Back in 1994, while on zine tour for Andy’s Chair #3, I crashed on John Porcellino’s couch when he was living in Denver, Colorado. Shortly after that, while still on the road, I did this strip, in a crude imitation of the King Cat style. It was printed in my tour zine puppydoglove.

Anyway, the real reason I’m dredging up this bit of history is to let you know that – after a 13 year gap – Wow Cool is once again offering King Cat Comics and Stories to the world. All currently in-print issues of King Cat that do not have their contents collected (or are about to be) will be available from Wow Cool. So, that means we have issues 69-71 in stock. John will be putting out King Cat #72 very soon. That, and the previously published King Cat collections will be available from Wow Cool very soon. The book he illustrated for the National Film Board of Canada about skipping out on suicide – The Next Day – is also available right now.

John is currently on tour. Go see him if you can:

October 4-7
IOWA CITY, IA
Comics, Creativity and Culture:
Interdisciplinary and International Perspectives

With Phoebe Gloeckner, Jessica Abel, The Hernandez Brothers, James Sturm, and Joe Sacco, plus a host of comics scholars and educators!
Saturday Oct. 8 – Sunday Oct. 9
PITTSBURGH, PA
Pittsburgh Indie Expo

Saturday Oct. 22
MADISON, WI
Madison Zinefest‘

King Cat Home | John’s Blog: Maybe Blogging Will Help

Found randomly while repacking for Wow Cool’s move to new offices in San Jose. I have no recollection of drawing this. Readers of Maximum RockNRoll over a certain age (before internet comment troll-ness) will possibly find this pretty funny.

Comic story in overlapping panels. SVA Jam from 1987 featuring the usual suspects

Contributions by: Paul Komoda, Tom Hart, the late Burt Schlatter, Susan Cotter, Sam Henderson, Amantha Tsaros, Ben Jackson, Seth W. Rosenfeld, ion, Mikko Meronen, Edward Gorey (rubber stamp) and myself, Marc Arsenault. This was not completed in one place but passed around for people to fill in bits. I regret some of the goofier touches, but cannot take responsibility for all of them.

Straight from 23rd Street from over 20 years ago, we present the first in an irregular series of vintage School of Visual Arts cartoon art jams. These will mainly be from the late-80′s crew of people that were affiliated with the popular off-campus publications of the time, Funny Garbage (who, many years later, designed the SVA website you see today) and Tuna Casserole (edited by Sam Henderson, Tom Hart and myself). This first offering comes from Paul Komoda’s facebook wall. The artists are Paul Komoda, the late Burt Schlatter, Ion, Kurt Komoda and Marc Arsenault (me again). Ion and Marc’s art from that era have most recently re-emerged in the NEWAVE minicomic book from Fantagraphics.

This was drawn as part of my entry application for the Art Instruction Schools, probably in the late-80s-early 90s. You know, the draw Tippy The Turtle people that advertise on late night TV. I think they said I had promise. I never did sign up. As you can see from the link, they are still going strong. I don’t think this drawing has ever appeared anywhere else. Some background on them from Wikipedia.

Happy lucky 88th birthday to Abe “Fish” Vigoda. After much struggling with trying to fit some text from either J. G. Ballard or H. P. Lovecraft to this series of phone cam shots of a dollhouse; I finally gave up and decided to freestyle it. Got something better for me?

Special Guest Stupid Page by Sam Henderson. Culled from the vast Wow Cool archives, this gag may be 20 years old or more. You should be aware that Sam has the eleventh issue of his series The Magic Whistle: Body Armor for Your Dignity from Alternative Comics available now-online or at your local comic book shop.

This was a lot funnier 10 years ago when Jim’s Journal was a bit better known.

Guest Stupid Page by Lady Starlight, 1999

Guest Stupid Page by Lady Starlight, 1999

Lost classic from around 1989/90? Why this gem never saw print I cannot imagine. –Marc Arsenault

The two comics I’ve only seen at Fantagraphics that are memorable are “Albequerque Ben,” by Richard P. Butler, which is amazing, and a few Xeroxes of nonsense strips Al Columbia got from Marc Arsenault featuring some guy’s strip with titles like “Cassette Bird” and “I’m Gonna Pop Your Cheddar Legs.” I think both artists have socializations problems, let’s say, but the comics are amazing.
–Tom Spurgeon

The San Diego Comicon Panel transcript in which it appears

Tom Spurgeon – The Comics Reporter

Thanks Tom! Jason is clearly better at it (I like to think I’m better at getting a good gut laugh). Jason was also responsible for the slogan of the month in the Comics Journal once. Can’t quite remember what or when on that.

by Jason Martin 1991

Wall 10 by Jason Martin 1991

This strip is available on the Brown Cuts Neighbors T-Shirt.

Chicken Boy by Marc Arsenault

Not entirely true story of meeting Mark Martin and the famous Ben ‘Benny’ Burford at the restaurant at the Chattanooga Choo Choo.

Benny owns many drawings of mine, which I find bizarre. The unreadable caption in panel five should read – “Refuse to talk with their hands, probably think it’s “girly” – which is a nod to Mark Martin’s writing style.

– The Chattanooga Choo Choo, Marc Arsenault, November 29, 2007, 12:30AM

The Big Telephones by Jason Martin (1991)

The Big Telephones by Jason Martin, 1991

Sorry the engine has been rusty. I’ve been sick for a week and am still sorting through a massive photo dump from Florida. –Marc

The Big Telephones by Jason Martin (1991)

The Big Telephones by Jason Martin (1991)

The Big Telephones by Jason Martin (1991)

If you’re in Albany, New York tonight (October 22, 2007) see Jason (Wolfman) Martin thump the bass for BunnyBrains at Valentine’s (Downstairs) 17 New Scotland Ave. 6 bucks. Show starts early at 6:30 PM. Also on the bill are AIDS Wolf (from Canada), Grab Ass Cowboys, and Aux Raus.

by James Kopta 1991

The Big Telephones (1) by Jason Martin – 1991

My Shoe Stinks by Marc Arsenault – 1993

Branded Style

Vanilla Version (just the men in hats)

note: these are only in the unusual 1440×900 pixel ratio. If you display at something else… um… well, I wish you well. Art by Jason Martin circa 1991

I Hafta by Marc Arsenault. 1992

A bonus strip since this week has been so slow. When I catch up to all the goodies from the last month… Well… just wait…

Wall 10 by Jason Martin, 1991?

I’ve arrived at late Monday/early-Tuesday as comic posting time… the rotation of artists will seem a little more regular, and less Jason heavy in the future. Posts might pick up a bit too… been out of town…. gambling… No. OK, yes, gambling. At least I was winning. – Marc A on the footnote tip.

Doctor Who + The Daleks by Marc Arsenault, date uncertain…. possibly 1999.

George’s Head by Jason Martin, Summer 1991

Annoying Expressions by Jason Martin, Fall 1991

The name “The Stupid Pages” came from a classmate of mine at Niskayuna High School in Niskayuna, New York. Her name is now forgotten, but we’ll say she was Danielle (heck, she may have been)… I used to do a comic called Grunion in the school paper, and she once commented that it shouldn’t be called the funny pages… after us, it should be said that these were the stupid pages… and so they are!

illustration: Guy with the things comin out his ear to the machinery by Jason Martin, August 1990