James Kochalka

James Kochalka (born May 26, 1967, in Springfield, Vermont) is an American comic book artist, writer, animator, and rock musician.

His comics are noted for their blending of the real and the surreal.

Largely autobiographical, Kochalka's cartoon expression of the world around him includes such real-life characters as his wife, children, cat, friends and colleagues, but always filtered through his own observations and flights of whimsy.

His first published comics work was around 1994.

He has cited cartoonist Daniel Clowes as being a key inspiration in leading him "towards a whole world of comics that [he] never knew existed."

Kochalka strongly believes that simplicity is desirable in comics and says that "craft is the enemy", and has had public debates in print and online with other cartoonists who disagree with his position.

His comics have earned him four Ignatz Awards (Outstanding Minicomic 1997, Outstanding Series 2002, Outstanding Online Comic 2003 and 2004), a Harvey Award (Best Online Comic 2006), and multiple nominations for the Eisner Award.

His work is characterized by a simple drawing style, bright colors, and frequent appearances by cats, robots, elves, and monkeys.

Among his most widely disseminated works is a four-page story, "Hulk vs. the Rain", that originally appeared in black-and-white in an unauthorized alternative comic called Coober Skeber.

For more than 14 years, from October 26, 1998 – December 31, 2012, Kochalka kept a daily diary comic strip.

These strips have been published by Top Shelf Productions, first as The Sketchbook Diaries and then in collected form as American Elf.

Kochalka told The Onion that he wrote the first diary entry while traveling by plane to the San Diego Comic-Con.

Kochalka's friend and fellow cartoonist Brian Ralph was working on his comics on the flight, and Kochalka was inspired to begin cartooning on the plane as well.

Kochalka created diary strips during the week of the convention, and committed to doing a diary strip every day.

The story was later redrawn in color by Kochalka for inclusion in Marvel's Incredible Hulk 2001 Annual.

The first issue of his comic SuperF*ckers sold approximately 2,500 copies through Diamond Distributing.

He told an interviewer in 2002 that he had created 2,000 pages of comics by the time he completed high school.

In 2002, Kochalka said that all 5,000 copies of the first printing of the Monkey vs. Robot graphic novel had sold out.

Under the relaunched "American Elf Supersite," all the archived strips dating back to 2002 were free for all readers, while paying subscribers receive access to other comics and MP3s.

The book American Elf is a collection of Kochalka's daily diary strips, released in a large edition by Top Shelf Productions in Summer 2004, compiling five years of the daily diary strips and other supplemental material.

Kochalka's "Craft Is the Enemy" essays were collected in the 2005 book The Cute Manifesto.

Kochalka spent six years working in a Chinese restaurant in Winooski, Vermont, before leaving to devote his full energy to cartooning and music.

His song "Hockey Monkey", recorded with the band The Zambonis, was the theme song for the Fox series The Loop.

Comic book writer/artist Frank Miller told SuicideGirls that he is a "big fan of James Kochalka," predicting Kochalka is "going to become more important and it's going to be fun watching that happen. He reminds me of me when I was six years old and I came into my mother's kitchen with a bunch of sheets of typing paper folded over and stapled in the middle that were covered with drawings and I said 'Mom this is what I'm going to do for the rest of my life.' I've learned a lot from people like Kochalka because they do stuff that shouldn't work but does."

Kochalka is prolific in his comics work.

There has since been a second printing, and in an interview in August 2006 Kochalka said that over 10,000 copies of Monkey vs. Robot have been sold to date.

Kochalka created the comic Impy And Wormer, which appeared in Nickelodeon Magazine.

A second volume was released in early 2007, collecting years six and seven of the daily strips in full color.

Beginning in December 2007, Kochalka made all of his daily diary strip archives free for all readers; previously the archives had only been accessible to paying subscribers, with only the newest strip available for free.

A third volume followed in November 2008, collecting the years 2006 and 2007 in color.

In March 2011 he was declared the cartoonist laureate of Vermont, serving a term of three years.

Kochalka grew up in Springfield, Vermont.

He attended the Maryland Institute College of Art and has an MFA in painting.

In July 2012 Kochalka won the Eisner Award for his book Dragon Puncher 2: Dragon Puncher Island.

Kochalka's two primary publishers are Top Shelf Productions and Alternative Comics.

He has also published numerous short stories in comics anthologies, self-published his own mini-comics, and published graphic novels through other publishers such as Black Eye, Slave Labor Graphics and Highwater Books.

He also makes the SpongeFunnies in the SpongeBob Comics series of comics.

The strip finally ended on December 31, 2012, with one final epilogue-style strip titled "Am I alive?"

published on March 23, 2013.

Additionally, Kochalka published a tribute entry to his cat, Spandy, after her death in February 2014.