''The K Chronicles'' is an

autobiographical An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...

weekly

comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics terminology#Captio ...

by the independent cartoonist Keith Knight that has been produced since the early 1990s. Knight is an

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

artist whose comics often explore themes relevant to his racial heritage, as well as current events, both personal to Knight and general to the world.

Publication history

Until February 2010 ''The K Chronicles'' was updated every Wednesday at

Salon.com ''Salon'' is an American politically progressive and liberal news and opinion website created in 1995. It publishes articles on U.S. politics, culture, and current events. Content and coverage ''Salon'' covers a variety of topics, includ ...

. The strip previously appeared in the ''

San Francisco Examiner The ''San Francisco Examiner'' is a newspaper distributed in and around San Francisco, California, and has been published since 1863. Once self-dubbed the "Monarch of the Dailies" by then-owner William Randolph Hearst and the flagship of the He ...

''.

Story and characters

Keith "Keef" Knight — The cartoonist and protagonist. The strip centers mainly around his life. Kerstin Konietzka-Knight — Keith's German-born wife.

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

— Keith mercilessly lampooned the 43rd President of the United States and his administration. In many strips, Bush is shown as a child, or having the mind of one, as shown by his tiny size and frequent childish giggling.

Dick Cheney Richard Bruce Cheney ( ; born January 30, 1941) is an American former politician and businessman who served as the 46th vice president of the United States from 2001 to 2009 under President George W. Bush. He has been called vice presidency o ...

— In contrast to Bush, Vice President Cheney appears in the strip as a sort of evil mastermind (for example, after the real-life shooting of Harry Whittington, Cheney appears and after hearing a witness say that what he did was illegal, boasts that he has already done so many illegal things, such as fixing the

2000 election The following elections occurred in the year 2000. Africa * 2000 Ethiopian general election * 2000 Ghanaian presidential election * 1999–2000 Guinea-Bissau general election * 2000–01 Ivorian parliamentary election * 2000 Ivorian presidentia ...

, without being punished, that he is confident that he will escape penalty again). He also makes an appearance in an installment entitled "People Who Can't Be Trusted", where he is placed on the list along with people who put cats on leashes, people who have never seen ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...

'', and others. God — Depicted in ''The K Chronicles'' as a

hamster Hamsters are rodents (order Rodentia) belonging to the subfamily Cricetinae, which contains 19 species classified in seven genera. They have become established as popular small pets. The best-known species of hamster is the golden or Syrian ...

. In one ''K Chronicles Collection'', "The Passion of the Keef", God appears to deliver the introduction, in which he reveals that ''The K Chronicles'' are among his favorite reading material. He also shows up at other times in the strip, such as to visit and hang out with Keith. Evil Twin — Keith's twin sister. Gunther — Ex-roommate and drinking buddy.

Special features

''Life's Little Victories'' — A frequently occurring feature of ''The K Chronicles'' in which Knight lists the small victories of everyday life, such as "Running into a movie theater and making sitting down just as the lights are fading", or "Having just enough ingredients to make a fresh bowl of guacamole!" Sometimes the feature has a special theme, such as the "foreign version" which takes place when Keith is visiting his in-laws in Germany, and the "on crutches" version, taking place when Keith was on crutches for two months after tearing his

Achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcane ...

In other media

In November 2018 it was announced that

Hulu Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...

would be producing a half-hour

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

, titled ''

Woke ''Woke'' is an adjective derived from African-American English used since the 1930s or earlier to refer to awareness of racial prejudice and Racial discrimination, discrimination, often in the construction ''stay woke''. The term acquired p ...

'', based on ''The K Chronicles'' and events from Knight's life. The show will be co-written by Knight; actor

Lamorne Morris Lamorne Lionel Morris (born August 14, 1983) is an American actor and comedian. He has played the roles of Winston Bishop in the Fox sitcom ''New Girl'' (2011–2018), Daniel in '' Call Me Kat'', Darrin Morris in the National Geographic docu ...

will be playing Knight.

Awards

In 2007, ''The K Chronicles'' won the

Harvey Kurtzman Award The Harvey Awards are given for achievement in comic books. Named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman, the Harvey Awards were founded by Gary Groth in 1988, president of the publisher Fantagraphics, to be a successor to the Kirby Awards, which were ...

for Best Syndicated Comic Strip. The other nominees were ''Antiques: The Comic Strip'', ''

Doonesbury ''Doonesbury'' is a comic strip by American cartoonist Garry Trudeau that chronicles the adventures and lives of an array of characters of various ages, professions, and backgrounds, from the President of the United States to the title character, ...

'', ''

Maakies ''Maakies'' is a comic strip by Tony Millionaire. It began publication in February 1994 in the ''New York Press''. It has previously run in many American alternative newsweeklies including '' The Stranger'', ''LA Weekly'' and '' Only''. It has ...

'' and '' Mutts''. ''The K Chronicles'' has won "Best Comic Strip" three times in the

Glyph Comics Awards The Glyph Comics Awards is an annual award ceremony for comic creators who are people of color. The ceremony was initiated with the goal of inspiring young writers from diverse backgrounds to participate in the comics industry. The awards are ...

, in 2006,Glyphs: The Language of the Black Comics Community: The 2006 Glyph Awards winners
/ref> 2007 and 2008.

Collections

*''Dances with Sheep: A K Chronicles Compendium'' (1997,

Manic D Press Manic D Press is an American literary publisher, press based in San Francisco, California publishing fiction (novels and short stories), poetry, cultural studies, art, narrative-oriented underground comix, comix, children's books, and alternative ...

). *''Fear of a Black Marker: Another K Chronicles Compendium'' (2000, Manic D Press). *''The 'K' Chronicles: What a Long Strange Strip It's Been'' (2002,

Top Shelf Productions Top Shelf Productions is an American publishing company founded in 1997, originally owned and operated by Chris Staros and Brett Warnock with a small staff. Currently an imprint of IDW Publishing, Top Shelf is based in Marietta, Georgia. Top Sh ...

). *''The Passion of the Keef: The Fourth K Chronicles Compendium'' (2005, Manic D Press). *''The Complete K Chronicles'' — compilation of the first four ''K Chronicles'' books (2008,

Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, manga and Artist's book, art book publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon, by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, O ...

). *''The 5th K Chronicles Compendium: I Left My Arse in San Francisco'' (2008, Keith Knight Press) * ''The K Chronicles: The Incredible Cuteness of Being'' (2012, Keith Knight Press). * ''Go East, Young Fam!: K Chronicles #7'' (2016, Keith Knight Press).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:K Chronicles, The African-Americans in comic strips African-American comics American comic strips Comic strips set in the United States Comic strips started in the 1990s Non-fiction comic strips Comics about politics Satirical comics American political satire Political satire comics Autobiographical comics Cultural depictions of George W. Bush Cultural depictions of Dick Cheney