James Kochalka
JAMES KOCHALKA is, without question, one of the most unique and prolific alternative cartoonists working in America today. His comics have been published internationally by almost every alternative comics publisher; he's recorded several music albums under the name James Kochalka Superstar (making him a favorite at college radio stations across the country); and he's developed animated cartoons for Nickelodeon and Cartoon Hangover.
He is the first official Cartoonist Laureate of the state of Vermont, appointed in 2011.
Among his best known works are the Monkey vs Robot series, the superpowered frathouse comedy SuperF*ckers, the beloved Johnny Boo and Dragon Puncher series for children, and his magnum opus, the decade-plus span of daily diary comics known as American Elf. James lives in Burlington, Vermont with his wife Amy, their two sons, and their cats, all of whom appear frequently in his comics.
Reviews & Interviews
Dragon Puncher (Book 3): Dragon Puncher Punches Back
"Perfect for early readers and humor enthusiasts of all ages, Dragon Puncher Punches Back is sure to delight." — Hey Kids Comics!
The world has been waiting a full decade for a new installment in this Eisner award-winning series, and now it’s finally here! Let the battle begin… again! The …
Glork Patrol (Book Three): Glork Patrol and the Magic Robot
"Glork Patrol and the Magic Robot is the kind of comic I would have loved as a new reader. The artwork is colorful and expressive and the story is silly yet exciting. Small wonder that Kochalka has won an Eisner Award for his children’s books! Highly recommended for any parent with children who …
Jimmy’s Elbow
“Notably surreal... Readers primed for nothing but laffs may be in for a surprise, as the author folds quick takes on ‘silly’ vs. ‘serious’—not to mention life, death, spiritual apotheosis, and what it means to be ‘made in America’—into the manic proceedings. [Jimmy’s Elbow] …
Johnny Boo (Book 14): Johnny Boo is Bored! Bored! Bored!
"Johnny Boo is still as sharp and adorable as ever, and this stand-alone story makes for a great jumping on point to the series at large. Kochalka has a Mo Willems–like ability to take a limited number of sight words and make them into a genuinely funny book. — School Library Journal
Even …
Monkey vs Robot: The Complete Epic
A magnum opus from one of the giants of indie cartooning finally gets its due -- in full color, and expanded with a new 120-page grand finale!
"An expressive, funny-sad book that rewards us with its deft execution." — Artbomb
"The Monkey Vs. Robot books are like the best of children’s …
Top Shelf Action Pack #1
by McLeod, Venditti, Huddleston, Lemire, Moore, Campbell, Kochalka, Brown, & Powell
A DIGITAL EXCLUSIVE RELEASE!
Welcome to the Top Shelf Action Pack! This 168-page monster is a FREE digital smorgasbord of Top Shelf talent, an explosive expo of some of our greatest authors and artists.
Inside you'll find pulse-pounding chapters from Infinite Kung Fu, The Homeland Directive, …
Glork Patrol (Book One): Glork Patrol on the Bad Planet
"Calibrated for pure young-reader joy by a long-standing master of comics eccentricity." — Booklist
"With oversized panels, whimsically styled characters, and an eye-catching palette, the book should dissolve readers into giggles as they watch the wacky warrior make one comically bad decision …
Glork Patrol (Book Two): Glork Patrol Takes a Bath
"Hilarious... There’s a lot of slapstick humor and a lot of totally absurd situations, so if your kid likes extreme silliness, this is a fun series to share." — GeekDad
"A perfect graphic novel for adults to read to children... Full of smart cartooning, kids will love it for the colourful …
Johnny Boo's Big Boo Box (Slipcase Set of Books 1-5)
Johnny Boo is the best little ghost in the whole world, because he has Boo Power. This means that he can go "BOO" really loudly! His pet ghost named Squiggle has Squiggle Power, which means that he can fly and do really fast loop-the-loops. Together they have the world's greatest ghost adventures! …
Johnny Boo (Book 1): The Best Little Ghost
Featured on ALSC's Graphic Novel Core Reading List (Grades K-2)!
"Johnny Boo is the latest creation by the multi-talented James Kochalka. Watch as Johnny and Squiggle encounter the Ice Cream Monster for a 'party in his tummy' of a different kind! Fun for kids of all ages, it's AWESOME!" -- DJ …
Johnny Boo (Book 2): Twinkle Power
"Kochalka's simple line drawings and bright crayon colors stand out in this sweet, silly graphic novel. Children will easily identify with Johnny Boo’s sense of fun and with his fear at meeting someone new." -- Snow Wildsmith, Booklist
Johnny Boo has boo power and his pet ghost Squiggle has …
Johnny Boo (Book 3): Happy Apples
"A landmark book for the kindergarten crowd." -- School Library Journal
"Kochalka's command of the comic form is sublime and adorable. Kids will love Johnny Boo." -- Harry Bliss, illustrator of Diary of a Worm
The full-color, all-ages hit series returns! In this adventure, Johnny Boo has …
Johnny Boo (Book 4): The Mean Little Boy
"Perfect for beginning readers." -- Publishers Weekly
"Kochalka's command of the comic form is sublime and adorable. Kids will love Johnny Boo." -- Harry Bliss, illustrator of Diary of a Worm
"Johnny Boo is sweet without being sugary and comfortably familiar yet fresh on every page. All in …
Johnny Boo (Book 5): Does Something!
A TOP SHELF KIDS CLUB BOOK!
What does Johnny Boo do when there's nothing to do? Johnny Boo Does Something! In fact, he does a LOT of things!
Watch Johnny Boo have a Boring Adventure and discover Yawn Power, write an angry letter to Ice Cream Magazine, get a squiggly new hairdo, fall to the …
Johnny Boo (Book 6): Zooms to the Moon!
Johnny Boo zooms to the moon on a star-powered skateboard, where he meets a spunky little girl ghost named Susie Boom. She has BOOM power, which is pretty darn loud. Luckily, the moon has ice cream. But oh no! It also has an ice cream monster, just like back on Earth. This book fulfills the …
Johnny Boo (Book 7): Goes Like This!
"A playfully wacky, colorful graphic novel... [that] might even encourage young readers to try to drawing their own adventures! Highly recommended." — Children's Bookwatch
Johnny Boo and Squiggle come across a giant pencil! Is it... magical? Whatever it is, when Johnny Boo draws with it, his …
Johnny Boo (Book 8): Johnny Boo and the Ice Cream Computer
Winner of the Eisner Award — Best Publication for Early Readers!
Featured on the 2019 Texas Little Maverick Graphic Novel Reading List!
“Fun for kids of all ages. It's AWESOME!" — DJ Lance Rock, host of Nick Jr's Yo Gabba Gabba!
"Perfect for beginning readers." — Publishers …
Johnny Boo (Book 9): Johnny Boo is King!
Praise for Johnny Boo:
"A perfectly silly early chapter-book graphic novel for kids new to reading on their own... totally funny and appealing." — Youth Services Book Review
The beloved young-reader series by Eisner Award winner James Kochalka returns with a new adventure fit for a …
Johnny Boo (Book 10): Johnny Boo and the Midnight Monsters
The best little ghost in the world — and his pet ghost, Squiggle — continue their award-winning adventures with a spooky story that can turn any night into Halloween!
Are you scared of the dark? Did you know that when the clock strikes twelve, that’s when the midnight monsters come out? …
Johnny Boo (Book 11): Johnny Boo Finds a Clue?
Johnny Boo and Squiggle team up with old friends in a jaw-dropping new adventure--to solve a very silly mystery!
The Eisner-Award-winning Johnny Boo series just keeps getting wilder and funnier! This time, a secret thief has stolen Johnny Boo’s ice cream. Armed with his mighty magnifying …
Johnny Boo (Book 12): Johnny Boo and the Silly Blizzard
James Kochalka's beloved Eisner-award-winning series takes a wintry turn as Johnny Boo and Squiggle discover the delights of eating snow -- and the importance of staying warm!
Kids love to eat snow! It looks a lot like ice cream… hey, maybe it really IS ice cream! Johnny Boo and Squiggle are …
Johnny Boo (Book 13): Johnny Boo Goes to School
Johnny Boo doesn’t know what school is, but if Squiggle is going, he wants to go too! School is where you have to wear an apple on your head so the teacher doesn’t mistake you for ice cream and eat you accidentally, right? Well, maybe if your teacher is the Ice Cream Monster.
There’s so …
Johnny Boo Meets Dragon Puncher!
"Quirky, cute, imaginative, and endlessly re-readable." — GeekDad
Selected for the 2018 Graphic Novel Reading List (Grades K-2) from ALSC (Association for Library Service to Children)!
From the winner of the Eisner Award for Best Publication for Early Readers!
James Kochalka, the first …
Dragon Puncher (Book 1)
"Kochalka channels his inner child as well as any comic book creator who has ever lived." -- Timothy Callahan, Comic Book Resources
"Kochalka's work makes me feel like I did when I was six years old. He brings the joy back to comics." -- Frank Miller, creator of Sin City, 300, and Batman: The …
Dragon Puncher (Book 2): Island
Winner of the Eisner Award for Best Publication for Early Readers!
“An incredibly silly story with some of the most imaginative storytelling I’ve seen in a while. No wonder the kids go crazy for it!” — Bleeding Cool
A TOP SHELF KIDS CLUB BOOK!
We know the Dragon Puncher is a heroic …
Mechaboys
"Mechaboys feels like the return of an old friend... like the Linklater movie Dazed & Confused mixed with a garage-built robot battle suit. Pure Kochalka magic!" — Atomic Books
"Kochalka includes the standard high-school plot points—party in the woods, gym class rope-climb, an obnoxious …
American Elf (Book 1)
Winner of the Ignatz Award for both Outstanding Series and Outstanding Online Comic.
"Absolutely impossible to encapsulate into a single review, Kochalka’s eminently likeable SKETCHBOOK DIARIES are a singular experience in the world of comics ... Comics’ foremost optimist, Kochalka really …
American Elf (Book 1) (hardcover)
THE 1ST HARDCOVER EDITION OF AMERICAN ELF
To celebrate the 5-year anniversary of James Kochalka's critically acclaimed SKETCHBOOK DIARIES series, Top Shelf will also produce a hardcover edition of AMERICAN ELF. This is a web exclusive, with the first printing limited to 500 copies. -- 520 pages.
$49.95 (US)
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American Elf (Book 2)
"Kochalka is disarmingly honest about the details of his life -- sex, diapers, career anxiety and all -- rendered here in vivid colors that accentuate his sense of joy in the mundane. At turns conventionally funny, poignant and simply absurd, the compelling thing about an American Elf book is that …
American Elf (Book 3)
Winner of the Ignatz Award for both Outstanding Series & Outstanding Online Comic.
"Few people keep a diary as consistently and as entertainingly as James Kochalka. [His] tiny strips convey the personalities of him, his family and friends with astounding and impressive ease. Grade: A" -- Tom …
American Elf (Book 4)
"What makes American Elf so good is that it's incredibly personal and it runs the full spectrum from super-sickening sweetness to gut-wrenching terror and sorrow. It's a funny and powerful window into a real person's mind." --Tony Millionaire
"Extremely good stuff... Not just because Kochalka …
American Elf 1999
Welcome to the digital edition of James Kochalka's award-winning, influential, and totally addictive autobiography, American Elf! It's a simple idea -- every day, James draws a comic strip capturing a moment from his life-- but gathered all together, these moments take on rich new meanings. Both …
American Elf 2000
Welcome to the digital edition of James Kochalka's award-winning, influential, and totally addictive autobiography, American Elf! It's a simple idea -- every day, James draws a comic strip capturing a moment from his life—but gathered all together, these moments take on rich new meanings. Both …
American Elf 2001
Welcome to the digital edition of James Kochalka's award-winning, influential, and totally addictive autobiography, American Elf! It's a simple idea -- every day, James draws a comic strip capturing a moment from his life-- but gathered all together, these moments take on rich new meanings. Both …
American Elf 2002
Welcome to the digital edition of James Kochalka's award-winning, influential, and totally addictive autobiography, American Elf! It's a simple idea -- every day, James draws a comic strip capturing a moment from his life-- but gathered all together, these moments take on rich new meanings. Both …
American Elf 2003
Welcome to the digital edition of James Kochalka's award-winning, influential, and totally addictive autobiography, American Elf! It's a simple idea -- every day, James draws a comic strip capturing a moment from his life-- but gathered all together, these moments take on rich new meanings. Both …
$2.99 (US) DIGITAL
Details
American Elf 2004
Welcome to the digital edition of James Kochalka's award-winning, influential, and totally addictive autobiography, American Elf! It's a simple idea -- every day, James draws a comic strip capturing a moment from his life-- but gathered all together, these moments take on rich new meanings. Both …
$2.99 (US) DIGITAL
Details
American Elf 2005
Welcome to the digital edition of James Kochalka's award-winning, influential, and totally addictive autobiography, American Elf! It's a simple idea -- every day, James draws a comic strip capturing a moment from his life-- but gathered all together, these moments take on rich new meanings. Both …
American Elf 2006
Welcome to the digital edition of James Kochalka's award-winning, influential, and totally addictive autobiography, American Elf! It's a simple idea -- every day, James draws a comic strip capturing a moment from his life-- but gathered all together, these moments take on rich new meanings. Both …
$2.99 (US) DIGITAL
Details
American Elf 2007
Welcome to the digital edition of James Kochalka's award-winning, influential, and totally addictive autobiography, American Elf! It's a simple idea -- every day, James draws a comic strip capturing a moment from his life-- but gathered all together, these moments take on rich new meanings. Both …
$2.99 (US) DIGITAL
Details
American Elf 2008
Welcome to the digital edition of James Kochalka's award-winning, influential, and totally addictive autobiography, American Elf! It's a simple idea -- every day, James draws a comic strip capturing a moment from his life-- but gathered all together, these moments take on rich new meanings. Both …
$2.99 (US) DIGITAL
Details
American Elf 2009
Welcome to the digital edition of James Kochalka's award-winning, influential, and totally addictive autobiography, American Elf! It's a simple idea -- every day, James draws a comic strip capturing a moment from his life-- but gathered all together, these moments take on rich new meanings. Both …
$2.99 (US) DIGITAL
Details
American Elf 2010
Welcome to the digital edition of James Kochalka's award-winning, influential, and totally addictive autobiography, American Elf! It's a simple idea -- every day, James draws a comic strip capturing a moment from his life-- but gathered all together, these moments take on rich new meanings. Both …
$2.99 (US) DIGITAL
Details
American Elf 2011
Welcome to the digital edition of James Kochalka's award-winning, influential, and totally addictive autobiography, American Elf! It's a simple idea -- every day, James draws a comic strip capturing a moment from his life-- but gathered all together, these moments take on rich new meanings. Both …
$2.99 (US) DIGITAL
Details
American Elf 2012
Welcome to the digital edition of James Kochalka's award-winning, influential, and totally addictive autobiography, American Elf! It's a simple idea -- every day, James draws a comic strip capturing a moment from his life-- but gathered all together, these moments take on rich new meanings. Both …
$2.99 (US) DIGITAL
Details
SuperF*ckers
NOW AN ANIMATED SERIES!
Catch all 12 episodes and more on Cartoon Hangover.
"James Kochalka draws beautiful music.” -- Nicholas Gurewitch, creator of The Perry Bible Fellowship
"[Kochalka] brings the joy back to comics.” -- Frank Miller, creator of Sin City and 300
"Easily my …
Superf*ckers Forever
KRAK IS BACK! After kind of destroying the world (whoops!), the wonderfully profane and destructive Superf*ckers are returned to life to hang out, make out, punch each other out, and generally cause a ruckus. But when their leader, SuperDan, insists on their help in rescuing an old friend still …
SuperF*ckers Save Christmas!
Hot on the heels of their big-budget animated series, James Kochalka’s SuperF*ckers return with a gleefully wicked holiday romp. CAN Wonder Kyle teach his teammates the true meaning of Christmas? WILL Jack Krak find the perfect tree for the team pageant… through violence? DOES this comic …
$3.99 (US) DIGITAL
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SuperF*ckers #1
"A fast paced, outlandish and hyper ride into the genre of superhero comics." -- Suzie Lackey, Cinegeek
No, it's NOT a sex book! The SuperF*ckers are the baddest teenage superhero team around, and everybody wants to join. They live in a big clubhouse, play video games on their state-of-the-art …
$7.00 (US)
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SuperF*ckers #2
"Kochalka expertly suggests what unchecked supernatural power would be like in the hands of the instant gratification generation. And it’s funny, because anyone who remembers being a teen asshole realizes what he or she would have been like with unchecked power." -- Leroy Douresseaux, Comic Book …
$5.00 (US)
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SuperF*ckers #3
"SuperF*ckers is the top book on the reading stack whenever it comes out. It's non-stop hijinx and fun, filthy, vulgar, explicit fun, and it cracks me up. I love ridiculousness, mockery and political un-correctness, and that's what this book seems to be all about." -- Justin Ponsor, Comic Book …
$5.00 (US)
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SuperF*ckers #4
"Kochalka has a ball making fun of teenagers and their pathetic attempts at cussing to sound cool, fumbling their way through crushes, and smoking anything they can to get high." -- Byron Kerman, Playback STL
Also known as SuperF*ckers #279. Sure, the universe was destroyed, but will our heroes …
$5.00 (US)
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Pinky & Stinky
Nominated for the Eisner Award!
Now in a new edition, with a new cover!
"Kochalka's work makes me feel like I did when I was six years old. He brings the joy back to comics." -- Frank Miller, creator of Sin City, 300, and Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
"Oh, lord, did Pinky & Stinky make me …
Monkey Vs. Robot (Vol 1)
"An expressive, funny-sad book that rewards us with its deft execution." -- Peter Aaron Rose, Artbomb
A factory of self-replicating robots is stripping the jungle of its natural resources, threatening the territory of a colony of nearby monkeys. A series of encounters between the two groups …
Monkey Vs. Robot (Vol 2): Crystal of Power
"The Monkey Vs. Robot books are like the best of children’s literature, in that they appeal to the joyfulness of literature and art that appeals so much to children, while adults can enjoy the structure and techniques." -- Ninth Art
Deep in the forest, robots are gathering plant and animal …
Little Paintings
This DIGITAL-ONLY book collects several hundred of Kochalka's best little paintings from the last few years. Kochalka began making the little paintings as something to sell to fans at conventions, but they quickly became a consuming obsession that led to several incredibly successful gallery shows …
$2.99 (US) DIGITAL
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Sketchbook Diaries (Vol 1)
Back in print at last!!! ... Since October 1998, James Kochalka has kept a daily diary, drawn in comic strip form in his sketchbook. Drawn with relaxed and beautiful brushwork, these strips perfectly capture the rhythm of daily life. From the hilarious to the sad, from the poetic to the drunken, …
$7.95 (US)
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Sketchbook Diaries (Vol 2)
Since October 1998, James Kochalka has kept a daily diary, drawn in comic strip form in his sketchbook. Drawn with relaxed and beautiful brushwork, these strips perfectly capture the rhythm of daily life. From the hilarious to the sad, from the poetic to the drunken, these strips offer a direct and …
$7.95 (US)
Details
Sketchbook Diaries (Vol 3)
Following the incredible success of James' first two diary sketchbooks, Top Shelf is proud to announce YEAR 3 of JAMES KOCHALKA'S SKETCHBOOK DIARY. From the silly to the sad, from the mundane to the fantastic, James Kochalka's diary comic strips cover the full spectrum of human experience. As he …
$7.95 (US)
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Sketchbook Diaries (Vol 4)
The Sketchbook Diaries are Kochalka's masterwork. Sometimes sweet, sometimes twisted, always honest and often hilarious, they've garnered James two Ignatz awards and as well as a Harvey nomination for "Best Cartoonist." In this fourth volume, James grows a beard, gets his wife pregnant, plays a …
$7.95 (US)
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Conversation #1
James Kochalka and Craig Thompson -- two of our best cartoonists -- go head-to-head in this free-wheeling collaboration/argument, discussing art and religion, confronting each other and playfully confronting God in one of the best comics "jams" ever set to paper. Kochalka and Thompson draw …
Conversation #2
In this issue, James Kochalka goes up against rising indy-comics star, Jeffrey Brown. The two cartoonists draw together, exchanging pages back and forth, and trade metaphorical jabs in a discussion that quickly devolves into an argument, which quickly devolves into a brawl about art and comics and …
The Perfect Planet
The Village Voice calls him "Primitive, childlike and profane," and Pulse Magazine calls him a "Peculiar comic genius." Whatever you call James Kochalka, it's obvious that he's a superstar on the rise. Even while he's developing animated cartoons for Nickelodeon, and recording CDs with his band, he …
Magic Boy and the Robot Elf
Magic Boy is an old, decrepit man. Lonely and confused, he decides to build a robotic replica of himself. However, the robot goes insane and attacks his creator, then goes back in time, and kills his creator's childhood self. The robot then lives out the entirety of his creator's life in his …
Magic Boy and Girlfriend
The comics that made the man a legend. That's right, collected for the first time ever are the greatest hits from the seminal mini-comic James Kochalka Superstar; all of which are now rare and out-of-print. James' comics have appeared virtually everywhere in the alternative comix scene, and this …
Digital Elf (Music CD)
Catchy, quirky, and out of control, James Kochalka's music is every bit as entertaining as his comics. This CD contains 15 new songs, all composed and arranged on the GameBoy Advance. Pump your fist to Dragon Puncher, freak out to the pop-culture explosion of Bacharach Galactica, and synchronize …
