Moomin: The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip, Book 1

This is the first book in a collection of the Moomin comic strips published from 1954-1959 by Tove Jansson, and later continued by her brother. I have read Finn Family Moomintroll, a Moomin book about a magician's hat, and I liked this collection of comics better. The characters are sharper: Moominmamma's placidity is more ridiculous, Moominpappa is more bombastic, the Snork Maiden is more grasping. The first story arc makes fun of get-rich-quick schemes; the third of tony vacation getaways. Or maybe I just like it because there's an aunt Jane.

If I had to live in any fictional comic universe, please let it be this one! The Moomins appreciate all the fine things in life: imagination, adventure, food, and naps. I loved reading about each of their ridiculous escapades and was completely charmed by their philosophical way of being.

Imagine my delight when I found these, my favorite books from childhood that are out-of-print in Sweden! I think every Nordic person has Mumintrollen living somewhere in their heart, and although these books are translated into English and it's a little bit harder to "hear" their Finnish-accented Swedish, they are still as fantastic as I remember them. Muminpappa cherishes his crazy adventures, Muminmamma her home and hearth, Snorkfröken her romances, and Mumin himself just wants everyone to be happy and get along. Different as they are, they have one over-riding goal in common: to have fun! The ultimate in anarchy, you just can't help but admire their guts and gusto and their complete devotion to each other. Or, as the character show more Stinky puts it, "Indeed you are the most idiotic family I ever saw - but you are at least living every minute of the day!!" show less

Moomin: The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip, Vol. 1 - Tove Jansson Embarking on my Moominread.Some time back I read a book of short bios of kick-ass women, that included Jansson. And then, the moomins are so freaking cute. Plus Jansson lived in Finland which is present in my mind since getting hooked on the ice hockey. so, I decided to do some further exploration before I wrote the books off as not for me.I like the eccentric family of bohemians and their madcap adventures, sort of. I love that there are all these different-looking creatures and that Moomin seems to accept them as relatives or just as people without question. And the moomins are hella cute.But the story-lines are predictable, and the dialogue isn't especially funny, show more and the convention of making every noun Moominnoun wearies me. So while I can recognize the need for cuteness after horror, and for acceptance after exclusion, I'm still not a fan. I have two of the novels in the queue, so we'll see if those work better for me.If not I suppose I will stick with the coloring book. Or go back to Calvin and Hobbes which I am appreciating more at the moment.And with that I am caught up with reviewing my holiday reading. Now I'm behind on everyone else's reviews, which makes a nice change.Library copy show less

A slightly different feeling than I get from reading Moomin. Less melancholy. The spare pictures are delightful. My 10 y.o. liked finding the little unexplained critters who populate some of the panels. I loved reading this.

This first volume of Moomin cartoons features the well-loved Finnish characters in four nonsensical adventures. The stories themselves have a rambling quality, with needless digressions playing for laughs, and some readers may be put off by this unfocused storyline. It is really the characters – the classic Moomin cast of Moomintroll, Moominpappa, Moominmamma, Snufkin, Sniff and the Snork Maiden – that lend the comic strip its charm. The illustrations are black-and-white line drawings with the hippopotamus-like Moomins and their friends styled exactly as they were in the Moomin book illustrations. Readers who enjoyed with Moomin books as children will likely enjoy the comic strip. However, this is not the book to introduce young show more readers to the Moomins. One must also have some previous knowledge of the characters to understand much of the humor. The content is also occasional mature, with references to suicide and drunkenness, and the endnote specifically states that the comic strip was intended “for adults.” While libraries may wish to purchase this comic strip for older Moomin fans, libraries hoping to purchase Moomin materials to introduce children to the series would be better off purchasing the original books. Recommended for readers age 14 and up. show less

Cartoons better than the novel I read earlier. Charming.

I read this a second time when my bookgroup chose the Moomins for our selection this month. I enjoyed this a lot this time around. It is much more approachable to me in the graphic format. I love the variety of characters and the amazing creativity of Tove Jansson.