Comicfinder Mika Robit plunges in

Lately, I have been thinking a lot about my grandmother. My maternal grandmother that is. Well … she was quite a woman. Gosh! She had her feet planted firmly on the ground and was always wafting around with her signature fragrance … a blend of onions and peppermint. Sigh!

She seemed to have a solution for any of my problems in her well-worn apron pockets. And she had a wise word for every situation, like “The only good pork chop is a crumbed pork chop”. She often reckoned “He who polishes his floor feverishly, usually falls on his behind” – I remember this so well.

Much of this wisdom I finally understood not until I grew older. For example: “Why be easy when it’s possible to be complicated?” See … that’s exactly why I was reminded of her again recently.

Almost three quarters of the earth's surface consists of water. Seventy percent of all human beings live at the coast. Just wetstimating, I have to confess. Oceans all over and what do we know? Not much at all. As for the tronomers, the universe is no longer much of a mystery. But the sea is the totally thrilling terrain … the final frontier. Two hundred metres below sea level, the deep sea begins and at eight hundred meters … it's pitch black.

And what do people do? They are sonaring themselves to a standstill. They are building complexicated aqualungs. For weeks they are chugging with their oceanographic research crafts through the Nile Delta. What for? To survey mud volcanoes under the Mediterranean Sea. Pah!

In fact, everything is so damn easy. Yes Sirree. If I want to get to the bottom of an issue, I go visit Kalle at Comicothek. Sure, he is only able to get to the bottom of his beer mug … but he knows where to find the correct comic among his oodles of doodles of supplies.

I am just about to hold forth to him about the secrets of the submarine when he slips a comic book into my already sweaty hands, smiling softly and ever so unusually silently! Wow! I hadn´t even noticed him leave, maybe he´s wearing an apron as well … like my grandmother did. Stunn!

Upon looking at the book I discover that it is a Panini Comic (Panini is a German publisher of all kind of comics) with the title SpongeBob SquarePants: Totally Loopy! (SpongeBob Schwammkopf: Total verrückt!). On the cover: a dumb, square grinning face, in the background jellyfish and bubbles. Aha! Underwater adventure at its best.

Already, some pages later, I certainly know that life down under is not that mysterious at all. It is more like a higgledy-piggledy amusement park. Wickedly Wickledy! The creatures there have tremendous fun. Mr. Averagesponge wears a clean bright white shirt with a red tidy tie. Some Lazybones are satisfied with only swimsuits. The good citizens slumber in nightgown/nightcap ensembles. Square Grin on my part!

Life  in Smallfish Suburbia. Okay, okay … the architecture is way more imaginative than above sea level. Apart from that, there is everything that exists on dry land too. There is a fiesta of fast food, funfairs, funday sundaes. Come on…let's go!