The following is an interview with publisher/creator/advocate/activist Denis Kitchen regarding the recent launch of his Kickstarter campaign for the documentary, Oddly Compelling, highlighting his nearly 60-year career in the comic book industry. In this interview, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief Barbra Dillon chats with Kitchen about his experience in revisiting his body of work throughout the production process, the incredible backer rewards available to supporters of the campaign, and more!
Barbra Dillon, Fanbase Press Editor-in-Chief: You recently launched a Kickstarter campaign in conjunction with filmmakers Soren Christiansen and Ted Intorcio for the documentary, Oddly Compelling, capturing your work as a publisher, creator, advocate, and activist. Over the course of your interviews with Christiansen and Intorcio, what has been your experience in revisiting your body of work?
Denis Kitchen: Hi, Barbra—Thirty years was how long my publishing company, Kitchen Sink Press, existed (1969-99), but my full career actually spans almost sixty years! It’s been a very strange experience being spotlighted like this. It’s comforting to some degree that the filmmakers think I deserve this professional overview, and so I’m cooperating fully. I’ve given them access to archival material, old videotapes, etcetera. The cumulative effect of all this attention and camera pointing can at times be head swelling. Fortunately, my wife and daughters are doing a good job of keeping my ego in check. 😉
BD: Your work has spanned various aspects of and avenues within the comics industry. Was there anything in particular about the sequential art medium that attracted you more than other artistic media?
DK: I devoured comic books and newspaper strips, starting at a very early age. During that era virtually every family had a daily paper delivered, with pages of strips, and neighborhood kids swapped stacks of 10-cent comics. Television sets then had tiny black-and-white screens, so there wasn’t much entertainment competition. So, my intense love for this medium spans my full memory. I began creating my own comics from a young age, too, continuing into college. But at a time when my artistic skills were maturing, I also wanted to be a surrealist painter. I still have paintings from that period, and I’ve done overtly surreal comic books (Mondo Snarfo) and still do work in that vein today (Creatures from the Subsconscious). But as a practical matter, I realized early on that it’d be easier to make a living as a cartoonist than a surrealist—not that either is exactly easy! So, after my first self-published work, Mom’s Homemade Comics, proved viable in the late ‘60s, my career trajectory was assured.
As you indicate, I’ve worn a lot of hats in this crazy business. I suspect I’m the only cartoonist who was also a publisher, distributor, and retailer, not to mention an agent. Can you think of another? I don’t look back with any regret at choosing the sequential art medium, but now and then I wonder how following the footsteps of Salvador Dali and Rene Magritte might have worked out.
BD: In revisiting your work as a creator, was there anything new or intriguing that you took away from the imagery that you hadn’t anticipated when originally creating it?
DK: Interesting question, but I’m not sure I have an interesting answer. I certainly wince when I look at certain elements of my earlier work, a common feeling for most artists. Some of the earlier work is technically naive, such as drawing with a ballpoint pen before discovering sable brushes; or politically insensitive, in the way I often exaggerated bosoms; or drawing anatomically impossible arms or hands even within my rubbery cartoon style. But by and large I simply accept such deficiencies for what they are. I prefer to see what I think is a steady evolution of drawing style, storytelling, and imagination.
BD: What can you tell us about your shared creative process in working with Christiansen and Intorcio to fully encapsulate the breadth of your career?
DK: Soren and Ted have been very open and honest about every step, and sensitive to my input and feelings. As noted earlier, I gave them full access to images and artifacts in my archives, and allowed them to open every flat file and display cabinet and record dubious outdoor creations, and, of course, was forthcoming when asked questions on camera, but that was the extent of my sharing. I’m not a filmmaker and I have no interest in imposing my sense of “direction” on what they are doing. For example, when Ted told me he wanted to animate and lip-sync some of my hideous “chipboard” creatures using my voice-over, I expressed skepticism. But when I saw the results, I was blown away. Soren likewise proposed some scenes and shots that I didn’t understand till I understood his intent in a larger film context. So, I quickly learned to respect their creative process. I may be the subject of the film, but it’s their film.
BD: Amidst the many challenges facing our community this year, Fanbase Press is focusing on the idea of “Building Your Community” to navigate a collective path forward. How do you feel that Oddly Compelling’s documentation of your efforts in support of other creators might help viewers to find a sense of community or belonging?
DK: I’m all for building community in comics, so I applaud the effort. I hope Oddly Compelling shows how one starving hippie artist, starting with no working capital or professional connections, could steadily build a successful career, accomplished in large part from the support of scores of other cartoonists, as well as distributors, retailers, fans, and even competing publishers, building community—even if not always consciously—in the process.
As an example, I started the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund in the late 1980s to help a single comic shop manager who was unfairly convicted of selling comic books the local cops didn’t like. But that initial narrow focus evolved into an umbrella organization that pulled together all elements of the comics industry for a common cause, protecting First Amendment rights. I hope the documentary helps to demonstrate that the art form we love so much needs the interaction and mutual support of many disparate elements. And every time a Maus earns a Pulitzer, or a Fun Home is adapted on Broadway, or any graphic novel hits the best-seller list, it helps broaden public awareness of comics, and the visibility of high-profile comics benefit and accrue to creators with modest sales and lower profiles who might be just a small step away from their own breakout. Embracing and celebrating and supporting fellow creators of all stripes and ages and levels of development is crucial to a sense of true community. I’ve benefited greatly from such collective interaction and I hope that message comes across.
BD: Lastly, in light of the Kickstarter campaign, are there any particular backer rewards that you would like to highlight for our readers?
DK: Well, for your readers who have an earthy sense of humor, there’s The Giant Penis That Invaded New York, an anthology book inspired by an outrageous underground comic cover I drew over fifty years ago. Creators like Noah Van Sciver, Hilary Barta, Gideon Kendall, Mark Schultz, Natascha Pollendinger, Gary Hallgren, Anja Perkuhn, and maybe twenty others all created their versions of “the rest of the story.” This book was assembled specifically for the Kickstarter campaign.
For comics fans with more conventional tastes, there’s, of course, the Oddly Compelling documentary in both DVD and streaming formats; along with psychedelic 3-D posters with glasses; various art book collections, some remarqued; vintage ‘70s underground comix; interactive postcards; and, for the high rollers, some of my original “chipboard” art. A wide variety of pretty cool stuff I think.
