The Complete K Chronicles [Paperback]

Keith Knight (Author, Artist)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 15, 2008

The Complete K Chronicles gathers together hundreds of Keith Knight's funniest, sharpest, most touching, and topical K Chronicles comic strips of the last several years! The K Chronicles is a weekly syndicated strip based on Keith Knight's life. With his signature wit and wacky, hilarious drawings, Knight brings laughs by the barrel as he examines life's pleasures and frustrations, both great and small, from the political to the personal. Dark Horse is honored to present this omnibus-sized collection of the brilliance and silliness of K Chronicles! Keith Knight is also the artist behind MAD Magazine's "Father o'Flannity's Hot Tub Confessions & Bully Baby," as well as the Sportsknight strip in ESPN the Magazine. He is also a rapper and gives multimedia lectures about race, media, politics, and cartoons.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Like an urban Life in Hell, rapper/cartoonist Knight's ink-heavy strip is big on sight gags, inventive panel layouts and exaggerated gestures—and this omnibus volume shows a revealing arc in the strip's tone. The first part of the book, which begins in the early 1990s, sees Knight riffing on food, family, music and the life of a comic book artist in a scratchy, expressive style. As the strips progress and move into the 21st century, real-world events start to intrude, and the topic veers toward the political more often than not. Knight is at his best when he's in more lighthearted territory, and the second half of the book is more preachy than it ought to be. On the whole, though, it's time well spent with a very intelligent and percpetive writer, and also serves as an insightful historical document of the movement of the American zeitgeist over the past decade. (Aug.)
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From School Library Journal

Running for 15 years in over 30 weeklies, including Z Magazine and Salon, The K Chronicles marries sociopolitical commentary with autobiography, retooling these components into sometimes outrageous and always amusingly pointed vignettes. In this omnibus volume reprinting the first four collections of the award-winning strip, the African American cartoonist addresses racism ("The funkiest sho' on cable! Black Eye for the White Guy"), dates-from-hell suffered by his women friends ("Condoms? What for? I'm straight...I'm white...& I only do cocaine!"), his second job in a youth hostel, marriage to a copacetic German gal, the excesses of the Bush administration ("the U.S. war-gy!!"), and an attempted pickup at San Diego's Comic-Con ("We're not gay. We're cartoonists." "What's the difference?" "Gays make more money!"). Goofy, minimalist art enhances his verbal jabs, and the overall effect is subversive yet lighthearted. Recommended only for adult collections owing to sexual innuendo, references to illegal substances, and occasionally strong language.—M.C.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Paperback: 500 pages
• Publisher: Dark Horse (July 15, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1593079435
• ISBN-13: 978-1593079437
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #717,133 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My Life's Little Victory!, July 11, 2008

By 

Buddy Guy - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Complete K Chronicles (Paperback)

As a huge fan of Mr. Knight's work, I was first in line to order a copy of the Complete K Chronicles. Indeed it is a huge tome, almost as thick as my phonebook, and almost as funny. Collecting the first four collections of the K-Chronicles, the CK also offers up personal notes and sidebars for alot of the strips that help give some insight into the twisted world of its creator. Its nice to have all of my favorite strips in one handy and heavy book, along with some much apreciated peaks into Mr. Knight's sketch book. The only complaint I might have is that I would have liked to seen more commentary about the strips, but the work really speaks for itself. Funny, edgy, real, funny, original, and more than a little erotic. What more could you ask for?

I can't wait to see what type of work Keef's son produces after his dad forces him into cartooning.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best rockin' present, January 2, 2011

By 

Caroline Crawford "czarina" (texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Complete K Chronicles (Paperback)

This was the best present my husband could have gotten. He has loved K Chronicles for years, and this book was worth every penny, if not even more pennies. Thank you for putting out the complete works!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A nice thick jucy book, September 5, 2010

By 

Edgewood Smith "*" (Duluth, MN United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Complete K Chronicles (Paperback)

Been following Knight for a few years, but haven't really been able to be consistent about it.

As good as "The Knight Life" is (his major syndicated strip)"The K Chronicles" is where it's at as far as I'm concerned.

This book has all the favorites "Ah jeeze, not the giant soda can again" and much of the stuff I've missed. was fun to see the Harvey Pekar intro, especially as the fellow just passed away this year. Day two I am about 300 pages into it. Content was/is great.

Only quibble was the pages started falling out pretty much as soon as I started reading. Am getting Amazon to send me another copy, hopefully the binding is a little better with the next one.