![]() Unfortunately two of his most solid anchors disappear during the course of this retrospective work, and there are eulogies of remembrance, of moments shared – yet more acknowledgement and appreciation – that are beautiful to behold.Īs I say, KING-CAT is a very kind comic, very brave and very intimate. I used to like to explore so often I don’t make the time anymore. John also does a lot of walking to stave off or alleviate those symptoms, by day and at night, popping down alleys purely because he’s never done so before. So those early days in SF were open and free, and the creative spirit of the city inspired me.” New surroundings, while fear-inducing at first, often-times relieved my symptoms – everything was fresh and hadn’t yet taken on a multi-layered patina of anxiety. Moving home is a double-edged sword for someone with John’s OCD as he explains succinctly in the back of his move early on here to San Francisco: Vilification met with genuine care and compassion. “Brother,” asks the Hippie Girl, innocently, “What happened to your smile?!” The one-page prologue, ‘Hippie Girl’, is highly unusual except in its retrospective self-recrimination at his anger after being ravaged by OCD (it was drawn last year, but occurred during this period circa 2006) emphasised by the love heart between “Hippie” and “Girl” and its direct, cut-through-the-bullshit, priority punchline: Indeed, his very occasional allusions to his mental health within the body of KING-CAT itself cause him nothing but more grief and guilt. You’re going to witness remarkably little of that in his comics – which is as extraordinarily restrained as the comics are controlled – but it’s ever so real as the notes in the back and the whole of his HOSPITAL SUITE make abundantly clear. Other times they’re brand-new discoveries, and it is quite the journey, both spiritually and geographically as John uproots himself, his wife and his cat to move house such vast distances that they take five full days of self-driving.Īnd that’s where the anchor comes in, because John needs anchors like Maisie and Misun and his Dad so desperately, and that’s where the love comes back too: giving this love and appreciation is John’s way of staying sane, of holding on hard to hope when the crushing adversity is so crippling at times that he cannot create. ”That warm light inside that tells you it’s safe Sometimes they’re pivotal moments, like his history with drinking (it wasn’t good he stopped) sometimes they’re reflections that have since taken on new meaning to him along his journey. ![]() They’re almost always dated, both the memories and their commitment to paper. John is as likely to recall memories from many moons ago as he is to tell you more recent tales. Porcellino also lists his ‘King-Cat Top 40’s, scattered with more tiny hearts, as a positive way of acknowledging and publicly appreciating anyone and anything that has brought him joy in the making of each semi-annual KING-CAT comic or during their intervening months: friends, music, pictures, books, places, sensations, more light, more nature, more moments, and memories too. Sometimes he’ll simply tell you about a tree. Breezes carry scents and he notes those too.įoxes, skunks and squirrels are observed, sometimes sought after, and flora is cherished as much as fauna. Sometimes he evokes them verbally, poetically often he leaves his clean and precise pictures, already full of space, to do that instead. The weather, as well: sunshine, wind, rain and snow. Light comes constantly under his appreciative gaze, during the day and at night and those hours of spectacle in between. Throughout these pure, direct and above all honest, mostly autobiographical short stories, John receives love from his wife Misun and his cat Maisie in a quiet, unfussy and far from cloying fashion, and he returns this adoration to Misun, Maisie and – with awe and appreciation – to the abundant wonder which he perceives all around him. I think it’s perfect, both for Diogenes and for John. Porcellino gives Diogenes a couple of tattoos: an anchor on his right arm, a love heart on his left. “Diogenes said:”I’m searching for the bones of your father, but I can’t tell them apart from those of a slave.”” “Alexander the Great came along and asked him what he was doing… “One day Diogenes was sorting through a pile of bones… Yet it’s not without its moments of comedy, especially where insight’s involved. It’s also very brave and astonishingly intimate. It is clear, concise and enormously thoughtful. From Lone Mountain (£16-99, Drawn & Quarterly) by John Porcellino. Featuring John Porcellino, Jason, Nicolas Wild, Brendan Fletcher, Karl Kerschl, Jordie Bellaire, Vanesa Del Rey and even Eddie Campbell, after a fashion.
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