September 22nd, 2007 by Daniel Barlow · No Comments
I sat down with James Kochalka (American Elf) earlier this month at his home in Burlington, Vt. Here’s the result, which ran in the Sunday Times Argus/ Rutland Herald on Sept. 16.
Cartoonist mines daily grind for new book, comics September 16, 2007 By DANIEL BARLOW Vermont Press Bureau Photo by Jeb Wallace-Brodeur BURLINGTON – “Squirrelly Gray” may not be the first book James Kochalka has written and drawn for children.
It may, however, be the first he’s authored that will be read almost exclusively by kids.
“I think my other books intended for children were mostly read by my adult fans,” said Kochalka, a popular indie cartoonist and musician from Burlington. “But I think this book will actually make it into the hands of kids.”
The 40-year-old Kochalka, who has spent the last nine years drawing a daily cartoon diary about his life called “American Elf,” has long straddled the creative line between entertainment for children and subversive adult humor.
But Kochalka had Eli, his 4-year-old son, in mind when he created “Squirrelly Gray,” his first children’s book, published last month by Random House. He was appalled by the limited number of books that held his son’s interest.
“They’re all too safe,” he said. “Kids like a little danger and excitement.”
The Trees & Hills anthology release party on Saturday was a blast! We took pictures the old-fashioned way, so it will be a few more days before they go up here on the site. But until then, here’s a video of cartoonists Cat Garza and Marek Bennett jamming on the back porch of the Main Street Museum. They closed out the party!
I just wanted to remind you about the Trees & Hills 2007 anthology release party at the Main Street Museum in White River Junction, Vt. this Saturday, July 21.
Cartoonists and other comic creators from all over the region will be celebrating the release of “Field Guide to Cartoonists.” The 52-page mini-comic anthology features new work by members of the comics group, including Stephen R. Bissette, Colleen Frakes, Cat Garza, Jennifer Omand and Ethan Slayton.
And everyone is welcome to join us! RSVPs, which are appreciated but not necessary, can be sent to barlowdaniel at gmail dot com
New Hampshire cartoonists Marek Bennett and Colin Tedford will be presenting their groovy musical sounds for everyone’s delight, follow-up by a rocking set by Vermont-based Web comic pioneer Cat Garza and Center for Cartoon Studies fellow Gabby Schulz. Don’t be surprised if they all just end of rocking the house at the same time.
In addition to having copies of “Field Guide” for sale (only $3) or trade, the Trees & Hills comics group will be announcing the details of their next anthology, which will come out in time for SPX 2007 in October.
The fun begins at 3 p.m. with a potluck. There is a $5 suggested donation at the door for the musicians. White River Junction’s amazing and unparalleled Main Street Museum is located at 58 Bridge Street. Check them out at www.mainstreetmuseum.org
The whole darn thing will probably end around 6 p.m., followed by which some of us will retire to a nearby establishment to be merry some more.
The Trees & Hills comics group is a collective of comic creators from Vermont, New Hampshire and western Massachusetts. We formed two years ago during a comic drawing event at the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center that challenged creators to draw a 24 page comic in 24 hours!
In addition to hosting monthly drawing parties for cartoonists, the Trees & Hills comics group publishes and distributes comics throughout the three states. The past year has seen the group featured at several comic conventions, including the 2007 MoCCA Art Festival in New York City.
For more information, please visit www.treesandhills.org
The Calendar is finally updated! This month’s events (see calendar for more details):
Tuesday 2/6 (6:30-8:30pm): Western MA Comic Creators’ Group every 1st Tuesday (Northampton, MA). Tuesday 2/6 (8:30-10:00pm): monthly Pioneer Valley Comics & Cartoon Schmooze (Northampton, MA). Saturday, 2/17 (12-5pm): Trees & Hills Drawing Social every 3rd Saturday (Keene, NH).
Hourly Comic Day was swell. At least 3 T&H folk participated, and we’ll show those comics off here when I have all three in hand. In the meantime, there are 2 more jams up in the Comics section.
Keene Free Comics, long dormant, will walk the earth once more to honor TV Turnoff Week, which this year is April 23-29. This special issue of KFC will be 8.5″ x 11″, hopefully 12 pages, and will be aimed at a wide audience (including young folks). The deadline for submissions is March 18. (To contribute a comic and/or help print & distribute, contact: Colin Tedford, colintedford at gmail dot com)
The jams Anne Thalheimer & I did at the Trees & Hills And Friends release event last Wednesday are now in the Comics section for all to view. If you weren’t there, you missed out on fun! And a chance to share germs.
This Thursday February 1 is Hourly Comics Day, when John Campbell encourages all cartoonists to join him in creating hourly comics. The challenge: before each hour of the day passes, make a strip chronicling something about that hour. For more info and examples by John, follow the link above. For one that I did, click here.
We would like to post people’s strips, so if you live in VT, NH or western MA and do one, please send scans or a link to colintedford at gmail dot com. Also, we encourage people to have get-togethers so their comics will “cross over”. Have fun!
Our good friend Jade Harmon informed us this week that the Brattleboro Commons, a fiesty monthly newspaper in the southern Vermont town is looking to hire an editorial cartoonist.
Yes, we said hire. And no, we don’t know how much.
The ideal candidate would draw editorial cartoonists based on local issues and some additional art to go along with news stories.
Don’t forget tomorrow is the Trees & Hills get-together at co-founder Dan Barlow‘s apartment in Brattleboro, VT. In addition to the usual drawing, chatting & snacking, we’ll be discussing plans for future events (release parties, conventions, anthologies, etc.). For directions or other info, email barlowdaniel at gmail dot com.
In other news, I just posted an eccentric and untested productivity tip at Make Comics Forever.
And though not directly relevant to us, I can’t resist linking to this item about the new Archie graphic novel.
