NBPM SeqArt: MAP OF MY HEART

If there exists an "old guard" of minicomics, one of the members would certainly be John Porcellino, creator of King-Cat Comics and Stories. He's been publishing these minicomics since 1989 and has a developed a devoted following. Drawn and Quarterly has published two King-Cat collections, 2007's King-Cat Classix with material from the first fifty individual issues, and the newest compendium, Map of My Heart.

Map of My Heart collects selections from King-Cat #51 to #61, spanning from December 1996 to September 2002. During this time period, John got married and divorced; moved from Colorado to Illinois (eventually returning to CO a few years ago); suffered through illness, injuries, and depression; and began seriously studying Zen Buddhism with groups, solo, and one-on-one teaching. That's a lot to happen to a person of the course of only a few years. While King-Cat is not strictly a "journal comic", John does include significant pieces from his life in his comics.

King-Cat Comics and Stories is a heady amalgam of journal comics, remembered dreams (some from many years previous), illustrations of Zen teachings and stories, original stories, nature lessons (groundhogs! ticks! pill bugs!), hand-drawn maps of his environs, nature lessons, essays, letters, musings, and journal entries. Most issues also include the "King-Cat Top 40": a list of books, movies, music, people, places, food, experiences, whatever has made John happy lately. (Note that sometimes there's less than 40 items on the list.)

John's gentle, seemingly-simple-but-not-really drawing style often disguises the depth of these stories. I imagine that many people unfamiliar with minicomics (or even indie comics) wouldn't appreciate his clean, no shading, no crosshatching, almost empty-looking panels. Although they may seem to be simple line drawings, the stories they illustrate create more impact than the flashiest, glossiest superhero page. King-Cat is a comic that requires multiple reads to appreciate its depth.

In Map of My Heart, one of the comics that affected me most was Issue #58's "Forgiveness". It's a story of learning how every action has a consequence, and how those consequences leave lasting impressions on you. It's a great piece of sequential storytelling, where (as Scott McCloud would say), what happens in between the panels is as important as the action in the panels. Writing and inking "Forgiveness" also took a lot out of John. In an appendix, he notes the difficulties in creating this story:

"By this time, my OCD symptoms had begun creeping back into my head now and then, and this comic caused me a lot of anxiety. For instance - I remember inking this while comic in one all-night session, because I was afraid that if I fell asleep, I might die during the night and the work would go unfinished."

Of course, not every piece in the collection is as introspectively harsh as "Forgiveness". There's many shorter stories, many happier stories, and just everyday stories about working at the organic grocery, spending time with (the now dearly departed) cat Maisie Kukoc , nature, the changing seasons, and connecting with the environs. In the except below, John carefully checks Maisie for ticks after finding one on himself after a hike.


Besides selections from Issues #51 to #61, in the endmatter John also includes annotations on the selections, a few comics he did for other anthologies, a portfolio of Maisie drawings, and selections from his personal journals. Including all this extra material really helps to shape the Map of My Heart into a very personal collection.

I find myself oddly comforted reading King-Cat Comics and Stories, similar to how I feel when reading vintage Schulz. As with Schulz, the clean, uncluttered drawing style of King-Cat helps to center and focus its contents, contents that often have deep meanings that hold you on a page for an extended, awe-filled time.