Läskimooses - Year #3 (2014)

Läskimooses - Year #3 (2014 - numbers 16-22)

Matti Hagelberg 

23cm x 17cm, black and white, colour covers.

6 issues, variable page count (24-38 pages), with A4 English translation sheets.

€60.00 (Euros - price per year)

Please note: The third year of Matti Hagelberg's Finnish experimental comic book epic continues the precedent set by the first two years. My reviews will take the series year by year, until we catch up with the latest issue #42 - the full set of reviews will be found here, and like the the series itself its probably best to read them in order.

Läskimooses continues its cycle of origin stories, ancient myths and religious narratives relocated onto unfamiliar planets and recast with a diverse range of characters. We're not expected to believe these stories are real, just part of an ongoing conversation. So the question becomes one of why? Who is telling these stories, and for what purpose?

Throughout the past fifteen issues a seemly dark undercurrent to the conversational relationship has been slowly revealed. Of course that relationship might turn out to be benign, but at this point the driving force behind the stories seems to be fuelled by madness or menace. 

Our interlocutor's evolution theory is advanced further to a succinct observation in Issue 18:

"You can measure human evolution by looking at how far the anus is from the mouth...the further apart they are, the more evolved a creature"

We've read approximately 600 pages, only to find at the end of this issue that we're told to forget everything that's gone before. The weird passive aggressive captive/incapacitated relationship continues, and we're left at the end of Issue 22 being accused of plagiarism.

So we're left with a conundrum: are the stories in Läskimooses so familiar because they're tropes of alien conspiracy, pop culture, and religious narratives? or because in essence there is a truth in Läskimooses?

At a little over halfway through reading the review pile of Läskimooses before me, I wouldn't want to put my money on either answer. The reason is because you get the feeling that in Läskimooses, anything, and I really do mean anything, can happen. 

Here's a short documentary of Matti working on the series:

https://areena.yle.fi/1-4145622

You can check out some samples of Läskimooses here, along with the international ordering info. Most of the sold-out issues have just been reprinted, so it's a rare occasion that all the issues are available - so get in quickly: 

http://www.kreegah.net/hagelberg-matti-l%C3%A4skimooses-international-subscription.html

Review by Nathan Penlington

Läskimooses - year #2 (2013)

Läskimooses - year #2 (2013 - numbers 10-15)

Matti Hagelberg 

23cm x 17cm, black and white, colour covers.

6 issues, variable page count (24-38 pages), with A4 English translation sheets.

€60.00 (Euros - price per year)

The second year of Matti Hagelberg's Finnish experimental comic book epic continues the precedent set by year 1. My reviews will take the series year by year, until we catch up with the latest issue #42 - the full set of reviews will be found here, and like the the series itself its probably best to read them in order.

A simplistic way to describe the narrative of Läskimooses is a series of nested and interconnected diversions. In year 2 that means exploring the Fu world, and with it the questions that arise: What is Ohto? What is the relevance of the sad life story of the ape-like Antti Treebranch? Our interrupting conversation partner reveals more of his theory about monkey evolution - facts he's combined from sources like Planet of the Apes, King Kong, Tarzan, The Flintstones, and the odd newspaper story. 

Läskimooses hangs over everything, an absence and presence both in the narrative, and the larger world of the comic, always circuitously avoided yet constantly referred to.
Yet, it is the completely textless silence of Issue 14 that leaves the most impact. This is the first time we get a glimpse of the wider world of the narrative, and begins to answer the question of where we are, as we follow the source of the ominous klanking that leaked into the end of the previous issue. What is revealed though only increases the unease, and multiplies the questions. 

Fittingly, the artwork within Läskimooses also diverges in this issue, as 'reality' seems to be constructed with images culled from war comics, "I didn't read that much comics", said our interrogator in Issue 10, "except for war comics. That's a bit like studying history". 

The textual silence continues into Issue 15, when our conversationalist finally returns "What do you say, should we continue?". 

At this stage in Läskimooses, how could you answer anything other than "Yes".

Here's a short documentary of Matti working on the series:

https://areena.yle.fi/1-4145622

You can check out some samples of Läskimooses here, along with the international ordering info. Most of the sold-out issues have just been reprinted, so it's a rare occasion that all the issues are available - so get in quickly: 

http://www.kreegah.net/hagelberg-matti-l%C3%A4skimooses-international-subscription.html



Review by Nathan Penlington

Läskimooses - year #1 (2012)

Läskimooses - year #1 (2012)

Matti Hagelberg 

23cm x 17cm, black and white, colour covers.

9 issues variable page count (24 pages - 32 pages). 

€60.00 (Euros - price per year)

As I've said before, zine makers are currently reaping the advantages in printing technologies and new distribution channels. Allowing independent writers and outsider artists to create work that are still zines, but also overlap with other forms and formats. 

Läskimooses straddles experimental comics, diy culture, punk aesthetics, and graphic art.  With 42 issues already published, it is the longest single comic book story ever produced in Finland. I've been sent the entire back catalogue for review - but rather than a torrent of single issue reviews, or a huge full series review, I'm going to break it down into years - the same way the subscription is sold. 

Läskimooses contains elements of pulp sci-fi & pop culture, and the history of the universe. But in essence Läskimooses is a parody of conspiracy theory, you know the kind that underpins TV shows like Ancient Aliens - theories that begin at the fringes of reality and quickly veer off into unhinged absurdity. 

Yes, I know what you're thinking - what exactly is Läskimooses? You'll have to read as far as Issue 5 before you can start connecting dots, and the story with the title. The narrative is plotted in an intriguing way. Largely its a conversation between two people - one is unseen (the reader is given their vantage point within the conversation) - while the other person constantly interrupts with counter stories and theories, and frustratingly often wanders off to make coffee. Everything that happens is part of what they are telling each other, and as you begin to piece together details you realise perhaps it isn't as straightforward as that. 

The art is completely suited to the content - abstract frames alternate with fantastical creatures, clearly drawn with an obsessive line. It's that obsessive line grid, combined with a scratch technique to create white on black, that gives Matti's work a distinctive quality.  

Läskimooses is written entirely in Finnish but thankfully, for the non-Finnish speakers, each issue comes complete with an A4 sheet containing English translations. My initial concern was that reading the translations would disrupt the experience, but really it's no different than watching a film or TV show with subtitles. In effect, for me, the Finnish text only helps create a dislocating effect that adds to the strangeness of the story. 

I think you can genuinely compare Läskimooses to the epic TV series phenomenon - the world it creates is huge, the characters intriguing, and its not afraid to push and pull you in directions you think you don't want to go.  So far I've only read to the end of Issue 9, and I genuinely can't guess where we're heading, all I know is I want to stay on the ride. 

Here's a short documentary of Matti working on the series:

https://areena.yle.fi/1-4145622

 

You can check out some samples of Läskimooses here, along with the international ordering info. Most of the sold-out issues have just been reprinted, so it's a rare occasion that all the issues are available - so get in quickly: 

http://www.kreegah.net/hagelberg-matti-l%C3%A4skimooses-international-subscription.html



Review by Nathan Penlington