The Thumbnail Book Reviews
by John Q McDonald --- 3 March 2003
It is difficult to describe what it is that makes any particular comic strip appealing. But for the couple hundred pages of the K Chronicles assembled in these hilarious books, I'll try. Keith Knight's humor is both biting (politically and literally) and silly. He'll make you think and he'll make you groan aloud. But the comix he draws are always funny. Knight runs the gamut from that Starbuck's they just built in your kitchen, to beauty, to modern racism and a bleak political landscape. His humor is just biographical enough to be intriguing, and pointedly observant enough so that all of us can relate on some level. All along, the drawing is vibrant, and the point of view compassionate and political without being preachy (in fact, Knight seems to be trying to offend as many as possible, all who could use a sense of humor, which is to say, all of us). I first discovered his work from his ongoing stint at Salon.com (though conversion to the e-version often makes it a little hard to read), and unfortunately not enough publications carry his work. He pushes the envelope of taste, and I hope he keeps doing so.
Also by Knight: [Red, White, Black & Blue]