Staff Picks (September): Moomin Deluxe Anniversary Edition HC

Publisher: Drawn & Quarterly

There is so much to learn about Moomin. Important things like: Moomin is a troll; Moomin loves The Snork Maiden who’s very similar to a troll; and Moomin lives with his parents MoominMamma and MoominPappa who are -- but should not have been assumed to be -- also trolls. 

These key facts will surely help the uninitiated, but too much more explanation tends to bog down the simple joy of these comics. It would be like trying to define Peanuts, Calvin and Hobbes, or Totoro. Once you have the names and relationships, their creator has done such a masterful job making the characters play on paper that it’s just best to let the characters speak for themselves with their own wonderful, quirky, honest voices. 

Drawn and Quarterly must agree with my assessment, because after releasing 20 different, sparkling Moomin volumes over the past seven years (all still in print!), they’re bringing forth an amazing new collection: the Moomin Deluxe Anniversary Edition hardcover. It’s all in celebration of Moomin’s fabulously talented creator, Tove Jansson. 

It’s been 100 years since her birth and this collection pulls together more than 450 pages of her life’s work.  Recognized internationally as a children’s author of the highest order, she was also an author, illustrator, and satirist. Her Moomin career began during the Second World War, when she was determined to create something that brought happiness. And what happiness!

Come pick up a collection full of happiness in special happiness slipcover and join myself and Drawn and Quarterly in wishing Tove Jansson a very happy centenary!

~ Sarah Martinez