James Kochalka

Robots pollute and intrude on monkey territory and then declare genocidal war, going full Dalek with cries to exterminate the monkeys. Many monkeys die, but they don't go down without a fight as many robots are destroyed in turn. And then it veers into Rise of the Planet of the Apes and bleak post-apocalypse territory.

But it all looks like a children's book. Are kids really the intended audience for this dark, violent, and weird crap?

Bought this book under a kind of duress, but it was totally worth it.

As the summary says, Magic Boy is an old man who builds a robot which goes back in time and kills him to take his place.

It's a crude book which reveals the author's crude mind, but it's one of vulnerability. Magic Boy struggles with being old, but also enjoys it, and reminisces about his life.
There's a lot of vulnerable frailty, magic boy's nudity is not avoided as the capabilities of his own body are part of the show more exploration.

There's also a lot of weird shit that doesn't make all that much sense. But if you like things like [a:Ivan Brunetti|59248|Ivan Brunetti|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1291563665p2/59248.jpg]'s [b:Schizo|6917853|Schizo|Ivan Brunetti|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|7145279], this will be right up your alley.

If you like robots who are killer and confused and vulnerable, if you like cats with agendas, if you like dopey old men, if you like very unstylized violence and people unafraid of having caused their own deaths, you will enjoy this book. show less

This is the follow up to the larger collection, containing Kochalka's diary strips from January 1, 2004 to December 31, 2005. This time around, we are well into Father Kochalka, and his feelings towards his child Eli are front and center in his mind, taking up well over half of the entries. He even comments at one point that almost everything he draws now is about his son.

The focus on the life of a parent, I admit, was a bit of a problem for me at some points. I don't have a child and don't show more have any plans to have a child, so for me, all the cute things that a baby does aren't all that interesting to me personally. There's only so many "I think the baby pooped" moments that endearing to one who has plans to stay childless. However, having said that, the honesty that comes through is pure Kochalka and well worth reading.

He admits to failures at times (a particularly scary one in one entry), just as he continues to admit to having problems with anger misdirected. It's the openness with which Kochalka presents to us the reader that makes following Kochalka's life day by day worthwhile. If he were more reluctant to give us the good and the bad, this series would only be interesting for the daily upkeep and not for the content therein.

In this volume, we see James getting older--he's worried more about the baby, more people are getting married or moving away, and he feels pains he didn't have before--which certainly is something I can relate to. Those are the strips that resonated the most with me.

It's not all seriousness, of course. There's the "Will the border guards hate us because we're going to Canada on the 4th of July?" type of zaniness that always brings a smile to my face. Kochalka finds a way to remind us of a need to appreciate the small things in life and see them as part of a whole that's greater than we tend to give it credit for most of the time.

A change that I'm not sure was needed is that the strips are in color this time. I find I'm rather fond of black and white art lately and the change to color didn't really bring enough to the table to make me think it was worth the change. I think it's because I think of this as like a daily comic strip, and the colorized versions of those are not as good, either.

Still, it's a minor point. I really enjoy these diaries, I hope there's a print volume 3 soon. [There is of course a volume three now, review as soon as I complete it.] show less

Review not final until hard copy is reviewed

When trouble is near and there is stuff to fear, who will we turn to, but the Glorkian Warrior and his might backpack of justice! The heroes of the Galaxyyyy! But what’s this? Buster Glark, the most villanious rival in the corps has come to steal your glory and brains and make fun of you? Oh my, what will you do now? Will you and your backpack seek justice for all? Or will an alien attempt to suck out your brains? Or both?? Oh my!

If you haven't show more heard of James Kochalka before, you really are missing out. His previous books have all been published by TopShelf and during that time period he's won an Eisner award, multiple Ignatz awards, and is Vermont's first ever Cartoonist Laureate. And while he hasn't always been my favorite writer/artist (he does get a bit goofy) he really, really does understand the sense of humor that a young kid has. His Dragon Puncher books from Top Shelf, are whimsical and funny and incorporate pictures of himself, his children, and his cats into them. And the Glorkian Warrior is of the same mold.

Bright, cheerful, colorful, and a laugh a page at the quest that the Warrior takes and the weird adventures he has. I mean seriously how can you not laugh at a yellow and pink space caterpillar? The answer: you can’t. And if you don’t please make sure you don’t infect anyone else with your zombie adult virus. The colors are bright and cheerful, and the characters are entertaining to watch as they float about on the page in space dealing with caterpillars and brain sucking aliens (which I think must have gotten loose from the pages of this book...or maybe caught? Hopefully caught.)

While James's writing style never takes itself too seriously, there is an excellent and well paced story in the books. In this one it feels like we're watching a master improv player at work as he takes suggestions from the audience on what the Glorkian Warrior should do next. It just makes for an interesting and enjoyable read.

While this is not going to be a book for everyone, especially if you don't like a goofy, weird sense of humor, it is one that I think a number of other folks will enjoy. I give the book 4 out of 5 stars and recommend it for young readers and young at heart readers alike.

ARC provided by NetGalley show less