Swedish Comics 1
Mats Jonsson Mats Jonsson (b. 1973) is one of Swe
den’s foremost autobiographical comic artists. His stated ambition is to record his entire life in comic format — and he’s well on the way. Jonsson made his debut in 1998 with a comic entitled Unga norrlänningar (‘Young Norrlanders’) but he reached a wider audience with the cult classic Hey Princess in 2002. That graphic novel, which is being made into a film directed by Maria Blom, has been called a portrait of the generation born in the 1970s. It recounts Mats’ life as a new Stockholm resident in the ’90s. While Hey Princess is about the inevitable process of growing up in an often bleak metropolis, Mats kamp (‘Mats’ Struggle’, Galago, 2011) is about becoming a parent and navigating through a bewildering mess of porridge, parenting groups and getting on the property ladder. Mats Jonsson has also written two autobiographical children’s novels published by Alfabeta. 14