Unvarnished. Punk. The New York Times. King-Cat Classix collects material from the first fifty issues of John Porcellino s King-Cat Comics as they appeared in self-published, handmade zines throughout the 1990s. These strips span Porcellino s dynamic evolution from saturated, punk drawings to his characteristic refined minimalism, revealing his work as nothing short of a catalyst that has inspired artists like Chris Ware in the emerging literary comics scene. In the inky drawings featuring beloved pets, awkward teenage one-night-stands, and everyday blunders, we see a nascent style steeped in truth and transparency one that continues to ring true today. Porcellino s mind is spread out on the page, with an uninhibited id running wildly about dreams and sexual fantasies, not unlike the gritty, stabbing pen strokes of Julie Doucet. He sketches fragmented moments and glimpses of interaction that seem to reflect the very manner in which we process memory: we are made up of a stream of consciousness, captured in fleeting mental images, and Porcellino externalizes that messy internal reality. Follow along the path of Porcellino s dynamic evolution and relish in the inspirational power of this groundbreaking collection.

John Porcellino s visual style is iconographic but infused with the authentic feeling of a note written in love or friendship. Salon. Never before have so few lines conveyed such a wealth of meaning as in John Porcellino s quietly riveting book about memory, relationships, and selfhood. During a period of isolation following a divorce, Porcellino penned Map of My Heart, endowing it with the sensitivity and emotional depth so characteristic to his minimalist style. His tender drawings and spacious panels shape an autobiographical testimony where no moment is too small or insignificant for posterity. Pensive walks in the forest, encounters with rogue woodland creatures, school yard fights, Zen meditations, long lost crushes, and childhood exploits are the heart of this therapeutic account of the ever-fleeting present.