Angry Animal on NATO 2022

Nu är det ju lite sent och vårt enda hopp verkar ligga på Erdogan av alla rövhål till människor. Och/eller svenska politikers förmåga att ha integritet nog att inte sälja ut alla kurder i landet för att blidka honom. Men det är nog ungefär like troligt som att bara de som var för medlemskap kommer att behöva skicka ut sina egna barn i framtida NATO-krig. Den här Arg Kanin-bilden gjorde jag hursomhelst för inte så länge sedan till Tecknaruppropet Moment2022.

This post is in Swedish because it’s about Swedish politics (well, not only Swedish, since it’s about our membership in NATO). Normal transmissions will resume shortly. I translated the cartoon text but not the accompanying text.

Making a decision about whether to join NATO or not right now is a bit like going to shop for food when you’re really hangover hungry.
Except what you’re buying isn’t food but war, and you’re not hungry but afraid, and you’re not hungover, only stupid.
So what you risk returning home with isn’t too much food…
…but a potential contribution to a new world war and then we all die.

Detta skrev jag i samband med att jag la upp bilden på Facebook, så det var ett tag sedan och situationen är lite annorlunda nu, men det enda som inte fortfarande är giltigt är sista meningarna eftersom folkomröstningståget redan har gått:


Kanske behöver jag förtydliga några saker om hur jag ser på hela den här grejen:

Att tycka att NATO inte borde ha försökt expandera genom att ta med Ukraina (innan kriget) och att ha en förståelse för att det av Ryssland kan tolkas som en aggression (typ Cuban missile crisis light) är inte ett försvar för Putins invasion av Ukraina. Inte heller är det att lägga skulden på någon annan än Rysslands ledning.

Borde Sverige göra någonting? Ja, men ska vi bidra inte bara humanitärt utan även med vapen så kanske vi inte måste skryta med det för att vinna politiska poäng utan vi kan göra det i smyg som antagligen andra länder har gjort, av rena säkerhetsskäl. Och vi kanske borde försöka se till att de vapnen inte hamnar i händerna på just ukrainska nazister.

Självklart ska vi ta emot flyktingar från Ukraina, precis som vi borde från andra länder, men inte för att “de är ungefär [kulturellt och etniskt] som vi” utan för att de behöver hjälp och det vore omänskligt att neka dem det. Precis som det är omänskligt att neka flyktingar från andra ställen.

Putin har aldrig varit annat än ond. Att hävda att vänstern stöttar honom är oärligt, särskilt när det kommer från folk som var för Trump även när han satt och tindrade med ögonen mot sin bästa diktatorvän/idol Putin. Redan innan den här invasionen drev han en gangsterkapitalism och krigade mot andra länder och stiftade monstruösa anti-HBTQ-lagar osv osv. Han har aldrig varit ok, men vissa hade mer överseende med de sakerna fram till anfallet mot Ukraina och de borde inte kasta sten i det glashuset genom falska anklagelser mot alla som inte älskar NATO.

Den offentliga debatten om hela grejen har också alldeles spårat ur, på ungefär samma sätt. Att ställa in en stödkonsert för Ukraina med motiveringen att det skulle användas ryska instrument är idiotiskt. Att ta bort kefir för att förpackningen hade Mokvareferenser är löjligt. Att överlag ge sig på random ryska individer och rysk kultur som inte har något med kriget att göra överhuvudtaget är galenskap, precis som när folk gav sig på random asiater för att COVID-19 först upptäcktes i Kina, eller random muslimer efter 9-11. Det är som att folk bara går och väntar på vilka lösa ursäkter som helst för att få bete sig rasistiskt. Och att intervjua random personer på gatan i Ryssland som uppenbarligen inte vågar uttala sig kritiskt mot Putin eller kriget är på inget sätt ett bevis för att alla ryssar är på hans sida. Rasismen blir ännu tydligare när ickevita ukrainare stoppas vid gränsen utan att det blir skandal, och vi fortsätter neka andra flyktingar som har minst lika starkt behov av skydd.

Är Sverige hotat av Ryssland? Jag kan inte se det. Visst, Putin är oberäknelig, men om han inte på riktigt planerar att ta över hela Europa och därigenom starta ett tredje världskrig så tror jag inte han bryr sig om oss. Möjligen om vi skulle gå med i NATO, så även vårt eget säkerhetsläge är ett argument mot att vi skulle gå med.

Ett medlemskap i NATO skulle också, som vissa påpekat, påverka Sveriges möjlighet att vara en alliansfri medlare i olika konflikter. Jag vet inte hur stor skillnad i praktiken det skulle göra, eller hur ofta/framgångsrikt vi har tagit den rollen på sistone, men det finns å andra sidan ingen anledning att se det här så kortsiktigt. Går vi med så påverkar det inte vår internationella roll bara just nu utan för lång tid framöver.

Nu är jag långt ifrån en utrikespolitisk expert så jag kan såklart ha fel om vissa saker som jag precis skrivit här. Jag har mest mitt eget logiska tänkande och de fakta jag plockat upp att gå efter, men ingenting i dagens debattklimat med skandalösa löpsedlar om Putins hemliga döttrar och artiklar som rakt av utgår från att ett medlemskap i NATO är oundvikligt och allmän krigshetsclickbaiting och (återigen) rasism säger mig att jag skulle ha mer fel än någon annan som väljer att uttala sig.

Så till sist: Borde vi ha en folkomröstning om medlemskap i NATO? Med tanke på hur opinionen verkar se ut just nu och hur extremt vinklad den offentliga debatten är (då menar jag självklart inte att vi borde se fler inlägg som försvarar Putin, men just debatten om NATO framställs ofta som att den frågan redan är avgjord och självklar) så vet jag inte hur mycket hopp jag har kring en sådan folkomröstning, MEN det vore extremt konstigt att inte ha en. Vi röstade om kärnkraften, EU-medlemskapet och EMU och med tanke på hur stor förändring ett medlemskap i NATO skulle innebära så bör vi rimligen få rösta även om det.

Och vi borde rösta nej.

Out now: CBA vol 54|55 & 56|57 (with samples)

Two massive new double issues of CBA just came from the printer:
CBA vol 54|55: Was it a car or a cat i saW
and
CBA vol 56|57: UNCOMICS

ORDER HERE (Hybriden)

180 pages each, and filled with comics (and uncomics) from an international assortment of creators. All printed on a shiny new paper stock that really makes both colors and blacks look great!

CBA vol 54|55: Was it a car or a cat i saW

Have you ever had to just stop what you’re doing and go: “Wait, is this a dream?”
When the unknown starts bleeding into reality and you are forced to question your sanity, if just a little bit.
You know the sort of thing that happens in dreams that makes you sure it’s just a dream? How do you cope when it happens in the waking world?

ISBN: 978-91-87825-28-6

Comics by:
Kinga Dukaj [SE], Knut Larsson [SE], Oskar Aspman [SE], Radovan Popović [RS], Aleksandar Opačić [RS], Marcel Ruijters [NL], Saskia Gullstrand [SE], Aiden Kvarnström [SE], Katie Handley [UK], Felipe Kolb Bernardes [BR/DE/SE], Susanne Johansson [SE], Korin(a) Hunjak [HR], Mattias Elftorp [SE], Ollie Severin [SE], Sid Church [CA], Henrik Rogowski [SE], David Lasky [US]

Texts & illustrations:
Kinga Dukaj [SE], Mattias Elftorp [SE]

Cover & main editor:
Kinga Dukaj [SE]

CBA vol 56|57: UNCOMICS

Uncomics – an artistic field where contemporary art and comics inform each other.
Where the absence of sequence encourages the reader to investigate the picture plane(s) in any direction and order, becoming an active co-creator in the process.
A space outside the tedious limitations of story, where images both abstract and suggestive interact.
Comics, at last, as a visual art form.

ISBN: 978-91-87825-29-3

Comics by:
Tym Godek [US], Kimball Anderson [US], Warren Craghead III [US], Simon Russell [UK], Anastasia Hiorns [UK], Gareth A Hopkins [UK], Tana Oshima [JP/ES], Rosaire Appel [US], allison anne [US], William Lillstjärna [SE], Louis Deux [US], Mark Badger [US], Miika Nyyssönen [FI], Shaun Gardiner [UK], Laurel Lynn Leake [US], Churchdoor Lounger [US], Mattias Elftorp [SE]

Texts, illustrations & main editor:
Allan Haverholm [DK/SE]

Cover:
Jeremy P. Bushnell [US]

I copied this blogpost from CBK, but since this is my personal blog I’ll also add a few samples, since I have comics included in both issues.

My palindromic (if that isn’t a word it should be) story in Was it a car or a cat i saW.

My entry in the UNCOMICS book, called Outside. Abstract comic consisting of re-used old comic pages and images.

 

SIS 2022 – fan art & competition

I’ve taken a short break from posting about Piracy is Liberation in order to be able to spend more time on actually drawing the new book.

Today I took a break from that as well in order to make some fan art for the upcoming SIS (Stockholms International Seriefestival):

COMPETITION:

If you are the first to identify which comic pages are surrounding the dog, I’ll give you a gift. Email me with book title and page number or part of the dialogue from the page (since I don’t normally use pagination) for all of them*. And let me know which one of my books you need as reward and I will send it to you.
*I say all of them, but one of these pages is from the upcoming book so it’s enough to identify it as the unpublished one.
Important: contact me by e-mail (see the contact page). No other means of contact counts.

Anyway, maybe I’ll see you in Stockholm, May 20-22? I’ll be there with Hybriden (CBK/Tusen Serier/Wormgod).

And with that, I’m back at the drawing table again (I mean not ALL the time, but as much as I’m able in between everything else I need to do). It’s hard to finish a book when I’m constantly adding pages to it, but I’m at least more than halfway done by now…

Release: Digital Piracy!

I just put up a bundle of Piracy is Liberation books 001-004 for digital download at Hybriden!

If you’re new to the world of Piracy is Liberation, here’s a short description of what you get in these four books:

Cyberpunk stories in a future where Capitalism is the only religion, where only sinners disobey and nobody loves a sinner. Pirate is one of those sinners, downloading illegal information straight into his mind to get high. When he gets caught while trying to free Information, he has to use all his skills as a 4-dimensional hacker to break them out of digital prison.
One year later, he’s part of a group trying to free sections of the City from the clutches of brainwashing television, riot cops and the Priests and Masters who control everything.
Meanwhile, Erica toils away as a Slave in the factory. But what’s the dark secret behind the cogs and wheels and levers of her machine? What hides in the desert that no one knows exists? And what of the Drivers and their upcoming strike?
Political theory, filtered through autobiography masked as fiction, in the form of cyberpunk postapocalypse.

It’s a great way to get a substantial sample (266 pages) if you want to try it out before buying the books, or if you just want to read it for its own sake. Or if you prefer to read on a tablet (if this proves popular enough I’ll probably do digital versions of the rest of the books as well).

Digital comics often cost much more than I think is reasonable, so I set the price for this at 60 sek (about 6€/$6.35), which is what one and a half book would cost on paper, and now you get four! There’s also the option to pay more if you think my price is too low.

If you want it for free, books 001 and 002 are still available at ThePirateBay, so that’s also an option. Just don’t forget to share!

BUY IT HERE

PROCESS: Main characters

The two girls whose story will be the main focus of Piracy is Liberation 012: Outer Enemy that I mentioned in my latest post aren’t completely new to the series.

You’ve seen them before, for the first time in book 002: Infotrip for a few pages.

They were the ones being given the Basic information for the revolution discs at a café. In that chapter (Communications, subchapter 3: Conversation) they mostly served as a way to show the effects of that book’s events on some random people in the general society.
That scene also turned out to be a bit anachronistic, since it actually took place during book 005: Free Section in the chapter Outside, where we got to see it in the background and from another perspective.

I think I had, even back then, some thought of maybe returning to them at a later point. Which turned out to be correct.
Not going to spoil any of their story in the new book just yet, but here are two of the new pages…

PROCESS: New technique for book 012

I’m working a bit differently on this one.

My normal process for shorter comics used to be to have an idea and then to simply start drawing and see what happened, writing script as I went along. That worked fine and made it more interesting also for myself since I wasn’t sure how each story would end.

Then, when I started making Piracy is Liberation, I fels the need to do it a bit more properly. I started writing scripts with dialogue, voice-over and (still pretty loose) image descriptions. The script would sometimes change as the drawing process went along, because I still needed room for things to be a dynamic during the work.

This spread from Piracy is Liberation 002: Infotrip is two of the very few pages where I actually did a sketch before inking it.

Now, with Piracy is Liberation 012, I’m somewhere in betweeen those tactics.

I’ve been collecting notes for the last 10 years, writing down scenes, bits of dialogue and over-arching ideas for the upcoming books. Or actually for the rest of the series, which is now planned as 11 more books. Which is a number liable to change because, as I said, I like to keep it dynamic. I’m deliberately still keeping the details of last few books vague, even for myself.
After putting all these notes in order and making a rough sketch of what goes into which book, I started to tie them together, but still not writing out all of the dialogue/voice-over. More like a collection of scenes that I flesh out as I go along.

Much of the dialogue, I write more or less one or a few pages at a time as I draw them. Most of the voice-over is still just notes that I will turn into full text later, as I finish the pages in Photoshop.

Another difference, which is probably very much connected to this new strategy, is that I’m drawing digitally, in Procreate. That means that it’s much easier both to erase and modify things while drawing and that I actually often do sketches, which is pretty new for me. I still keep them very vague and loose, because I want to keep the feeling of the linework. I always thought my lines got more interesting and personal when they’re spontaneous. So I want to keep that while still getting the advantage of sketching.

Here’s an examples from book 012 where I didn’t sketch but drew directly, old-school style. Step by step (panel structure/dialogue/line art/halftone & other effects/black fields/detail fixes):

Go to my Instagram to see more video capture like this one in the near future:

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cbx4rBtOO5Z/

And here’s one where I did sketch. You can see how loose it is, and how closely(?) I ended up following it:

So far, it feels like this process suits me well. At also gives the story space to evolve as it goes. For example, book 012 will have a main storyline focusing on two girls who were at first only meant to be there for a scene or two, to give the over-all events a bit more flavor. Now their story goes on to fill about 50 of the book’s maybe 150 pages (both of these numbers may very well go up before it’s all done).

More on these two characters in the next post, coming up on Tuseday…

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cbx7IjApshy/

CBA vol 58 call for submissions

Once more, it’s my turn to be main editor for an issue of CBA. I’ve been watching the internet these last years and seen a trend towrds what seems to be the complete annihilation of language and communication. We’ve gone from algorithms that mostly expose us to what we’re already interested in, or agree with, to a situation where we’re separated in socal circles, each with their own language. Their own common references, presuppositions about what the world looks like and even meaning of words. These circles are often colored by ideologies that put their own spin on things in order to win political points in the competition for the people’s hearts and minds.

From flat-Earthers to people who believe that Hitler was a socialist. From antivaxxers to people who believe that Putin is a socialist. From people who believe that nothing is racism unless the person who performs it describe themself as a racist to people who believe that the only relevant racism is the one against whites. Ok, most of the above often belong to the same group. But one of the fascinating things is that within these circles, it’s often enough to write a bunch of words that don’t even need to form coherent sentences, and others will make their interpretations of those words. It’s enough to use some specific words that signal where you stand, and based on that people will draw their conclusions.

This misuse of language is, paradoxically(?), often used in those nationalist circles who claim to want to defend their culture and language against their perceived enemies. It would be funny if they weren’t so many.

Anyway. From these phenomena came the theme from this volume: POLITICAL GLOSSOLALIA – THE EROSION OF MEANING

I can’t say I have a clear image of what comics and texts I expect people to submit on that theme, but it’s going to be interesting nonetheless. So here it is, the call for submissions for:
CBA vol 58: POLITICAL GLOSSOLALIA – THE EROSION OF MEANING
Main Editor: Mattias Elftorp
Deadline: Jun 15

How do we talk when words that used to mean certain things have become so vague that they can be freely appropriated by anyone, for any purpose? And what’s up with the currently so prevalent flirting with war, fascism and the dehumanization of anyone who doesn’t fit into the unspoken and conveniently unspecified national identity?
Objective truth (if there ever was such a thing) and even language itself seems to be sacrificed on the altar of rhetoric and propaganda.
What are the consequences when you can string any random, misspelled words together and people will make their own connections and decide to aggressively either agree or disagree, wholeheartedly even though the sentence actually makes no sense?

Bring your own spin on this. From alternate history to experiments with glossolalia to explorations of nationalism of the illiterate, what take is something only you would think of?

—SUBMISSION GUIDELINES—
Please read and follow these guidelines:
Number of pages: We prefer comics that are about 5-30 pages, but any number is welcome.
Format: 20 x 26 cm
Color: Color / Black and white
Language: English
File format: .TIF
Resolution: 1200 dpi line art or 300 dpi CMYK
Length (texts): A good size for a text is ca 7500 characters (including spaces), but it can also be longer or shorter.
Bleed: 5mm. Think you know how to handle bleed? Read this to make sure you know what we mean.
Within this space, there are no limits.

Delivery: We prefer download links that do NOT require us to login anywhere (wetransfer usually works fine, for example).
Request: Please don’t use Comic Sans. We don’t like it and will ask you to change to another font.
And again; Please check our guidelines for bleed.
Please send us high-resolution files from the start.
Include a short bio*, with one URL (if you have a website or similar).

Please ask us if you are unsure about formats, resolution, bleed, etc. We prefer stupid questions to bad files. And there are no stupid questions!
Normally, we also organize a release exhibition showcasing sample pages from the new issue. Please let us know if you’re NOT ok with us using your works for that purpose. It’s part of our marketing and it usually takes place in a physical exhibition space, although these days we’re more likely to make a digital exhibition online at the Hybriden website.

*Your bio should be approximately 500-700 characters in length. It should read more as an entertaining and informative bio and less as a CV. What you want to say about yourself is up to you, but it’s generally more interesting for our readers to know about your interests, who you are and what else you’ve published rather than where you’ve studied. We may edit it if needed to fit our format.
Send comics, questions, etc to: submissions(a)cbkcomics(.)com


Unfortunately we cannot guarantee you any payment for participating (although these last few years we’ve had more financing so we have been able to pay at least something, i.e. when all the expenses have been paid we will share the surplus amongst the participants). If we publish your submission you will receive 10 free copies of the issue. That’s all we can promise at this date. Hopefully you will find being in CBA an enjoyable experience. Naturally, copyright for your material will stay in your hands.

Also note that we are constantly overworked and there’s a great risk that we won’t get in touch in case your submission doesn’t make it into the current volume (we WILL, however, let you know if we do publish your submission, and if you don’t get into this one we might keep your comic for a future issue). We are sorry for this and will try to catch up as soon as things clear up (optimistically in 2025)…


Feel free to invite people to the Facebook event or share this call for submissions blogpost!

PROCESS: The Anarchists of Piracy is Liberation

First drawings of the gang. Maybe not the first appearances in the book, but I started the process by drawing a group picture spread out over a couple pages to make sure the group of main characters were present, and for myself to get reacquainted with them again.

I present to you: the anarchists of Piracy is Liberation:

It hasn’t been 10 years between the events of books 011 and 012, but some time has passed and especially the kids have had a chance to grow a bit. And get named, in Tomorrow’s case, while the oldest guy still sems to go by his kind of derogatory nickname. That happens sometimes, nicknames just stick, but they change meaning and become more synonymous with the person they’re stuck to rather than their original meaning. Or it’s just lazy writing because I couldn’t think of a better name for him? Probably a bit of both…

PROCESS: Piracy is Liberation 012: Outer Enemy

A few months ago, I finally started working on Piracy is Liberation 012: Outer Enemy, about 10 years after book 011 came out. I collected all my notes for the rest of the story and decided what to use in which book. I have a pretty good idea about what at least the next few books will be about. I’ve been drawing whenever I got some free time (in between Elden Ring, Horizon Forbidden West, trying to make a living and just the other stuff that need doing in general), so at the moment I have maybe 80 pages more or less drawn and I felt it was time to start showing some stuff.

As I go along, I’ll be writing a bit about my process and about what the story will be about, but I’ll start with this promo pic I made for an ad recently, kind of like a still-image trailer:

I’ll be posting some samples now and then on Instagram (@elftorp) and here in the blog. Probably not as regularly as I should, but I’ll at least try to keep it up. So follow me if you want to stay updated.

Nina von Rüdiger, who I knew as rama

Just found out that comics creator Nina von Rüdiger passed away.

We hadn’t had much contact now for years, but there were a few years, about fifteen years ago, when we talked a lot. Later she started using her real name, but back then she went by rama as her artist name.

We had lots of exchange about Japanese movies, manga/anime and kung fu movies, but also about our own respective comics.

I got to read a (still unpublished, I believe) translation of her first book, Vesi Oli Mustaa, which later evolved into her and Johanna Koljonen‘s Oblivion High.

She helped me formulate some stuff about Swedish self-rightousness that was quite fundamental for when I was taking my comic Arg Kanin (Angry Animals) to the next level. It’s what I think of to get back on track whenever I lack focus on an Arg Kanin strip.

Her comment that it’s never too late to start learning kung fu has also been a good comfort, though I still haven’t started and probably won’t.

She also made a piece for the gallery section (and almost drew a chapter, if there had been time) for Piracy is Liberation 007: Spiders pt 1.

We only met once or twice irl, and most of our conversations were in the chat function of social media I don’t think even exists anymore. It somehow feels like it should seem a bit shallow to think of a person in terms of what movies and comics we talked about, but that’s what we had and it’s something that stays with me, not only in terms of her influence on my own works. And there are still some movies I can’t think about without connecting them to conversations I had with her, or because she was the one suggesting I should watch them. Right now, I especially think of Yojiro Takita‘s Okuribito (Departures). Probably the best film I’ve seen about saying goodbye.