Swedish artist, musician, and creator Simon Stålenhag loves leftovers. No, not the sort your mother used to make you eat that mixed remnants of former dinners right into a mixed in meal, however husks of humankind’s expertise rusting on the perimeters of dusty roads and amid barren fields in somber haunting landscapes. His dystopian universe of a decaying alternate ’80s and ’90s is full of deserted robots, discarded machines, and forgotten battle drones of a sorrowful bygone period.
Stålenhag’s surreal retro-futuristic artwork e-book, “The Electrical State,” tells the story of a younger woman and a little bit yellow promoting robotic traversing the nation in 1997 to find her lacking brother within the aftermath of a devastating people vs robots battle.
It was the inspiration behind The Russo Brothers’ $320 million live-action movie now streaming on Netflix that has loyal followers of Stalenhag’s work in an uproar over the drastic thematic and tonal adjustments to the a lot darker authentic materials.
However past this disappointing latest adaptation of his work lies a complete world of imaginative melancholy seen in his beforehand revealed narrative artwork books (and one upcoming launch!) that you could nonetheless take pleasure in for his or her inventive purity, all of that are infused with Stålenhag’s spare storytelling prowess and hanging digital work.
Enterprise into his bizarre wonderlands the place misplaced tech and tranquil landscapes meld to soak up the mysterious majesty of this uncommon artist’s full catalog of outstanding works…
- Writer: Design Studio Press
- Launched: December 1, 2015
Initially conceived as a crowd-funded challenge primarily based on his astonishing art work, “Tales From The Loop” is a collection of tales set in another Sweden of the ‘80s and ‘90s. It is an unsettling wonderland the place youngsters sift by the remnants of rusted-out robots, bizarre machines, and deserted automobiles as dinosaurs and creatures roam the highways and countryside.
These wild encounters happen within the rural corners of Mälaröarna, a string of Swedish islands west of Stockholm, the place an enormous particle accelerator had been constructed and divulges the surprising unwanted side effects of that experimental atom-smasher. It delves into our existential interactions with expertise in a fusion of partaking imagery and phrases. Stålenhag’s debut e-book was tailored into Prime Video’s sci-fi anthology collection of the identical title which was launched in 2020.
Buy Tales from the Loop at Amazon.
- Writer: Design Studio Press
- Launched: November 1, 2016
That is the direct sequel to Stålenhag’s first e-book revealed again in 2015, “Tales From The Loop.” Now we return to the location of all these unusual occurrences and penalties within the placid Swedish countryside of Mälaröarna, the place the Swedish authorities started development of Earth’s greatest particle accelerator in 1954.
Nicknamed The Loop by the locals, this location and its surrounding farmland and wilderness areas are scattered with odd equipment and beasts that defy definition. In another ’90s, darkish waters from the underground scientific facility have risen to flood the city and ship a menagerie of pure and unnatural nightmares.
Buy Things from the Flood on Amazon
- Writer: Skybound Books
- Launched: September 25, 2018
This third e-book within the deliberate trilogy takes place in a bleak war-torn America of 1997 and have become the template for Netflix’s ill-fated, mega-budgeted sci-fi epic starring Chris Pratt and Millie Bobby Brown.
A teenage woman title Michelle and her cartoonish toy robotic journey on a cross-country trek to the west to search for her misplaced brother amid monstrous leftover battle drones, toppled promoting robots, and zombie-like residents which can be all slaves to a posh virtual-reality community. Their street journey vacation spot is the dystopian state of Pacifica and the darkish moodiness of this e-book exists in stark distinction to the extra playful, family-friendly, action-centric Russo Brothers movie.
Buy The Electric State at Amazon.
- Writer: Picture Comics
- Launched: November 23, 2021
This stirring Stålenhag providing is a 184-page descent right into a post-apocalyptic realm in a ruined world the place a large eight-wheeled transport lumbers alongside a wasteland of destruction in the direction of a fortified bunker deep within the forest.
The futuristic automobile carries a trio of passengers: two scientists investigating a planet-killing occasion, and a younger boy known as Charlie. When excessive isolation and claustrophobia begin to shut in, inhabitants of the compound take care of a spread of disturbing reminiscences and darkish truths about what has led them to this distant outpost base.
- Writer: S&S/Saga Press
- Launch date: December 9, 2025
Positive to be discovered wrapped underneath the Christmas tree this coming vacation season for any critical geeks in your reward checklist is the latest Simon Stålenhag treasure that includes a visit again to his wonder-filled, retro-futuristic dystopias, this time contained in the mysterious sizzling zone of an deserted Swedish army set up.
Kicking off within the yr 2024, however bouncing again to the early 2000s, “Sundown at Zero Level’s” transferring story is slowly unveiled on a distant Swedish island that’s house to a clandestine weapons lab condemned for years. It explores themes of masculinity, sexuality, and friendship by the decades-long experiences of two younger males investigating this fading, off-limits forbidden zone.
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