Conventional wisdom would have us believe that old hippies burn out and fade away, but conventional wisdom never met an overachiever like Denis Kitchen.
Self-publishing his humorous, sometimes psychedelic comics in the late ‘60s led to founding the incredibly influential Kitchen Sink Press that helped launch such underground luminaries as Robert Crumb, Art Spiegelman, Trina Robbins, S. Clay Wilson, Justin Green, and Howard Cruse. Kitchen Sink weathered the ups and downs of the comics industry through the ‘90s publishing work by legendary artists Will Eisner, Al Capp, Charles Burns, and Harvey Kurtzman.
During the moral panic of the ‘80s involving police crackdowns, obscenity arrests, and censorship threats, Kitchen founded the non-profit organization Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF) to help protect targeted comic shops and alternative comics publishers.
Kitchen’s inertia continued with Denis Kitchen Art Agency, representing Harvey Kurtzman, Will Eisner, and other heavy hitters.
Throughout it all, Kitchen drew his own comics, often self-deprecating autobiography with the occasional flights of fancy into his subconscious or whimsical takedowns of corporate chicanery. These comics (and illustrations for alternative newspapers) made their way into various anthologies but have never been collected…until now!
Fellow cartoonist and founder of the comics press and distro Birdcage Bottom BooksJ.T. Yost hopes to bring a fresh audience (alongside established fans) to Kitchen’s work by compiling and risograph printing three loosely-themed collections: Hippie Komix, Square Comix, and Working Stiff Comics. These limited-edition collections (200 copies of each title) will be available through a Kickstarter campaign currently running through Sunday, September 27, 2026 at 8:55 AM EDT.
Denis Kitchen is a legend in the comics industry. The all-new documentary, Oddly Compelling, highlights Kitchen’s long, strange trip. It covers his early days as a hippie cartoonist, to his thirty years as one of the most independent comic publishers, as well as his advocacy for the First Amendment. The documentary is crowdfunding through Kickstarter.
Filmmaker Soren Christiansen and Ted Intorcio have captured hours of in-depth, candid conversations with Denis Kitchen, as well as fellow cartoonists and colleagues including Alison Bechdel, Warren Bernard, Eddie Campbell, Paul Gravett, Karen Green, Justin Hall, Gary Hallgren,Tom Heintjes, MariNaomi, Peter Poplaski, Carol Tyler, and the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund’s Interim Director Jeff Trexler. The film also features rare archival footage of comic book legends Robert Crumb, Will Eisner, and Harvey Kurtzman, along with new animation of Kitchen’s iconic cartooning. The film charts Kitchen’s career — as an indie cartoonist, a provocateur and publisher, and founder of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.
A good part of my motivation for undertaking this massive project was the opportunity to do these animations. The initial inspiration was the stop motion short, Creature Comforts by the Great Nick Parks in which man-on-the-street interviews are used in animating animals at the zoo. My idea was to animate Denis Kitchen’s drawings using Denis’ own unscripted voice for each character. I was struck by the wonderful juxtaposition of his conversational, matter-of-fact delivery with the surreal, weirdly funny but compelling characters that sprung from the mind of Denis himself. I think the results are striking, funny and somehow feel familiar in a way, giving form to Denis’ id, displaying it for all to see.
My process was to first acquire hi-res scans of the original drawings from Denis’ wife, Stacey. I then broke them down into pieces—head, body, appendages etc. The head is then further dissected into animatable features: eyes, nose, mouth etc. A particularly fun step is to create the mouth shapes (phonemes) that I’ll use to create the lip-sync for the audio using Adobe Character Animator. Once the breakdown of the character is finished I work on rigging the character in After Effects using bones (joints) and puppet tools (deformation). The character is now ready to be manipulated and the character’s performance developed. I’m not an actor but I would guess that this stage is much like what an actor does—interpreting the words and communicating emotion through the facial expression and movement of the character. The final step is to add appropriate backgrounds, color, texture and Camera movement, necessary to put the characters into context.
It has been a thrill to work with Denis on this and I hope you’ll enjoy them as much as I have enjoyed animating them! Thank you for all your kind support in making this dream a reality.
— Ted Intorcio
In 1969 Denis Kitchen founded Kitchen Sink Press and, for more than 30 years, he published many of the most prominent and innovative creators in comics, including such legends as Will Eisner, Harvey Kurtzman, Robert Crumb, Charles Burns, Al Capp, Milton Caniff, Howard Cruse, Trina Robbins, Mark Schultz, Art Spiegelman, Scott McCloud, Alan Moore, the ground-breaking Gay Comix series, and countless others. In 1989, Kitchen formed the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund after comic store manager Michael Correa was convicted of possession and sale of so-called “obscene” material, which included a series published by Kitchen Sink Press.
Kitchen subsequently raised money for experienced defense attorneys, resulting in the overturn of Correa’s conviction on appeal, and the organization Kitchen founded continues to fight ongoing First Amendment cases. Denis Kitchen’s comics have been collected in multiple books; his most recent is the acclaimed Creatures From the Subconscious from Tinto Press. His original art has been in numerous one-man and group exhibitions, and he was just granted an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Wisconsin.
Oddly Compelling documents Kitchen’s career and activism and also explore his personal collection of curiosities. Kitchen has amassed an astonishing array of unusual collectibles, from over 100,000 vintage postcards, scores of Big Boy, Kewpie, and celluloid figures, metal toys and robots, to original comic art and political buttons. He has also spent years creating “The Valley of Frankenstein Dolls,” an eccentric outdoor art project that offers unique eye candy throughout the documentary.
The team behind the documentary Oddly Compelling reports that famed cartoonist and Macarthur “Genius” Award recipient Alison Bechdel, author of Eisner Award-winning graphic memoir Fun Home, will now be featured in Oddly Compelling: The Denis Kitchen Story. Alison joins a cast of warrior artists, publishers and advocates on the front-line defenses of one of our most basic human rights; the right to free speech.
With First Amendment Rights being challenged on a daily basis, the upcoming documentary about legendary cartoonist and publisher, Denis Kitchen, is more relevant than ever.
Denis Kitchen is a legend in the comics industry. The all-new documentary, Oddly Compelling, highlights Kitchen’s long, strange trip. It covers his early days as a hippie cartoonist, to his thirty years as one of the most independent comic publishers, as well as his advocacy for the First Amendment. The documentary is crowdfunding through Kickstarter.
Filmmaker Soren Christiansen and Ted Intorcio have captured hours of in-depth, candid conversations with Denis Kitchen, as well as fellow cartoonists and colleagues including Alison Bechdel, Warren Bernard, Eddie Campbell, Paul Gravett, Karen Green, Justin Hall, Gary Hallgren,Tom Heintjes, MariNaomi, Peter Poplaski, Carol Tyler, and the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund’s Interim Director Jeff Trexler. The film also features rare archival footage of comic book legends Robert Crumb, Will Eisner, and Harvey Kurtzman, along with new animation of Kitchen’s iconic cartooning. The film charts Kitchen’s career — as an indie cartoonist, a provocateur and publisher, and founder of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.
In 1969 Denis Kitchen founded Kitchen Sink Press and, for more than 30 years, he published many of the most prominent and innovative creators in comics, including such legends as Will Eisner, Harvey Kurtzman, Robert Crumb, Charles Burns, Al Capp, Milton Caniff, Howard Cruse, Trina Robbins, Mark Schultz, Art Spiegelman, Scott McCloud, Alan Moore, the ground-breaking Gay Comix series, and countless others. In 1989, Kitchen formed the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund after comic store manager Michael Correa was convicted of possession and sale of so-called “obscene” material, which included a series published by Kitchen Sink Press.
Kitchen subsequently raised money for experienced defense attorneys, resulting in the overturn of Correa’s conviction on appeal, and the organization Kitchen founded continues to fight ongoing First Amendment cases. Denis Kitchen’s comics have been collected in multiple books; his most recent is the acclaimed Creatures From the Subconscious from Tinto Press. His original art has been in numerous one-man and group exhibitions, and he was just granted an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Wisconsin.
Oddly Compelling documents Kitchen’s career and activism and also explore his personal collection of curiosities. Kitchen has amassed an astonishing array of unusual collectibles, from over 100,000 vintage postcards, scores of Big Boy, Kewpie, and celluloid figures, metal toys and robots, to original comic art and political buttons. He has also spent years creating “The Valley of Frankenstein Dolls,” an eccentric outdoor art project that offers unique eye candy throughout the documentary.
The exhibit takes a broad look at Kitchen a cartoonist and seminal figure in American comics. It follows him from his undergraduate days at UW-Milwaukee as a budding illustrator through struggles and triumphs at independent newspapers in Wisconsin. The exhibit follows the ups and downs and changes in the comic industry and Kitchen’s impact as an editor and publisher at Kitchen Sink Press, and more.
On December 15, 2024, UWM recognized Denis with an honorary Doctorate in Media, Cinema, and Digital Studies. UWM Underground asks visitors a deceptively simple question: what are comics for? In typical Denis fashion, this exhibition suggests that they might be everything but – or including – the kitchen sink.
Gallery is closed between the Fall 2024 and Spring 2025 semesters, December 15, 2024 through January 20, 2025 with the exhibit running until February 20.
The Boston Comic Arts Foundation has announced the annual Underground Visionary Award, given each year at the Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo to honor the work of an individual, publisher, or community-builder whose dedication has brought opportunity, attention, and change to the comics medium. With this award, the Boston Comic Arts Foundation recognizes people and organizations for their active engagement with the comics format, fostering creativity and community in the world of comics.
The first annual award recognizes long-time comics publisher, agent, and champion Denis Kitchen, and was presented at MICE December 8th, 2024.
The Boston Comic Arts Foundation champions the comics art form, increasing excitement about and engagement with the comics medium to create opportunities for more comics, more comics readers, and more support for comics creators. BCAF celebrates comics, graphic novels, and independent creators through art festivals, artist grants, and educational programming. Partnering with local libraries, schools, and organizations, BCAF increases access to comics by providing high-quality events and educational opportunities, which are free and open to all. BCAF supports the work of local comics creators, and is committed to fostering equity in a community of authors and readers that includes all voices.
Wherever men live, be they nomads or city dwellers, there they must have law and a man to enforce it.
Meet Detective John Law of Crossroads City. Strong, decent, hardworking and hard-nosed. He’s a man who believes in the law and order. He’s the last of a dying breed.
In 1948, Will Eisner produced the first issue of “John Law Detective”, which he intended to add to a line of self-published comics. However, after Eisner’s “Baseball Comics”, “Kewpies”, and “Pirate Comics” failed to find an audience, John Law never made it to the newsstand and was quietly dropped, with much of the original artwork reworked in 1950 for his most famous creation, The Spirit.
Featuring original stories by Will Eisner, Gary Chaloner’s award-winning reboot from 2004, including a previously unpublished John Law Story, and a forward by long-time Eisner publisher Denis Kitchen, this is a must-have for not just Eisner fans but comic collectors of all ages.
The Collected Will Eisner’s John Law is on sale March 4, 2025 at bookstores, comic shops and digital.
It’s one of two new comic book days! What are you all getting? What are you excited for? Sound off in the comments! While you think about that, here’s some comic news and reviews from around the web.
After self-publishing their work for the last decade, alternative comics creators Gideon Kendall and Doug Latino bring their visionary series to an unsuspecting audience with the hardcover collection of Wait It Gets Worse… If We Only Knew from Cosmic Lion Productions.
Described as ‘Ferris Bueller meets MAD’ – or ‘Timothy Leary meets MAD’ depending on what generation you’re from – Wait It Gets Worse… wears its underground comix influence on its sleeve. Not only have the creators paid homage to some of the industry’s greats, but they’ve received praise from those same luminaries they so admire. That includes a foreword from the legendary Denis Kitchen, alongside quotes from Drew Friedman, Gary Dumm, David Collier, and Ron Turner.
Weighing in at 270 pages and due for release in March 2024 (but on pre-order now), Wait It Gets Worse… If Only We Knew collects the best of the original series in one lush hardcover edition, along with 10 new stories and almost 50 pages of new material. Featuring both color and B&W segments, it continues the rich tradition established by the let-it-all-hang-out, autobiographical misfits of the 1960s, ‘70s and ‘80s underground movement.
In addition to collecting the best of Kendall and Latino’s work with new material and a foreword by Underground great Denis Kitchen, the book also features thematic chapter art for each section from an array of acclaimed talent – including Knight-Wallace Fellow and Xeric Award winner, Josh Neufeld, who drew the pair in a police line-up for the offence of ‘too much information’.
Small Press Expo has announced the sponsorship of the World Premiere of Married To Comics, which will be held at the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center on Friday, September 8, at 7PM.
Married to Comics, by veteran documentarian John Kinhart, is the story of graphic novelist Carol Tyler and her husband, the ground-breaking and influential cartoonist Justin Green, who passed away last year.
The documentary offers a rare glimpse into the life and art of two giants of autobiographical comics, who are also married. Laying their personal lives to bare in comics, including the intimate details of their troubled marriage, the two of them pioneered and set the bar for one of comics’ most important genres.
There will be on-screen appearances by famed cartoonists Chris Ware, Art Spiegelman, Phoebe Gloeckner, and Denis Kitchen, along with many others.
Following the screening, there will be a conversation between Carol Tyler, John Kinhart and the esteemed publisher, Gary Groth of Fantagraphics, the publisher of Carol Tyler’s award winning graphic novels.
The screening of Married to Comics is part of SPX 2023, which will be held September 9-10, with events throughout the D.C. area in the days leading up to the show. More information on SPX 2023 can be found here.
