*FROM A POST GLYPH AWARDS REPORT COURTESY OF HEROIC TIMES..
"Keith Knight. His K CHRONICLES series continues to justly win awards and acclaim. I own DANCES WITH SHEEP and FEAR OF A BLACK MARKER and recommend them. Keith’s work manages to be funny, irreverent, smart, and somehow universal. As he with deft crosshatching, makes the moments of his life into a rich, funny, and often courageous mirror… of all our lives. This is a great age we live in when you have artists like Aaron McGruder, Masheka Wood, and Keith Knight all producing brilliant comic strips. And all available in collected versions direct from the creators, or from better bookstores everywhere."

 
*THE K CHRONICLES WINS THE 2007 GLYPH AWARD FOR BEST COMIC STRIP!!
T'was a fine weekend in Philly as my li'l ol' strip won for the second straight year. What made it super special was that the award was presented to me by my Cartoonists With Attitude co-horts Mikhaela Reid and Masheka Wood. I also took pictures of my own ass as I went onstage for the award.

The awards ceremony and ECBACC convention at Temple was a site to behold, as cartoonists of color flew in from all around the U.S. Folks like Kyle Baker, Dwayne McDuffie, Jamar Nicholas (who hosted), Larry Fuller and Jerry Craft were in the house. Also folks like Robert Roach of the Antidote Trust, John Jennings, Damian Duffy, Joseph Wheeler III and my good friend Professor William Foster.

Of course, I had to take in a little bit of local flavor. Jazz at Bob & Barbara's. Late night at WaWa. Tequila at Mad Mex. Comix drawn at the Last Drop. Art at the Philly Museum of Art (where Rocky ran up da stairs) Beer and bizarreness at Dirty Frank's. A cheesesteak (Whiz wit) at Pat's.

A big shout out to Brady Russell (and his cats), who let me crash at his pad over the weekend.

*ABOUT THE L.A. OBSERVATIONS STRIP..
There really is some great theater out here. One faithful K Chronicles reader turned me onto a play he's produced, Charlotte Salomon: Life or Theater. It's got one more weekend, so go check it out.

*SEE YOU AT THE STAR WARS CELEBRATION IN LOS ANGELES THIS WEEKEND..
It's the 30th anniversary of the movie that affected a generation. And the biggest party ever is happening right here!

*I WILL BE HEADED TO LAS VEGAS NEXT WEEK..
I hope to get a table at First Fridays..I'll let you know how it goes..

Labels: Glyph, Philadelphia, Star wars

 
*HOPE TO SEE YOU IN PHILLY THIS WEEKEND..
This'll be my first time back in Philadelphia since working on the Village of Arts and Humanities piece in the Beginner's Guide to Community-Based Arts a few years back. I'm lookin' forward to a real Philly Cheesesteak!

The East Coast Black Age Comics Convention is happening Friday and Saturday at Anderson Hall at Temple University. The sales day is on Saturday 11-6pm. I'll also be doing my "Cartooning is Serious Business" lecture that day (don't know the time).

*ANOTHER THING THAT I'M IN...
"..at a time when the “fake” news of The Daily Show and the false certainty of “answer” shows like Lou Dobbs Tonight are ascendant, it’s surprising that newspapers aren’t expanding their investment in smart cartoons."

This is from an article about "Killed Cartoons", a recently released collection of cartoonis that have been nixed by editors for one reason or another. The book, edited by David Wallis, contains a ton of cartoonists including myself and Cartoonists With Attitude comrades Ted Rall and Mikhaela Reid, superstars like Steve Brodner, the late Al Hirshfeld, Derf, Mike Luckovich, Paul Szep and many, many more.

Labels: conventions, Philadelphia

 
*MORE LOS ANGELES OBSERVATIONS...
- The reason why all these celebrities are getting busted for DUIs all the time is because there isn't a viable public transportation system to take their drunk asses home.

Growing up in Boston, this way key. Coming home from the clubs on Lansdowne Street, Kenmore and Kendall Squares. Coming home from Red Sox and Bruins games. Grab a sausage and head down to the T before it stopped running.

-There are movies playing here that you will not find anywhere else. It's great. I guess they'll show something here for a weekend so it can qualify for the Oscars or something.

-There are beautiful things here that are so easy to miss. Apple groves. The canals of Venice. All sorts of trees and foliage.

-Oh..and that Hare Krishna restaurant is called Govindas.

*SPIDERMAN 3 REVIEW...
It ain't horrible...But it ain't really good either.

Exactly as I figured it would go. I had a bad feeling about the movie years ago when it was announced that another Goblin, the Sandman and Venom would be the villains. All three together could not hold a candle to Doc Ock, the best Spidey villain of all.

Just way too much of everything. This movie could've easily been 5 22 minute episodes similar to the superhero soap "Smallville". Episode one: "Harry seeks revenge" Episode two: "Mary Jane can't sing" Episode Three: "Rise of the Sandman" Episode Four: "A Taste of Venom" Episode Five:"The Final Battle"

Instead, we have a 2 hour and 17 minute mishmash of juggled storylines, similar to X-Men 3 (But I won't say it's as crappy as that Ratner debacle).

Good stuff:
*J.Jonah Jameson
*a few Spidey action scenes
*not using the Goblin mask (if you don't show the faces, it looks like bad Japanese Giant Robot battles)

Bad stuff:
*Faux close-up/hand-held action shots that are impossible to follow (early Harry/Peter chase)
*Gwen Stacy
*The whole Black suit thing
*The horrible retread musical sequence that worked well in #2 ...(it's like when you laugh at what a kid does, and they do it more and more til it's not funny anymore)
*Harry's butler's speech near the end..(why didn't he do that a long time ago?)

I guess with the success of #2, they were pressured into trying to top it. But less can be more. I hope they remember that when they make #4. And you know with the bank this film is making, they're gonna make several more of 'em.

*I'LL BE IN PHILLY THIS MONTH...
at the East Coast Black Age Comics Convention on the 18th and 19th at Temple University. I'll also be doing my "Comics is Serious Business" workshop on that Saturday, so git yer ass there!

 
*PUSSY vs. WUSS..
I must be getting old. I sent the latest comic in and wake up the next morning feeling guilty about putting the word "pussy" in it. So I sent out another version with it changed to "wuss". So some of you will see it one way and others will see it the other.

*L.A.FESTIVAL OF BOOKS WRAP-UP..
Super awesome extra-special thanks to McSweeney's for allowing me to share a sliver of their table. I didn't know what to expect seeing it was my first foray selling books in my new hometown. But to my surprise, a decent amount of folks recognized my work. Some local cartoonists and animators came by...Even someone I went to college with 2o years ago (of course, I couldn't remember her, due to my somewhat questionable behavior as a 3rd year sophomore). And in additon to ye olde McSweeney pals, San Francisco lit legends Jon Longhi and Jen "Manic D" Joseph were right around the corner.

Overall, a great two days was had. A most enjoyable weekend.
Shout outs to Leigh Rubin, Mike and Kersti!

*LOOKING FORWARD..
..to the trip to Philadelphia for ECBACC this month. Not only because "the K Chronicles" and "(th)ink" are again nominated for the Glyph award for Outstanding Comic ("the K Chronicles" won last year), but also because Bernadette Stanis, a.k.a. Thelma from "Good Times", will be in the house!!

*EMAILS OF THE WEEK...
Hi, Keith

Your cartoon of April 4 about Jackie Robinson touched a lot of us
here in St. Louis. I work with Beth Louis, Branch Rickey's
granddaughter, and gave a copy of your cartoon to her. She in turn
mailed and e-mailed copies to all the Rickey cousins. Thanks for a
fine tribute.

G.

(Branch Rickey is the man who broke baseball's color barrier by signing Robinson. Great stuff!! -kk)
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Hello Keef-er,

(Please stand by whilst I hold in a joke about you now
being Keef-er Suth-er-land, now that you moved down to
LA.) (Hmm, I don't think that quite qualifies as
holding it in.)

Point of interest: I think we have taken vaguely
opposite journeys. I see that you say your skateboard
is from Revere, you used to live in SF and now in LA.
I grew up in LA (Malibu, dooood! - BTW, it was wayyy
more rustic then, but I'm glad to see that the Feed
Bin is still there at Topanga/PCH!), went to UC
Berkeley, and now live in Winthrop, MA! (I also went
to Berklee out here, just to confuse people.)

ANYWAY, been a fan for a while and was looking at this
week's strip and just had to make sure I am seeing
this correctly. In the square where you are in the
hospital after a skating mishap, it appears that you
have a cast on your, um, johnson. Of course, you only
put casts on broken bones, so you must have been
skating while turgid (ie, sportin' a boner)! You perv!
(Yes, I'm joking around, I know email doesn't always
convey that...)

Keep up the fine work (and keep your skating clean!),
M.
--------------------------------------------------------

Dear Keef,

First off, congrats on your move to L.A. and good luck with all your
projects there.

Second, I've written to you a few times before on the subject of
race. To refresh, I'm a white girl married to a muslim Asian man (so
we get it from all sides). Anyhoo, not to make light of the student
massacre at Virginia Tech, but I've noticed that the unfortunate
event suddenly elevated Asian men from being seen as submissive,
impotent nerds to seething timebombs of virility to be feared by the
white man....at least one could come to this conclusion by reading
the racist barbs that often pepper the comments section of any and
all places where anonymous commentary is allowed (even on the most
innocuous YouTube clip). In other words, yellow is the new
black. My husband wasn't sure whether to take this as a step up or a
step down. In any event, this all seems like perfect fodder for your
toons. I'm sure you get tons of people telling you what to draw so
I'm sorry in advance if this annoys/offends. You can take it or
leave it, I just had to share it.

Sincerely,
G.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
I just discovered your strip today with the Jackie Robinson reference on
Salon. You are a riot.

You need to be nationally syndicated, really funny stuff. I don't mind
that it is very localized either.

Thanks, I wasted a good hour backtracking while working. I'll have to make
it up but it was worth it.

R.
Ft. Snelling, MN
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Hey Keef,

I've got a life's little victory for you. It may not be pithy enough for a
comic strip, but I just had to brag about it.

I was riding my bike when I saw someone toss some trash (a half-full
McDonalds sauce container) out of the window of a car. Fortunately, the car
was stopped at a stoplight, so I stopped my bike, picked up the trash,
handed it back to the guy in the car through his still-open window, looked
him right in the eye, and said "Excuse me, but I think you dropped this."
The fathead (literally) just looked at me dumbly and said "okay..." After
one last scornful glance, I hopped back on my bike and sped off, slightly
worried that the litterbug was going to chuck the trash at the back of my
head, but nothing of the sort happened. I like to think my confrontation
left him too dumbfounded to retaliate.

I've wanted to do that for so long, and I finally got my chance! Yes!

Labels: Emails of the week, Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, pussy