Monday, December 15, 2025

Kitchen Sink Press!


The Spirit was popular and well-remembered by fans of the 40's and 50's comic, but its place was cemented by the copious reprints over the decades. Many folks have reprinted Spirit stories, such as Harvey Comics, DC Comics, and Warren Magazines, but no publisher did more to promote the character and in doing so promote the work of Will Eisner than did Kitchen Sink Press operated by Denis Kitchen. Kitchen Sink produced the two "Underground Spirits" in the early 70's and later was on hand to pick up the reins after Warren let go, even maintaining the numbering of the magazine series. Eventually Kitchen Sink became the go-to place for old Eisner material as well as new, and even quite a bit of scholarship about the Spirit by Cat Yronwode. The Spirit was Kitchen Sink's best seller for many years and arguably made the other projects possible. 

But through it all, Kitchen Sink was a publisher of underground and just barely above ground comics such as Snarf, Bizarre Sex, and XYZ Comics among others. The company produced hits such as Cadillacs and Dinosaurs and one of the sexiest comics ever in Omaha the Cat Dancer. It was the publisher of work by Don Simpson with his first hit Megaton Man and his later more personal Border Worlds. Kitchen Sink produced other vintage material such as Steve Canyon and Fearless Fosdick and Harvey Kurtzman's Jungle Book.  

Here is a brief cover gallery of some of the strange and wild stuff they produced. 



























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2 comments:

  1. I think I saw most of these comic and books on sale in my local area but I only picked up Megaton Man and The Spirit mag. I forgot just how out there some Kitchen Sink titles were.

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    1. Denis Kitchen was at heart an underground cartoonist, and the output of the company often reflected that dynamic. Like you, I was mostly into the Spirit and Megaton Man, though great stuff like Cadillacs and Dinosaurs was good too.

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