Week of 3/18/2024
In this belated update, court is in session on The Shapes, store rollouts are announced, and I review a Finnish anthology.
The Shapes
Struck v. Struck 22-23
News
Store Rollouts
The Shapes #4 has rolled out to 6 more shops: Desert Island Comics, Material World, Taylor & Co. Books, Topos Books, Troubled Sleep, and Joint Custody.
Sammy the Critic
Thiku Review
Hailing from the land of Finland is Kutikuti, a comics collective of 60 contemporary cartoonists, 12 of whom contributed work to this 103-page anthology, showcasing their artistic skills which are there although the writing portion leaves more to be desired.
Mornings: Before and After the Anthropocene by Tiina Lehikoinen — Our first entry here presents a series of abstract scenes of nature in a primarily orange and blue color scheme, a recurring quality throughout the entire book. The drawings resemble cave paintings which are fine to look at on their own as an exhibition but less so as a sequential narrative.
Newly Sprung in June by Esko Heikkila — Young guys show off their dicks to each other in the forest and act like ones too. That’s all folks! Esko is a versatile artist who works well in detailed and lightly grotesque black-and-white art, but orange and blue just don’t fit him and feel too flat. Sorry, but I just didn’t care for this comic.
Facts and Feelings Jyrki Nissinen — Marge (who loosely resembles Marge Simpson) tries selling her book Facts and Feelings to this dog guy over a game of billiards. They say facts don’t care about feelings and the fact is I feel like the art is pretty average, but I liked how ambient the action was to their dialogue. It gets at least a participation trophy for effort.
Chaos by Tehri Adler — The comic starts out strong with a witty joke about hidden meanings behind text messages, something my neurodivergent ass can relate to (if only there were a translator for ritualized phrases). After that, it does get truly chaotic in composition in a way that makes the panels and speech difficult to follow which conflicts with how clean and coordinated the artwork is.
The Only Way by Tehri Ekebom — A girl climbs up a mountain to seek advice from these giant wise owls. The journey was a more pleasant and whimsical sight than the destination, which came down to generic advice saying not to fret over circumstances beyond one’s control. If this were a longer epic where we actually knew the girl’s character, then the words would have more impact. Alas, it’s not so what I derive from this is merely a nice-looking sequential exhibition rather than a comic story.
Locked by Katja Ronkanen — I’d argue this is the strongest entry in the anthology. Ronkanen’s lines are loose, feeling almost dream-like, yet grounded when you look at the facial expressions that emphasize wrinkles and natural blushes. A straightforward concept like a pregnancy test is taken and stretched to visually represent the anxiety it can entail.
The Nose by Joonas Jarvi — An owl pursues a nose floating somewhere in the clouds. This is another of those comics that’s abstract conceptually and artistically. There is a discernable narrative going on, but not enough apparent intent or themes to elaborate on.
Side note, the last comic ended with the owl in a ball of branches and the next one begins with a ball of yarn, so props to the editor for that neat transition.
The Braider by Hanneriina Moissinen — A man obsesses over braiding hair and feels bad about it because “it’s not real man’s work!” and his partner (I assume) comforts him over it. This will go down as my second favorite contribution due to how generally peaceful and cozy the environment felt. I could just imagine myself in that warm cabin on a wintry day doing a repetitive yet pleasing sensory activity alongside someone I love.'
The Schedule by Ivanda Jansone — Written in cursive lettering, this beautiful graphic poem subliming employs abstract imagery to evoke themes of repression, social anxiety, and self-esteem while the author describes their crying routine. Actually, this will be my second favorite pick.
Ronkkonen and Tonkkonen by Kati Rapia — Nothing to state here besides if you like yoga, then you’ll probably find a few good positions to practice, but that’s not what I’m here for, so, meh.
The Knife by Lauri Makimurto — I found myself genuinely laughing at the comic! The premise is simple, a boy wants to borrow a knife from a wise old man so he can kill people and steal their souls only to be met with an obvious no. There’s always a strong comical element to watching kids openly and so bluntly their morbid fascinations and this is no exception. That final line from the boy “Be careful with that knife” alongside his cheeky expression kills me.
Who Opened the Watch? by Jyrki Heikkinen — A spirit seems to be inhabiting the pocketwatch an old man finds on a floating corpse in the water. Most of the story is simply the old man going through the mundane motions before the supernatural twist. I’m pretty sure there’s a hidden motif somewhere embedded in arcane literary history or folklore that I’m too dense to deduce. Nevertheless, I couldn’t see it thus everything was lost in me, so in my dunderheaded opinion, comes another resounding mehhh…
Comics Ranked
Locked
The Schedule
The Knife
The Braider
Facts and Feelings
The Only Way
Chaos
Mornings: Before and After the Anthropocene
Ronkkonen and Tonkkonen
The Nose
Who Opened the Watch?
Newly Sprung in June
Overall, the Thiku anthology is pretty hit or miss. Of all the entries, only 4 of them stood out to me while the others threaded mediocrity with one bad comic in the mix. The artistic qualities were usually there, but storytelling was often lacking. It still might be worth a gander if you’re curious about what coming out of the indie artists in the Nordic regions.
Thank you Living the Line for this free book copy.