From Russia with love. In their comic book travelogue Moscow, Ida
Neverdahl and Øystein Runde give themselves free rein. Do I need to
explain what this publication is about? Well, OK. Russia's largest comic
book festival, KomMissia, held in Moscow this year, was visited by a
contingent of Norwegians, consisting of the comic book writers Ida
Neverdahl, Øystein Runde and Torbjørn Lien, headed by Arild Wærness. The
visit (and particularly the experience of taking part in a modern,
Russian 1st of May demonstration), inspired Neverdahl and Runde to make
a comic book about the trip and it was launched with panache last
weekend. It isn't terribly easy to pinpoint what exactly makes Moscow a
great read; its episodic nature challenges my relatively rigorous notion
of narrative structure and what makes a comic book readable. Much of
this confusion is created by Ida Neverdahl. Her success in Norwegian
comic-strip circles has come from her combination of the sweet with the
bizarre; that is not a bad combination when you want to comment on the
chaotic state of affairs in post-Communist Russia. But perhaps equally
important is the fact that Neverdahl and Runde glide more or less
seamlessly over into each other in this book. That is surprising to say
the least, particularly since the differences are conspicuous enough ...
For one thing, the two of them have very different priorities. Whilst
Ida draws whatever comes to mind, and mostly lets her imagination run
riot, Runde is more down-to-earth, making it clear that he is extremely
interested in the political scene. On the other hand, they move toward
each other's drawing style. Well, in fact, Øystein draws closer to Ida,
than vice versa. Ida has her own distinctive style (manga-inspired naïve
art?), and it would be a pity if she compromised it. Øystein draws
himself in much more detail than Ida does, but apart from that it isn't
immediately clear to detect who is who, and what is what, from one
artist to the other. Since the duo are in complete agreement in their
satire on Putin, that also contributes considerably to the positive
overall impression. Moscow is one of this year's most original, funny
and reflective Norwegian comic books. In addition it confirms an earlier
impression that Ida Neverdahl is a comic book writer with a great
future. By Trond Sätre, Serienett
