Moomin: The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip, Vol. 05

Moomin Comic Strip #19-21

by Tove Jansson (Illustrator), Lars Jansson (Writer)

The final volume in the series drawn by Tove Jansson


Moomin Book Five: The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip features the final strips drawn by Tove Jansson and written by her brother Lars for the London Evening News, before Lars took over both the art and the writing. The first “Moomin Winter” returns with more unwanted guests than in Book One, especially the curious and secret-spilling Nibling, sending the Moomin household into a tizzy of secrecy and closed doors. In “Moomin Under Sail,” theMoomins find themselves without a new adventure until Too-Ticky’s compass gives them the idea to build a boat and head to sea. Finally, we meet the Fuddler in “Fuddler’s Courtship.”Mymble captures poor Fuddler’s heart, and his bumbling drives her straight into the arms of Dr.Hatter, the local psychiatrist. Delightfully quirky, the Moomin family does not fare well under the gaze of someone trained in correcting odd behavior.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Fiction, Childrens, Graphic Novels Comics, Finnish Literature

88 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

Tove Jansson was born and died in Helsinki, Finland. As a Finnish citizen whose mother tongue was Swedish, she was part of the Swedish-speaking Finns minority. Thus, all her books were originally written in Swedish.

Although known first and foremost as an author, Tove Jansson considered her careers as author and painter to be of equal importance.

Tove Jansson wrote and illustrated her first Moomin book, The Moomins and the Great Flood (1945), during World War II. She said later that the war had depressed her, and she had wanted to write something naive and innocent. Besides the Moomin novels and short stories, Tove Jansson also wrote and illustrated four original and highly popular picture books.

Jansson's Moomin books have been translated into 33 languages.

Reviews

[Eva B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aw. It's bittersweet to think that I've reached the end of Tove Jansson's work with the Moomins, although I still have the Lars books to work through. I loved the return of Too-Ticky, the Nibling (who reminds me of an incredibly hungry Little My!), and the Fuddler. Moominvalley's characters remain as adorable and lovely as always.

[Elizabeth A · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Did not realize until I finished that "Moomin Book Five: The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip features the final strips drawn by Tove Jansson and written by her brother Lars for the London Evening News, before Lars took over both the art and the writing."

19 - Moomin Winter (5 stars)
In which the Moomins try to hibernate but unexpected guests foil their plans.

20 - Moomin Under Sail (3 stars)
In which the Moomins build a boat and hijinks ensue.

21 - Fuddler's Courtship (3 stars)
In which Moomin makes a new friend and attempts to resolve Fuddler's romantic woes.

[MB (What she read) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charming!

[Albichu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me gusta mucho el estilo de dibujo y la dinámica de los personajes, pero mi historia favorita ha sido la primera, it had something in it…
Creo que no soy el target audience pero igual ha sido bonito de ver.

[Bria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes it feels like it's going downhill, and then the nibling and Miss Fluffkins show up and it's back to Moominland

[alma · Rating 4 out of 5]

mi mente necesitaba algo asi ❤️‍🩹

[Leif · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even Moomins get tired after awhile: Moominmamma sensibly putting out the bedding, Moominpappa asleep over his desk dreaming of oceans, and Snorkmaiden and Moomin himself perhaps sensing that they should put their daily differences to bed or sort them out, once and for all. The three stories here – "Moomin Winter", "Moomin Under Sail", and "Fuddler's Courtship" – give up an arresting development of the principle characters in the valley, but readers will be familiar with elements of these stories from Jansson's prose stories. Of the three, "Fuddler's Courtship" is the most engaging as it presents the psychoanalyst as a figure of ridicule and fun, but "Moomin Winter" shows off Moominmamma to a good light and "Moomin Under Sail" is a bit of a rollicking adventure such as the Moomins need once in a while, and is leagues away better than the time travels of previous adventures.

Read as repeats of the prose this fifth collection of Moominstories might feel the tiredness of the Moomins heavy on its back. But seen in the light of their ending – this is the last collection of Tove Jansson, after which her brother Lars Jansson took over – they are all the more precious, despite (or more probably because of) their sleepy eyes.

[Nicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the story with Snorkmaiden and Moomin trying to get someone together with Mymble. Especially the ending... The characters remain their quirky, adorable selves. And I do love that Moomins look like hippos.

[Drew Canole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Moomin Comic Strip #19-21

19 Moomin Winter
The Moomins try to prepare for hibernation but an unwelcome guest comes to the house. These Moomins always let people walk all over them. Miss Fluffins in pretty hilarious, Tove repeats the bit of her saying "Oh, I dont want to intrude" then constantly intruding and causing trouble but trying to be polite all the while. Latter Nibling comes and spies on everyone. Once all the Moomin's secrets are out in the open, they can all finally relax and be themselves.

20 Moomin Under Sail
An epic sea adventure The Moomins start off breaking the fourth wall as they search for adventure to entertain the readers. This is the penultimate volume of Tove's run on the series so it feels a bit like a gesture to the readers that she's perhaps running out of steam.

But it's also a really fun issue. Moominpappa gets the family to build a full-sized ship and they name it the mermaid. During the adventures they run accross a giant sea monster and get boarded by pirates. They eventually run away from the pirates accidently taking their treasure with them and stumble back to their house.

21 Fuddler's Courtship
The final volume of Tove's daily strips before her brother takes over the strip.

Here we get introduced to Fuddler who loves to collect things, he's a very eccentric boy who has troubles talking to women - specifically Mymble. They seek out the help of a paranoid psychiatrist who gets the Moomins into all sorts of trouble.

[Kitty · Rating 3 out of 5]

see on mu esimene süstemaatilisem kokkupuude muumikoomiksitega (kuskil üheksakümnendate ajalehesabas justkui jäi ka vahel ette, aga misiganes leht see oli, ma ei lugenud seda kuigi tihti). muidugi eriti süstemaatiline inimene oleks vaevunud ehk alustama esimesest köitest; laisk inimene võttis selle, mis lähimas raamatukogus riiulil saada oli, seega sattus viies. mis on väidetavalt viimane veel Tove enda joonistatud lugudega, edasi tuleb juba vend.

mis ma oskan öelda, kolmest loost kaks on küll ilmselged "Muumipapa memuaarides" olnud süžeede, tegelaskujude ja isegi dialoogide taaskasutus (vaatasin järele, raamat oli enne, koomiks hiljem). Sniffi pole üheski loos tegelasena sees, aga pole nt ka Haisulooma, kes on üks selline müütiline muumikoomiksitegelane, kellest olen ainult kuulnud (raamatutes pole) ja noh, ikka ei õnnestunud siis nüüd näha. vist pean ikka mõne varasema köite ka hankima, see oli kokkuvõttes selline veidi... meh.

[Nestor B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tove Jansson's 3 last comic strip stories. The atmosphere, the humanity, the warmth and the humor are still the same. The stories seem a bit looser in form, and not as poignant as before, perhaps also a bit "simple". The first story “Moomin Winter” is not so much about winter activities as it is about the secrets the characters keep from the each other and how much better it is to stand for who you are. “Moomin under Sail” is plain adventure and Fuddler’s Courtship” is a nice love story. The drawings are lovely, as always. It all ends with the Moomintroll shrinking and disappearing, possibly Jansson's way of saying goodbye, from now on it is her brother Lars who takes over responsibility for the comic strip.

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

The last volume with Tove's contributions to the comics. I didn't particularly like the middle story - it was too self-referential, which is neither a type of humor I'm typically drawn to, nor one that fits the moomins' world. The first story, though, with visitors infesting the moomins' attempt to hibernate through the winter, was excellent, and the final story was funny and charming.

Weirdly, this volume had two panels stuck in over what must have originally been a misprint. That's an odd way to fix an error, but I suppose it's better than tossing out a bunch of books. The moomins would probably approve of that kind of haphazard stuck-together solution. Waste not, want not.

[Evie Bell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful, beautiful BEAUTIFUL! I've been borrowing the series from the library, but might even kick my anti-consumerist motto to buy my own copy. OH! Sweet, silly bumbling Moomin valley! My favourite illustration of this volume has to be the rows of orphanage creatures, with illustrated plaits precariously balanced atop long snouts. I've no idea where or how Jansson came up with the names of her characters, but favourites (from this volume) include, 'Mrs Fillyjonk', 'Stinky', 'Miss Fluffins' and 'Nibbling'. Can't wait to immediately re-read the entire strip.

[Heidi Burkhart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Silly and funny. The comic characters epitomize human nature in a gentle way. I especially like Jansson’s drawing. I’d say that some kids might like the Moomin comics, but I believe that adults are likely to appreciate them more.

[Charlie · Rating 3 out of 5]

the fuddler wears a saucepan on his head, collects buttons, and i love him.

[Sasha Ustyuzhanina]

Муми-тролли против незваных гостей, психотерапевта и пиратов (побеждают всегда сумка Муми-мамы и покой). Купила книжку в Женином книжном на ВДНХ

[Suzanne Fournier · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved Moomin under sail mostly because of Too-Ticki, love this character. She's so resourceful and knowledgeable.

[Nathaniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love TJ and am looking forward to hoovering up the other volumes.

[Gijs Grob · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume rounds up the comic strip in which Tove Jansson was involved herself. It contains three stories that betray a lack of inspiration.

'Moomin Winter' is the best of the three and tells about a winter in which the moomins fail to hibernate due to a number of guests. An annoying nibling child takes the center of this tale, which is mostly about the stupidity of secrets.

'Moomin Under Sail' starts with the lack of inspiration visible in the first panel, in which we can see Moomintroll looking for something to start a new story with. What follows is practically an uninspired re-telling of 'The Exploits of Moominpappa', now featuring Too-Ticki and the whole Moomin family.

Finally, 'Fuddler's Courtship' tells about the Fuddler (apparently the son of the Muddler from 'The Exploits of Moominpappa', but there's no difference between the two characters), who's in love with the Mymble['s daughter]. Unfortunately, this story dissolves into another one about a mad psychiatrist, and only shows that it was a wise decision for Jansson to stop.

[Cara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable but not up to the standard of previous volumes imo (or maybe I just wasn’t in the right mood)

[Harriet · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the BEST !!

[Brianna Davies · Rating 5 out of 5]

Literally perfect. I feel a strong kinship with Moominmamma

[VakeOikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leer a los Mumins siempre es bien

[Diane B]

Charming.

[Izabella Rodrigues · Rating 3 out of 5]

couldn’t get a hold of the earlier books so here we are :)
played moomin valley on the switch and it was wonderful so here I am for the original 🦛☁️🫧

[Aleksandra Kowalska · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5 ⭐️
Dobrze, że Tove Jansson zakończyła to tutaj. Widać brak pomysłów, chociaż wydaje się, że Muminki są samograjem.
1. Moomin Winter - Panna Kosmatka, Gburny, Gryzilepek i tajemnice.

2. Moomin Under Sail - historie Muminków związane z morzem są moimi ulubionymi.

3. Fuddler's Courtship

[Pauliina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ilmeisesti tämä viides kirja oli pelkästään Lars Janssonin käsialaa ja no, kyllä sen huomasi. Toki oli varmasti paras ratkaisu että Lars rupesi näitä neljännen kirja jälkeen jatkamaan (jos niitä kerta oli pakko jatkaa), mutta piirrosjälki on paikoitellen todella epäselvää ja tuntuu kuin tämä olisi vain nopeasti hutaisten tehty. Totta kai Toven isoja saappaita on vaikea täyttää, mutta ei tämä silti oikein uponnut.

[Ademption · Rating 4 out of 5]

One star subtracted because the second, pirate-themed story, where the Moomins comment about how formulaic they act within their own stories and what is generally typical for their adventures, was necessarily boring. Otherwise, another solid Moomin book.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

This installment draws heavily on Moominpappa's Memoirs, but despite the unabashed recycling, it's still quite entertaining.

[Sara Forsberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Three more chapters in the amazing Moomin comics, this time penned by Tove but drawn by Lars Jansson. Winter guests, Fuddlers and psychologists inhabit these stories, and they're just as quirky and funny and sweet as the others.