I know that Vang Nyman isn't everyones cup of tea, but here are a few samples scanned from the original publication in "Klumpe Dumpe".
Enjoy!
[ BTW: I hope these will be properly restored from the original publications or original art, as the current Swedish editions are looking terrible. Supposedly "restored" but looking like second generation, re-inked photo copies... ]
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| A piece of original art. |
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| An issue of Klumpe Dumpe and a special comic book published in Sweden. |
5 comments:
I've never been a great Pippi Longstocking fan, so I'm ignorant of her history. However when my kids were little we read some of the stories. Which leads to my question:
How and when did the original Pippi you show here turn into the tall, skinny girl with socks with horizontal red stripes? This is how she looked in the storybooks we read. Is that an American re-design of the character, or derived from a movie, or--???
From what I have heard Ingrid Vang Nyman, who did the drawings above, wanted hig fees for her drawings to be used in other countries. So some publishers made their own versions of Pippi.
I don't know if Vang's illustrations were used in the US or not. But I know that Vang did a taller version of Pippi used in the story books.
I also recall Vang explaining somewhere why the characters were short and blocky in the comics, it had somethng to do whith that she felt it suited the square panels better. Makes sense.
Accodring to the original book description, Pippi is 9 years old, and is indeed skinny, sporting carrot-orange hair (braided at the sides of her head, like antennas), wearing a blue & red patched dress, a red or blue/white apron, oversized black shoes, and her stockings were black and brown. Where striped socks crept in is a mystery to me.
BTW, I'm a huge fan of Pippi! I read all three books, which are the greatest versions of the character, IMHO. Just as great as any comic-book or cartoon show! (The books were illustrated by Louis S. Glanzman in the US, and a variety of artists in the German editions, originally by Rolf Rettich and nowadays by Katrin Engelking. Both Glanzman and Rettich did a very good job channeling Nyman in their own ways.)
But I didn't know Lindgren and Nyman did a comic-book adaptation! So this is a pleasant surprise, as is the news of Drawn and Quarterly reprinting it. I will look for this!
John Paul: Isn't it great when you thought you had seen "everyting" by a writer or artist and then something, like this, turns up. :)
Joakim, yes, it is! :)
I always thought a Pippi comic was a great idea, especially if it was adapted directly from the books, much like Nyman's comics here. (Considering I, an aspiring cartoonist myself, had recently been doing Pippi fanart in a style I'd use if I were to do a comic or animated cartoon!)
I had always nicknamed Nyman's Pippi the "Buster Brown Pippi," as she sort of reminded me of the old Buster Brown comic strips and illustrations. (Yes, the very same Buster Brown currently used as a shoe brand!)
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