Kim Deitch (born May 21, 1944 in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

)Donahue, Don and Susan Goodrick, editors. Deitch bio, ''The Apex Treasuet of Underground Comics'' (Apex Novelties, 1974), p. 127. is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

cartoonist who was an important figure in the

underground comix Underground comix are small press or self-published comic books that are often socially relevant or satirical in nature. They differ from mainstream comics in depicting content forbidden to mainstream publications by the Comics Code Authority, ...

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.Kim Deitch
at the Lambiek Comiclopedia. Retrieved on November 12, 2013
Archived
from the original on September 7, 2013. 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 Judas Iscariot (; grc-x-biblical, Ἰούδας Ἰσκαριώτης; syc, ܝܗܘܕܐ ܣܟܪܝܘܛܐ; died AD) was a disciple and one of the original Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. According to all four canonical gospels, Judas betraye ...

; 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 Felix the Cat is a cartoon character created in 1919 by Pat Sullivan and Otto Messmer during the silent film era. An anthropomorphic black cat with white eyes, a black body, and a giant grin, he was one of the most recognized cartoon characte ...

Julius the Cat Julius the Cat is a cartoon animal character created in 1922 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. He first appeared in the very first animated series created by Walt Disney, the ''Alice Comedies'', making him the predecessor of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit ...

, 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 Zenas Winsor McCay ( – July 26, 1934) was an American cartoonist and animator. He is best known for the comic strip '' Little Nemo'' (1905–14; 1924–26) and the animated film '' Gertie the Dinosaur'' (1914). For contractual reasons, he w ...

Chester Gould Chester Gould (; November 20, 1900 – May 11, 1985) was an American cartoonist, best known as the creator of the '' Dick Tracy'' comic strip, which he wrote and drew from 1931 to 1977, incorporating numerous colorful and monstrous villains. ...

, Jack Cole, and

Will Eisner William Erwin Eisner (March 6, 1917 – January 3, 2005) was an American cartoonist, writer, and entrepreneur. He was one of the earliest cartoonists to work in the American comic book industry, and his series '' The Spirit'' (1940–1952) was no ...

; he attended the Pratt Institute. 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 ''The East Village Other'' (often abbreviated as ''EVO'') was an American underground newspaper in New York City, issued biweekly during the 1960s. It was described by '' The New York Times'' as "a New York newspaper so countercultural that it ...

'', beginning in 1967. He joined

Bhob Stewart Robert Marion Stewart, known as Bhob Stewart (November 12, 1937 – February 24, 2014) was an American writer, editor, cartoonist, filmmaker, and active fan who contributed to a variety of publications over a span of five decades. His articles a ...

as an editor of EVO's all-comics spin-off, ''

Gothic Blimp Works ''Gothic Blimp Works'', an all-comics tabloid published in 1969 by Peter Leggieri and the '' East Village Other'', was billed as "the first Sunday underground comic paper". During its eight-issue run, the publication displayed comics in both color ...

'', in 1969. During this period, he lived with fellow cartoonist

Spain Rodriguez Manuel Rodriguez (March 2, 1940 – November 28, 2012), better known as Spain or Spain Rodriguez, was an American underground cartoonist who created the character Trashman. His experiences on the road with the motorcycle club, the Road Vultures M ...

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 Cartoonists Co-op Press was an underground comix publishing cooperative based in San Francisco that operated from 1973 to 1974. It was a self-publishing venture by cartoonists Kim Deitch, Bill Griffith, Jerry Lane, Jay Lynch, Willy Murphy, Diane ...

, a publishing venture by Deitch,

Jay Lynch Jay Patrick Lynch (January 7, 1945 – March 5, 2017) was an American cartoonist who played a key role in the underground comix movement with his ''Bijou Funnies'' and other titles. He is best known for his comic strip ''Nard n' Pat'' and the ...

Bill Griffith William Henry Jackson Griffith (born January 20, 1944) is an American cartoonist who signs his work Bill Griffith and Griffy. He is best known for his surreal comedy, surreal daily comic strip ''Zippy the Pinhead, Zippy''. The catchphrase "Are w ...

, Jerry Lane,

Willy Murphy William "Willy" MurphyMurphy entry
''Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999''. Acc ...

Diane Noomin Diane Robin Noomin ( Rosenblatt, May 13, 1947 – September 1, 2022) was an American comics artist associated with the underground comics movement. She is best known for her character DiDi Glitz, who addresses transgressive social issues such as ...

, and

Art Spiegelman Art Spiegelman (; born Itzhak Avraham ben Zeev Spiegelman on February 15, 1948) is an American cartoonist, editor, and comics advocate best known for his graphic novel '' Maus''. His work as co-editor on the comics magazines ''Arcade'' and '' Ra ...

that operated in 1973–1974. Deitch's '' The Boulevard of Broken Dreams'' was chosen by ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

'' magazine in 2005 as one of the 100 best English-language graphic novels ever written. In 2008, the

Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art (MoCCA) is a not-for-profit arts organization and former museum in New York City devoted to comic books, comic strips and other forms of cartoon art. MoCCA sponsored events ranging from book openings to educat ...

featured a retrospective exhibition of his work.

Personal life

From his first relationship, to cartoonist and author

Trina Robbins Trina Robbins (born Trina Perlson; August 17, 1938, in Brooklyn, New York) is an American cartoonist. She was an early participant in the underground comix movement, and one of the first female artists in that movement. In the 1980s, Robbins beca ...

, Deitch has a daughter, Casey.Murphyao, Amanda, in Through most of the 1970s, Deitch was in an 11-year relationship with animator

Sally Cruikshank Sarah Cruikshank (born 1949) is an American cartoonist, animator and artist, whose work includes animation for the Children's Television Workshop program ''Sesame Street'', and whose short ''Quasi at the Quackadero'' (1975) was inducted into the U ...

. 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 The Inkpot Award is an honor bestowed annually since 1974 by Comic-Con International. It is given to professionals in the fields of comic books, comic strips, animation, science fiction, and related areas of popular culture, at CCI's annual conv ...

. In 2014, he was nominated for the

Ignatz Award The Ignatz Awards recognize outstanding achievements in comics and cartooning by small press creators or creator-owned projects published by larger publishers. They have been awarded each year at the Small Press Expo since 1997, only skipping ...

for Outstanding Graphic Novel for ''The Amazing, Enlightening and Absolutely True Adventures of Katherine Whaley''.

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.Fantagraphics list, last page of ''Smilin' Ed'' * 2019 ''Reincarnation Stories'' (Fantagraphics, 260 pg) Hardback * 2013 ''The Amazing, Enlightening and Absolutely True Adventures of Katherine Whaley!'' (Fantagraphics, 176 pg) Hardback * 2010 ''The Search for Smilin' Ed'' (Fantagraphics, 162 pg) — serialized in '' Zero Zero'' beginning in 1999 * 2007 ''Deitch's Pictorama'' (Fantagraphics, 184 pg) — co-authored with Simon Deitch and Seth Kallen Deitch; includes 78-pg "Sunshine Girl" * 2006 ''Shadowland'' (Fantagraphics, 182 pg) — 10 stories (OOP) * 2002 '' The Stuff of Dreams'' (Fantagraphics, 136 pg) — original OOP; re-released by Pantheon as a hardback in 2007 as '' Alias the Cat!'' * 1993 ''The Mishkin File!'' (Fantagraphics, 32 pg) original OOP; reprinted in '' The Boulevard of Broken Dreams'' (Pantheon 2002) * 1992 ''All Waldo Comics'' (Fantagraphics, 60 pg) — 5 Waldo stories published from 1969-1988 (OOP) * 1991 '' The Boulevard of Broken Dreams'' (original published in ''

Raw Raw is an adjective usually describing: * Raw materials, basic materials from which products are manufactured or made * Raw food, uncooked food Raw or RAW may also refer to: Computing and electronics * .RAW, a proprietary mass spectrometry dat ...

'' OP re-released by Pantheon as a hardback in 2002, 160 pg) — with Simon Deitch * 1990 ''A Shroud for Waldo'' (Fantagraphics, 158 pg) * 1989 ''Beyond the Pale'' (Fantagraphics, 136 pg) — 22 stories produced from 1969-1984 (OOP) * 1988 ''Hollywoodland'' (Fantagraphics, 76 pg) — 1984 story (OOP) * 1988 ''No Business Like Show Business'' (3-D Zone) * 1972–1973 ''Corn Fed Comics'' (Honeywell & Todd and Cartoonists Co-Op Press, 2 issues)

Publications appeared in

*''Apex Treasury of Underground Comics'', Links Books/Quick Fox, 1974, *''

Arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * ...

'' *''

Bijou Funnies ''Bijou Funnies'' was an American underground comix magazine which published eight issues between 1968 and 1973. Edited by Chicago-based cartoonist Jay Lynch, ''Bijou Funnies'' featured strong work by the core group of Lynch, Skip Williamson, Rob ...

'' — issues #2, 3, and 8 *''Corporate Crime Comics'' *''

'' *''

'' *'' Heavy Metal'' *''

High Times ''High Times'' is an American monthly magazine (and cannabis brand) that advocates the legalization of cannabis as well as other counterculture ideas. The magazine was founded in 1974 by Tom Forcade.Danko, Danny"Norml Founder Retires – Exha ...

'' *''Laugh in the Dark'' *'' LA Weekly'' * ''Lean Years'' * ''

Mineshaft Magazine ''Mineshaft'' is an independent international art magazine launched in 1999 by Everett Rand and Gioia Palmieri in Guilford, Vermont. Initially focusing on poetry and literature, the magazine began to publish comics after Robert Crumb became a c ...

'' *''Pictopia'' *''Prime Cuts'' *''

'' *''Swift Comics'' (Bantam Books, April 1971) — with

, Allan Shenker and

*'' Southern Fried Fugitives'' *''Tales of Sex and Death'' *''Get Stupid'' *''Webcomic Hurricane Relief Telethon'' *'' Weirdo'' *'' Young Lust'' *'' Zero Zero''

Animation

*''Easy Groove'' ID,

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...

, 1987 *''Farmer & Cat'' ID, MTV, 1996

References

External links

* * * Ford, Jeffrey
"An Interview with Kim Deitch", Fantastic Metropolis (Oct. 9, 2002)
* Heller, Steven
AIGA.com: "Underground Comix Come of Age: An Interview with Kim Deitch" (March 27, 2007).

"The Ship That Never Came In!," an animated cartoon based on a Waldo strip that Deitch originally wrote for ''Pictopia'' in 1992.
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Deitch, Kim 1944 births American comics artists American comic strip cartoonists American comics writers Inkpot Award winners Jewish American artists Jewish American writers Underground cartoonists Raw (magazine) Living people People from the East Village, Manhattan 21st-century American Jews