Yorkton This Week’s editorial staff takes readers on an explorative journey around the Internet, searching out the best in videos, podcasts, webcomics, music and anything else that catches their collective eyes which might interest our readers.
It is great to just sort of trip into something great when flipping around the Internet.
I have a general interest in comic books, one that stretches back a few decades now, so when I came upon a link for the webcomic Stand Still Stay Silent I clicked to it rather quickly.
What I found is something really good.
Stand Still, Stay Silent is a Finnish-Swedish webcomic started by Minna Sundberg in 2013. Set in post-apocalyptic Scandinavia, some 90-years in the future, the webcomic incorporates Nordic mythology.
Sundberg was born in Sweden in 1990 and lived in Finland during 1997-2013 (her school years), then moved briefly back to Sweden during 2014-2015 right after graduating from university, and is currently living in Finland once again.
“I got myself a bachelor’s degree in graphic design from the University of Industrial Arts in Helsinki in 2013, and during my two final years of those studies I drew my first proper webcomic, A Redtail’s dream, a 556 page tale built around concepts from Finnish mythology. It was a sort of practice comic that I made before starting SSSS because I didn’t feel comfortable enough making comics to start my big dream project right away,” she said in her bio.
“Stand Still, Stay Silent portrays a post-apocalyptic Scandinavia, where the countries are returned to their mythical Nordic past,” details Wikipedia. “Various legendary monsters roam the landscape, and people can use a form of magic. However, the disease and tragedy that caused the massive depopulation of the area is not largely focused upon; most people live a comfortable lifestyle. Sundberg is a large fan of maps and topography, making heavy use of projections of coastlines, mountains and fjords, or charts like a language family tree.
“Sundberg chooses to begin with a prologue disconnected to the main story; this depicts various families fleeing from the disease during its initial outbreak. Instead, its primary plot focuses on a group of “poorly funded and terribly unqualified” group of researchers. They head into the abandoned “silent world” after a 90-year period of isolation, utilising various forms of transport along the way. The storyline focuses on the party’s adventure from that point.”
The webcomic has received a Reuben Award in the ‘Online Long Form’ category in 2015. The National Cartoonists Society’s Reuben Awards weekend is an annual gala event. The Reuben Award (determined by secret ballot) is presented to the Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year. Cartoonists in various professional divisions are also honoured with special plaques for excellence. These awards are voted by a combination of the general membership and specially-formed juries.
Since this story began in 2013, and is still being added too, there is a massive accumulation of story here, the first story ‘arc’ being collected into a printed book weighing it at 300-plus pages. So you can fall into this story for days, and enjoy the experience.
The comic updates four times a week, on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.
Check it out at www.sssscomic.com
- Calvin Daniels
For an extra spot to wander head to www.yorktonthisweek.com for this week’s web exclusive wandering look at the NFB film that garnered an Oscar nomination.
