But those strips, carefully clipped out and preserved, were three-or-four-frame ‘cartoons’ with ‘speech bubbles’ in Finn Family Moomintroll I met the same storyteller but, unshackled from the limiting restraints of the newspaper layout and the demands of syndication, I found the work of a writer of emotionally nuanced prose accompanied by some of the most alive and exciting illustrations I had ever encountered. I was already well aware of the Moomins since I followed their daily exploits in the comic strip in my father’s nightly copy of the London Evening News. Apart from which, if you already know what a Moomin is then you don’t need a description and, if you don’t know, then I suggest you abandon reading this article and go and find a copy of one the books instead. I will resist attempting to describe Moomins because (although there are those who make analogies with hippos) the only thing a Moomin resembles is another Moomin. Then, in 1961, I discovered the ideal family when I stumbled on the newly published Puffin edition of Tove Jansson’s Finn Family Moomintroll – price two shillings and sixpence of my preciously guarded pocket money.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |