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King Cat #82

A new issue of King Cat is out, go buy it now! Best to get that out of the way early, because unless we ever hit the point that John is putting out “King Cat sponsored by Wal Mart” or some shit I doubt very much that I won’t like an issue of King Cat. And is it my imagination or is the paper on slightly thicker stock? Since I still have #81 in the “reviewed comics” pile on my desk (seriously, send help, I’m going to end up buried alive under this pile one day), it looks like the answer is “eh, maybe”! So what’s in this issue, just in case you’re new to John’s work and need a little convincing? I’d say the fact that he made it to #82 of a mini comic should be all the convincing you need, but I’m again showing my bias. Things start off gently enough, with strips about the chain of watchers (him watching his cat, his cat watching a squirrel, etc.), watching a friend play an arcade game (this comes up later in a longer story), some nature observations, and a dire late night thought that maybe wasn’t all that dire after all. After that things get rough for a bit. I was afraid of this when he dedicated the issue to Michi, one of his cats, and I was sadly correct: she passed away recently. No comic for this, he instead wrote a beautiful and heartfelt tribute to her, filled with the little things she did and some of their interactions. The bit about how she would see him coming home from one of the windows and would then rush over to the glass door and put her paws on it, eager to greet him, just about broke me. This is unrelated, sort of, but as somebody who lost two cats fairly recently, I’d recommend writing down your favorite things about them somewhere. Pictures and videos are great, granted, but about a month after Sassafrasquatch passed away I found myself starting to forget the little things, so I wrote a few pages worth of my favorite things about her. They don’t live nearly long enough, so just something to keep in mind after the grief briefly stops pounding away at you. OK, there’s no way for this to be anything other than an awkward transition, so back to King Cat! From there we go to three pages of letters, including a very welcome check-in from Jeff Zenick, a long time zinester. There’s a top 40 list, and then we hit a few comic stories, dealing with all the time he spent in 7-11 stores as a kid, his attempt to get up at 3am to watch Yellow Submarine, watching the rain come down and thinking about the time before the internet, and counting poops. And more, of course, but the random surprises are maybe the best part of an issue of King Cat, even for new people, who I assume are the only ones reading this, as everybody else closed this tab and bought a copy of it after reading the first sentence. Yes, it’s still an amazing, peaceful, thoughtful, questioning yet settled comic. In case you were wondering. $5

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King Cat #81

It’s a new issue of King Cat, which means most of this review is going to be me fighting with myself not to leave the review with that simple fact. What, you want more information other than the fact that there’s a new King Cat in the world? I mean, OK, but you and I both know that I’m never going to give a bad review to this man, unless his brain snaps and he goes full Trumper. And since he’s damned near the last person on Earth who that would ever happen to, there are no worries here. So what’s this particular issue about? There’s John’s intro, and life has gotten him down this time around, which I don’t like to see. I get it, what with [gestures arms wildly at the world in general], but John has a seemingly effortless ability to find joy and beauty in the little things, so I hope that’s getting him through. Stories in here deal with a few of those quiet, joyful moments, finding the beauty in his medicine cabinet of all things, some of the landmark groundhogs he found driving around in 2020, a few more simple moments, an absolutely adorable strip called “Where’s Miss Moo” in which we all try to spot his cat, and how sparrows handle rain. Among a few other things, because as always I’m not going to tell you every story. A couple of the highlights are the piece about how Saturdays have evolved for him over the years (starting as the best day of the week, to just another day once he entered retail work, and finally drifting back to the best day of the week) and a brief but hilarious history of his eyebrows. John’s in his early 50’s, and anybody around there will be able to relate with how eyebrows get absolutely ridiculously out of hand as you age. There’s also the usual text highlights of his comics: a list with brief descriptions of some of his more notable dreams, his top 40 list (that, as always, is as many actual numbers as he wants, which may or may not be 40) and his reader letters. It’s still one of the more complete mini comics around, he’s still putting them out, all these years later. Get it, think about life, and enjoy. $5

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King Cat #80

It’s a new King Cat! I’m still tempted to just leave that up as the review for one of these comics. What more needs to be said? I was curious to see how John was weathering the pandemic; I had the hunch that he’d be more OK than most, as it would leave him ample time to observe nature and spend quiet time contemplating. I don’t know all of the details of his current life by any stretch, but the mentions of the pandemic that he did put in here made me think I was at least close to accurate in my guess. He also put something new in here (unless my memory is garbage and he’s done this before; always a possibility): four pages of his dreams. Not comics about his dreams, and not long paragraphs or pages of the same dream where you lose all interest, but quick sentences of short paragraphs of his dreams. And they are an absolute delight, so you’ll get no further details from me. Other stories in this edition deal with his recent marriage (if congratulations can be appropriately given in a review, then congrats!), quiet morning walks, an absolutely heartbreaking obituary of his dog (that he can’t even bring himself to draw because he’s still in too much pain over a year later), the story of how they found their new dog, various observations on nature and the varmints he’s seen, a few letters, another top 40 list (that’s actually almost 40 this time), and his time birdfeeding during the quarantine and his routine. He also got me to laugh out loud with the final panel of his strip about going to bed with cold feet, so kudos on that. Look, it’s still King Cat, it’s still consistently amazing in a number of ways, and you should still give it a shot, even and especially if you’ve never read an issue before. Why not start with #80? $5

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King Cat #74

So I noticed recently that I never got around to reviewing King Cat #74 (it’s July 2020 right now, this book came out in 2013). How does this happen? Who knows? And is it worth it for me to remind the readers that this book came out in 2013? Eh, if it reminds anybody to get caught up on their King Cats, it’s worth it. This one actually recounts his life at the time in a three page essay, which is rare for these books, so the whole story of his move from a small, grim town in Illinois to just over the border in Wisconsin is in here. Later it’s also one of the comic stories, but with something he didn’t mention in the essay: they found a bat soon after he moved in, and since it was too cold to release it into the wild, they had to quickly come up with a plan to save it. Other stuff in here includes several short poems of his thoughts while lying in bed, a series of pictures of local bridges, letters, his top 40 list (as I’ve said, it’s from a different time, and actually reminded me of a few more books that I missed), and an obituary for his girlfriend’s dog. The main story highlight for me was his tale of how he gave up on deodorant nearly 20 years earlier (at the behest of his 1994 girlfriend who thought it caused Alzheimer’s) and lived his life without it until one fateful day. He had no time to shower, had to spend the day at a convention where he was working closely with people, and his usual methods to control the smell weren’t working. As somebody who’s run into John at several cons now I can honestly say that I never thought he stunk, for whatever tiny bit that’s worth. Bottom line is that this is another issue of King Cat and, as such, well worth picking up. And now I can rest easy knowing that I’ve had at least something to say on King Cat #61-79, with several other odds and ends included… $4

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King Cat #78

So I just glanced through older King Cat reviews and realized that I somehow never got a copy of #74. Just so you know, it’s taking all my willpower to write this review instead of tearing through all my old comics to see if I have a copy somewhere that fell through the cracks. That being said, it’s time for a new issue of King Cat! For lots of you, that’ll be all you need to read; I understand completely. For the rest of you, I’m running out of ways to convince you that King Cat is required reading. I’ve mentioned that there almost certainly wouldn’t be a website without John and the inspiration of his Spit and a Half distro, I’ve talked about the influence he’s had on a whole generation of comics artists, I’ve mentioned the feeling of calm that comes over me whenever I read one of his comics… I know! I can talk about this particular comic. If the rest of the arguments didn’t grab you it’s a long shot, but it’s all that’s left for me to do. This time around stories deal with his two dogs and two cats (and their interactions with each other and him), nature facts that he’s learned recently, how the smell of mothballs make his nostalgic and the terrifying warning label he found on an old box of them, and a walk in the woods. There’s also his top 40 list (which has quite possibly never been exactly 40 things) and the best letters page in comics. As always, this is my simplistic synopsis of what’s contained in this comic and, as always, you’d get a whole lot more out of it if you read it for yourself. This issue right here, #78? Give it a shot. $5

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King Cat #77

You know what the clearest sign would be that I had somehow become the leader of the free world? If every new issue of King Cat became a national holiday. Why not? It would give everybody the day to go to their favorite coffee shop or park, read the book and contemplate what they just read. There I go again, dreaming of a better world. As always, this review is not going to be particularly objective, because I doubt very much that this website would exist without King Cat. For this title I have no cynicism. This time around John talks briefly about his recent health and family problems, various interactions he’s had with neighborhood animals (he even includes footnotes if you wonder where he got some of his research), his latest top 40 (which, as always, is not exactly 40 things), and includes another lengthy and thought provoking letters page. But wait, there are also comics! It’s actually mostly comics, as always. Those stories include the time that his dogs caught a possum (and how he ended up saving it), the other time his dogs cornered a possum and caused it to play dead (which led to him googling how long “playing dead” took; it’s about 40 minutes to 4 hours if you’re curious), his toad Vincent from when he was a kid, that time when he took a caterpillar home as a kid and how it became a butterfly, the frogs that he kept a kid, how he kept spotting big cats in Illinois and how the authorities were oddly hesitant to admit that there was a problem, and his other time spotting a big cat in Wisconsin. Yep, a lot of nature this time around, as he’s clearly been doing some exploring. OK, what are you waiting for? There’s a new King Cat out, go buy it! $5

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King Cat #76

IMAGES WERE TAKEN FROM JOHN’S WEBSITE DUE TO MY BROKEN SCANNER. Sorry about the shouting, but I wanted to make that perfectly clear. In the future there will probably be some way to ID him just through the picture of his hand, which is one of the many reasons I don’t want it to look like I’m trying to pull one over on the guy. That and my 20+ years of the utmost respect for his work. OK, maybe it’s mostly that one. Anyway, look everybody, it’s a new issue of King Cat! I always feel like I should end the reviews there, because what else do you need to know, but that would be cheating. This comes out at a time after when John was dealing with a few serious health issues and had to cancel a few conventions to give himself a chance to heal up a bit. Fun trivia fact for just about nobody: if John had gone to SPACE this year, I would have been his table neighbor, as I was there registering voters for the local Board of Elections. Which would have been a ton of fun on my end, but I’ll take him getting healthy and making comics for another few decades over that any time. Going along with his mood and troubles, this issue is maybe even more contemplative than most, which is saying a lot. Subjects include sketching while waiting for car repairs, seeing an old couple eating from his car, memories of his old and constantly freezing apartment, and several short pieces that are his trademark illustrated poems. There are also quite a few letters, with several familiar names checking in (just in case you’ve been reading comics for as long as I have and wonder what people like Jeff Zenick, Ariel Bordeaux and Jenny Zervakis are up to). He also got a few responses to his Maisie tribute issue in #75, so if you thought you had no more tears left after reading that one, trust me, you’ll find a few more after reading some of these letters. I just reminded my 15 year old cat that she’s immortal, so I’ll stay in denial about that one for as long as is humanly possible. So yeah, obviously you should get this issue. You should get every issue of King Cat. That’s clear by now, right? If nothing else comes from 15 years of this website, I hope that sticks. John is also hurting a bit for money and has set up a Patreon page to try to help with his monthly expenses. Looks like he’s up to 224 people as of this writing, so why not help him out? You can even think of it selfishly if that helps, as if you donate over $6 a month that gets you physical copies of any comics/zines he makes. Help the guy out! Screw giving him just enough to get by every month, we should try to make him filthy rich. $5

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King Cat #75

I had quite an introduction for this review ready in my head. This comic marks the 25th anniversary of King Cat (I’ve been along for the ride for roughly 20 of those years), and I was planning to talk about his impressive body of work, the influence John has had on independent artists throughout the years, all that stuff. Then I read the comic, and all that flew right out the window. This might well be the best single issue of King Cat that John has done. I’m not going to claim that definitively without going back and reading the previous 74 issues again, but if it’s not the best single issue, it’s in the top 2 or 3. The entirety of this comic is the life story of his former cat, Maisie Kukoc. Maisie is instantly familiar to fans who have read his book for years, and what was also known to me was that Maisie had died a few years back. She popped up in stories from time to time, had several about her specifically, and she was basically just a constant presence throughout the series. And, honestly, I thought I had shed all the tears I was going to shed about the death of this cat that I had never met, but I was very wrong on that. Full disclosure: during busy times at work, I sometimes read a comic during my lunch, then write the review on the same break, putting the whole thing together for the website when I get home. Well, today I had to stop reading this comic three different times to keep myself from bursting into tears (as opposed to some manly dribbling of tears that I was denying), and even then it was all I could do to keep from sobbing by the time I got to the inevitable end. This could have easily been a tale about John’s life throughout those years, and he does provide the relevant context as her story progresses, but this is purely about Maisie and the life they had together. There are too many adorable little touches for me to mention them all, but that panel with Maisie stretching her little arms out towards John when he goes to pick her up from the vet after she suffered an illness just about broke my heart. As did him learning from a girlfriend that Maisie sat by the door five minutes before he came home every day to greet him as he came in. They had a great life together (well, she had a great life and John lived a regular human life, full of ups and downs) and she lived to a ripe old age for a cat, so I know the logical thing is to leave it there. But as Harlan Ellison once said, fuck death. There’s no doubt in my mind that some of these tears came from knowing that my cat is currently the same age as Maisie when she died, and although my cat seems healthy, things can change in a hurry, and I have a lot of trouble picturing a life without her. This comic might just break your heart a little, especially if you have pets, but I still can’t recommend it highly enough. Every pet owner is going to have to deal with this eventually, and seeing all the good times mixed in with the ending at least lessened the blow a bit. He also included a few pages of the games she loved to play at the end to try to lighten the mood a bit, but then there was his message on the back cover about how he still finds her hairs occasionally when opening a book, and it was right back to the waterworks for me. All I know is that my cat is getting some serious attention when I get home today. $5

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King Cat #73

Sure, you probably think that I give all issues of King Cat glowing reviews and that there’s no point in even reading this one, so I’ll start you off with something new: the first strip didn’t do a whole lot for me. There, criticism! Even if it is vague, as humor is subjective, and the thought of a bear sneaking in two cats to watch a slightly risque movie didn’t get a chuckle out of me. Of course, the rest of the issue is still fantastic, and that first strip is only two pages (that, again, you might enjoy just fine), so forget I mentioned it. The bulk of the book is John on the hunt for a cuckoo that he may or may not have seen, and we get a history of his various possible sightings of that bird over the years. Hey, that sounds boring. Bring on the killer robots! OK, granted, John does not have any killer robots in this at all, and if that’s what you’re looking for I’d advise you to start in a comic called something other than “King Cat.” This one, for new readers, is all about the quiet moments and the constant search for clues about life and everything. Just in case you’ve been reading small press comics for years and have never picked up a copy of King Cat, you poser you. The rest of the comic has his usual “top 40” list (that is rarely if ever actually 40 things), a few letters, John’s dream about being a monk and his ethical dilemma in it, some facts about a certain type of squirrel and a cat on shoelace patrol. Yes, John still puts out a fantastic comic on a regular basis and yes, you should still buy it. $3

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King Cat #72

I know I’ve said this before in these reviews, but why in the world isn’t John Porcellino rich and famous? Granted, you could say that very few people from this business end up rich and famous, and even those people are only famous in an underground kind of way (there’s Robert Crumb, Dan Clowes, and…), but it’s a fucking shame. I mention this because John talks about his recent divorce, his moving to Florida for another relationship and then having that fall apart too, ending up with him in a small town on the Illinois/Wisconsin border. At every step of the way there are money concerns, ending up with him living with his mother for a while, and it’s just maddening to me. I know that nobody is owed anything in this world, but quality like this should get some tangible rewards. So what did I think of the comic? You’re kidding, right? This is #72  of the series, my love for this thing is well established by now. This issue starts off with John with a shattered heart, follows him along a walk with a conclusion that makes you ache for the guy, before eventually ending up with him in his new home. He does a few pages of three panel journal strips (which may or may not be the first time he’s done this, my memory is too lousy to be sure) that show his life slowly getting better, then a big ending story about a bat that wandered into his house, how his cats reacted and how the situation was ended. There’s also a story about a very young John on LSD and how he asks a sister of a friend to marry him. That goes about as well as you’d expect. Every time I think he must have already mined all of the great stories from his youth, I realize that he still has plenty more to go. Another solid issue, and seriously, if there is even one rich person reading this with money to burn on the holidays: just give him a pile of money, OK? For the rest of you, buy his comics. He just finished illustrating a book called The Next Day (which involves interviews with four suicide survivors) and has another book coming out from Drawn & Quarterly next year, one of which would make an excellent holiday gift, and the other (when it comes out) will make an excellent Easter gift. If it’s out by then, of course, if not it’ll make a good whatever day it comes out gift.

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King Cat #71

I’ve long resisted implementing any kind of a grading scale for reviews.  No “8 out of 10” for anything, no “5 stars!”, none of that crap.  It’s not because what I have to say in the body of a review is all that important, it’s mostly just because such a simplistic way of doing things really belittles something that took an artist weeks, months or even years to accomplish. That and it often makes little sense; I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read a review on CHUD.com tearing a movie to pieces, explaining in excruciating detail how every little thing about the film is terrible… and then they give it a “4 out of 10” grade.  It’s gibberish, I tells ya!  So why bring this up?  Even with my feelings against such a system, I’m starting to think I could grade King Cat comics on a “wistfulness” scale.  It would still be simplistic and cheap, but it might be handy for the folks out there who can’t wait for each issue.  This issue is more wistful than most, as John moved to Gainesville, FL at some point during the making of the comic and has apparently ended up there without his cats, which is mildly baffling to me, but he doesn’t get into it (or I read the last story of the book and assumed that that’s still his situation, which is probably wrong).  Stories in here include a pearl of wisdom from Jesus (the guy had a lot of nice things to say, too bad he’s depicted now as a dude who wants poor people to suffer), a daydream about a missed personal connection, a genuine white trash moment, another one that isn’t labeled as such, a visual aid to all the new forms of life John is seeing in Florida, a drunken lighter request, some lingering silence, and a really fantastic essay detailing Denver before everything became profoundly commercialized.  Of all the comics in the world, I hope I can say “more of the same” with this one and have the reader understand what a unique and tremendous thing that is.  I also love John’s willingness to just get up and go when he thinks that life is pushing him in a specific direction; if only everybody had that kind of courage.  In conclusion: of course you should get it.  If there was an issue that disappointed you, I’m going to resist the urge to say it was your fault and just say that this issue in particular really moved me, for whatever that is worth…$3

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King Cat #70

20 years of King Cat!  Holy crap.  I’ll have to try and not think about the fact that a chunk of people reading this weren’t even alive 20 years ago.  As an anniversary issue is the perfect time for nostalgia, if memory serves (and it often doesn’t) my first exposure to John was in King Cat #38, the issue where he talks about the life and death of his dog and the role it played in his life.  I was hooked instantly and went back and got as many of the older issues as I could find which, sadly, wasn’t all that many.  There still hasn’t been anything approaching a definitive collection of his work, probably because he’s ashamed of some of his older stuff, but I’m always all for putting a body of work out there, warts and all.  Everybody reading this already knows all about King Cat, of course, and all of you have sent John money for his comics at least once by now.  Hey, he’s even started Spit and a Half back up, and if you never heard of it and get nothing else out of this review, click on that link to see a wide selection of incredible minis that John somehow has the time to distribute himself.  So how about what’s in the book, am I ever going to get to that?  I kind of figured that a positive review was a given at this point, but since you insist, stories in here include how he’s given up drinking (but would like very much (at times) to give up the giving up), how maybe the pace of the suburbs is best for him after all, some adorable neighborhood animals, getting his wisdom teeth out because his insurance was about to run out, a dream and a bag of chips, Do the Pete Duncan, and a follow-up on Square Head John from issue #67.  As usual, that’s not all, as there’s also his top 40 list (expanded this time around), some one panel strips dealing with cats and a few other stories that I didn’t mention to leave you some surprises for when you inevitably order this comic.  You do like to be surprised, right?  And you do like great comics?  The man’s been doing this often thankless, poverty-inducing job for 20 years, send him some money out of love and gratitude, why don’t you?  I can’t think of anybody who deserves it more.  $3

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King Cat #69 Now Available!  $3

This has to be the cheeriest King Cat I’ve seen in ages.  Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean that as an insult, but it’s hard not to feel like you know John a little bit from reading his comics (probably stupid to think that, but it’s still hard not to) and it seemed like a lot of things were going poorly for him.  A return to cheeriness means, to my addled brain, that maybe he’s doing better in his real life, and that’s always good news.  Stories in this issue deal with John telling an origin story of sorts of his taste in music, John and his wife getting two new cats (and many shorter pieces detailing their adventures, John’s trademark (is it trademarked yet?  The man should look into it) ability to see the beauty in the quiet moments, and the piece that made me laugh out loud, Comb-Over.  As always with this man, checking out his latest work shouldn’t take prodding, it should be a requirement for any thinking person who likes these funny books.

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King Cat #68 Now Available! $3

First off, my condolences to John after the death of his cat (which anybody who has read this book at all has seen countless times over the years), Maisie Kukoc. Speaking as somebody who has a cat on his lap at the moment, it’s hard to overstate just how awful it is to have a loved pet die, especially one as obviously thoroughly loved as Maisie was. The comic itself is all about being in a time of transition, as John moves back to Denver with his wife and cat. There are random observances from the road, stories of Diogenes, bits about the importance of an anthill and a quiet moment with his cat, along with the usual “top 40” and other text pieces. The possible highlight of the book (in a series where it’s almost impossible to pick out highlights) was the showdown between two squirrels on a power wire, something I won’t spoil for everybody who is obviously going to go out and pick this up and the first available opportunity anyway. And again, sorry about your loss, John. I’d like to tell you that things will get better, and they will, gradually, but with this coming on the heels of a general sense of giving up on this insane world, well… $3

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King Cat #67 Now Available! $3

How on earth did I miss a King Cat?  For those of you who read these reviews sequentially (i.e. every person who clicks on John’s name, I imagine), I somehow didn’t read this one, even though it was actually sitting in a box, in my room with all the other comics available for sale, for a couple of years.   Seeing as how I almost certainly wouldn’t have this website and/or still be reading comics if it wasn’t for John, that’s baffling.  But enough about me, how about the comic?  Go ahead and scroll around the page if you want, there will probably be no shock here: I loved it.  It’s odd reading these things out of order, as by #69 John seems to be in a much happier place, but things were much different in the dark days of #67.  A few of the stories are just John lying in bed, obviously unable to sleep, worrying about various aspects of his life or life in general.  He’s also clearly in some pain from what appears to be stomach surgery of some kind, but is unwilling to really complain about it.  Ah, that good old “heartland” stoicism.  Stories in here include sleeping in the car in L.A. with his cat (after the hotel wouldn’t allow pets), getting advice from teaboxes, Maisie’s eyes, a tale of courting his wife from back in the old days, and, as he couldn’t leave it on such a depressing note, the story of a walk that left him with a strong sense of hope.  There’s also a fantastic text piece about Square-Head John, and you can guess what stories would come from such a name but I’m not going to spoil a thing.  Highly recommended, as always, and only crazy people aren’t already reading this book religiously.  Are you a crazy person?  $3

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King Cat #66 Now Available! $3

The machine that is King Cat just keeps rolling along, as this one deals mostly with John’s time in Elgin a few years back. John spends a quiet afternoon raking the yard (or a quiet few minutes raking the yard, after that all the neighborhood kids come over to help out), then follows that up with a game of touch football, minus the Hollywood ending. The other big story in here is a mostly silent piece with John taking a long drive out to a mound of gravel, with the trademark King Cat appreciation of all the silent moments in life. Other than that, this seemed like an unusually quick read, and I figured out why that is: no top 40 list. It just feels wrong. There’s a heartbreaking letter about a neighborhood friend getting sick, but other than that it’s a remarkably quick read. It’s still King Cat so you’ll still love it though, so don’t fret too much… $3

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King Cat #65 Now Available! $3

Having a crappy day/week/life? Pick up an issue of this and just try and stay depressed. Not that it’s ever a collection of “rah rah” type life affirmation, but it’s impossible to stay sad with John’s quiet stories about wandering and searching for something in this world. This issue is a collection of places. Elgin (where John still feels at home), a band trip years ago to Iowa, DeKalb in the early 90’s, a trip to a state park in Kansas, and country roads in Denver. Also included, of course, is his “Top 40” list (it’s been a while since I’ve seen it actually at 40) and his text pieces, if possible, are even more beautiful than his drawn stories. Hey, if you read any other part of this page it shouldn’t come as a shock that I love his stuff. This is just another exceptionally great issue from the series that makes it impossible for me to give up hope in the potential of this medium. Not that I’m trying to put any pressure on the guy or anything…

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King Cat #64 Now Available! $3

This issue came out soon after John’s Dad died, so this is filled with memories of his father and comics about the days immediately after he died. Naturally, it’s somber as can be and it makes you realize that if you have any relatives at all that you like you should probably give them a call every now and then. John was incredibly close to his father and this whole thing reads like his heart has been crushed, which I guess it has. It’s not possible to do much of a review on something like this, so all I can say is that it’s still King Cat, and if you love the other issues you’ll love this one too, but it’ll also break your heart to read it. $3

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King Cat #63

I’m still not sure how I manage to miss new issues when they come out, but at least that way I have more than one to read when I finally do hear about them, right? I can’t tell if this is my favorite issue in years or if it’s just the fact that I haven’t read a new one in years, but I loved this. Stories in here are about his history of alcohol, haircuts, a freakish fly, another “top 40” list and plenty of his one or two page “zen poetry” style comics. If you’ve read them you know what I mean. Fantastic, damned near flawless, not like you’re going to get anything close to an objective review out of me on a King Cat, but that’s my opinion. $2.50