Dongery Appreciation Week

Did you know that’s what the first week of January is? I swear it’s true. Dongery is a Norwegian comics group primarily composed of Sindre Goksøyr, Bendik Kaltenborn, Kristoffer Kjølberg, and Flu Hartberg (although I only have real reading experience with the first three). They seem to stay pretty under the radar for those who aren’t on the regular convention circuit, especially considering how hard it is to find copies of their fanzines (I don’t think the term “mini-comics” is used in the EU) online nowadays, and how incredibly unhelpful their website is, but maybe that just adds to the wonderful feeling of receiving one. I feel privileged to read these comics.


I guess the first notable thing is the design of the books. I don’t know what kind of color copiers they have in Oslo, these things are put together so cleanly and in an appealing digest size, it took me a long time to even realize that they weren’t made in some magical Scandinavian press factory, these fellas are folding and stapling with the best of them. The second most notable thing is the rampant collaboration. I hesitate to call them “jam comics”, these have a much stronger feeling of intent and, when they do team up, the drawing styles are practically seamless.




Not to say that each member doesn’t have their own idiosyncratic style. Goksøyr has a distinct affinity for Disney, mostly drawing rats, dogs, and ducks, even appropriating Gyro Gearloose as a character in the “Lisboa” comic he does with Kjølberg, and then shading with sharp Charles Burns-esque brushlines.



Kaltenborn has an intense wrinkle illustration style; old men wearing baggy suits in cool toned watercolors with a strange, “New Yorker” level of craft. “Serier Som Vil Deg Vel”, a collection of his short works, just came out from No Comprendo Press, and his book, “Seks Sultne Menn” (“Six Hungry Men”), craves a proper English print edition.


Kjølberg’s work is significantly more crude, but quite possibly the most accessible. Seemingly drawn with a big ol’ fat Sharpie, I’ve never seen character design more appealing; big eyes, big noses. In 2008, Soyfriends printed his fanzine, “There Is An Upstairs?”, and I value this more than any other comic I own, the closest thing to perfection I could imagine. This is my “Ghost World”.The last thing I have to mention is the writing, the unequated humor. Some of it may even be due to the vernacular of the English translation, but whether the context is panels or gags, hand-drawn or fumetti, there’s still a universally international appeal. I can’t tell you how many times people have walked up to me at SPX with a copy of “What is Hair?” and a smile on their face, saying, “have you seen this?”other works not mentioned:
“Sing It Out!!!”
“Funny Humor”
“Godammit! I Didn’t Get That Boat!”
“A Reachout for Sindre Mouse”
“High Five”
“M Walk With Me”
“GOGO: A Very Nice Gliding Session”
“Friends for Fighting”