Iceland.
Iceland
1930
Icelandic comics grew out of magazine cartoons, above all Tryggvi Magnússon's drawings for the satirical magazine Spegillinn, and home-grown strips only began in 1959 and 1960 with Gísli J. Ástþórsson's Sigga Vigga and Ragnar Lár's Láki og lífið. Kjartan Arnórsson's Pétur og vélmennið (1979) is counted as the first Icelandic comic book, and the magazine Gisp! (1990 to 1999) gathered a new generation of artists.
Since the 2000s, saga adaptations, Hugleikur Dagsson's black-humour cartoon books and the comics publisher Froskur have given the medium a steadier place.
22
22
1930
2000s
Artists from Iceland in the archive.
Comics from Iceland in the archive.
Kattafarganið, the earliest comic from Iceland in the archive.
The decade when the most new comics from Iceland began.
myndasögur
Iceland in 4 chapters
A short history you can leaf through. Click a page, use the arrow keys, or press Turn the page to read on.
Iceland.
4 chapters
Chapter 1
1920
to 1958
Cartoons in Spegillinn
1920
to 1958
Chapter 01
Cartoons in Spegillinn
Tryggvi Magnússon, the first Icelander to devote himself seriously to cartooning, drew for Stúdentablaðið in the 1920s and then for the satirical magazine Spegillinn, where his Kattafarganið appeared in 1930. Translated foreign strips such as Tarzan, Secret Agent X-9 and Superman reached Icelandic newspapers from the 1930s and 1940s.
1959
to 1978
Chapter 02
The first Icelandic strips
In 1959 Halldór Pétursson drew Njálsbrenna og hefnd Kára for Morgunblaðið and Gísli J. Ástþórsson started Sigga Vigga og tilveran in Alþýðublaðið, followed in 1960 by Ragnar Lár's Láki og lífið in Þjóðviljinn. Haraldur Guðbergsson's Ævintýri Ása-Þórs, running in Lesbók Morgunblaðsins from August 1964, was probably the first Icelandic serial comic.
1979
to 1999
Chapter 03
Comic books and Gisp!
Kjartan Arnórsson published Pétur og vélmennið in 1979 at the age of 14, and in 1990 his Kafteinn Ísland gave Iceland its first superhero. Bandormur (1982) was the first magazine devoted to Icelandic comics, and the group behind Gisp! published it irregularly from 1990 to 1999 and linked it to exhibitions, while Hasarblaðið Blek started in 1996.
2000
to today
Chapter 04
Sagas, black humour and Froskur
Ingólfur Örn Björgvinsson and Embla Ýr Bárudóttir adapted Njáls saga in four books from 2003 to 2007, and Hugleikur Dagsson's cartoon books from 2005 were translated into English by Penguin. Blek became NeoBlek in 2005 under Jean Posocco's publisher Froskur, and Lóa Hjálmtýsdóttir's Lóaboratoríum has run in the Reykjavík Grapevine since 2008.
The comics to know
- Sigga Vigga og tilveran1959 · comic stripGísli J. Ástþórsson. Strip about a fish-factory worker, first in Alþýðublaðið, later in Morgunblaðið and in small books around 1980.
- Láki og lífið1960 · comic stripRagnar Lár. Satirical strip in Þjóðviljinn; its 1965 booklet is the first recorded Icelandic comic book publication.
- Ævintýri Ása-Þórs1964 · comic stripHaraldur Guðbergsson. Serial based on Norse myth in Lesbók Morgunblaðsins, probably the first Icelandic serial comic.
- Pétur og vélmennið: Vísindaráðstefnan1979 · graphic novelKjartan Arnórsson. Counted as the first Icelandic comic book, made when the author was 14.
- Gisp!1990 · comics magazineBjarni Hinriksson, Halldór Baldursson, Jóhann Torfason, Þorri Hringsson, Bragi Halldórsson, Ólafur J. Engilbertsson and Þórarinn Leifsson. Comics magazine published irregularly until 1999.
- Blóðregn2003 · graphic novelIngólfur Örn Björgvinsson and Embla Ýr Bárudóttir. First of four comics based on Njáls saga; won a Reykjavík children's book award in 2004.
- Forðist okkur2005 · comic book seriesHugleikur Dagsson. Cartoon book published in English by Penguin in 2006 as Should You Be Laughing at This?
The people to know
- Tryggvi Magnússon1900 to 1960Pioneer cartoonist and long the main artist of the satirical magazine Spegillinn.
- Gísli J. Ástþórsson1923 to 2012Journalist and editor who created Sigga Vigga, one of the first Icelandic newspaper strips.
- Haraldur Guðbergsson1930 to 2013Made the first Icelandic serial comic and comics based on the Snorra Edda.
- Kjartan ArnórssonAuthor of the first Icelandic comic book and of Kafteinn Ísland.
- Bjarni HinrikssonBorn 1963Angoulême-trained co-founder of the comics magazine Gisp!
- Hugleikur DagssonBorn 1977Best-known Icelandic cartoonist of the 2000s, translated into several languages.
- Lóa Hlín HjálmtýsdóttirBorn 1979Cartoonist of Lóaboratoríum in the Reykjavík Grapevine since 2008.
More artists from Iceland
All 22 artists- Þorri Hringssoncomics artist
- Birgir Bragasoncartoonist
- Ingi JenssonBorn 1970 · comics artist
- Jean Posoccocomics artist
- Búi KristjánssonBorn 1961 · comics artist
- Embla Ýr BárudóttirBorn 1973 · comics writer
- Ragnar Lár1935 to 2007 · cartoonist
- Halldór BaldurssonBorn 1965 · cartoonist
- Halldór Pétursson1916 to 1977 · cartoonist
- Ingólfur Örn BjörgvinssonBorn 1964 · comics artist
- Sigurður Örn Brynjólfssoncartoonist
- Stígur Steinþórssoncomics artist
More comics from Iceland
All 22 comics- Eineygði kötturinn Kisi2006 · comic book series
- Njálsbrenna og hefnd Kára1959 · comic strip
- Kafteinn Ísland: hvernig Fúsi Ánason verður hetja dagsins!1990 · graphic novel
- Krassandi samvera2005 · comic strip
- Svínharður smásál1982 to 1985 · comic strip
- 19371989 · graphic novel
- Laxdæla1993 to 1994 · comic strip
- Stebbi stælgæ1966 · comic strip
- Hasarblaðið Blek1996 · comics magazine
- Grim1998 · comic strip
- Kattafarganið1930 · comic strip
- Stafrænar fjaðrir2003 · graphic novel