discrimination that still exists in our society. What's happening in Zimbabwe is worse - far worse. It started with the reverse of what we're used to - blacks against whites - and has steadily snowballed into a nightmare. Racism is wrong, no matter who initiates it, and Zimbabwe is a prime example of how it can be used in the wrong hands.
Now, none of this affects me - I don't live in Zimbabwe, and neither do any of my immediate family or friends. But that changes nothing. What's happening there is wrong. It's wrong, it's horrifying, and something should be done about it. South Africa, Zimbabwe's neighbor to the south, has proved that something CAN be done about it - our protests helped lift Apartheid.
Is there any chance you could address this subject in one of your strips? Right now, Zimbabwe is just a blip on the news to most folks, but your strip has a pretty loyal following, and could help bring things into focus for a lot of people. At the very least, would you mind printing this letter on your site?
Thanks, either way. The 'K' Chronicles is still one of my favorites!

Sincerely,

D.

(thanks for this, d. is it a black on white thing in zimbabwe? or a black on everybody who oppses him thing? cause all i ever see in the news is black folks getting hacked up, beaten and killed-kk.)

--- -

Mr. K,

It just hit me today why I like your strip so much. [I read it in Salon] You're always so enthusiastic, and your illustrating style makes the excited. It's great to see so much un-abashed, un-ashamed, un-ironic enthusiasm in anything.

That's all I really wanted to say other than good luck with the kid, I love the restaurant review idea, and better luck in the next life with Linda Carter.

Keep up the good-
-C.

(thanks!! when we moved down here to l.a., my wife & i agreed that we can have one celeb sleep over if they would like to. and mine is lynda carter. -kk.)

Cheers!!

Labels: cartoon art museum, email of the week, Knight Life daily, letter of the week, new papers

 
*BACK FROM BARBADOS!!
And feeling pretty fine!! What a damn groovy time we had way down on the tiny little island in the Caribbean. Flying fish, mahi-mahi, Mount Gay Rum and Banks beer was consumed by the assload. Mmmm-mm!!

I don't wanna say a whole lot about it cuz I'm gonna do a few strips. But I've got to thank Delia and Bird, who run the great Legend Gardens Condos. This is the place we stayed at up in Mullins Bay, just south of Speightstown. I cannot recommend this place any stronger than I am now. They provide the stuff you cannot get at some hotel. Genuine warmth. Go! It is paradise!! With monkeys and lizards and frogs and lots of other fun and freaky animals.

*I'M BURNING THE MIDNIGHT OIL..
..trying to catch up. I'm working to get the new K Chronicles to print this week so I can have it for my slideshow at the Euphrat Museum up in Northern California and at the Wondercon Comics Fest in San Francisco. The new title: I Left My Arse in San Francisco!!

*LETTER OF THE WEEK...

Hey man,
I really first became a fan when I caught one of your strips on Salon
about when you saw Thomas Dolby on tour. This was a couple of years back.
Though my favorite band is Talking Heads I couldn't help but feel the love
in that comic. I've tried to follow the strip since then as much as
possible but I'm back in school finally doing my degree and I don't get to
catch up all the time. So, the last time I caught a strip your wife had
just been told she had/may have cancer again and then I caught your strip
on the Barbados vacation. I hope that the vacation was as a result of your
wife's health. I love the strip and I hope sincerely for the best for you
and yours. Oh, and I also caught your strip on Willie O'Ree. I'm a
Canadian, was raised on hockey and know that both hockey and tolerance are
part of our national myth. I wouldn't have known about O'Ree if it weren't
for you. Thank you.

P.
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

(the wife is knocked up, not knocked down.-k.k.)

Labels: Barbados, letter of the week, the new K Chronicles collection

 

*LETTER OF THE WEEK...

Hello,

I hate to ask but are you okay? I have not seen any new comics
recently to tell you the truth I can only read the old ones so many
times!

Hopefully the lack of comics is because you are on to bigger and
better things. Perhaps an update on your website would help your
fans cope with the loss.

Good luck with all that you do.

Sincerely,

M.
Eau Claire, WI
--

I think this letter and others like it are coming from folks who read my stuff at the Ucomics/Gocomics.com site run by Universal Press Syndicate. I am no longer uploading strips to their site. My contract with them was up in September. Both the K Chronicles and (th)ink will begin up on the comics.com site run by United Media sometime in 2008.

For those of you who have fallen behind on my work, check it out at Buzzle.com or Salon.com. But starting in just a coupla weeks, kchronicles.com will relaunch with all the comics I do right on the site, plus forums, new work, never before seen stuff and plenty more krappe.

*WHAT THE HECK HAVE I BEEN WORKING ON?
A trillion things, really:

Due in Feb: A new K Chronicles collection. It'll be available exclusively from this website and I'll have it at all my usual convention stops and slideshow gigs.

Due in May: My super-secret project that ain't really super-secret if you've run into me over the past year. But at least two of you will be surprised.

Due this summer: The Complete K Chronicles. The 500-page Omnibus collection that's going to be published by Dark Horse. With sketches, notes & commentary. Introduction by Kyle Baker.

Also Due this summer: My first kid!!

*UPCOMING GIGS:
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA (slideshow)
Weds. Feb. 6 @ 7pm

EUPHRAT'S MUSEUM OF ART (De Anza College, Cupertino) (slideshow/gallery exhibit)
Thurs. Feb. 21 @ 1:30pm (time not set in stone)

WONDERCON COMICS FESTIVAL (artists alley)
Fri.-Sun. Feb. 22nd-24th 10am-7pm

*ABOUT THIS WEEK'S K CHRONICLES STRIP..
A lotta hockey type things kept on poppin' up in my world. (the New Years Day game.. the Canadian barista at my favorite cafe was talking hockey) a convergence of sorts. So when I opened up the paper and saw the story of Willie O'Ree, I had to do a strip about it.

And heck..You gotta find some perverse joy in Georges Laraque beating the hell out of people. Watch this clip til the end to see how polite he is.

*THIS WEEK'S TOILET READING..
-the latest Funny Times
-the Life and Times of R. Crumb
Your Vigor for Life Appalls Me- Robert Crumb letters 1958-1977
-The Death of Black Mane- Michael LaRiccia
-Bad Cat by Jim Edgar

*THANKS TO EVERYBODY WHO IS DONATING TO THE BABY FUND!!


Cheers,

Keef

Labels: letter of the week, toilet reading, upcoming events

 
*LETTER OF THE WEEK...

My name is J., and I am a follower of Keefism. ("hello J!!"-kk)

That and I just really enjoy your series. Ive been happily reading your
strip since Ralph from Alternate Reality answered my question of "I need
something "Different"" by putting a copy of Dances with Sheep in my hands
and telling me to trust him. Id like to say I follow your strip
religiously, but in today's lingo that would mean I pretend to read every
day then spend a sunday morning in silent whining that I have to read it.
To date, Ive missed actually getting to meet you in person twice, both by
one day. The first was when The Prophets played UNLV. It wasn't till the
day after that I realized they had put your band as "Marginal Profits" and
I never made the connection till it was too late. Missed you a few weekends
ago as I didn't check your site until the day after. Any other times you
plan to be in Vegas, I hope I'll be able to meet you.
I could probably be a Keef fanboy, wouldn't mind being called it. I think
your strips are almost too conservative sometimes (kidding!). It would be
fair to say I'm a fanboy actually, as me (some little white guy) turned a
friend (big black guy) onto your comics recently, now he's hooked on them.
Just a bit of role reversal. I bring up the black friend as I would love to
relate a story. Last weekend or so in Vegas was the Renaissance Faire. This
is where white people with too much money, pretend to live in the old times
without the bad cooking, poor plumbing, disease, and ignorance. They do
this by hooking bagpipes up to amps on a big stage and setting up tents
that sell overpriced pieces of metal sorta like weapons, and food that's
been fried way too many times to tell if you are eating a doughnut or an
onion ring.
I do not know if you've ever been to a faire, but I hope you'll go, and I
hope, desperately, that someone is there with a camera. The look on my
friend Anthony's face when two white gals in their olde tyme gettups yelling
"HUZZAH! A MOOR HAS ARRIVED!" and trying to sell him some temporary tattoos
was a look I think only a deer facing a semi could imitate. I assured him
that this is not what all white people do for fun... just the odd ones of
us. He made the observation that with white folk, who could tell what's odd?
If nothing else, the faire was worth it for one sight. We looked over at
the trashcans at one point and saw a unique thing. A dwarf in a kilt, no
shirt, elbow resting against the can (No taller than said trashcan) With a
beer in one hand, and talking on a cellphone with the other. It's just
something one does not often see.

I do hope you got a bit of a chuckle out of my letter, and its been awesome
reading your strip, took me awhile to work up the nerve to write, just
silly nervousness. You are one of my three favorite writers by far. (The
others being Neil Gaiman and Neil Stephenson)

-J. the broke lil college student that picks up the Mercury for a free thrill, thanks mostly to a certain comic.

Labels: letter of the week