elftorp – Page 26 – A Spr Sbtl Fkkya

Tankar i Limhamn

Excerpt from a 3 page story (Thoughts in Limhamn) made for the diary comics zine Ritualen about the recent events in Limhamn, where police on horseback attacked an anti-nazi demonstration. They did this basically with no provocation, resulting in several injured, then lied about it to the media. For once, there were a lot of journalists at the site that could set the facts straight, and the police had to admit that their earlier statement about demonstrators attacking them with rocks were a “mistake”:

I may show you the whole thing here later, after publication…

Tystnaden efter tumultet (recension)

Recension av Piracy is Liberation vol 01 & 02 i Helsingborgs Dagblad, skriven av Jonas Thente:

Men i huvudsak handlar det hela om upproret mot en fascistisk stat som håller befolkningen i ett järngrepp av konsumtion och tv-tittande. Vi befinner oss i en stadsstat vars topografi påminner om Fritz Langs dystra “Metropolis” eller Alex Proyas klaustrofobiska “Dark City”, skevt tecknad i svartvitexpressionism av Elftorp. Arbetarna kallas oförblommerat för slavar och de övre samhällsklasserna för härskare – eller slaves/masters eftersom serien är på engelska.

Det finns andra inslag också, varav några ganska mystiska – såsom de valliknande, Lovecraft-inspirerade “gudar” som svävar in från en annan dimension då och då. Eller de metainslag då personer rör sig genom tiden, över serierutornas nivå. På något ställe finns här rentav ytterligare en nivå, när två av dessa personer utanför serievärlden frågar sig om det kan finnas någon ytterligare dimension med någon som betraktar dem. Det finns det ju: vi läsare.

Allt som allt verkar Mattias Elftorps kreativa energi bygga på just den praktik som hans huvudfigurer Pirate, Information, Purple och de andra berusar sig med: slumpmässig information bestående av politisk teori, litteratur, film, musik och annat som han centrifugerar ut i sitt universum.

Om man vill hålla sig till seriemediet så är det framför allt en modern klassiker man associerar Elftorps prestation med. Det är Warren Ellis anarkistiska sf-berättelse “Transmetropolitan”, i vilken den utan tvekan Hunter S Thompson-inspirerade journalisten Spider Jerusalem ar sig an det moderna konsumtionssamhället i en rasande satir över USA.

Den främsta drivkraften är en utopisk vrede som blir alltmer komplicerad ju längre serien framskrider.

Jag tänker också att Elftorps unika, magnifikt konstruerade och passionerat genomförda framtidsparabel, kommer att bli än mer intressant nu när han har börjat tackla tystnaden efter tumultet.

Singularity

Page one from my contribution to the Novo Doba anthology.

Without lettering…

Sample art…

Some sample art I made a while ago for a project that didn’t happen.

Not really what I usually do, but it was quite fun…

The Troll

COMING SOON: The Troll – from Komika Förlag, in Swedish, English and digital format. And in color!

It’s an old story, made in 24 hours in 2005 and it was published once, but only in Swedish and the publisher disappeared shortly after so it barely made it onto their website. Now re-published in bigger format and in color for the first time!

(preliminary cover art)

h8

My contribution to the Alkom’X anthology number h8, also available as a Wormgod print:

AltCom 2014: POSTAPOKALYPS anthology – call for submissions!

Thanks to a collaboration with C’est Bon Kultur, we can now confirm that there will be an anthology for this year’s AltCom comics festival!

The theme is POSTAPOCALYPSE and we would like you to give us your stories interpreting that theme.

WHAT we want:
Pages: 1-5, black/white
Language: English
Format: 140x182mm (a little bit smaller than A5)
Files: High-resolution .TIFF, preferably
If you are unsure what we mean by “high-resolution”, please ask.

WHEN we want it:
Deadline: September 1

Send submissions to: altcomfestival@gmail.com

WHO we are:
The AltCom 2014 anthology will be edited by Mattias Elftorp + the C’est Bon Kultur crew.

As usual, no one gets paid for participating. But on the other hand, no one pays for it either since we’ll be giving the book away for free during and after the festival!

And yes, we do accept comics that have already been published elsewhere, as long as we like them and they fit into the theme.

POSTAPOKALYPS:
There is something liberating about imagining what could come after all we see around us has been torn to pieces. Will it be chaos or order? Tyranny or anarchy? When we are free to move in any direction, where will we go? Do we rebuild or take the opportunity to reboot? What’s your vision of the future after the end?

The word “apokalypsis” means “revelation of secrets”, not necessarily but commonly understood as referring to a prophetic vision of the end of the world. So the postapocalypse can be what comes after the vision of the end, or after the end itself, or after any revelation. Maybe it’s not the end of the world, but a more personal apocalypse? Maybe the prophecy is about the end of time itself? Or about a change in how we perceive reality?

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL:
The first AltCom event took place in 2004 and was organized by C’est Bon Kultur. Since 2010 it’s a bi-annual comics festival for alternative/underground/small press comics, run by Mattias Elftorp for the Swedish Comics Association (Seriefrämjandet).
cestbonkultur.com
serieframjandet.se

In 2014 it will take place in Malmö, November 5-9 (the exact dates may change), with exhibitions, international guests and a comics fair.
More detailed information will be found at
www.altcomfestival.se

Please help spread and invite all your comics creating friends to the Facebook event

More pages…

About a year ago, the Husby riots happened.

It doesn’t matter if you support the rioters or not, if you can figure out WHY these things happen you should work to change those elements and it won’t happen again.

It seems to be a similar scenario no matter if it’s in Stockholm, London or Paris, and here’s a hint: the problem is NOT that there are too few cops.

Here’s a trailer for Riots Reframed:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnAUs1F1oyY]

And here’s a chapter from Me & my Daddy & Zlatan:

Order the book from Hybriden, some of the Swedish comicbook stores or any of the Swedish web-based bookstores…

Me & my Daddy & Zlatan reviews + sample pages

There’s a review of Me & my Daddy & Zlatan at Litteraturmagazinet (in Swedich).

Maskerna är ett effektivt sätt att skildra den sortens “assimilering” som i själva verket består av annorlundaskap och uteslutning. De kan tyckas frånta berättelsen en del av den realism som Elftorp annars eftersträvar, men samtidigt är det också en slags överrealism som belyser de inslag i vår verklighet som vi inte kan få syn på om de inte understryks och överdrivs. Ett konkret sätt att skildra något som är abstrakt för dem som slipper drabbas, men farligt påtagligt för alla drabbade.

Berättelsen om Sara engagerar med sin tunga sorgsenhet. Hon bär på sina smärtsamma minnen av att ha sett en person som stod henne nära mördas. Hon kommer till ett land som inte alls släpper in henne, som inte vill ha henne där. Elftorps seriestil bidrar effektivt till känslan med sin myckna gråhet, sina få – men mycket uttrycksfulla – färger och till synes slarviga, men i själva verket väldigt exakta linjer.

And another one, at Goodreads (in English).

This story is told in a sketchy, artistic style, and the allegorical possibilities of comics are used extensively as all immigrants in this version of reality are required to wear a mask with the Swedish flag over their faces at all times. This works brilliantly as a visual metaphor for the pressure asserted on immigrants in Sweden and in many other countries to fit in and “go native” so to speak”.

The focus on the girl and her experience means that the story never gets stuck in a political placard mode, though. And the ending of this graphic novel is very strong and emotional, and if you haven’t read the shorter earlier version, unexpected and rather unsettling.

And here are some sample pages from the very beginning of the story (click images for bigger pictures) (Swedish version here):