The K Chronicles
The K Chronicles is an autobiographical comic strip by the independent cartoonist Keith Knight. Until February 2010 it was updated every Wednesday at Salon.com. The strip previously appeared in the San Francisco Examiner.
Knight is an African-American artist who lives in Los Angeles. His comics often explore themes relevant to his racial heritage, as well as current events, both personal to Knight and general to the world.
Recurring characters
Keith "Keef" Knight - The cartoonist and protagonist. The strip centers mainly around his life.
Kerstin Konietzka-Knight - Keith's German-born wife.
George W. Bush - Keith has mercilessly lampooned the President of the United States and his administration since the 2000 election. In many strips, Bush is shown as a child, or having the mind of one, as shown by his tiny size and frequent childish giggling.
Dick Cheney - In contrast to Bush, Vice President Cheney appears in the strip as a sort of evil mastermind (for example, after the real-life shooting of Harry Whittington, Cheney appears and after hearing a witness say that what he did was illegal, boasts that he has already done so many illegal things, such as fixing the election, without being punished, that he is confident that he will escape penalty again). He also makes an appearance in an installment entitled "People Who Can't Be Trusted", where he is placed on the list along with people who put cats on leashes, people who have never seen The Simpsons, and others.
God - Depicted in The K Chronicles as a small rodent. In one K Chronicles Collection, "The Passion of the Keef", God appears to deliver the introduction, in which he reveals that The K Chronicles are among his favorite reading material. He also shows up at other times in the strip, such as to visit and hang out with Keith.
Evil Twin - Keith's twin sister.
Gunther - Ex-roommate and drinking buddy.
Special features
Life's Little Victories - A frequently occurring feature of The K Chronicles in which Keith lists the small victories of everyday life, such as "Running into a movie theater and making sitting down just as the lights are fading", or "Having just enough ingredients to make a fresh bowl of guacamole!" Sometimes the feature has a special theme, such as the "foreign version" which takes place when Keith is visiting his in-laws in Germany, and the "on crutches" version, taking place when Keith was on crutches for two months after tearing his Achilles' tendon.
Awards
In 2007, The K Chronicles won the Harvey Kurtzman Award for Best Syndicated Comic Strip. The other nominees were Antiques: The Comic Strip, Doonesbury, Maakies and Mutts.[1]
The K Chronicles has won "Best Comic Strip" three times in the Glyph Comics Awards, in 2006, 2007 and 2008.