Preview: James Kochalka’s Spectacularly Silly & Surreal ‘Jimmy’s Elbow’

by Richard Bruton

The latest James Kochalka graphic novel is out right now from Top Shelf… let’s enjoy the surreal silliness of Jimmy’s Elbow…

James Kochalka‘s work has been something I’ll always look forward to, ever since I fell in love with it with his absolutely fabulous American Elf diary comics that ran for a rather incredible 14 years from 1998 to 2012.

But his real success has come as a maker of kid’s comics – granted, wonderfully strange and weird kids comics like Johnny Boo, Dragon Puncher, Monkey Vs Robot, and Glork Patrol amongst others. He’s managed to fall into that perfect place of making comics that are truly all ages, with such visual appeal and simple language that will entrance even the youngest of children and the oldest of adults.

Top Shelf are promising us that his latest, the 168-page Jimmy’s Elbow will give us something that’s ‘sprawling and silly’, all about ‘childhood, toys, and the mysteries inside us.’

It’s promised to be a book that explores the ‘nature of sensation, the meaning of America, and the fundamental silliness of having a body.’ Which just sounds rather damn wonderful if you ask me, playing silly and serious off each other.

Anyway, preview below, but here’s what Top Shelf have to say about Jimmy’s Elbow:

‘Jimmy has an elbow! Do you have one, too? Well, what if it could talk?’

‘Award-winning graphic novelist James Kochalka explores surreal frontiers of the body and mind in this psychedelic comedy for all ages.’

‘Jimmy is a very good boy. He even wears a tie! But when he bumps his elbow on a table, this very good boy starts feeling very bad. Did his elbow die? Was that just a dream? Or has Jimmy’s magic elbow come to life and unlocked his super powers? Well, no matter what, it’s time for Jimmy and his elbow to go to school… what else could go wrong?’