Frank Stack is credited by some comics historians with creating the very first underground comic (
The Adventures of Jesus) back in 1962, well before R. Crumb's first
ZAP in 1967. Frank is not merely a respected cartoonist -- he is an accomplished painter and for many years was a tenured art professor at the University of Missouri. But we know him in our corner of the world as the creator of such comics as his iconoclastic
Jesus series,
Feelgood Funnies, Amazon, and
Dorman's Doggie, and contributions to underground anthologies like
Rip Off Comix and
Snarf. Frank collaborated with the late Harvey Pekar on
American Splendor and the graphic novel
My Cancer Year.
Frank, who very rarely attends any comics conventions, is making his first appearance at Baltimore Comic-Con. Though now retired from teaching, Frank continues to paint, make prints in his own print-making studio, and has a new comics project underway.
Denis Kitchen wears many hats in comics ("
Too many," he tells us). Like Frank, he began as a self-published underground cartoonist (
Mom's Homemade Comics, 1969), but quickly became primarily a publisher. His Kitchen Sink Press for three decades published such legendary and diverse artists as Will Eisner, Harvey Kurtzman, R. Crumb, Mark Schultz, Charles Burns, Al Capp, Scott McCloud, Neil Gaiman, Alan Moore, Eddie Campbell, Dave McKean, Howard Cruse, and countless others. Kitchen also founded the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and chaired it for eighteen years.
A monograph of his cartoons (
The Oddly Compelling Art of Denis Kitchen) was recently published. Kitchen curates exhibitions, is an art agent, a literary agent, a comics historian and author (
The Art of Harvey Kurtzman and a brand-new biography
Al Capp), and just last month announced with partner John Lind that they are bringing back Kitchen Sink Books as an imprint of Dark Horse Comics. This is Denis's 4th appearance at Baltimore Comic-Con where he has a special connection: as the representative of the Kurtzman estate, he was responsible for bringing the annual Harvey Awards to us.
"It is very exciting to have Denis Kitchen returning to Baltimore, and a rare privilege to be hosting Frank Stack at our show this year," said Marc Nathan, show promoter of the Baltimore Comic-Con. "Their combined contributions to the Underground Comix movement can't be overstated, and we're glad they've chosen to represent at the Baltimore Comic-Con."
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