Customer Reviews

Kissers

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James Kochalka's newest book, Kissers, is so cute it hurts. Childlike drawings with not always child like sentiments, Kochalka makes it ok to be cute, no matter what age or maturity level. This book is accompanied by a CD with some of James's cutest (i know, I used that word too much) love songs. "Have you ever been kissed by and idiot/Or wished that you could?/Well, I could be your idiot/And i kiss good." All hail James Kochalka Superstar!

At first glimpse, James Kochalka's work appears to be very simple: black and white line drawings framed haphazardly, with occasional bursts of dialogue. And yet, just below the surface lies some of the most intimate truths of life.

Kissers, Kochalka's first full-length semi-autobiographical graphic novel, is perhaps his most important work to date.

The storyline is, as per usual, very simple to follow: Spandy (Magic Boy's cat) falls in love with a small songbird. In the meantime, the elven "Magic Boy" James and Amy struggle through minor marital mishaps. And all the while, the reader is brought along on the whimsical-yet-heartbreaking tale of unrequited love, and misplaced attempts at romance.

Perhaps the strongest scene from the book occurs when the songbird, realizing for the first time what he has undertaken by falling for Spandy, cries out, "Why'd I have to fall in love with an indoor cat?"

A timely piece of work, Kissers deserves a place on every comic book lover's bookshelf.