by James Kochalka and Craig Thompson
available from Top Shelf Comics
James Kochalka has published mini format comics before, but none as slick as this collaboration with Craig Thompson. Five inches square, forty-eighty pages long with a full-color cover, Conversation is packed with self-deprecating humor and back and forth on the meaning of art.
The design is one panel per page, occasionally forming two-page spreads. Kochalka and Thompson share the drawing and lettering duties, and the result blends well together. I was worried the comic would seem disjointed, as each has a strong and distinctive visual style, but instead the overall effect is that of, well, playful conversation.
Magic Boy argues that “making art is like getting into a wrestling match with God,” and Craig feels that art can be “more like a prayer than a ‘wrestling match.’” Both think art can be used to challenge the unknown, and that artists shouldn’t be afraid to look like idiots.
Which they both kind of do here, what with the getting peed on by God, nearly strangled by a giant octopus, and losing their underwear. A must-have for Kochalka and Thompson fans, and a good risk to take with five bucks for other comics readers looking for something new.
