New Arrivals, Old Survivals

 

Vaesen (2017) by Johann Egerkrans

"They may not look like us, but they are not of this world. They have many names and many guises. They are elusive, bewitching and dangerous." Some of these creatures appear all over Europe: ghosts, giants, dragons, trolls, werewolves and faeries. Others are endemic to Scandinavia, such as the Neck who rules the rivers, the nightly Mara, the Huldra who guards the forest, tomtar, mylings and many others. Author and illustrator Johan Egerkrans presents what he regards as the most important – and most fascinating – Scandinavian folkloric beings. This richly illustrated, well-informed collection, a bestseller in Swedish, is now available in English for an international audience.” – Amazon.

This has been on my Wish List for quite a while, and yesterday it came. A beautiful volume, this 158-page, 8.46 x 10.83 inch book sports a cloth-bound cover with an enamel inset that is redolent of a classic era of publishing and is most pleasing in the hand. While I turned its pages, I got a definite flash of the feelings I had when I first read Faeries by Brian Froud and Alan Lee, and sure enough that book was listed (among many others) in the Bibliography. I do not mean that it copies it, but that it evokes the experience in its own particular style.  First published in Swedish in 2003, then in English in 2017, it has been around long enough to spawn a following and a popular RPG, also titled Vaesen. If you ever order it, be sure you get the right one.

Walt Disney Comics Digest #53 (June 1975)

Also arriving yesterday, Walt Disney Comic Digest #53. This late number in the series is again printed with the Whitman logo rather than the more specific Gold Key. It is touted as a Special Magic Kingdom Issue, with the stories all themed to the different sections of the amusement park. Advertising through Entertainment!

Donald and his Nephews take the battleship Columbia out on an ocean trip, with Donald trying to be an old time captain and not succeeding very well. Mickey and Goofy face the Blizzard Bandit on the Matterhorn; Scrooge and Gyro chase the Beagle Boys to Neverland where they have partnered with Captain Hook; Morty, Ferdie, and Pluto have adventures on Tom Sawyer Island; the Big Bad Wolf steals the rocket ship to the moon in order to fool and capture the Three Little Pigs; Minnie, Daisy, Clarabelle and Grandma Duck take an all-ladies cruise through Adventureland, and other such unlikely pairings and adventures take place in the Happiest Place on Earth. Also Paul Revere, Moby Duck and Dimwitty, and Goofy accidentally switches his Super Goobers with an old lady eating peanuts in the park.

Another step toward getting the whole run. Only two more to go!