Uplifting and yet tinged with a faint melancholy, Tove Jansson’s lovely comic books about the free-spirited Moomintrolls make me very happy. Drawn and Quarterly (D & Q) released The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip in gorgeous oversized hardcovers last fall, and reading them is sheer delight.

There are times when you really need Jansson’s family of Finnish trolls, and the family Moomin are up to any task. Confronted with the sad spectacle of a closeted and self-loathing dog who’s ashamed to admit he likes only cats, Mamma Moomin decorates another dog with tabby stripes so that the cat-loving dog will have a friend. Faced with a paranoid and pessimistic servant girl who expects the sky to fall and the police to arrive at any minute, Mamma Moomin dresses her children as bandits, and they all play make-believe at hiding from the police.

The Moomintrolls are all-too-human one minute, then compassionate and generous the next. In one story, Moomin is filled with romantic jealousy, about to push his rival Mr. Blink into the abyss, but then hears Mr. Blink lament, “I don’t believe in myself anymore.” And with this, Moomin graciously enlists his friends to help his rival win a sporting event. Mr. Blink wins and consequently gets the girl, of course, and it could be said that nice guys finish last. But Moomin has a big heart, and his hopefulness and optimism endure. The same could be said for Jansson’s comics.