iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Jesper Haglund @jesperhaglund.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

I've said I like Berliners since we had some during a Lübeck visit in 1988.

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Jesper Haglund @jesperhaglund.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Tense moment from 1994 as The Phantom, his wife, and a friend escapes the apartheid goons of Rhodia.

Comic page showing two helicopters chasing (and firing at) a third. Two insert pictures shows a man in military uniform telling the pilot of one of the chasing helicopters, "they've taken one of our helicopters! Shoot them down!" and in the second we see The Phantom react to a shot going through the helicopter he's flying's window.

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Jesper Haglund @jesperhaglund.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Because I scanned this just the other day: ad for a golden era format from what presumably was that golden era (1994).

A Swedish advertisement for casette tapes made by a company called Maxell. The tapes come in 60, 90, and 100 minute format - with the 100-minute one being "high bias." They are accompanied by an illustration of someone belting into a microphone and the (probably meant to be a suggestive) slogan, "maxell. Tuff, Tungt, och Länge" ("Maxell. Tough, Heavy, and a Long Time.")

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Jesper Haglund @jesperhaglund.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Welcome to Bluesky. Please familiarize yourself with the following accounts to understand the range of opinions it is acceptable to express.

A poster or the cover of an Italian football magazine previewing the 1987-1988 Serie A season. A classroom is filled with a prominent player from each team in the league being lectured by Napoli's Diego Armando Maradona.

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Jesper Haglund @jesperhaglund.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

I thought the Saint was supposed to be a *gentleman* thief, but this doesn't look very gentlemanly to me.

The cover of an edition of an edition of "Detective Fiction Weekly," featuring a Leslie Charteris story called "The Saint at Bay." The cover image is of a man - presumably the eponymous The Saint (Simon Templar) pulling on his gloves while smoking a cigarette from a cigarette-holder, and looking generally smug. Next to him is a woman in a housemaid's uniform tied to a chair.

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Jesper Haglund @jesperhaglund.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Some near contemporaneous Phantom content from Sweden.

Cover from the Swedish comic magazine "Fantomen." The Phantom is swinging in rough seas beneath a huge statue. We're also told it's 100 pages long, features two adventures with the Phantom, as well as a new comic - Indiana Jones.

A 1992 cover of the Swedish magazine "Fantomen." It shows The Phantom and a nasty-looking wolf. In addition, we're show that the Phantom adventure is called "Vargen Kommer" (The Wolf Comes), and there's "extra summer reading" with something called "Trellos - the Forbidden Planet."

The opening panel of the Phantom adventure "Det Sista Uppdraget" (The Last Mission) -- On a backdrop of jungle and a lightning-filled sky we see the Phantom, a small airplane, and a blond woman in a shirt that looks a bit small and very short denim shorts.

Opening page from the Phantom adventure "Dödskallemorden" (The Skull Murders). In the foreground, the Phantom is holding a skull with a jewel in its eye socket. In the background, a 17th-century pirate shoots two other pirates.

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Jesper Haglund @jesperhaglund.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

This is not a criticism as such, but how often do you think comics creators take what it would be like wearing an outfit like the one the woman here is wearing would actually be like beyond, "it'll look good," before deciding to draw it that way?

A comic book panel from a sci-fi comic. In the background, some kind of monster with a lot of teeth lies slumped over a small "flying car" type vehicle, with a small amphibian-looking alien in a blue jumpsuit inspecting it.

In the foreground is a burly, 1980s action-hero looking character with a big gun, and his back turned to the viewer is asking, "Är ni oskadd?" ("Are you unharmed? [you in the polite plural]") of a woman who could be anything between 20 and 40 years old with dark hair, wearing pale blue leggings under a pink bodysuit with puffy shoulders.

The woman is answering "Ja... Men titta vad Thorken gjort med min flygare!" ("Yes... But look what the Thork has done to my flyer!")

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Jesper Haglund @jesperhaglund.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

How it started (ish) vs how it went

A two-by four panel comic strip in which the main character Rick O' Shay is practising his aim by shooting at a tin can when a small boy comes up wants to "try" by shooting with his fingers. When he does, the tin can is hit, to the amazement of Rick. In the last panel we're shown that behind them, Rick's friend, the gunslinger Hipshot Percussion, is the one who fired the shot. It is drawn in black-and-white cartoonish lineart style.

Comic book page from Rick O' Shay from about 40 years after the previous one. It is drawn in a realistic style and coloured, and shows two men trying (and failing) to ambush Hipshot as he leaves the sheriff's office.

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Jesper Haglund @jesperhaglund.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

And also having a town mayor that looks like this:

A white-haired man in a top-hat and 19th century American suit. You can tell that he was designed when the comic he appears in was a comedy strip.

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Jesper Haglund @jesperhaglund.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Vissa dagar chillar Fantomen och slaggar på sängen som en vanlig man. --Inte ett djungelordspråk

A comic book panel of The Phantom, a masked vigilante in a skin-tight blue superhero style costume with striped briefs on the outside and his eyes covered by a mask, on a bed, hands behind his bed taking it easy and going over some clues.

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Jesper Haglund @jesperhaglund.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

When the writer of the science fiction story decides that wormholes should be holes literally going through worms.

A panel from a science fiction comic, two huge worms, apparently cut in half with some sort of machinery at the bisection points are on a floor, with exit and entry signs pointing to and from their mouths.

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Jesper Haglund @jesperhaglund.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Have to go with the source for one of my most useful gifs:

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Jesper Haglund @jesperhaglund.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Who could hate this fella? He looks so enthusiastic.

A priest of Gond, from the D'n'D campaign setting the Forgotten Realms.

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Jesper Haglund @jesperhaglund.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

And at least one reader letter fit the tone:

UT MED ALLA RASISTER!
Och nazister! Vi måste kämpa mot all sånt! Alla är ju människor, vi ser bara lite olika ut. All ska bedömas lika. Ingen är mindre värld än någon annan. Tänk vad hemsk det är med rasism och nazism! Bevara Sverige Blandat!
En som hatar orättvisor

Translation:
OUT WITH ALL THE RACISTS!
And nazis! We have to fight against everything like that! Everyone are humans after all, we just look a little different. Everyone should be judged equally. Nobody is less worth (mis-spelt "world") than anyone else. Imagine how horrible it is with racism and nazism! Keep Sweden Mixed!*
One who hate injustices

*During the period this is from, i.e. the late eighties and early nineties, a common racist graffiti tag was "Bevara Sverige Svenskt" - "Keep Sweden Swedish."

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Jesper Haglund @jesperhaglund.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

The Phantom strikes a blow against apartheid.

Two comic book panel. In the first a soldier is surprised by a hand on his shoulder and someone off-panel saying, "Här -- bakom dej!.." ("Here -- behind you!..")

In the second we see the person who was off-panel before. It's the Phantom. And he lays out the soldier with a straight right to the chin that goes "POCK!" (with the "o" replaced by a skull) when it connects.

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Jesper Haglund @jesperhaglund.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

Also, I know this is a motif that's been overused, and in such a way as to become part of the general background radiation of patriarchy if you want to get analytical about it - but damn if I don't understand why it keeps being used in both films and comics all the same.

A panel showing the hero, Achilles Wiggen, lifting up an unconscious (blue-skinned woman) and carrying her through a smoke or vapour-filled background.

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Jesper Haglund @jesperhaglund.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Some quality 1992 sci-fi from Sweden-Finland.

An expository comic book splash panel showing a two species of aliens, spaceships journeying out into space, a planet, and an island on that planet.

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Jesper Haglund @jesperhaglund.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Now those are some proper 80s goons. (Even if the panel's from an issue first published in 1992.)

A comic panel showing "The Phantom," and his wolf "Devil" facing off against four goons of varying ethnicities coming at them armed with a shovel, a shot-gun, nunchucks, and, in the case of a muscular black goon, fists.

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Jesper Haglund @jesperhaglund.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

As @gregpak.net frequently points out, comics are good.

A black-and-white opener page from the Swedish version of The Phantom. It has two panels: the first one shows a bat outlined against a full moon over a jungle, the Phantom himself on a rearing white horse, and a bust portrait of his wife, Diana Palmer-Walker, looking up with a not entirely pleased face. An inset tells us that the Script is by Tierres (a.k.a. Claes Reimerthi), and the art is by the Italian team of Romano Felmang, and Ferri. At the bottom of the panel we get the adventure's title - "Dödens Vingar" ("The Wings of Death" in English).
The second panel is of five African children playing in a river with a box-text reading "Det råder välstånd i Bengalis jungler... Alla är lyckliha och nöjda... ("Well-being rules in the jungles of Bengali... Everyone is happy and content...")

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Jesper Haglund @jesperhaglund.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Can't speak to the American football part of it, but... worst take of the World Cup so far?

Off sides (sic) is the soccer equivalent of an NFL holding penalty. Both of them need to go away.

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Jesper Haglund @jesperhaglund.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

If I lived in Germany, now might be a good time for a last-minute weekend elk-safari in Sweden:

A Swedish weather forecast, showing low and high temperatures:
2 July 14° - 17°
3 July 15° - 20°
4 July 14° - 18°
5 July 13° - 15°
6 July 12° - 19°

Wind direction and strength (with gusts in parenthesis):
2 July SW 5 m/s (12)
3 July W 6 m/s (13)
4 July SW 5 m/s (14)
5 July SW 4 m/s (13)
6 July NW 7 m/s (17)

Expected precipitation and how many forecasts include rain
2 July 3,1 - 7,5 mm (95%)
3 July 1,2 - 6,7 mm (60%)
4 July 2,0 - 6,2 mm (90%)
5 July 1,6 - 5,6 mm (60%)
6 July 1,0 - 2,6 mm (40%)

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Jesper Haglund @jesperhaglund.bsky.social · 28/06/2026

The most welcome weather-symbol at the moment:

A weather-report symbol showing the sun behind some clouds.

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Jesper Haglund @jesperhaglund.bsky.social · 14/06/2026

Though if you want Swedish and don't mind paying *a little* more (or a lot for the vintage version, depending on interior decoration fashions), the Stringhylla is an excellent choice for mass market paperbacks and similar sized books.

A Stringhylla (a wall-mounted bookshelf), with some books on it.

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Jesper Haglund @jesperhaglund.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

All-in-all a horrible spring season, so guess which match the TV broke down for...

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Jesper Haglund @jesperhaglund.bsky.social · 16/05/2026

The inverse of this is all the 1990s-and-onward Swedish "dansband" musicians who started out in metal groups. (For illustration, a picture of the long-timers of Matz-Bladhs.)

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Jesper Haglund @jesperhaglund.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

Also, perhaps not the most effective way to suggest the story's big bad could be a threat.

Opening image to the The Phantom story "Knarkhajarna" (Literal translation "the drug dealers," but with an implication that they're some way from the bottom of their criminal organisation's pyramid.)

The part that matters to the post is the story's big bad, a young blonde woman, sat on a boardwalk in a classic pin-up pose, wearing tight shorts that ends *high* up the thigs and a very tight, sleeveless top.

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Jesper Haglund @jesperhaglund.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

Y'know, there's something very familiar about the random scuba diver that just showed up and saved The Phantom from drowning/being eaten by a hammerhead shark here...

A comics page from a Fantomen magazine showing the titular masked vigilante "The Phantom" being picked up on a small motor boat by a scuba diver who looks remarkably like Sean Connery.

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Jesper Haglund @jesperhaglund.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

Social media in 1992: I hope someone replied to them.

A paperclip from a Swedish magazine with notices from two Ghanaian teenagers and a dito 12-year-old asking for penpals.

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Jesper Haglund @jesperhaglund.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Why did they make the thumbnail look like a crime show? (I'd watch it.)

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Jesper Haglund @jesperhaglund.bsky.social · 10/05/2026

Because I scanned an old comic book today, have some 1980s nostalgia (well, strictly speaking February 1990-nostalgia - but we all know that, outside world politics, the 90s didn't begin until 1993).

The Cover of the Swedish comics magazine "Fantomen." The illustration is made up of a foreground with a woman in a catsuit, holding a diamond in one hand and pointing a revolver at the viewer. The upper half background is the head of The Phantom, tinted green, and the lower a skyline filled with skyscrapers.
The text of the cover declares that this (issue 4, 1990) is a "Jättenummer" with 104 pages, as well as the title of the main event: "Brottsplats Manhattan" ("Crime Scene Manhattan) which is teased with the blurb "Fantomen möter åter De gyllene mannekängerna" ("The Phantom meets The Golden Mannequins again"), as well as a blurb for the secondary attraction, which reads "Äntligen! Achilles Wiggen tillbaka!" ("Finally! Achilles Wiggen returns!") In the bottom right corner is a small box celebrating that the magazine is turning 40 years old.

An ad for the Swedish comic book magazine "Seriemagasinet" with the blurb "Hårda Tag var 14:e dag! I Seriemagasinet * * *"

A mail order ad for sweaters with prints of The Phantom motifs. It's illustrated by two boys in the 6-9 years old range.

An ad for the Commodore 64 personal computer. It's illustrated with a picture of a Canadian alpine skier, and an insert of a boy and a girl playing a game on a computer that shows the same mage. The text is:
"Commodore 64 är datorn för dig some älskar spel.
Vill du jaga skurkar i rymden eller vara hjälte på tufft uppdrag i djungeln? Vill du vinna guld i dom olympiska spelen eller dyka på havets botten med en ubåt? Action och äventyr, sport och simulering. Allt finns till 64:an, världens mest sålda hemdator.
Du kan också använda datorn is skolarbetet. Då blir det roligare att både skriva och räkna.
Vill du göra egna dataprogram? Till 64:an finns flera programmeringsspråk, bl a BASIC.
Commodore 64 har 16 färger och inbyggt ljud. Bland de många tillbehören finns monitor, skrivare, diskett- och bandstation.
Testa en 64a i närmaste datorbutik. Titta i telefonkatalogen under rubriken datorer.
Rek. ca pris: 1.995:- inkl moms

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Jesper Haglund @jesperhaglund.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

"West Sweden" (Blue) vs "Northland" (Red)

A map of Sweden with the part known as "Norrland" (Northland) picked out in red, and the parts usually considered part of "West Sweden" in dark blue.

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