Porcellino, John – King Cat Classix #1

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King Cat Classix #1

The trip down memory lane continues, as today I’m reviewing another out-of-print comic.  Or at least it looks like it’s out of print,  judging by his website.  Of course, judging from his website it looks like most things are sold out, which is just a shame.  So anyway, this one collects the best of King Cat #1-10, and raise your hand if you were awesome enough to buy any of those when they were available.  Unless you really had your artistic act together in 1989, I doubt it.  For anybody who has ever complained that John’s style was too simplistic (those people who have missed the point entirely), it’s very clear that his art has improved from these issues.  Everything is a lot more raw, he’s clearly experimenting with thicker lines, and he eventually ended up where he is now.  So what’s in this?  Dream comics, stories of his time as a mosquito abatement guy (are these in the eventual collection?  If so did he clean them up when they were collected?  I should probably know these things), a simple story that is almost too perfect called 3 balls, John running into a guy trying to get to Chicago by walking along the railroad tracks, his new discovery of the reality of ticks, a drunk comic, a short piece about his dad, and his detailed (and hilarious) description of a sleepless night.  I’m way too biased to offer any kind of objective criticism of this series, which should be painfully obvious by now to any regular readers of the site.  Still, somebody should at least put these Classix volumes back in print (even though there are only 3 that I know of, so maybe add on a couple more), or maybe they should get in touch with Top Shelf or somebody and put the whole series out as a phone book type graphic novel.  Hey, a guy can dream…