Swedish Comics 1
Joakim Pirinen Joakim Pirinen (b. 1961) is one of
Sweden’s most unusual comic artists. In his career spanning more than 30 years, he has invigorated and baffled the Swedish comics scene with his absurdism and comics-based Dadaism. Pirinen made his debut in 1983 with Välkommen till sandlådan (‘Welcome to the Sandbox’). His big breakthrough came with Socker-Conny in 1985. Pirinen is a key figure in the new wave of Swedish alternative comics aimed at a wider audience, which emerged in the 1980s. Throughout his career he has smashed boundaries, in purely aesthetic terms as well as in terms of content and character design. Pirinen’s characters are seldom charming. They’re more often gruff, damaged or severely depressed. They exist in a surrealistic, absurdist comic world with hilarious overtones. In Pirinen’s latest book, Kommissarie Kvadrat (‘Inspector Square’, Kartago, 2014) Inspector Square is supposed to be investigating a murder, but people keep mistaking him for a flat-screen TV. Welcome to the universe of Joakim Pirinen, where things have a logic all their own. PAGES FROM KOMMISSARIE KVADRAT (INSPECTOR SQUARE) 6