Cartoonist Keith Knight on ‘Woke,’ Politics, and the Power of Comics

Keith Knight is the creator of three popular comic strips: the Knight Life, (th)ink, and the K Chronicles. He has appeared in various publications worldwide, including the Washington Post, Daily KOS, San Francisco Chronicle, Medium.com, Ebony, ESPN the Magazine, L.A. Weekly, MAD Magazine, and the Funny Times. I sat down with Keith to talk his new show, Woke, now on Hulu, as well as politics, the craziness of 2020 and also the impact of animation and cartoon drawing by artists of color.

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There’s More Than Meets the Eye with ‘Sanpaku’ Creator Kate Gavino

If you grew up in a Japanese or Chinese household, the idea of ‘Sanpaku’ sounds really familiar. If you or a member of your family had ‘sanpaku eyes,’ which directly translate in Japanese to “three whites,” it means your eyes have white space above or below the iris is visible. In my household, as in many very traditional Asian households, to have sanpaku would mean you’d be cursed or carry around some bad luck. Only trinkets from the Buddhist temple, or whatever religion the family believes in, would protect those who had sanpaku eyes. Fortunately, I was one of the lucky ones in my family to not be “cursed” with sanpaku eyes.

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Exclusive Preview of ‘Sanpaku’ from BOOM! Studios

All week, BOOM! Studios has been conducting a spotlight on the powerful original graphic novel releases from its award-winning imprint Archaia. And we are proud to contribute to the Archaia Summer Reading series with this extended first look at Sanpaku.

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Secret Asian Man’s Tak Toyoshima Featured on Public Television

At the end of December, Central Florida’s public television’s Global Perspectives program featured a 30-minute interview with cartoonist and Secret Asian Man creator Tak Toyoshima. On the show, Tak is interviewed by Pulitzer Prize-winning John Bersia and they discuss everything from comics to education to diversity. Check out the full interview after the jump.

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SPX’s Black Art Matters Panel is Online

Back in September, we tried to get you all hyped for the 21st annual Small Press Expo in Bethesda, MD. One of the main reasons for that excitement was the (controversially named) “Black Art Matters” panel moderated by legendary cartoonist Keith Knight and featuring artists C. Spike Trotman, Whit Taylor, Ron Wimberly, and Darryl Ayo.

If you missed out on SPX this year, you can still see the panel in its entirety after the jump since the show organizers have just posted it online.

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Are You Ready for This Year’s Small Press Expo?

In less than 24 hours, the world’s best cartoonists and indie comics makers bring their talents to the DMV (that would be the DC-Maryland-Virginia area of the country, and not, alas, where you get your drivers’ license renewed) at the 21st annual Small Press Expo in Bethesda, MD.

In addition to hosting esteemed guests like Noelle Stevenson, Scott McCloud, and C. Spike Trotman (among many others), SPX is also home to the Ignatz Awards and a venue for fans of the medium to support some of the hardest working artists in all of comics. After the cut, we’re going to highlight a few of the things we’re most excited to see this weekend.

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MariNaomi Joins the Latest Hard N.O.C. Life

In a special one-on-one conversation, Keith talks to award-winning cartoonist MariNaomi about her recently launched Cartoonists of Color database and forthcoming graphic memoir Dragon’s Breath and Other True Stories from 2D Cloud and Uncivilized Books.

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Submit Your Info to the Cartoonists of Color Database

For the last several days, the award-winning cartoonist and graphic novelist MariNaomi has taken to social media to solicit names for a database of cartoonists of color she is currently assembling. And now you can help by adding your name to the list!

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