AMERICAN ELF (2025)

"Kochalka invented the daily diary comic strip, spawning a grassroots comix movement that swept the globe, and his attempt to document the minutia of his life results in work that explores the full spectrum of human emotions. Drawn with verve and confidence by a cartoonist at the height of his powers, it is ambitious, hilarious, moving, and quite addictive! Book 1 follows the ups and downs of Kochalka's life through five full years of the strip (October 26, 1998 to December 31, 2003), and also includes 32 full-color pages of supplementary comics and other artwork. Book 2 reprints all the strips from 2004 and 2005, and Book 3 covers 2006 and 2007."

"by James Kochalka Kochalka invented the daily diary comic strip, spawning a grassroots comix movement that swept the globe. This volume prints all the strips from 2004 and 2005 in gorgeous full-color!"

"(W/A) James Kochalka His neighbor's car gets firebombed, his little son Eli learns how to invent his own swears (like 'pump duck'), and James gets a gun pointed at his face. Most dramatic of all, this volume will introduce a new character, a new little baby Kochalka! Ooohs and aaahs abound. This collection prints all the diary strips from 2006-2007 in gorgeous full-color, including numerous strips that never appeared online."

"It's the long-awaited return of James Kochalka's massively influential and deceptively ambitious autobiography, American Elf. Every day of his life is captured in a single comic strip, sometimes profound and sometimes silly, but always full of the earnest Kochalka passion. In this collection, spanning the years 2008-2011, James becomes Cartoonist Laureate, celebrates American Elf's 10th year, pitches a TV show to Hollywood, considers quitting the strip, plays everything from LEGO Star Wars to Skyrim, and kind of causes himself to have a nervous breakdown. Meanwhile Eli starts elementary school and starts a band, Oliver learns to walk and talk (and sing), James and Amy celebrate 15 years of marriage, and the family adopts a new cat, Nooko!"