Last week, as every week, there were some new mysterious cartoons. I think this one by Portos is a good example for the I-don’t-understand-a-word category. The I-could-understand-it-if-I-knew-anything-about-your-culture category is being adequately represented by new member Mohamed Alafia, whom I will introduce below. Then, there are some cartoons that I think I should be understanding but I don’t: one in German, one in English, and two without any dialogue. There’s one that uses clear symbolism but makes your brain hurt if you try to think about it. And there are at least two that havecrossed the line to surrealism (one, two)

Introducing…

Mohamed Alafia’s cartoons are sporadically mysterious. Sometimes this is due to my ignorance of Moroccan topics (here & here) and a little research does help. At other times it’s due to my ignorance of Moroccan topics but even Wikipedia is clueless. Who is that Ponky guy? One cartoon, however, remains mysterious even though the captions are pretty clear.  Anyway, Alafia’s style is interesting to look at – especially when he does these scribbly outlines in what might be ink, adds another layer of paler and broader ink scribbles and then puts in blotches of color on his computer (e.g. here). I’ve never quite seen anything like this before.

German artist Schwoe has uploaded only four cartoons so far (1, 2, 3, 4). And, since I am German too I understand all of them. The reason I am mentioning them here is because they are funny, well-drawn, and make my neck hurt in a peculiar way because of the perspective Schwoe employs. Seriously. It’s like looking at German newscaster Klaus Kleber [I found this cartoon when looking for the photo… toonpool.com has once again made page one of the search results. yay!]

Cartoons of Interest

I think my favorite cartoon this week is “Daylight Robbery” by Russian artist Sergej Tunin. I love those old timey pilots in their leather caps and goggles and it’s fun to imagine the sound of the plane.

Paul Hellmich

Some of you might wonder why »Herätys Uppvaknande« by finnish artist Hezz has been added to the gallery of Selected cartoons.
»Herätys Uppvaknande« is not one of those images you watch for a glimpse, quickly browsing to the next cartoon. You need time and the adequate mood for »Herätys Uppvaknande«.

The atmosphere is eerie, not to say inconvenient, due to the strange composition and image detail. A pale glimmer of light disturbs the morbid grey with an effort. You might mock about »Herätys Uppvaknande«, about the graphical quality and the fractals of the bad JPEG compression – or is this the pure creative strategy?

See this artist's profile on toonpool.com

At least the title »Herätys Uppvaknande« was chosen wisely; it is no coincidence that the two words sound as scandinavianly awkward as an Ingmar Bergman film, while the content of this cartoon rather smells like David Lynch, like a storyboard panel of the DV nightmare »Inland Empire«.

The punchline of »Herätys Uppvaknande« is simple, but the atmosphere can follow you in your dreams; there are questions to be answered. The crazy eye sleeper with his crooked nose, his disgustingly black mouth and pricky hair – is he the suffering one, the betrayed one, or is it the pretty pig?

This cartoon on toonpool.com | This artist on toonpool.com

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Manche werden sich vielleicht wundern, warum Hezzs Cartoon »Herätys Uppvaknande« in die Reihe der Selected-Cartoons aufgenommen wird.
»Herätys Uppvaknande« ist kein Bild, das man in fünf Sekunden aufnimmt, um dann zum nächsten Cartoon zu springen. Für »Herätys Uppvaknande« braucht man Zeit und die richtige Stimmung.

Die Atmosphäre ist unheimlich, fast unangenehm, dafür sorgt die seltsame Bildkomposition und der Bildausschnitt; mühsam kämpft sich der fahle, zerbrechliche Lichtschein durch das morbide Grau. Man könnte über »Herätys Uppvaknande« spotten, über seine grafische Qualität und die Schlieren, die die miese JPEG-Kompression hinterließ – oder ist das perfekte Berechnung?

Profil von diesem Künstler auf toonpool.com sehen

Der Titel »Herätys Uppvaknande« zumindest wurde mit Bedacht gewählt; nicht umsonst klingen die zwei Wörter so skandinavisch-sperrig wie ein Ingmar-Bergman-Film, während es inhaltlich eher nach David Lynch riecht, wie ein Storyboard-Panel für den DV-Albtraum »Inland Empire«.

Der Witz im Bild ist schnell erzählt, doch die Atmosphäre kann einen verfolgen; Fragen treten auf. Der Schlafende mit der schiefen Nase und wirren Augen; mit gräßlich schwarzem Maul und dornigem Haar – ist er wirklich der Leidtragende, der Betrogene oder ist es das schöne Schwein?

Dieser Cartoon auf toonpool.com | dieser Künstler auf toonpool.com