The autumn wind sweeps up the birch leaf, Birk – yet instead of rising with the other leaves on the breeze to witness the fabled Autumn Festival, Birk drifts down to the forest floor. In search of the next gust of wind – and constantly battling against the approaching end of his life – Birk encounters Candy, a mushroom who has just gone through a breakup, and the ancient, rugged Mother Nature. On their shared journey through the forest, they encounter a wellness cult led by a kombucha mushroom; a patriotic slime mold uncompromisingly carving its way through solid rock; as well as many other forest creatures who, in the face of human-caused environmen­tal destruction, must adapt to their new habitat.

In the characters’ encounters, various ideologies collide: Birk swears by unwavering positivity and self-acceptance; an oyster mushroom is deeply unsettled by its own tran­sience; the trees refuse to engage in any discourse or change whatsoever; and Candy – cynical and hyper-correct – claims to want to improve the world, yet secretly always acts solely for his own benefit.

“Die Natürliche Komödie” (The Natural Comedy) is a visually stunning graphic novel that skillfully transforms Dante Alighieri’s “Divine Come­dy” into an adventurous journey through a Finnish forest populated by anthropomorphic plants and ecological undertones. The result is a biting and hilarious satire of a society in which nature is subordinated to the human pursuit of profit. Through her multilayered narrative style, author Ulla Donner ironically touches upon themes such as self-optimization, toxic “self-care” culture, xenophobia, dating rituals, and society’s fear of aging.

Translated from Swedish by Katharina Erben.

Release date: August 2026