Invader #3: Kolbeinn Karlsson

“The magical biology of The Troll King reads like a psychedelic Hans Christian Andersen, blended with the neo-traditional storytelling of Miyazaki and just a touch of black metal. These are hairy fairy tales for the Burning Man generation."
-- Jason Leivian, owner of Floating World Comics and comics editor of Arthur magazine

Kolbeinn Karlsson was born in 1982 and lives in Uppsala, Sweden. From 2006 to 2007 he was a student at Kvarnby School of Comic Arts in Malmö. During this time he self-published several mini-comics, which earned him a reputation as one of Sweden's most original cartoonists.

His work has been published internationally in several magazines and anthologies, including Galago (Sweden), C'est Bon (Sweden), Glömp (Finland), Strapazin (Switzerland) and Kush (Latvia). He recently adapted The Troll King into an animated short film. The Troll King is his first book.

In The Troll King, a dwarf falls into a river and is taken to a place beyond space and time. A carrot takes a bath and finds itself transforming. Two reclusive mountain men rejoice when their wish for children is granted, but their sons make a terrible discovery. And throughout all these tales, the spirit of the forest walks on…

Welcome to the surreal world of The Troll King, by Swedish visionary Kolbeinn Karlsson. It’s a fantastic journey into the wilderness lurking right outside your town, brought to you by comics’ cuddliest Viking.

Read the interview with Kolbeinn Karlsson at Avoid the Future.

Read the preview at CBR's Robot 6 blog.

Preorder the book at Top Shelf.

Preorder the book at Amazon.