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EESTI ELU reedel, 12. novembril 2021 — Friday, November 12, 2021
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The position of comics in literature written and illustrated for Estonian children, and of a On Estonian second-hand different era than today’s for shopping sites like Taaskasu that matter. But it serves many tuskeskus Sahtel (literally of the functions of literature. translated as “used-again First and foremost, it entertains. drawer”), vintage copies of Kallas published a handful of comics by Olimar Kallas go longer comic books over the for as little as four Euros. For years, as well creating carica instance, Seiklus Sekontias tures, comics in magazines sundmaandumisega Pelikani (such as Pioneer), and other saarel (An Adventure in Se illustrations for books. His first kontia with a Forced Landing comic book, from 1979, was on Pelican Island), one of Kolm Lugu (Three Stories); Kallas’ comic books from which contained Toomas ja 1986. It’s used. It’s not in a Krahv (Toomas and Krahv [the sealed plastic poly bag. Yet, Count]), Operatsioon “Mari” this six inch by nine inch, (Operation, “Mari”), and Kar 32-page paper comic book has vane külaline (A Hairy Guest). substantially larger cultural Every entertaining story needs value. an eccentric cohort of charac The place of comic books in ters, and Kallas’ comic books literature is continuing to delivered on this. Gen-X and change. In 2018, the Booker early Millennials were intro Prize, a British literary award, duced to the engineer Noonius, long-listed Nick Drnaso’s Kraaps the tailor, the beetle Sabrina (published by Mont researcher Tundel, and a science réal, Québec based publishing fiction author named Ulmik. company Drawn & Quarterly). One of his more famous However, this change is not books is Proovisõit (Test Drive), without its detractors, as was from 1981, in which Noonius shown when American comic and his friends test drive, and book writer Stan Lee passed eventually have to crash-land away in 2018. While fans the MÕV (referring to Maamourned Lee’s death, TV host Õhk-Vesi, or “land, air, and Bill Maher wrote critically on sea”) vehicle that he invented. his blog about comic books, Following this is Seiklus Sekon saying that at some point “... tias sundmaandumisega Pelika adults decided they didn’t have nisaarel, where the characters to give up kid stuff. And so encounter a power-hungry anta they pretended comic books gonist named Pontšik (which is were actually sophisticated also the name of a donut with l iterature.” powdered sugar on top). Even in my formal studies of Characters are recognizable for children’s literature and its tech their out-of-this-world fashion niques in the last few years, the sense and distinctive facial fea opinion of graphic novels and tures. We see the propensity of comics was low. In a sense, it Kallas to sprinkle absurdities was deemed a distraction from and humour into his comics, real literature because of the alongside action-packed chases, lack of emphasis on words space travel, shady criminals, themselves. Some people be and other villains. lieved that graphic novels Other comic book titles of prevent children, particularly his include the mystery-focused young boys, from moving on to Kevadtriller (Spring Thriller) reading novels and other longer and Parem käsi tegutseb (The texts. Right Hand Operates). Visually, Yes, Kallas’ comics were Kallas’ illustrations are intriguing
Vincent Teetsov
The cover of the Olimar Kallas comic book Proovisõit. Photo: kobo.com
The Estonian Business Club finally was able to return to an old tradition of the “Mardipäeva” luncheon after Zooming for the last year or so.
when he produces shadows with dense application of ink and only a small amount of hatch ing. There are clearly defined lines and shape boundaries. Quick movements like spinning are shown through black lines. Furthermore, the ink hues in Kallas’ comics are saturated. The hues contrast each other in quite striking ways, and there are less colour variations than, say, Hanna-Barbera cartoons like The Jetsons. However, the sometimes heavy approach to shadow is reminiscent of the ligne claire style made famous by Hergé, creator of The Adventures of Tintin series. In 2006, Olimar Kallas passed away. Shortly after his death, Eesti Päevaleht pub lished an article paying tribute to his life, noting how comics were considered a lower form of culture during the Soviet occupation. Still, the popularity of his fun stories broke past this snobbery. In this same year, an an
thology of his comics, titled Kogu Lugu (The Whole Story) was published. In Delfi’s Täheke publication for children from January 2007, Jaak Urmet (AKA Wimberg) writes about how his childhood copies of Kallas’ comics were brought everywhere he went, including to the dinner table or the meadow where he sat as his grandfather made hay. His copies were tattered and well-loved, a source of great happiness because, as he notes, comic books were rarely published in Estonia. One could argue that another purpose of literature is to tem porarily exit our own world, and when kids are tired of the limitations of being a kid or face other challenges in life, comics can be a refuge, like a novel might be. Encyclopaedia Britannica notes that the word “literature” derives from the Latin “littera”, which means “a letter of the alphabet.” Literature is shaped by the use of letters, words, and
sentences. Getting down to defi nitions, comics may not fit the hard definition of literature. As much as I adore words and their possibilities, though, comics have charm and give us stories in an especially com plete package. While comics are driven by drawn shapes and ink, they are clever in their implica tion of movement in storylines. It’s the same with films, or tales of ghosts around the campfire. The specter of a story, its im print on time itself, is supreme. Not the medium. Perhaps we are lost too much in the semantics of titles, or of sections in a library. Comics can tell a story just as capably as a novel if you give it enough space on paper. And the combi nation of art and words gives our imagination a nudge when the story lingers in our mind after it goes back on the shelf. You can get ebook copies of Olimar Kallas comics on Kobo or the Rahva Raamat website (rahvaraamat.ee).
as they continue to go up against the regime’s election fraud perpetrated in the after math of the 2020 Belarusian Presidential election and sup port free Belarusian civil so ciety leaders, activists and journalists. We condemn the Lukashenka regime’s escalating abuse of human rights and stand in soli darity with our NATO allies as they face this unprecedented provocation. We also take this opportunity to remind the Government of Canada that this effort is part of a broader plan by the Putin and Lukashenka regimes to destabilize NATO and the European Union. We must remember that similar provocations led to the Russian occupation of Crimea and Eastern Ukraine, and we, there fore, urge our government to stand resolutely with the European Union in opposing this latest act of aggression by the Lukashenka regime. “We urge the Canadian government to condemn Bela
rus’ exploitation and weapon ization of innocent migrants, and to support our allies should they invoke NATO Article 4 consultations to address the threat against the integrity of NATO’s borders,” said CEEC President, Marcus Kolga.
November 11, 2021
Statement on Kremlin-Supported efforts by Belarus to destabilize border with Poland, Latvia and Lithuania The Central and East European Council in Canada voices deep concern regarding recent provocations manufactured by the Lukashenka Regime in Belarus – with the vocal support of the Russian Federation – along Belarus’ border with Poland, Latvia and Lithuania. In recent months, the Belarusian security forces have been deliberately facilitating and profiting from the illegal smuggling of refugee claimants through its own country in a deliberate attempt to force their illegal entry into the European Union via Poland, Latvia and Lithuania. This effort is widely acknowledged as a political response to the support that the Belarusian opposition has re ceived from Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and the European Union
Canada currently leads NATO’s Enhanced Forward Presence mission in Latvia and Operation Unifier in Ukraine. The CEEC represents the interests of 4.5 million Cana dians of Central and Eastern European Heritage. We issue this statement in coordination with our partners the Central and East European Coalition in the United States.
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