Elf Cat In Love

by James Kochalka

When the incredibly conceited Elf Cat goes on a quest for the Ice Sword with his magical friend Tennis Ball, they will face dragons, magical hot dogs, snowflake princesses, and confront their feelings! If you find love in many places, can you see it when it is right in front of you?

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Humor, Fantasy, Romance

98 pages, Hardcover

First published June 15, 2016

About the author

James Kochalka is an American comic book artist and writer, and rock musician. His comics are noted for their blending of the real and the surreal. Largely autobiographical, Kochalka's cartoon expression of the world around him includes such real-life characters as his wife, children, cat, friends and colleagues, but always filtered through his own observations and flights of whimsy. In March 2011 he will be declared the cartoonist laureate of Vermont, serving a term of two years.

Reviews

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 2 out of 5]

Elf Cat in Love is a 106 page comic that focuses on Elf Cat's encounters with various creatures who want to be with him. None of these possibilities work out for Elf Cat, who on his love journey is accompanied by (a glowing, flying) Tennis Ball, and . . . well, is it possible when you travel the world that love might just be right in front of you? This book is part of Kochalka's Elf world, is sort of all ages, is typical Kochalka silly, and kind of plot-aimless, featuring Elf Cat's search for an Ice Sword, magical hot dogs, snowflake princesses, and so on. I really like his shorter graphic novel series for kids, such as Johnny Boo and Glorkian Warrior. This one is just way too long for what it accomplishes.

[Em Memória de Fátima Linhares · Rating 3 out of 5]

O título deveria ser Gato Elfo convencido. ah ah ah

É uma história um bocadinho parva em alguns momentos, mas acaba por ser engraçada.

[fer · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️
Bobinho mas bonitinho

[Guilherme Smee · Rating 4 out of 5]

American Elf, ou Gato Elfo Apaixonado, como foi traduzido, de forma bastante esperta no Brasil é a principal criação do quadrinista indie James Kochalka. A Editora Mino já havia trazido para o Brasil outra obra do autor, Fungos, mas que teve menos repercussão lá fora. Como podemos ver nas epígrafes, Kochalka merece menções de gente tão diversa dos quadrinhos como Frank Miller, Alison Bechdel e Daniel Clowes. Ele usa de um humor nonsense crítico que pode ser encontrado nos desenhos animados tais como A Hora da Aventura e Não é Mais um Show, mas precisamos dizer que o humor de Kochalka veio bem antes: no final dos anos 1990 ele já vinha trabalhando em suas séries indies. É preciso dizer também que a narrativa de James Kochalka funciona tanto como pranchas independentes, página a página, como de forma contínua. Essa forma de narrar também denota a ironia com que trabalha com os quadrinhos, de forma inteligentes e crítica. A aposta da Editora Mino no material de Kochalka vem preeencher uma lacuna que vários criadores indies estadunidenses dos anos 1990-2000 deixaram ao não serem publicados no Brasil. Que venham mais!

[CBW Librarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think I have to read all of his books now.

[Urbon Adamsson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't get this one.

Too silly. Too simple. Too hollow.

I was hoping this could be one of those hidden gems but no, not today.

You can't strike gold every time! 🤷‍♂️

[Alexander Peterhans · Rating 3 out of 5]

[Arantxa Orig · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short comic about a cat with elven ears and his floating tennis ball sidekick who's secretly in love with him 😁 The jokes genuinely made me chuckle 👌👌👌 I just wished Kochalka made the story longer and included the duo's search for the legendary icy dog bun (but that's just me, I wanted more Elf Cat and Tennis Ball) 😅

[thay kaizer · Rating 4 out of 5]

no thoughts, head empty only gato elfo apaixonado por uma bolha de bola de tênis.

[Mateus Lima · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bem legal, mas senti como q chegando no meio de algo

[MechaComicReviews · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jame Kochalka is one of my favorite artists of today (and really the last 20 years), and I love every one of his books differently. To me, there’s the adult-Kochalka and the kid-Kochalka for his different audiences, but each type of book is equally bizarre in its own right. In this instance, Elf Cat in Love features the titular character in a love story and adventure with a floating, illuminated tennis ball. It’s really weird, guys.

Kochalka’s work is very point a to point b with the “to” always either a big leap or logic gap, but still making a lot of sense in a children’s book sort of way. In this instance Elf Cat fights off a monster, a dragon, and his yearning to find acceptance and love with Tennis Ball but doesn’t want to admit it outright. The book feels like a noun scramble where Kochalka chose elf, cat, tennis ball, and fantasy adventure out of a hat, but this mild randomness gives the book a lot of its charm. There’s a purity of imagination to it that really calls out to the reader.

Is Elf Cat in Love one of Kochalka’s best books? Not really to me, but I do enjoy adding it to my Kochalka collection and possibly reading it to a future child to teach them about kindness, acceptance, and that no matter what, you can fall in love with anyone... like a tennis ball.

[Bookthreat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read our review at https://bookthreat.com/2017/05/08/gra...

[Grg · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kochalka's art is as sharp and fun as ever but, dang, is this stupid. I wish he'd go back to doing books for adults.

[Mara · Rating 2 out of 5]

very cute. big adventure time energy

[Lena · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25☆
eu amei a bola de tênis

[Willow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good I wish there was a movie for it.

[lesley · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't realize this was related to Kochalka's American Elf series as I received it through a kick-starter. Maybe in that context it would have made more sense or seemed more special. It had a few good moments but mostly inspired me to write my own, better comic. It was short though, and kids might like it.

[miha ha]

Meh, nevem, ni blo nevemkaj, mačji škrat hodi okoli s hrenovko in pošastne princese se zaljubljajo vanj... nevem

[Ietrio · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very ugly drawings. And a childish story. I could not feel the fun.

[Twan · Rating 5 out of 5]

MEOW