Facts: Agnes Jakobsson
Agnes Jakobsson was born in 1991 in Stockholm.
She is educated at the series school in Malmö and made her debut in 2018 with “Psycho Girl”. Agens Jakobsson has also illustrated children’s books, including “Lisbeth and the Sambakungen: Life’s hard school”.
Now she is up to date with the comic book “Accident” together with Lars Norén.
It is a dark existence that is painted in “Olycka”, Agnes Jakobsson’s new comic book novel which is based on a non-staged Lars Norén play.
In a Stockholm suburb, sometime in the 90s, a couple in a destructive relationship holds an after party. A third, older man is sitting on the sofa and a child is sleeping in the room next door. The couple are both victims and perpetrators in the relationship, traumatic childhood memories come to the surface and soon degenerate the evening.
Prior to the project, Agnes Jakobsson had to choose from five scripts that were never staged on a stage by the famous playwright. That she got hooked on “Accident” is partly because it was the only play with a female lead, partly because she could relate to her own life.
– There is a power relationship between them. They interfere in many things with each other, but they still need each other, says Agnes Jakobsson.
Agnes Jakobsson is up to date with her second comic book.
She debuted four years ago with the autobiographical comic book “Psycho girl”, which also deals with a destructive relationship.
– This one has a different level of realism. “Psycho-girl” was very pie, it was ugly on purpose! I may not have been able to make banana peel humor out of this play, she says.
Got artistic freedom
It was Agnes Jakobsson’s publisher, Thomas Olsson, who started the contact with Lars Norén. He sees Norén’s approach to the comic book medium as a natural path after first poetry, drama and then diary writing. Not least, Norén was interested in the work of series creator Lena Ackebo.
– There is a passage in his diary where he enters Bonnier’s reception. All authors are “starstrucked” that Norén is there, but what he himself writes is “I saw Lena Ackebo!”, Says Thomas Olsson.
Agens Jakobsson’s relationship with the famous playwright was not very strong initially.
– I was not a “Norén head” but I know him of course, I know what he has done.
TT: How much artistic freedom did you get?
– A lot. That was kind of the first thing Lars said: this is your book, now you get this script. You can not do anything if you do not have that freedom, she says.
In the summer of 2020, they started – but about six months later, the news came that Lars Norén was dead. Agnes Jakobsson was left with a first draft.
– It was sad and of course a little strange. He was a very present person in my life, but I did not know him personally. It changed the project quite a lot, but it’s hard to say how. My work was really the same, says Agnes Jakobsson.
They took a tentative, unspoken pause.
– We needed to think about what we would do, if we were to continue. But he (Lars Norén) had seen the first sketch, it was really just to continue.
Challenging environment
One challenge was that the script takes place in the same apartment, the same evening. Agnes Jakobsson describes herself as a “partial perfectionist” and many sketches ended up in the trash during the journey.
– It’s basically just a long conversation. You can not change the environment in the visual storytelling or jump in time, but still have to keep it interesting visually. It was challenging in terms of craftsmanship, she states.
While Agnes Jakobsson was drawing the series, she passively watched reality series such as “Paradise hotel”.
TT: Is that a contrast to Lars Norén? Or maybe not?
– I do not know if it is. That season was canceled because there was a (suspected) rape, says Agnes Jakobsson, and refers to the reported events in the program where the preliminary investigation was later dropped due to lack of evidence.
Agnes Jakobsson’s comic book “Olycka” is based on a script by Lars Norén. Stock Photography.