Reykjavík Grapevine - 02.07.2008, Blaðsíða 6

6 | REYKJAVÍK GRAPEVINE | ISSUE 08—2008
INTERVIEW By haukur S. magnúSSon — illuStration By hugleikur dagSSonOPINION
Self-portrait.
Cartoonist Hugleikur Dagsson needs no introduc-
tion to regular readers of the Grapevine, as he used
to contribute regularly to the magazine in the past.
Although it’s been a while since Dagsson’s pervert-
ed stick figures have appeared in this publication,
he wants for neither fame nor recognition these
days. Picked up by international publishing giant
Penguin in 2006, Dagsson’s work has now been re-
leased in several different countries and translated
to many foreign languages.
Dagsson’s third global release via Penguin (to
be titled Is This Some Kind of Joke?) is scheduled
this fall, and he is a regular contributor to Esquire
UK and Loaded. He’s written three successful plays
and several more successful books. He is pretty
much made of gold. A couple of weeks ago, he
returned from Holland where he spent the winter
working on various projects. The move coincided
with the publication of the new Icelandic Phone
book, which oddly enough includes a feature
length comic by Dagsson, Garðarshólmi, spread
over the pages. Since it is awesome, the Grapevine
decided it was a good idea to meet up with him
and learn what he’s been up to.
“There’s always a complaint here or there, but
that’s no big deal,” says Dagsson of about the recep-
tion to his books. “The Irish Sun reported that some
interest group took offence to my first book, and
that just served as a nice ad for it. They’ve been sell-
ing pretty well, and critics seem to like them – judg-
ing by their reviews they see the same good in them
that I do. Of course a few think they suck. Good luck
to them. However, I am sure some people think I’m
vastly overrated. I’ve gotten so much media atten-
tion, there’s gotta be some annoyed guys out there
saying “Hugleikur can’t draw” or something.”
Can you draw?
“Yes. You can clearly see it in the works of ge-
nius that are my books; they were made by an art
school graduate. Nobody could draw stick figures
with such character. But really, I mean that. I truly
believe that had I not mastered all these model
drawing classes, my stick figures wouldn’t be near-
ly as good or expressive.”
ThE fOUR hUMOUROUS BODILY fLUIDS
Dagsson’s story of how he started documenting the
morbid stick figures and their sordid lives has been
told ad nauseam, so we talk about what he has in
store for them. “I am currently working on the fifth
one, and I think that one will be the last. It’ll prob-
ably be a bit strange compared to the others, the
last one; I’ve pretty much milked the concept dry.
Bloodmilked it. It’s limited what you can do with
tiny stick figures on an A5 sheet. You’ve got shit,
piss, vomit and blood. Those are the four bodily
fluids you can joke about. Oh, and cum. That’s five,
then.”
What about menstrual blood?
“Ah, that’s right. Then they’re six, I guess. But
honestly, I often recycle old jokes. You could even
say I only have twenty or thirty jokes that I keep re-
telling in different ways. But that’s what all cartoon-
ists do. Gary Larson does it... I only have to make
sure I don’t become like [Garfield creator] Jim Da-
vis. You can’t even read that shit anymore. But you
do what you need. It’s not about selling out – it’s
about cashing in.”
So you’re really making the last stick figure fun-
nybook?
“I think so, yeah. I could go on forever, but it
would soon become neither fun nor funny.”
How important is the [stick figure] form to your
work?
“Well, with the stick figures and my books, I
feel I’ve created a world where they all live. My fun-
nybooks are like collections of Polaroid snapshots
from that world, while longer stick figure works like
“Garðarshólmi” are more like documentaries on it.
The stick figures are important to the stories in a
way, they are easier for the brain to process and
thus the joke is more immediate.”
BEAUTIfUL MONSTERS
Garðarshólmi is Dagsson’s latest published work.
It can be found on the margins of Iceland’s 2008
phonebook, and it has yet to be translated. That’s
bad news for you English-speaker types, as it is
both thoughtful and hilarious. It also features some
of Iceland’s best-loved mythological creatures of
yore in full action, and is quite educational.
“I think the galore of old Icelandic ghost stories
and monster tales are a criminally under-utilised
resource. Our collection of Santas are probably the
best known of those creatures, but they even dress
them in the Coca Cola suit these days. At least they
are being honoured and remembered. The Christ-
mas Cat [homicidal feline that prays on poor kids
during Christmas] isn’t even used that much. And
that’s a beautiful monster!
“In our past and our stories, we’ve got this
massive database of monsters and mythological
creatures that are almost never used for anything
creative these days. We’re talking about a literal
goldmine for the horror genre, one that’s being
steadfastly ignored. I thought that it was strange
and I wanted to explore that a bit in Garðarshólmi
– although that’s more like a monster movie for the
whole family than a proper horror one. We don’t re-
ally make horror stories anymore; maybe because
we’re under the impression that we’re this “literary
nation”. It’s made us scared of entertainment cul-
ture – we think it’s all lowbrow shit. Which is a huge
misconception.”
Is “lowbrow” even a cultural expression in the
English language? Isn’t it a specifically Icelandic
thing?
“I think I saw it in a review of one of my books,
actually.”
Hugleikur Dagsson is currently working on some
paintings, as well as finishing the fifth book in his
series. He has agreed to help the Grapevine report
on the old Icelandic mythological creatures in a se-
ries of articles that will commence shortly.
It seems to me that the higher powers in Reyk-
javik are trying to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
They are allowing developers with the guise of
modernity to lay the seeds to a concrete jungle.
The energy and heritage one feels when walking
downtown would be diminished or non-existent if
lacklustre buildings aligned the sidewalks instead
of M&M coloured iron dwellings. The city council
should help preserve these houses, even the most
decayed ones. Especially when they are left to de-
cay on purpose so that they can be bulldozed. I’ve
even heard of people renting rooms to junkies,
alcoholics and the like in order for the property
value to go to shit just to make it easier for a devel-
oper to sweep in and build a dazzling glass and
cement monster.
Just as woolly sweaters symbolise Icelandic
pride amongst the elder and the young, these
vastly different generations also agree on conserv-
ing the houses in which the spirit of downtown is
embodied. Its safeguarding should be on the top
of the city’s agenda. Who wants to replicate the
drab grey façade associated with big cities where
people don’t welcome each other with a friendly
“góðan daginn”? I have a personal theory that
happiness is aligned with a culture’s preservation
because it makes you proud of who you are. Be-
lieve it or not, the endangered status of these old
houses wilts away not only an inescapable past
but also a bright and un-homogenised future.
Why be a grimacing wolf in sheep’s clothing when
you can be a proud bleating sheep?
Other countries, such as my own, have fallen
into the modernity trap only to regret it. For exam-
ple in my capital, Old San Juan, some of the strik-
ing cobblestone streets that have been immortal-
ised in our literature and song were removed and
paved with tar because they were uncomfortably
bumpy for our twenty-first century cars. The hey-
days of traversing the city centre in horse and bug-
gy were long gone so removing the historically
significant cobblestones for a smoother car ride
was justifiable. Now the en vogue government is
putting laws in order to make the centre of Old
San Juan purely pedestrian in order to, get this,
protect the further damage caused by cars to the
same cobblestones that were partially removed in
the first place. I guess the trend to mimic modern
cities had become passé.
I truly and whole-heartedly hope that Reykja-
vik does not continue to succumb to such trivial
fads and that the people in charge of the city’s
policies seriously take a good look in the mirror to
understand and praise who they are as a nation,
rackety corrugated iron houses and all.

Shit, Piss, Vomit and
Blood. And Cum
Hugleikur Dagsson is getting tired of bodily fluids
i often recycle old jokeS. you
could even Say i only have twen-
ty or thirty jokeS that i keep
re-telling in different wayS. But
that’S what all cartooniStS do.
Why Try to be
a Big Bad City
Wolf?
By alexandra hertell