In recent years Scandinavia has become a hotbed of cartooning activity, from the internationally acclaimed funny-animal stylings of Norway s Jason to the hilarious slacker romps of Sweden s Martin Kellerman and Dane Nikoline Werdelin s Eisner-Award-nominated urban slice-of-life stories. This anthology of comics many of them created especially for this book offers an intoxicating and compelling sampling of current works from these countries. Skaal

Jenni Rope Finland] tells a minimalist tale of heartbreak in The Island; Peter Kielland s Denmark] Mr. Pig has an eventful day; Joanna Rubin Dranger Sweden] is Always Prepared to Die for My Child; Crumb-esque satirist Christopher Nielsen Norway] boils down all of life to an eternal journey up the Escalator; Tommi Musturi Finland] provides two full-color Jim Woodringesque romps featuring his Samuel character; Johan F. Krarup Denmark] visits a compulsive comics collector in Nostalgia; plus Bendik Kaltenborn s Norway] The Great Underneath, a dazzling wordless piece from Mard n Smet Denmark], the legendary Swedish cartoonist Joakim Pirinen s ultra-virtuoso My Life, Drawn & Quarterly-published Amanda V h m ki s Finland] pencil-smudged stylings, and much more.