Hey, Kochalka's new book, The Cute Manifesto, came out this week. Despite the fact that the promotional material describe this as his Dianetics, you should pick it up anyway. Kochalka discusses craft, life, Gameboys, and the tiny billion details that make our world what it is in an engaging manner. Sometimes, yes, it's a tiny bit precious (the opening comic, "Sunburn" was remixed by a friend of his into a cruel, cruel mini that gave me spastic fits of laughter,) but that's easily forgiven when you realize how deeply felt "The Horrible Truth About Comics" is. His love of the medium comes through like a white-hot laser, inspiring and provoking thought in a way that a thousand interviews with people like Dan Jurgens could never manage. Some special note should be made of "Reinvinenting Everything (Part 2.)" Maybe it's my impending old age (less than a month until I'm officially over the hill at 31,) but the story behind the conception of his son Eli was much more moving than I expected. While I won't exactly admit that there might have been something like a lump in my throat during a good portion of the piece, I won't deny the power of his deceptively simple style.
Bonus Links (Kochalka Related):
Tom "Boom Boom" Spurgeon interviews the man himself!Extra Special Bonus Links Related To Ian Brill
Jef Harmatz reviews this work on CBG.
And Having Nothing At All To Do With Kochalka
But I Wanted To Point Them Out As Ian Is Smarter
Than Me And Loves A Lot Of The Same Stuff As I Do
So Enjoy These Before I Stalk Him Down And Consume
His Brains To Improve My Own Writing:
His review of Darwyn Cooke's issue of Solo.
His review of AEIOU.
