Kochalka's style is simple of first glance, but he has a real command of the language of cartoons. The goofy "elf" characters he uses to portray himself and his family (and other oddball icons, such as his friend Jason who's always seen as a Snoopy-esque dog) mask an eye for dialogue (the kid-speak coming from the mouth of his son Eli is right on with what a 4-year-old thinks like, I find). Life in Kochalka-land is frequently quite absurd, but the strip is never less than real.
Without getting too fancy-pants pretentious about it all, American Elf: Book Three shows us that life is art, and art is life, and, gosh darn, it makes for some pretty good comic strips along the way.
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