Jack Kent

Pictures with one-word captions illustrate such action words as sleep, bathe, write, stagger, paddle, litter, and many more.

Sketchy People is a comic by Portland cartoonist, Jack Kent. Jack draws who he sees exactly how he sees them. The weird, the obtuse, the sketchy! Welcome to Sketchy People, you could be next!

Jack Kent (1920–1985) had two distinct and successful careers: newspaper cartoonist and author of children’s books. For each of these he drew upon different aspects of his personality and life experiences. From 1950 to 1965 he wrote and drew King Aroo, a nationally syndicated comic strip beloved by fans for its combination of absurdity, fantasy, wordplay, and wit. The strip’s DNA was comprised of things Kent loved—fairytales, nursery rhymes, vaudeville, Krazy Kat, foreign languages, and puns. In 1968, he published his first children’s book, Just Only John, and began a career in kids’ books that would result in over sixty published works, among them such classics as The Fat Cat and There’s No Such Thing as a Dragon. Kent’s stories for children were funny but often arose from the dark parts of his life—an itinerant childhood, an unfinished education, two harrowing tours of duty in World War II, and a persistent lack of confidence—and tackled such themes as rejection, isolation, self-doubt, and the desire for transformation. Jack Kent: The Wit, Whimsy, and Wisdom of a Comic Storyteller illuminates how Kent’s life experiences informed his art and his storytelling in both King Aroo and his children’s books. Paul V. Allen draws from archival research, brand-new interviews, and in-depth examinations of Kent’s work. Also included are many King Aroo comic strips that have never been reprinted in book form.

When a poor couple exchange socks for cheese and milk, they receive more than expected.

Billy Bixbee's mother won't admit that dragons exist until it is nearly too late.

A robin who has eaten until he looks more like a ball than a bird finds when fall comes that he can only walk south while the other robins fly.

SUMMARY: The shocking, funny yet satisfying Danish folktale of the little cat who ate the gruel he was watching over, the pot, and the old woman and in fact everyone he met. He got fatter and fatter, and then he met the woodcutter.

"Daily & Sunday comics 1950-1952"--Jacket.