Ftchi Perf

“Czap’s Magic Future Cleveland is hyper-diverse. People of color are the majority in this world. There’s every body type. Gender presentation is all over the map. The body hair situation is impressive. It’s a physical world, of flesh and blood. And unlike the kind of “happy” imagery that slides into kitsch, not everyone here is smiling all the time. Czap’s characters yell and sweat, they speak honestly and openly. They cry a lot, usually with joy, but real hot tears. Their joy isn’t easy, and that makes it familiar.”—Eleanor Davis, The Comics Journal

What if the future began in a small, queer, punk music show in the basement of a Cleveland, Ohio, house? Romantic friendships, überchic culture, magical solutions, kid think-tanks, and more make up Kevin Czap’s vision of not-so-distant America. Fütchi Perf might not depict a perfect future, but its slice-of-life vignettes, drawn in a glorious, kaleidoscopic two-color palette, visualize a utopian dream that seems almost real, but perpetually out of reach.

Kevin Czap (pronounced “chap”) was raised in Northern Virginia, studied art in Cleveland, OH, and is now based in Providence, RI. They run the micropress Czap Books, endearingly referred to as “Comics Mom.” In 2016, Czap received the second annual Cartoon Crossroads Columbus (CXC) Emerging Talent Award for their work and involvement in the comics community.