New Swedish Books. Autumn 2016 1
NEW SWEDISH BOOKS NEW SWEDISH BOOKS FANTASTIC FIC
TION AND ESCAPISM Comics Swedish comics have, historically, not focused on the fantastical or the adventurous, which might seem surprising for an art form so closely associated with heroes in colourful spandex and space suits. Superhero, science fiction and horror comics have primarily been imported from other parts of the world, and in much lesser numbers than the humorous comic strips that dominated the entire Swedish comics scene since its establishment around the turn of the 20th century. In the 1970s politically satirical comics emerged and the end of the 1980s saw the definitive arrival of the everyday realism and autobiographical comics. But pure escapism has been harder to find. There were of course exceptions. Eugen Semitjov’s science-fiction comic Allan Kämpe attracted great numbers of readers in the 1940s and 50s and Rolf Gohs’ ‘social-action’ The Mysterious Two has today almost mythical status amongst 1970’s comic book readers. Adventure comics for children like Jan Lööf’s Felix and Rune Andréasson’s Bamse have seen great successes and the Swedish The Phantom comic book has produced its own licensed adventures for a long time. Overall, however, Sweden has mainly produced comics based on humour, satire and realism. About ten years ago there were signs that things were starting to change. An increasing number of comic creators appeared that preferred to draw fantasy stories rather than play for laughs or portray ordinary life. Kim W. Andersson with the romantic horror comic Love Hurts, Ola Skogäng and Theo’s Occult Curiosities, Dennis Gustafsson and his ghost detective Viktor Kasparsson, Lisa Medin with her musical sci-fi epos Medley, Natalia Batista and the norm challenging fantasy manga Sword Princess Amalthea… the list goes on and on and continues to grow. Others, like Peter Bergting, found a warmer response from the American comics market than in Sweden, and have mostly been published in the US. This is also the case for Henrik Jonsson and Maria Fröhlich and, more recently, for Kim W. Andersson, who’s of current interest with the publication in both the US and Sweden of his own graphic sci-fi novel Astrid this autumn. Humour, satire, and realism still dominate the Swedish comics scene, but now they are joined by different genres. In this year’s Swedish crop of graphic novels we find post-apocalyptic science fiction and Scandinavian folk horror stories, myths used for social commentary as well as everyday realism in an escapist vein. Today the Swedish comics scene is more multifaceted than ever before. And perhaps, finally, ready to be serious and playful, ordinary and epic, realistic and fantastical, all at the same time. 68 68