New Swedish Books, spring 2017 1
73 Spring 2017 A Shadow Journey In a not too dist
ant future the stress scientist Yvonne M. Palace has begun a passionate relationship with Frank, a philosophy and religious scholar at their shared institution Innodaria College Suder. One day Frank suddenly vanishes. Through strange means Yvonne receives an indication of what might have happened to him. With her mind made up to find the one she loves she loads her old electric car and sets off into the wilderness with only her bearded lizard Gooz as company. Magnus Engström’s style of drawing is almost hyper-real giving his book a similar feeling to the once popular but now almost forgotten photo novel. Here we’re given the same type of cinematic staging and sparse dialogue but in the form of a comic. The combination of the retro-looking mode of expression, complete with classic cliffhangers and a forward-looking script creates a thrilling metaphysical thriller set in the future about the courage that love sometimes awakens. Magnus Engström (b. 1961) A Shadow Journey Publisher/rights Kartago förlag thomas.olsson@kartago.se www.kartago.se Works Luftspår (Kartago 2011) Photo: Caroline Andersson