Interviews
John Kelly | June 29, 2026
On the cover of Kim Deitch's new book, How I Make Comics (Fantagraphics, 2026), there's an image of the author (joined by his wife Pam Butler) sitting at his drawing table, writing out the title of the book–"How I Make Comics." At his feet sits a sheet of paper that reads: "Chapter 1: You Don't Do it Alone." That sums up the book pretty well.
For six decades, Kim Deitch has been one of comics great storytellers. In some cases, his stories are actually true. Or at least parts of them are, referencing historical events gathered from anecdote or research. Other parts spring purely from his imagination, and he treats history the way a novelist might treat mythology. At times, his Kim Deitch character will wander into the story, playing the role of narrator, witness or, at times, unreliable guide. It's always an entertaining act and one that he has been performing, and refining, since breaking into comics at the East Village Other in the mid-1960s.
In How I Make Comics, Kim explores the creative process; more precisely, he presents his creative process, as in "How Kim Deitch Makes Comics." This is not a "how-to" book for aspiring cartoonists, but rather a look into Kim's life (he is so productive that it's hard to imagine that he has time for anything besides working at the drawing table) and he spills the beans on how he pulls it off. It's not exactly a magician revealing the secret behind the trick, as that would be an extremely challenging stunt for anyone other than Kim to duplicate. And it turn out that he gives away the answer right on the cover: "Chapter 1: You Need Help." As we see throughout the book, Kim is fortunate to have a partner in his wife, Pam Butler, who understands his unique mind perhaps better than even he does. Throughout this extremely entertaining book we see Kim's process for concocting a story: Have an idea, do a first draft, run it by Pam, go back to the drawing board, repeat, repeat, repeat. Along the way, there are many detours, restarts, shifts and marvelous images of things you may expect to see in a Kim Deitch book–cats, mice, puppets, dancing circus animals, planets with eyeballs, and versions of historical people who are notable and otherwise (Forrest J. Ackerman, Ray Bradbury...Donald J. Trump). In a piece written for the Brooklyn Rail, comics historian Bill Kartalopoulos noted that "in the book’s framing sequences, the cartoonist’s pet cats careen through the apartment he and Butler share, its shelves heaving with antique stuffed animals."
