Kim Deitch

Kim Deitch

Deitch in a 2004 photo.
Born 1944 (age 70–71)
Los Angeles, California
Nationality American
Area(s) Cartoonist, Writer, Artist
Pseudonym(s) Fowlton Means
Notable works
 The Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Alias the Cat!
Awards Eisner Award, 2003
Inkpot Award, 2008

Kim Deitch (born 1944[1] in Los Angeles) is an American cartoonist who was an important figure in the underground comix movement of the 1960s, remaining active in the decades that followed with a variety of books and comics, sometimes using the pseudonym Fowlton Means.

The son of illustrator and animator Gene Deitch, much of Kim Deitch's work deals with the animation industry and characters from the world of cartoons.[2] His best-known character is a mysterious cat named Waldo, who appears variously as a famous cartoon character of the 1930s, as an actual character in the "reality" of the strips, as the hallucination of a hopeless alcoholic surnamed Mishkin (a victim of the Boulevard of Broken Dreams), as the demonic reincarnation of Judas Iscariot; and who, occasionally, is claimed to have overcome Deitch and written the comics himself. Waldo's appearance is reminiscent of such black cat characters as Felix the Cat, Julius the Cat, and Krazy Kat.

Kim Deith has sometimes worked with brothers Simon Deitch and Seth Deitch.

Biography

Deitch's influences include Winsor McCay, Chester Gould, Jack Cole, and Will Eisner; he attended the Pratt Institute.[1]

Deitch regularly contributed comical, psychedelia-tinged comic strips (featuring the flower child "Sunshine Girl" and "The India Rubber Man") to New York City's premier underground newspaper, the East Village Other, beginning in 1967. He joined Bhob Stewart as an editor of EVO's all-comics spin-off, Gothic Blimp Works, in 1969.

Deitch was also a publisher, as co-founder of the Cartoonists Co-op Press.

Deitch's The Boulevard of Broken Dreams was chosen by Time magazine in 2005 as one of the 100 best English-language graphic novels ever written.[3] In 2008, the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art featured a retrospective exhibition of his work.

Personal life

Deitch was formerly married to Sally Cruikshank.[1] His current wife is named Pam.

Awards

Deitch won the 2003 Eisner Award for Best Single Issue/Story for The Stuff of Dreams (Fantagraphics)[4] and in 2008 he was awarded an Inkpot Award. In 2014, he was nominated for the Ignatz Award for Outstanding Graphic Novel for The Amazing, Enlightening and Absolutely True Adventures of Katherine Whaley.[5]

Bibliography

Creator series and books

Books arranged in order by original published date (publication date shown first, then title, publisher, number of pages, date drawn, and availability). OOP = Out Of Print.[6]

Publications appeared in

Lean Years (1974), a Cartoonists Co-op Press one-shot with cover art by Deitch.

Animation

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Kim Deitch entry. Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999 (Jerry Bails). Accessed Nov. 12, 2013.
  2. ↑ Kim Deitch entry, Lambiek's Comiclopedia. Accessed Nov. 12, 2013.
  3. ↑ Kelly, James; Lev Grossman and Richard Lacayo (October 16, 2005). "Time's List of the 100 Best Novels (1923–2005)". Time.
  4. ↑ "2003 Eisner Awards For works published in 2002". San Diego Comic-Con International. Retrieved 2011-06-09.
  5. ↑ Canva, Michael (August 18, 2014). "SMALL PRESS EXPO: Here are your nominees for the 2014 SPX Ignatz Awards…". The Washington Post. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
  6. ↑ Fantagraphics list, last page of Smilin' Ed

References

External links