The “roaring” Twenties didn’t start very cheerfully in France (where our heroes live, when they’re not vacationing on disputed territory at the Adriatic Sea). Everything was scarce after the devastating war, and prices were on the rise. For Lou and Mayann, this is not a problem – the US dollar is strong, and the bulk of their Paris audience consists of North and South American tourists, war profiteers and “goulash barons”.

But for Falco… Even before the war, a decent cassock would cost 65 Fr., and his meager scholarship has certainly not been updated to catch up with the rising costs of living. No wonder he needs a part-time job or two. (Those kid gloves and that silk cincture… not exactly standard equipment for a simple deacon!)

Observe, too, how expensive the ladies’ shoes are in comparison. The worth of their undergarments must remain a mystery, but I would guess that Mayann wears the skimpiest and most expensive ones…

Inspired by this front page of Le Petit Journal, July 4th, 1920.

I was playing around with a self-portrait like this.

Orcs are probably my favourite fantasy creatures. Since I’m not a gamer as such, but more of an academic scholar, I see things in them that many hardcore gamers or fans of particular fantasy authors do not see. For example, myself…

Tolkien’s Orcs were the minions of Evil, and it’s easy to fall in the opposite trap and “redeem” them as misunderstood noble savages. I would like to avoid that, but who knows? You can read some of my really old Orc comics online.

Orcs fascinate me for pretty much the same reasons as all stereotypical images of “the Other” or “the Enemy”. We are all somebody’s Other. As a child of emigrants and multiple immigrant myself, I have grown up with a sense of doubt towards those images every time they are presented as fact as well as fiction. Here is an inspirational cartoon from the 1910′s, depicting the two major linguistic groups of Finland from the point of view of the smaller one. As you can see, the threatening majority (the Finnish-speaker) is dressed like a peasant and looks more “Eastern” (cheekbones, slanted eyes, brushy hair – note also the full lips and broad nose, visual cues for “un-European”), pretty Orcish in spite of his blond hair (the ears!), while the small and desperately waving Finland-Swede has parted his hair neatly and wears a civilized western jacket.

This survey was initiated by the extraordinary Loka Kanarp (creator of the comic Pärlor & Patroner – 60 historical portraits of women). Thanks to Fredrik Strömberg for the English translation and the awesome plug for Goldenbird on his blog!

My name is: Ainur
I live in: Lund, but very soon in Helsinki

I have been to SPX Stockholm (# of times): Three times? Yeah, I guess so. Dissertation work causes amnesia… But I clearly remember living on a hotel boat twice, and staying with Horst Schröder once… Hey, I didn’t expect the Spanish Inquisition!

At this year’s SPX I will: Join the Swedish Comics Association jury for the big beauty competition for self-published comics on Sunday. I also look forward to seeing old friends, making new ones, fangirling celebrities etc, although I have been too busy with other things to actually check all events…
It would be great to go to one or two of the many release parties around Stockholm this time. Usually I’m too exhausted (after sitting on my butt and selling comics the whole day) but maybe, just maybe this time… (It’s the wrong time of the month, too D:)

Three fanzines I’m looking forward to: Anima by Stef Gaines, Agnosis by Li Österberg, and Tunguska by Tinet Elmgren.

My best discovery on SPX: The works of Olivia Skjöld. (Inspelningen, ett märkligt album med fascinerande dialog om stumfilmsstjärnan Al Jolson och underhållningsindustrins barndom, går att beställa på Dreamboat Music.)

My best memory from SPX: When Goldenbird 3-4 won an award for the prettiest fanzine cover last year! Honour and glory (and Fanzineindex 2001)! And no, I wasn’t in the jury at that time.

Apparently, the theme this year is “adventure and history in comics” (I thought it was sex). Cool! Right up my alley. (Though I don’t mind sex either.)

Others who have also replied: Micke Sol, Stef Gaines, Tinet Elmgren, Staffan på Staffars Serier

I recently had a look at the visitor statistics of my website between May 2009 and April 2010. Last year was the 200th anniversary of the Russian conquest of Finland (until then a part of the Kingdom of Sweden), which was commemorated with a specially minted 1 SEK coin in Sweden. The obscure inscription on the coin invited many visitors looking for an explanation, which I have posted here (and continued here).
The most popular searches in 2009 remained “erlking” and “bravo”, including variations. The Erlking is my unfinished comic about an orc and a foxy Scandinavian forest creature, but it’s also a possible translation for Goethe’s poem Der Erlkönig. “Bravo” could either refer to the fact that I have had some crazy scans from the German teen magazine Bravo on my site, or … see below.
In December 2009, people suddenly started to search for “noli me tangere comics”, which turns out to be an adaptation (or maybe this one?) of José Rizal’s novel Noli Me Tangere, a classic in the history of the Filipino independence movement. In the Philippines, the novel is part of the national curriculum, which would explain why many kids (?) might be looking for a comic version. Unfortunately, a Goldenbird chapter named “Noli Me Tangere” tops Google Image Search…
A lot of people who search for so-called great men of history land on my site. Some notable names include St. Ignatius, Urho Kekkonen, Per Albin Hansson, Bertel Gripenberg and Gösta Ekman Sr. Some search strings only appear once or twice, never to be seen again. These are some of my favourites:
“commedia dell arte comics” (July 2009)
“comic strips about science” (12 times in Oct 2009!)
“finnish swastika”, “honda bravo modified” (Dec 2009)
“horoscope of dog” (Jan 2010)