Kim Deitch (born May 21, 1944 in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

) is an American

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the litera ...

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. His best-known character is a mysterious cat named Waldo, whose appearance is reminiscent of such black cat characters as

Felix the Cat Felix the Cat is a cartoon character created in 1919 by Otto Messmer and Pat Sullivan (film producer), Pat Sullivan during the silent film era. An anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic young black cat with white eyes, a black body, and a giant grin, ...

, Julius the Cat, and

Krazy Kat ''Krazy Kat'' (also known as ''Krazy & Ignatz'' in some reprints and compilations) is an US, American newspaper comic strip, created by cartoonist George Herriman, which ran from 1913 to 1944. It first appeared in the ''New York Journal-America ...

. The son of illustrator and

animator An animator is an artist who creates images, known as frames, which give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, and video games. Animat ...

Gene Deitch Eugene Merril Deitch (August 8, 1924 – April 16, 2020) was an American illustrator, animator, comics artist, and film director who was based in Prague from the 1960s until his death in 2020. Deitch was known for creating animated cartoons ...

, Kim Deitch has sometimes worked with his brothers Simon Deitch and Seth Deitch.

Biography

Early life and education

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'' (1905–1914; 1924–1927) and the animated film ''Gertie the Dinosaur'' (1914). For contractual reasons, he w ...

, Chester Gould, 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) wa ...

; he attended the

Pratt Institute Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York. It has an additional campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The institute was founded in 18 ...

. 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 a devotee of

Hatha yoga Hatha yoga (; Sanskrit हठयोग, International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''haṭhayoga'') is a branch of yoga that uses physical techniques to try to preserve and channel vital force or energy. The Sanskrit word ह� ...

Career

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 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'', 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. Influences His experiences on the road with the motorcycle club, the ...

in a sixth-floor walk-up apartment in New York's East Village. In 1969, he moved to San Francisco, which at that point was the epicenter of the underground comix movement. Deitch was also a publisher, as co-founder of the Cartoonists Co-Op Press, 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 r ...

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 daily comic strip '' Zippy''. The catchphrase "Are we having fun yet?" is credited t ...

, Jerry Lane, Willy Murphy, Diane Noomin, and

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

that operated in 1973–1974. Deitch's '' The Boulevard of Broken Dreams'', released in 2002, helped bring his work to the mainstream book trade. The book was chosen by ''

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

'' 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 educa ...

featured a retrospective exhibition of his work.

Waldo

Deitch's character Waldo the Cat, first created in 1966, 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''), or as the demonic reincarnation of

Judas Iscariot Judas Iscariot (; ; died AD) was, according to Christianity's four canonical gospels, one of the original Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. Judas betrayed Jesus to the Sanhedrin in the Garden of Gethsemane, in exchange for thirty pieces of sil ...

. He occasionally is even claimed to have overcome Deitch and created the comics himself. Speaking about Waldo in an interview, Deitch explained: Later in the interview, however, Deitch offered this admission:

Personal life

From his first relationship, to cartoonist and author Trina Robbins, Deitch has a daughter, Casey. Through most of the 1970s, Deitch was in an 11-year relationship with animator Sally Cruikshank. He met fellow artist Pam Butler in 1994 and they subsequently married. Of Butler, Deitch says, "Her influence on my work cannot be underestimated. You could say that she has become my very best collaborator."

Awards

Deitch won the 2003

Eisner Award The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are awards for creative achievement in American comic books. They are regarded as the most prestigious and significant awards in the comic industry and often referred ...

for Best Single Issue for ''The Stuff of Dreams'' (Fantagraphics) and in 2008 he was given 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 Comic-Con Internati ...

. In 2024, Deitch was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Awards Hall of Fame

Nominations

* 2003

for Best Graphic Album-Reprint (for ''The Boulevard of Broken Dreams'') * 2004: **

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 a ...

for Outstanding Series (for ''The Stuff of Dreams'') ** Ignatz Award for Outstanding Comic (for ''The Stuff of Dreams'' #2) * 2005

Angoulême International Comics Festival Prize for Best Album The Prize for Best Album (''Prix du meilleur album''), also known as the ''Fauve d'Or'' ("Golden Wildcat"), is awarded to comics authors at the Angoulême International Comics Festival. As is the customary practice in Wikipedia for listing awards ...

(for ''Une tragédie américaine'' 'The Boulevard of Broken Dreams'' * 2006 Ignatz Award for Outstanding Comic (for ''The Stuff of Dreams'' #3) * 2014: ** Ignatz Award for Outstanding Graphic Novel (for ''The Amazing, Enlightening and Absolutely True Adventures of Katherine Whaley'') ** Ignatz Award for Outstanding Artist (for ''The Amazing, Enlightening and Absolutely True Adventures of Katherine Whaley'') * 2016 Ignatz Award for Outstanding Story (for "Shrine of the Monkey God," from '' Kramers Ergot'' #8)

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'' * 1972–1973 ''Corn Fed Comics'' (Honeywell & Todd and Cartoonists Co-Op Press, 2 issues) * 1988 ''No Business Like Show Business'' (3-D Zone) * 1988 ''Hollywoodland'' (Fantagraphics, 76 pg) — 1984 story (OOP) * 1989 ''Beyond the Pale'' (Fantagraphics, 136 pg) — 22 stories produced in the period 1969-1984 (OOP) * 1990 ''A Shroud for Waldo'' (Fantagraphics, 158 pg) * 1993 '' The Boulevard of Broken Dreams'' (Fantagraphics, 48 pp.) — 40-page original story published in '' Raw'' in 1991 OP— with Simon Deitch * 1992 ''All Waldo Comics'' (Fantagraphics, 60 pg) — 5 Waldo stories published in the period 1969-1988 (OOP) * 1993 ''The Mishkin File!'' (Fantagraphics, 32 pg) original OOP; reprinted in '' The Boulevard of Broken Dreams'' (Pantheon 2002) * 2001 ''A Shroud for Waldo'' (Fantagraphics Books, 64 pp.) * 2002 '' The Boulevard of Broken Dreams'' (Pantheon, 160 pg) * 2002 '' The Stuff of Dreams'' (Fantagraphics, 136 pg) — original OOP; collected and released by Pantheon as a hardback in 2007 as '' Alias the Cat!'' * 2006 ''Shadowland'' (Fantagraphics, 182 pg) — 10 stories (OOP) * 2007 ''Deitch's Pictorama'' (Fantagraphics, 184 pg) — co-authored with Simon Deitch and Seth Kallen Deitch; includes 78-pg "Sunshine Girl" * 2010 ''The Search for Smilin' Ed'' (Fantagraphics, 162 pg) — serialized in '' Zero Zero'' beginning in 1999 * 2013 ''The Amazing, Enlightening and Absolutely True Adventures of Katherine Whaley!'' (Fantagraphics, 176 pg) Hardback * 2019 ''Reincarnation Stories'' (Fantagraphics, 260 pg) Hardback

Publications appeared in

*''Apex Treasury of Underground Comics'', Links Books/Quick Fox, 1974, *'' Arcade'' *'' Bijou Funnies'' — issues #2, 3, and 8 *''Corporate Crime Comics'' *'' East Village Other'' *'' Gothic Blimp Works'' *'' Heavy Metal'' *''

High Times ''High Times'' was 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. The magazine had its own book publishing d ...

'' *''Laugh in the Dark'' *''

LA Weekly ''LA Weekly'' is a free weekly alternative newspaper in Los Angeles, California. The paper covers music, arts, film, theater, culture, and other local news in the Los Angeles area. ''LA Weekly'' was founded in 1978 by Jay Levin (among others), ...

'' * ''Lean Years'' * '' Mineshaft Magazine'' *''Pictopia'' *''Prime Cuts'' *'' Raw'' *''Swift Comics'' (Bantam Books, April 1971) — with

, Allan Shenker and Trina Robbins *'' 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 (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

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

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

, 1996 *"Dallas", '' Venue Songs'',

They Might Be Giants They Might Be Giants, often abbreviated as TMBG, is an American alternative rock and Children's music, children's band formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell. During TMBG's early years, Flansburgh and Linnell frequently performed as ...

, 2005

References

External links

* *
Kim Deitch's entry in the Webcomic Hurricane Relief Telethon

"The Ship That Never Came In!," an animated cartoon based on a Waldo strip that Deitch originally wrote for ''Pictopia'' in 1992.
*

Interviews

* 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).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Deitch, Kim 1944 births American comics artists American comic strip cartoonists American comics writers American humorists Inkpot Award winners Jewish American comics artists Jewish American comics writers Underground cartoonists Raw (magazine) Living people People from the East Village, Manhattan 21st-century American Jews