The King Loses His Head

A quirky, surreal, and hilarious graphic novel about manhood and resisting change.

 

A castle in decay, a mother on the verge of death, three superficial daughters and a demanding mistress; this is the daily life of a king who spends all of his time ruling his kingdom, just as his ancestors have done for centuries. The only problem is, nothing seems to work anymore! The castle is crumbling to a ruin and, without any servants to help him, the king has to fix the leak in the ceiling on his own. His court has been slowly diminishing for years: nowadays it consists exclusively of members of his own family, and even they don’t know how to behave themselves. It’s not long before the king becomes completely overwhelmed by the feeling that no one respects him, he is misunderstood and, worst of all, he is unloved. All this must not prevent him from freeing princesses from vengeful dragons and from seeking metaphysical answers to his existential problems.

 

The absurdity of power, the difficulty of desire, and the addiction to new technologies are all themes tackled with playfulness and Monty Pythonesque humour in this wonderful romp from the Finnish master of the graphic novel format.