2023 read #68: Moomin: The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip Volume Two by Tove Jansson.

Moomin: The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip Volume Two by Tove Jansson

84 pages

Collection published 2007; original comic strips published 1955 and 1956

Read June 16

Rating: 4 out of 5

As a collection of newspaper comic strips, nothing separates this book from Volume One other than the publisher’s page quota. Go ahead and read that earlier review (if you like) for my general thoughts about the Moomin comic strip.

Like Volume One, this volume anthologizes four story arcs from the Moomin comic:

“Moomin’s Winter Follies,” which sees the Moomin family reject hibernation, only for winter sports enthusiast Mr. Brisk to take over their valley for the Moomin Valley Winter Games;

“Moomin Mamma’s Maid,” in which the family runs afoul of new neighbor Mrs. Fillyjonk’s upper class expectations of housekeeping, seriousness, and propriety, until Moominmamma gives in and hires a maid;

“Moomin Builds a House,” in which the Mymble's mother and seventeen new siblings create chaos in the Moomin house, and Moomintroll and Snorkmaiden build a new house together;

and “Moomin Begins a New Life,” which sees everyone in Moomin Valley fall under the sway of a prophet, who tells everyone to do what they want and embrace total freedom, which inevitably leads to bootlegging and brigandage.

My favorite arc might be “Maid” — who doesn’t love to see classist norms dismantled by adorable trolls? — but “New Life” also has some winsome social commentary, rejecting both freedom without responsibility and puritanical asceticism. “Follies,” while enjoyable, feels a bit more 1950s than the other arcs, with both Snorkmaiden and the Mymble simpering after the “manly” Mr. Brisk.