Moomin: The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip, Vol. 4 by Tove Jansson

Moomin: The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip, Vol. 4 Reviews

• 
  Jonathon Von

  Another great collection. Moomin and the Comet and The Golden Tail are very good especially. The Wild West segment though is extremely embarrassing, just going to pretend that didn’t happen…
• 
  Nicky

  I remain completely and utterly biased. The Moomins are adorable. I do have to say, though, that reading all the strips in a row does show up the repetitiveness of the stories, and the way everything returns to its idyllic status quo at the beginning of each story. Not a bad thing, necessarily, in this context, but less fun when you're reading all the strips together.
• 
  Eva B.

  My least favorite one so far :(
  The Wild West story had some super racist tropes/art related to Native American characters and was all-around not very good, and the third story was also pretty forgettable.
  I loved the Snorkmaiden-centric story though!
• 
  Anna

  “Lie on the bridge and watch the water flowing past. Or run, or wade through the swamp in your red boots. Or roll yourself up and listen to the rain falling on the roof. It’s very easy to enjoy yourself”
  
  Min yndlings var “Moomin and the Comet”
• 
  Mateen Mahboubi

  Disappointed in this volume. The first story where the Moomin family goes back in time to the "Wild West" has some super problematic encounters with native populations. The rest of the stories just don't feel cohesive. Too frantic and disjointed to really be enjoyable. The last story, Moomin and the Golden Tail is probably the best of the bunch and is clever with the way it tackles fleeting fame but the rest let me down.
• 
  Emily

  Sadly, this one seemed to me to show a falling off of quality.
• 
  Aleksandra

  Ugh, najsłabszy zbiór jak do tej pory.
  1. Moomin Goes Wild West - nawet nie skomentuję. Rasizm not cool.
  
  2. Snorkmaiden Goes Rococo - Dolina Muminków 200 lat temu, Migotka ratuje swojego wybawcę, jest Król i rewolucja. Tak średnio.
  
  3. The Conscientious Moomins - Włóczykij i Muminek ship, koniec idylli, Muminki idą do pracy, a Muminek chce zmienić osobowość. Tak średnio.
  
  4. Moomin and the Comet - panika, bo koniec świata, ale można iść na balety, przecież kometa spadnie dopiero w niedzielę. Najciekawszy zeszyt z tego tomu.
  
  5. Moomin and the Golden Tail - złoty ogon Muminka staje się popularny, co staje się w pewnym momencie męką. Zarówno dla Muminków, jak i dla czytelnika. Tak średnio.
  
• 
  Nnedi

  I just LOVE these books. The stories are bizarre, border-line nonsensical, thoughtful, magical, hilarious, sometimes political, culturally/racially diverse (yes, even in Moomin Valley culture and race exists) and vastly creative. And her drawing style is very satisfying, there's always so much going on. As long as they come out with Moomin books, I will buy them. I cannot wait to share these with my daughter when she's a bit older.
• 
  Angelique

  Highlights include a time machine where snorkmaiden meets Snorkmaiden and insults her. Snorkmaiden has a problem with a man who like pork dumplings over pancakes. Again, it appears that Snorkmaiden and Moomin troll are in some sort of bizarre open relationship. Little My isn't as cheeky as she normally is, which is upsetting. All the moomins hate working and give no f's about a comet. Moomin gets famous by having a golden tail and has a love/hate relationship with fame.
• 
  Aneta

  Super conflicting volume. This has both my absolute favourite Moomin story - Moomin and the Golden Tail - and my least favourite story - Moomin Goes Wild West.
  
  Moomin Goes Wild West ★
  Snorkmaiden Goes Rococo ★★★
  The Conscientious Moomins ★★★★★
  Moomin and the Comet ★★★
  Moomin and the Golden Tail ★★★★★
• 
  Katrina

  4 stars mainly for the third story, because I love quality Moomin and Snufkin content. I also really enjoy the creative use of the panel borders - whether tree trunks or or text banners or wilting flowers that bloom when precisely the right thing is said, they add richness to the storytelling.
  
  I'm not a huge fan of the time travel chapters - it's a plot that's typical to the comics world but doesn't feel particularly Moomin - but this is still a pretty solid installment. In complete honesty, I'm not sure I would've realized on my own that the transition from Tove Only to Tove & Lars happened in this volume; Lars seems to have a pretty decent handle on his sister's sense of humor and the Moomins' cheerful absurdity.
• 
  Mer Mendoza (Merlyn’s Book Hoard)

  This is one collection that aged very very very badly. The Wild West chapter was so painfully full of racial stereotypes I could barely get through it. Sometimes you encounter a piece of older fiction that just slaps you in the face with bad representation.
  
  The other stories in this collection had the same off-kilter silly antics seen in previous volumes. They were fun and in keeping with the tone of other Moomin comics. There are some truly delightful panels. They didn’t offset the deeply uncomfortable first story.
• 
  jzthompson

  A bit of a funny one, slightly sold under false pretenses. This is sold as part of the 'complete tove jannson comic strip' - as is volume five - but at this point she'd already handed writing duties over to her brother Lars. It's a good imitation but it's still a noticeable dip in quality. Tove Jansson comes back for writing duties on the final story, which is about Moomin finding fame and not enjoying it very much, which is a bit of a melancholy conclusion but very fitting.
• 
  Rachel Abbott

  The Moomins are very cute and soft looking, but the first volume of this had some weirdly racist portrayals of Native American people?? And for what? I realize that this is several decades old and by a European person who didn’t not have the same cultural awareness of today, but it was still rough to see. Read as a part of my graphic novels and comics mls course
• 
  Amy

  The first story in this, Moomin and the Wild West, is full of racist caricatures of American Indians. It was the first time I had read a Moomin story that was offensive. Thankfully, the rest of the book was back to the usual “a simple life of innocent pleasures is best” type stories.
• 
  Michael

  Still whimsical good times, wryly commenting on the mores of modern culture's obsession with fame, fortune and what the neighbor's have.
• 
  Linda

  Delightful, as always.
• 
  Suzanne Fournier

  Particularly enjoyed Snorkmaiden goes Rococo.
• 
  linn

  mumin för evigt.
• 
  lara phillips

  The Wild West/ Native American story has not aged well.
• 
  Molly

  Lots of fun! My first introduction to Moomin, I wanted to see what all the hype was about. It was a fun comic, quite dated with that first time travel story, but I enjoyed it!
• 
  shion tia ☾

  once again so wonderful tove i love you. some comics felt a bit disjointed and made them a bit tricky to get through otherwise was great
• 
  Jeremy

  Wild west was racist but The Golden Tail and The Conscientious Moomins were wonderful
• 
  Carolyn

  Has a racist comic in this collection which should have been left out. Big skip on the wild west strip.
• 
  Gijs Grob

  The fourth volume of Tove Jansson's Moomin comic strips contains five stories from 1957-1958. Unfortunately, a decline of inspiration clearly sets in during this period.
  
  The first two stories are the most fun: in these stories the Moomins travel back into time using a time machine made out of a clock and a sewing machine, only to discover the past is nothing like their romantic notion of it. Surprisingly, in the second one, 'Snorkmaiden Goes Rococo' Snorkmaiden is the sole star.
  
  More interesting than these two, however, is 'The Conscientious Moomins', which tells us something valuable about ambition and joining the rat race. The last tale, 'Moomin and the Golden Tail' explores a similar theme: the prize of fame. Unfortunately, these pleasant stories bridge an uninspired, rambling and remarkably boring retelling of '
  Comet in Moominland'.
  
  The first edition of this volume contains some grave printing errors, which means that the endings of the second and fifth stories are missing.
• 
  Vktr

  Dva příběhy se strojem času jsou zřejmě nejbanálnější z celé série, ale tento nečekaně slabý začátek je bohatě vynahrazen příběhem se zlatou oháňkou a zejména třetím stripem "Uvědomělí muminové", kde si autorka pohrála jak s vykreslením povahy muminku, tak oproti ostatním dílům i s přechody mezi jednotlivými panely.
  
  [člen Ligy pro uvědomělost a povinnost]: Takže Vy nepracujete, pro Vás život není ani boj!
  [muminkův tatínek]: Ne...
  
  [člen Ligy pro uvědomělost a povinnost]: Nevyděláváte peníze!
  [muminkův tatínek]: Vystačíme s málem...
  
  [člen Ligy pro uvědomělost a povinnost]: Jakmile nějaké vyděláte, budete je potřebovat!
  (str. 42)
  
  [muminkův tatínek]: Neděje se nic. Myslel jsem, že začneme nový život časným vstáváním.
  
  [muminek]: Ale co budeme dělat?
  [muminkův tatínek]: Nevím... Jde o zásadu, ranní ptáče dál doskáče.
  
  [muminkova maminka]: A co kdybychom byli jako noční ptáci?
  [muminkův tatínek]: Nevím, ale to není zrovna ctnost...
  (str. 43)
  
  [muminek]: Co je vlastně povinnost?
  [Šňupálek]: Dělat to, co nechceš.
  (str. 45)
  
  [muminek]: Představ si, mít zábavu jako práci!
  [Šňupálek]: Ano. Znamená to, že si udržíš práci, a přijdeš o zábavu.
  (str. 57)
• 
  Julian Meynell

  This is the fourth volume in the comic strip. Unlike the previous three volumes this one was written, with the exception of one story, by Tove Jansson's brother Lar's. It is still drawn by Tove, however. Strangely, in some ways this works out quite well. I think of Jansson first and foremost as a writer and second as an illustrator. The format of a three panel a day comic strip was never that well suited to her writing style. Liberated from the chore of writing, several of her stories burst into the most lively and charming of all the comic strip stories. There stories are mostly meaningless (the best one is an inferior retelling of Comet in Moominland, but they are full of life. The divisions between panel boarders are charming and inventive. The backgrounds are full of her distinctive little creatures and her expressions become more animated and subtle. Flowers erupt across the panels.
  
  I had really debated whether to read this volume, because of the fact that it was not written by Tove, but the art is excellent and makes the volume well worth reading. It is full of whimsy and fun, apart from the first and last stories where she feels distracted and uninspired.
• 
  Sweetmongoose

  The drawings are wonderful and the characters as endearing as ever, but there are 2 stories in this volume that are unfinished ("Snorkmaiden Goes Rococo" and "Moomin and the Golden Tail"). These volumes have no editorial apparatus - there is an interesting bio of Tove Jansson at the end - it is the same for each volume - so there isn't any comment on why these stories are incomplete. Since the Golden Tail story is the last in the book, it left me with a "down" feeling. The wonderful topsy-turvy comfortable Moomin philosophy didn't get reasserted at the "fini". I love these books though - don't get me wrong. Snufkin is awesome in this book. And Little My is a companion in some of the stories.