It’s here! The brand new anthology with comics by my students at Serieskolan i Malmö (The Comics Art School). 300+ pages from the next generation of Swedish comics artists, to be given away for free next week at Stockholm international comics festival. It’s gorgeous, and it smells great!

Among the participants to the yearly meeting of the Comics Archive was Janne Lundström, the man who founded The Swedish Comics Association in 1968! Still attending meetings, and telling me he’s growing his hair for a last chance to sport a pony tail. Janne, you’re my hero, my spirit animal!

Photo from the official yearly meeting for The Comics Archive. Head archivist Thomas Storm is here seen showcasing an example from a large collection of extremely delicate, see-through wrapping papers for oranges, with comics printed on them, preserved from the 1940s/1950s.

My lastest article for Empirix.no is out, and it's truly international, what with a Swede, writing for a Norwegian journal, about Swedish and Danish publishers translating Spanish graphic novels ...

gingerbread tools

The big seminar day on comics, research and @the_comics_archive is over and I’m beat! Ended the day with a 90 minutes lecture on the archive and the collections we are the custodians of that would be suitable for research projects. Now, the obligatory beer drinking that always ensues whenever…

Last week we held a meeting with the members of the association that runs @the_comics_archive. It was a purely formal meeting needed in order to validate the financial numbers of last year. Whenever we do something as boring as that, we make sure to add something to make it more fun, and often it’s…

In less than a week, on the 14th of November, we will organize a unique, one-day symposium together with @malmouniversitet (Malmö University) focusing on comics research, project funding, and the undiscovered treasures that lies hidden at @the_comics_archive , materials waiting to be the basis for…

Just had a visit at @the_comics_archive by a gentleman who had filled his car to the brim with his whole comics collection, consisting mostly of the Swedish Phantom comic books, all the way up to the very latest subscription issue. He had driven all the way from Stockholm to donate what after…

Today, @seriearkivet (The Comics Archive) was visited by the Brazilian comics researcher Luca Silva, who’s right now visiting researcher at @malmouniversitet (The University of Malmö). Silva is analyzing the very British comic Judge Dredd, so besides the general showcase of the archive, we looked…

On Thursday the 6th of November I’ll be part of what seems like an incredibly interesting event on censorship and artistic freedom at @cite_de_la_bande_dessinee in Angouleme, France. The event is in French, but I’m part of the international section in the afternoon, which will be in English, with…

Spooky Halloween to one and all!

Have been working diligently this last week or so, checking all the details in the proofs for the next issue of @Bild & Bubbla. I’m happy to announce that issue 245 since the start in 1968 will, among any other things, feature an interview and a sketchbook section with the incredible Finish artist…

In less than a month, we will organize a unique, one-day symposium focusing on comics research, project funding, and what riches lies hidden at @the_comics_archive, materials waiting to be the basis for future research. The event will include a presentation of some of the most interesting…

Christmas came early this year! Today I received an intriguing parcel from the postman. Already the packaging told me that this was sent from the exceptional creative couple of @kaisaleka and Christoffer Leka, whose books repeatedly have won awards for best book design in Finland. This two-book…

Today, @serieskolan_kvarnby (The Comics Art School) is visited by master artist @eriksvetoft!

Ok, so I guess the cats out if the bag on this one. I’ve been involved in an incredibly interesting project the last year or so, courtesy of the indefatigable editor @pmartinlund. Writing my parts for the book COMICS IS…DEBATING THE SUBJECT OF COMICS STUDIES has been a journey. I’ve been debating…

Dick Cheney in his "undisclosed location" during the early years of the War on Terror, directing the search for Weapons of Mass Destruction. From 2003.

An organization representing many of Japan’s major publishers and producers, submitted a written request to OpenAI calling to cease training its Sora 2 generative AI on the copyrighted IPs of its members.

The collaboration between The Comics Archive and Malmö University continues. This autumn we will hold a symposium together, aimed at research initiation, where we will present collections and archives that would be suitable for research purposes. More info here: comics.uni.mau.se/invitation-t...

The Concierge at Hokkyoku Department Store by Nishimura Tsuchika translated by Jan Trench (Seven Seas, 2024) reviewed by Hagai Palevsky www.tcj.com/reviews/the-...

Nancy By Ernie Bushmiller April 1,1946

Hergé.

Quino!

Happy World Book Day!

Choose 20 comics that have stayed with you or influenced you. One comic per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers. Day 20:

Choose 20 comics that have stayed with you or influenced you. One comic per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers. Day 19:

Choose 20 comics that have stayed with you or influenced you. One comic per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers. Day 18:

Researcher Martin Lund going through the unique material we have on Will Eisner at the Comics Archive.

Goscinny and Uderzo!

Choose 20 comics that have stayed with you or influenced you. One comic per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers. Day 17:

Choose 20 comics that have stayed with you or influenced you. One comic per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers. Day 16:

Choose 20 comics that have stayed with you or influenced you. One comic per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers. Day 15:

We just had two Danish publishers visiting the Comics Archive, and here they are commenting on the fact that we actually had a Don Rosa collection, without a signature, which should make it a rarity :)

Have just organized an artist talk with Spanish comics artist Sebas Martin, who ended up drawing me as a character in one of his homoerotic comics :)

What I’m reading right now, an excellent graphic novel from Spain.

Todays review assignment: combining a childhood favorite, i.e. Lucky Luke, with an absolute favorite contemporary artist, Blutch! Really looking forward to this one.

Have spent the day in neighboring Denmark, picking up unique material that was donated to the Comics Archive. Oh and we were of course served Danish smörrebröd and beer!

Whenever you visit the comics festival in Angouleme, you have to take a selfie with the statue of Corto Maltese. It’s the law!