Fältskärns Berättelser by Bovil
Fältskärns Berättelser

Bo Gustaf Arvid Vilson was a Swedish painter, illustrator and comic artist, but he also made sculptures and crafts. Born in Stockholm, Vilson attended Art Academy but initially worked in a factory. During his military service he stood out for the caricatures he made of his officers and fellow servicemen. Back in Stockholm, he started out as a commercial artist. Later on, he settled in Göteborg (1933) and Värmland (1942).

comic art by Bovil

He was one of the first Swedish artists to make adventure comics, which he signed with the pseudonym Bovil. His first comic was 'Flygkamraterna', an aviation serial that ran in Folket i Bild from 1941 to 1945. His series 'Fältskärns Berättelser' was created a year later and based on Zacharias Topelius' novel about an army surgeon. It appeared in Levande Livet until 1944. Most of his subsequent works were also based on popular novels of the time, such as 'Göingehövdingen' (Allt för Alla, 1942) and 'Sinuhe egyptiern' (Året Runt, 1950).

Flygkamraterna by Bovil

Bovil's longest running serial was 'Tusen Och en Natt', a series of comic adaptations of the Arabian Nights fairytales, that appeared in Vecko-Revyn from 1942 until the artists' death in 1949). He furthermore made the full page color comic 'Harald Handfaste' in Året Runt in 1946-47. By 1949 Vilson's heatlth deteriorated and the artist died in Utterby in December 1949 at the age of 39. He left 'Gudasagan', his most ambitious comics project about Nordic myths unfinished and unpublished.

comic art by Bovilcomic art by Bovil

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