I am not a whimsical person. So when I saw the headline for Jeff Vandermeer's column on comic books, I almost passed it by. Until, that is, I saw that entrancing word: "Moomin." For those of you who grew up benighted and bereft, I'll explain here that the Moomins are the creation of Finnish author Tove Jannson. They are plump, white, happy trolls, inhabitants of Moominvalley along with friends including Snufkin (my personal favorite), Little My, and the Snork Maiden. They're utterly charming. They face all manner of trials (not least comet, flood and storm), but never lose sight of the happiness of just being together. Yeah, they sound treacly and awful, but I promise you they're not.
But to return our story... In addition to the nine Moomin novels, Tove Jannson also wrote and drew a Moomin comic strip in the mid-fifties. Some of these comics are now collected in Moomin: The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip - Book One, the first of an anticipated five-volume set of the works. If you like the spare line drawings in the books, you'll love the comic strips.
And if anyone's interested, I'll show you my Moomin mug and Moomin pencil box, souvenirs of a long-ago trip to Japan, where they know good cartoons and keep the Moomin flame alive.--David E
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