Kim Deitch Explained

Birth Date:21 May 1944
Birth Place:Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Cartoonist:y
Write:y
Art:y
Alias:Fowlton Means
Notable Works:The Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Alias the Cat!
Awards:Eisner Award, 2003
Inkpot Award, 2008[1]
Partner:Trina Robbins (1969–1970)[2]
Spouse:Sally Cruikshank (common-law, 1971–c. 1982)[3]
Pam Butler (m. 1994–present)
Children:1 daughter

Kim Deitch (born May 21, 1944 in Los Angeles, California)[4] 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.

Much of Kim Deitch's work deals with the animation industry and characters from the world of cartoons.[5] 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.

The son of illustrator and animator Gene Deitch, Kim Deitch has sometimes worked with his 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.[6] Before deciding to become a professional cartoonist, Deitch worked odd jobs and did manual labor, including with the merchant marine. Searching for a path, he at one point joined the Republican Party; at another point he became devotee of Hatha yoga.

Deitch regularly contributed comical, psychedelia-tinged comic strips (featuring the flower child "Sunshine Girl" and "Uncle Ed, 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. During this period, he lived with fellow cartoonist Spain Rodriguez in a sixth-floor walk-up apartment in New York's East Village.

Deitch was also a publisher, as co-founder of the Cartoonists Co-Op Press, a publishing venture by Deitch, Jay Lynch, Bill Griffith, Jerry Lane, Willy Murphy, Diane Noomin, and Art Spiegelman that operated in 1973–1974.

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.[7] In 2008, the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art featured a retrospective exhibition of his work.[8]

Personal life

From his first relationship, to cartoonist and author Trina Robbins, Deitch has a daughter, Casey.[9] Through most of the 1970s, Deitch was in an 11-year relationship with animator Sally Cruikshank. He met Pam Butler in 1994 and they subsequently married.

Awards

Deitch won the 2003 Eisner Award for Best Single Issue for The Stuff of Dreams (Fantagraphics) 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.[10]

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.[11]

Publications appeared in

Animation

External links

Notes and References

  1. https://www.comic-con.org/awards/inkpot Inkpot Award
  2. Perkins, Lucas W. "Oral history interview with Kim Deitch, 2007-2009" (Oct. 7, 2007 and June 28, 2009). Archived at Columbia University.
  3. Deitch, Kim. "Mad About Music: My Life in Records: Part 10: Cartoon Tunes," The Comics Journal (SEP. 9, 2011).
  4. Donahue, Don and Susan Goodrick, editors. Deitch bio, The Apex Treasuet of Underground Comics (Apex Novelties, 1974), p. 127.
  5. http://www.lambiek.net/artists/d/deitch.htm Kim Deitch
  6. Web site: Jerry Bails . Bails . Jerry . Hames Ware . Kim Deitch . Who's Who of American Comic Books 1928-1999 . November 12, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150905081043/http://www.bailsprojects.com/%28S%28pz0nis55gdcxtz45absq5f55%29%29/bio.aspx?Name=DEITCH%2C%2BKIM . September 5, 2015 . live .
  7. Time's List of the 100 Best Novels (1923–2005) . Kelly . James . Lev Grossman . Richard Lacayo . October 16, 2005 . Time.
  8. Beck, Jerry. "Kim Deitch at MoCCA," Cartoon Brew (Sept. 2, 2008).
  9. Murphyao, Amanda, in Book: Booker, M. Keith, ed.. https://books.google.com/books?id=hnuQBQAAQBAJ&q=gene+deitch+kim+simon&pg=PA548 . Comics through Time: A History of Icons, Idols, and Ideas . Deitch, Kim (1944-) . Greenwood . 2014 . 978-0313397509.
  10. News: Canva. Michael. SMALL PRESS EXPO: Here are your nominees for the 2014 SPX Ignatz Awards…. The Washington Post. 18 August 2014. August 18, 2014.
  11. Fantagraphics list, last page of Smilin' Ed