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CBG SATELLITES
The ADD Blog by Alan David Doane
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The Cute Manifesto
The collected comics, including "Sunburn", "Reinventing Everything 1 &
2", and "The Cute Manifesto" use an appealing storytelling device,
which employs a James Kochalka character as a narrator who speaks
directly to the reader, espousing his philosophy on the world and art.
His insights span; trivial, significant, simple and complex, but they
are all in tune with each other.
The "Reinventing Everything" chapters (previously reviewed in their original mini-comics form by ADD here) are the strongest works in the
book, as he discusses the acts of creation, both artistically and
biologically. In part two, he discusses the events of September 11,
2001, and its emotional repercussions, which lead to the conception
and birth of his son. This is the most emotionally resonant section,
as Kochalka takes the more abstract ideology that he has been dealing
with and humanizes it.
The book begins with the supposedly infamous "Craft is the Enemy"
letters, which were published in The Comics Journal. In them,
Kochalka lays the ground work for the following manifesto, declaring
that the best art is not always made with technical proficiency. This
is particularly interesting because Kochalka himself is extremely
talented and skilled at his art. These initial statements made in
The Cute Manifesto may remain controversial, but Kochalka is an
undeniably talented artist, and this book contains many stunningly
beautiful panels, some of which are moving, but all of them are
adorable. The first story, "Sunburn" is drawn in a more realistic
style that is a bit clunky, but the visual experiment in the first
"Reinventing Everything" works extraordinarily well.
Unfortunately, The Cute Manifesto is perhaps too much Kochalka.
In giving his readers a manifesto of his ideas and philosophy, it
takes away from his stronger journal comics. What he tells us, while
interesting, is unnecessarily explicit. Much of his ideas can be more
nebulously understood from reading his day to day life in American
Elf, and by pinning them down so specifically strips the journal
comics of some of their charm. The Cute Manifesto is more of a
supplement to Kochalka's works, and someone who has not read any of
his other work would not be drawn to this book. Still, he is a
fantastic cartoonist with an appealing style and talent to spare, and
this book is no exception.
-- Jef Harmatz
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James Kochalka knows cute. His drawings are the thesis of cute.
Flowing brushy lines barely creating the perimeter of smiling,
dot-eyed big-heads that speak haiku-simple statements about cats and
farting. His most notable works use this artistic styling to tell
stories about well-endowed frogs, monkeys versus robots, and his own,
stranger than average life story in day to day increments. The last
work on that list has been recently collected into another whomping
Top Shelf trade paper back, American Elf, which is roughly 1825
daily entries (5 years!). While this so called "sketchbook diary" is
his most infamous and, for the moment, meaningful work, Kochalka takes
another approach to conveying his world view, and ultimately his art,
in The Cute Manifesto, a collection of previous mini-comics and
other writings that is neither as subtle, compelling or successful.