pitkämies

Has the Sarjakuva Finlandia lost it's credibility?

2011-03-15T14:38:00.000-07:00

In two weeks we will know who has won the fourth Sarjakuva Finlandia (the yearly award for "best comic book of the year"). M.A. Numminen will choose his favourite from the shortlist of 10. Check out those ten here

Now, I don't know who I am writing this for, since this is probably only interesting for Finnish people and the text will be nonetheless in english. But I just have to get this off my chest before the award is over and this text wouldn't be relevant anymore.

But before I start giving my personal opinions and findings about this comics prize, I have to admit that I am a bit upset with Sarjakuvia Finlandia, so a little negativity certainly plays a role in this post. The main reason for being disappointed is that Huuda Huuda again does not have a single book being shortlisted this year. Look I am not saying we are the greatest publishers of finnish comic books out there, but I dare say if the The Comics Journal says "Finland’s most innovative publisher Huuda Huuda, ... displayed their formidable line of quality art-comics, Finnish and international", it means we are not just some random small press publisher. But no, no Huuda Huuda books this year. Actually, throughout the whole Sarjakuva Finlandia we only have had 1 nominee (Tommi's Samuelin Matkassa).

That being said, I do think the whole Sarjakuva- Finlandia is a great idea. For those people who are not familiar with the Finlandia awards (there's a Finlandia award for general fiction, one for the best youth novel,..), here's the basic idea: a jury makes a selection and then appoints a "dictator" who then reads all the nominated works and decides on his own and according to his own personal standards who will win the prize.
Every year now the organisers of the Sarjakuva-Finlandia have managed to get interesting cultural figures to choose the award winner. This years dictator especially, M.A. Numminen, will bound to pick an interesting winner. The genious idea behind choosing an "outsider" authority is that it undermines all possible criticism on the winning book. Since, you know, it's just one person's opinion. You are basically outsourcing the task, or, to put it more accurately: as the official instute you wave off the responsibility and hand it to an outsider.

In that sense, if there is any criticism to give to the Sarjakuva Finlandia, it should be aimed at the selecting process of the nominated works. Who are the member of the jury, how do they come to their final decisions, what are the criteria to select works,etc? Ever since the beginning there has been criticism especially towards the jury at Kvaak for example. Okay, I am sure for the seasoned pro's in finnish comics I don't have to explain the merits of Kirsi Kinnunen, Ilpo Koskela or Kristiina Kolehmainen for example, but who on earth came up with the idea of putting a teenager on the board each time, even though he or she is an "avid comic consumer"? Is that because comics are still childrens fare? C'mon, I thought we are already way beyond that point.

Also I am pretty confused on the choosing methods: the selection is based on discussions by email. What? There is no money to get all 4 jury members in the same room for a couple of hourse to come to mutual agreements? May I remind you that all publishers pay 30 euros per book they sign up for the award ( small press publishers 10 euros). This year that money adds up to 1550 euros. I would be totally fine if a few hundred euros would go to transport and meeting expenses so that jury members would at least see and discuss face to face for this important matter.

What I find most unfortunate about the whole Sarjakuva Finlandia, are the previous years winners. There has yet to be awarded a really great / genre transcending / ambitious book. No offence Petteri, I do liked "Eero" (last years winner) but you should have won the first year with "Kanerva ja yksi juttu", which is a much rounder and better balanced book. The whole crying shame about this, is that Finland has produced the kind outstanding books the last few years that were needed to kickstart more artistic appeal to finnish comics. But they somehow didn't make it to the official selection or weren't picked as the winner. Especially the 2008 selection was a very good year for finnish comics and in all fairness Ville Ranta should have won with his "Kajaani", which was an ambitious historical fiction comic book the likes of which hadn't yet been made with such great elegance in Finland (or elsewhere for that matter). Instead the price went to "The sands of Sarasvati", a totally bland kind of comic whose only merit was in the rehashing of Ristomäki's genious ideas. I am already now pretty sure that another book from that year, for example Meti (which was translated into French last year and nominated for best comic in Angouleme) will easily outlive Sarasvatin Hiekka.

This lack of masterful winners has really undermined the whole price category already. Publishers are not signing up books anymore and the whole press attention has watered down. The first year there was still some sort of buzz around the Sarjakuva Finlandia: 10 minutes of nationwide morning tv devoted to the selection of the nominees, the complete fronpage of Helsingin Sanomats cultural section,... Now, it has shriveled down to Yle copy pasting the press release to their website. This watering down of the events importance, combined with the dubious jurywork has made the selection of this year a sad sight to behold.

The most important finnish comic book that came out last year, Matti Hagelbergs Silvia Regina wasn't even signed up by the publisher. The reason for this being, I believe, Hagelbergs aversion to this kind of open competitions. As i recall, Matti used the words "perseestä" when I asked his opinion about awards and competitions in general.
Another crucial absentees were Kivi Larmola's "Päällystystakki" (okay, I understand his drawing style might be a bit put-offish at first but story, dialogue and atmosphere are topnotch) or Ville Pirinens "Yhesti Yhes Paikas" booklets (hilarious anecdotal storytelling).

But for Pitkämies, the main let down was Jyrki Nissinens "Viihdealus Dreamzone" absence from this years nominations. Actually if you look at the previous years shortlistings you will not find a single book of Jyrki Nissinen there. If that's not a shocker for you then I don't know what is. Jyrki Nissinen has in the last 4 years produced 2 long graphic novels, 3 collections and 8 comic magazines. Are you telling me that none of these 13 comic books were good enough to be nominated? That's a joke, right? First of all, Jyrki was by far the best selling artist in the Pitkämies (outselling even Pertti Jarla) and secondly, I honest to god don't know anybody who doesn't like Jyrki's comics. (Really, can't come up with a single person) His Borgtron series is hilarious and upholds a steady quality, and his longer Viihdealus Dreamzone is among my personal favourites.

That first year when the Sarjakuva Finlandia was organised Marko Turunen) reviewed all nominated books fairly and argumentatively (reviews in the comment sections). Earlier in his blog he named the nominated books "harrastajien ja fanipoikien kyhäämää kevyttä viihdettä" (fanboy light entertainment), which was lifted verbatim (and out of context) from the blog and put in his mouth in the Helsingin Sanomat page (illustrated by Ville Ranta). Which in its turn provoked Jyrki Jantunen to write this bitter post in Suomen Kuvalehti (with especially an interesting and fierce reader's section). These comments are a good reminder of a: Marko Turunen being a straight up guy and b: the infantile hatred some people seem to grudge against "artistic comics".

I would like to continue this post with my personal views on the nominated books. I probably won't be able to handle the job as well as Marko, but I will give it my shot. (As further proof of the Sarjakuvafinlandia decreasing importance, nobody has been bothered to do this yet this year)

Amerikka (Heikki Paakkanen)

Why I wouldn't mind this book winning? I have had the pleasure of meeting Heikki in the flesh only a couple of times so I am not that familiar with him. Nonetheless he struck me as the kind of guy you wish you had as an older uncle, a witty guy who would be your salvation during family parties. His thank you speech would for sure be memorable.

Fingerpori: Heräämisopas ( Pertti Jarla)

Why I wouldn't mind this book winning? Pertti is a funny guy, he makes funny strips. Probably the only three panel strip comic I read. Pertti has been nominated quite some time, why not give it to him and get it over with
Why I would be pissed if this book wins? Heräämisopas seems more like a commercial "let's squeeze out the money out of Fingerpori while it lasts" collection, then a real book. Still props to colouring lots of these jokes which before were only in black and white

Huomenna on se päivä (Sanna Ala-Ojala)

Why I wouldn't mind this book winning? It would mean the triumph of the smaller indie publisher and proof that it's not always bigger publishing house that take the prizes home (as in all previous Sarjakuva-Finlandia editions)
Why I would be pissed if this book wins? Pauli, seriously: put some money in the production of your books. It's starting to get on my nerves. Also, again autobiographical comics? Yawn...

Kuka pelkaa Nenian Ahnavia? (Kati Kovács)

Why I wouldn't mind this book winning? Kati deserves a price for all the outstanding work she has done in the past. Does this mean that her new book is all killer no filler? Can't say...
Why I would be pissed if this book wins? I dunno, I don't think I would feel any negative emotion what so ever if Kati wins with this book.

Mummo (Anni Nykänen)

Why I wouldn't mind this book winning? Although Mummo seems to be hugely popular, I can't really get into it. The main reason for that being that I just not a fan of the typical three panel joke kind of comics.
Why I would be pissed if this book wins? First of all, is this old lady speaking "dialect"? I am afraid so. Now, if there is one thing I really, genuinely, truely hate from the bottom of my heart it is the use of dialect in humour, more specifically if the fact that somebody speaks with a certain regional accent is funny on itself. Is poetry "funny" because it is written in Turku dialect? No it certainly isn't. Is this joke working? No? Well, let me change it so that the main character speaks Westcoast dialect. Hey, and I 'll make him / her react slower, like a real country bumpkin.:: Aaaarghh On a whole different matter: finnish people delude themselves in thinking they have many dialects. Wake up call: if there's only a handfull words that are strictly locally used but for the rest of the country the vocabulary is the same but spoken with slightly different vowels / accents; well then you live in a pretty standard language country without real dialect.

Nanna (Tuuli Hypen)

Why I wouldn't mind this book winning? A young and upcoming comic artist who snatches away the main prize out of nowhere? I kind of dig that.
Why I would be pissed if this book wins? I haven't read yet a joke by Nanna that made me laugh. Then again, I am not the target audience, so what do I know. The drawings are sleek and professionally looking, however lacking any character. If Numminen chooses this, I'll personally send him Jarno's Tunteiden Maisteri and Jarno Markuksen Kauneimmat just to balance his view of finnish comics.

Paratiisisarja (Ville Ranta)

Why I wouldn't mind this book winning? It's an overall great comic book, a personal take on the Adam and Eve story, funnily and insightfully told. Reads like a train, with Ranta's signature watercolouring to feast your eyes over. I would genuinely be happy of Ville wins. Second best book in the competition.
Why I would be pissed if this book wins? Maybe because Kajaani should have won the Finlandia already in 2008, not Paratiisisarja. My only critique to the book is the last scene in the book where Adam and Eve devour the tiger. Without fire. So they eat the meat raw? Urg.

Saniaislehdon Salaisuudet (Kati Närhi)

Why I wouldn't mind this book winning? This is my personal favourite book. Not in the least because I didn't have any expectations when I read it (being unfamiliar with Kati's earlier work) and I really enjoyed reading it. The book managed to avoid all clichés that 90% of finnish comics seem to plague: it is not autobiographical, it is not a three panel joke collection, it is not overdisplaying Finland as a driving factor of the story. Give me more of this.
Why I would be pissed if this book wins? I guess the only complaint I would have would be that the original intended target audience are teenagers / young adults. So again, kind of, it would mean an underappreciation of comics as a grown up art form

Tour d'Europe (Kaisa and Christoffer Leka)

Why I wouldn't mind this book winning? Back in the eighties when i was young and even in the nineties still, it was not uncommon to be dragged by your parents to visit family friends or relatives who had just returned from holidays and organised a slide show evening. During that evening the lights were turned off and for the next hour or two you were exposed to an intensive travel report through slides and anecdotes. Kaisa's and Christoffer's book feels a bit like that. They document in their Tour d'Europe their travel experience to bicycle from Finland to the south of France. The good thing with comic books is that you can lay down to book and have a break at your own will (which wasn't possible at slide show evenings). Personally I liked the book since I am belgian and i am interested in all things bicycle related (why oh why finnish tv does not show live broadcasts of the Tour de France or Paris-Roubaix?? Now there's a sport for you...) The book has been nominated for being the most beautifull book of the year. Rightfully so; the bookrelated merchandise such as the yoga postcardset or the map of Europe and bicycle gazette, were amazing and ambitious. Props!
Why I would be pissed if this book wins? I wouldn't, but if I may point to the major flaw in the book? Tour d'Europe lacks drama. It is actually pretty similar to a slideshow: you know all the events that will happen beforehand (tiredness/flat tires/meeting of strangers/..) and there is no real dramatic events. So in that sense a bit boring

Viivi ja Wagner: Sika pussaa (Juba Tuomola)

Why I wouldn't mind this book winning? Viivi and Wagner isn't all bad.
Why I would be pissed if this book wins? Juba's last years nominee (Minerva 2) was a lot better and a really decent childrens comic. The whole Viivi and Wagner joke has now run it's last year I may hope. The Sika Pussaa collection is just what the name suggests: a random collection of recent strips without too much cohesion. People who collect the series would like this. I don't.

Pitkämies is calling it quits

2010-12-13T06:49:00.000-08:00

It may come to some people as a surprise that I am closing down my store. To other people, it was already in the air. Pulling the plug on my own baby like this is a decision that I did not take lightly, but in the end, I had no other option. Keeping up a store like Pitkämies is just almost impossible in Helsinki, with it's high rent and relatively small audience for exactly the kind of products i like to sell.

There are more reasons to it as well, anybody who's a bit aware of what's happening in today's retail world can see that small mortar and brick stores are going to slowly phase out of the urban landscape. Especially stores that sell products such as comics, movies and music.

I had the idea of starting a comic store in Finland the moment i moved away from Belgium. My start up fund was 100 euros, with which i ordered comics from the states and sold them through my first "webstore" (link from the waybackmachine). My first batch contained David Boring, Ripple and issues of Eightball and Black Hole. I kept the books in a cupboard in the hallway, and went to pick up the comics from the airport / customs on my wife's bicycle. If i sold anything, i kept the money to order new books. I sold books mainly on location, meeting up with people around the city (or other cities). I stopped by the first Kuti studio in Neljäs Linja every so often when i had some new comics. I got into the "scene" of finnish comics and slowly but surely my stock of books grew.

It took me about four years to outgrow my available storage space and with a kind loan I was able to open my store in Kallio. There, together with the help of the Finnish comics society, Kuti Kuti and Ifsociety I put together a pretty decent store, if I may say so myself. There were lots of great comics, a wellcatered music selection and a stock of t-shirts. One of the nicest things i heard during the opening party was that there was "finally a comic store where i can breathe". And if that wasn't enough, I started organising free events at the store almost every week. Going through my facebook event page and remembering every single event I organised brings back fond memories. Good times were had by all. I couldn't say myself what would be the best event we did at Pitkämies, ofcourse the Thor gig, the first recordfleamarket, the crazy one minute sale all come to mind immediately, but I personally liked the more intimate gigs as well such as Mother Goose, Muuan Mies, Mauro,...

But then reality started to creep up with me and it became gradually clear to me that financially Pitkämies wasn't going to be a high roller. First the record sales went down the toilet. In april 2009 Spotify became widely available and that same month record sales in Pitkämies dropped 75% (and went further downhill from there). Then, with the record sales almost eliminated, I couldn't balance the loss of sales from there with an increased sales in comics. So my downward spiral started from there and it seemed i never got out of that hole.

There's reasons why Pitkämies (or small indie stores in general) can't cut it anymore: we are growing more and more towards a service based society where actual physical objects are becoming obsolete. I mean, why would you pay more for a shiny cd to watch a movie when you can simply download or rent it from your computer or your tv? Why pay 18 euros for a Sonic Youth lp when you can listen to it for free on Spotify?

As far as comics are concerned, it may sound futuristic for most readers yet, but with the arrival of all sorts of computer tablets, conditions for reading comics in digital form have improved greatly. I see no reason why in, say, 10 years time reading comics digitally won't be the preferred way for the average consumer.

But let's say you still stick to your oldfashioned ways and consume all your entertainment in physical form. Why would you then purchase the object in a store when you can get the same object delivered to your doorstep 30 percent cheaper from Amazon, Bookdelivery or Adlibris? Oh, because you want to support independent stores like mine? Well, I am standing here behind the counter and even though I greatly appreciate you bought stuff from me, I know you are in the vast minority.

It wouldn't be fair to put all the blame on society on why Pitkämies will be no longer. I have done things wrong myself. Did my fair share of mistakes. I may be a good salesperson and i love to sell a great comic book to a customer, but I am not the best businessman and obviously my skills in accounting are limited (if they wouldn't, I should have quit already a year ago). But you know what, all the things i did (good or bad) for the store were straight from the heart. As lame as it sounds, I really put my everything in it. I never really reached my ideal, never quite turned Pitkämies into the perfect, "bestest" comic store in the world (which would be a practical impossibility since it would have to contain every single great comic book ever made) but i gave it my best shot. So naturally it pains me to quit it. But after months and months of struggling by, coming up with excuses why I don't have new books in store (here's a clue: didn't have any money to order new ones), my enthousiasm for the store swindled down. And if there is no joy, or any financial reward that counters the stress and tiredness that comes with keeping a store, then the choice of closing down Pitkämies was plain in sight.

All in all, maybe I will feel even releaved when it is all over. Maybe I will rediscover the pleasure of just being a comic lover again: reading a comic book not for professional reasons but for enjoyment of the medium only.

However, this is not the end of Pitkämies. Although not in physical form as such, Pitkämies will continue as a memory, an inspiration to future lunatics and aspiring comic shopkeepers. Namely as of tomorrow there will be a comic book out called PITKIS, which features 30 finnish comic book authors who have made comics about Pitkämies or about the ideal comic store. It's quite flattering to see the names: Matti Hagelberg, Jyrki Nissinen, Mari Ahokoivu, Ville Ranta, Petteri Tikkanen, Amanda Vähämäki, Aapo Rapi,....

Be sure to come to the release party at Liberté, which is aptly called Pitkäfest, and buy it there.

PITKÄFEST 22.12 at Liberté (Kolmas Linja): live music by Avarus, Jarse, Pitches, Lussu ja Pami, Dj Suohumala

Please come to the event, all profits will go to Pitkämies and it will surely be greatly appreciated and ease the damage that the store has inflicted on me financially.

There is a list of people i would like to thank, who all helped out with Pitkämies

Hanna for coming up with all sorts of great ideas that gave Pitkämies that little extra. Sorry if I haven't been able to execute them all. I hope that putting up with the long workhours will be worth it in the long run. I couldn't have made Pitkämies the way it was without you.

My parents and Hanna's parents for support and babysitting during busy times.

Kalle and everybody from the Finnish Comic Society; I know the Pitkämies spirit will continue at the Comics Centre in Arabia (and not in the least because i will be dropping by often), thanks also to everybody else from the Comics Society who filled in for me behind the counter when i was out on errands.

Tommi and Mikko from Ifsociety: you guys were great, Tommi's relentless efforts to promote the store, spam all over the internet, and hook up with artists; Mikko was great with the bigger events, making donuts and building the recordshelves. Thanks to you two I also discovered lots of great music which i listened to at the store.

Kuti people for buying stuff, promoting my store to everybody and doing all sorts of doodles for me.

My trainees Petja, Kati and Anis. Special mention ofcourse to Stephen, my "store manager" who amazed me with all his great neat little improvements to the general outlook of the store in Kallio and without whom Pitkämies 2 would never have been possible

Thanks to Jan and the crew from Myymälä2: too bad we had such a short sting together. Maybe in a parallel universe our joined forces would have lasted longer.

Thanks to all the bands who came and were willing to play in return for comics and records.

Martin for his incredible work effort to get the bookdisplays and the counter done in time ofr the opening, Olivier Schrauwen for his design of the storewindow, Renato for amazing skills of putting Ikea crap together, Otso and the Oranssi van for moving Huuda Huuda books, Arwi, Jussi L, Sami S, for providing records; Kasper and the Super8 guys (you brought in all your friends), Tapettitalo, Otto for his fine list of recommended manga, Ville for being the last customer in Kallio and YOU, my customer.

Signing off

Jelle

Finnish publishing companies

2010-06-17T07:09:00.000-07:00

For some strange reason last week there were 4 mails in my inbox from people solliciting their work to be published by Huuda Huuda. Usually we only get maybe 1 of those mails per month.

I don't mind that people send us their stuff, on the contrary; even though I'm immersed in comics all day long, I always think what we receive might be something really special. Alas, we have yet to publish a single comic book / pamphlet that was sent to us through mail by an unknown artist.

It's not that we look down on everything we receive or that all stuff we get in is crap. On the contrary, mostly it's pretty ok, good for a few laughs now and then or some admirable art. But the truth of the matter is, Huuda Huuda is a really small publishing company with an empty bank account and we don't have the time or resources to publish everything that comes in our way. Tommi and me have to really carefully consider what we publish. Money is never the issue for us, far from it! What drives us is to see great comic books being published in finnish. Books that hopefully will serve as eyeopeners for some, that will be admired by others or that simply will be read in the library to fill up an idle 15 minutes. That we annoy the hell out of some people who hate art comics (cough kvaak cough), comes as an extra bonus for me.

Anyway, the fact that we got all of a sudden all these sollicitations reminded me of that time i was teaching the second year students in Muurla a couple of years ago. 4 or 5 students if i am not mistaking and all were hard working on a longer comic. That was their big poject for the year. I asked them, "ok, so you are devoting all your energy to your comic. But then what? What are you going to do with it? Do you think somebody will publish it, or are you putting it on your blog?"
They didn't have a clue. Also, they had no idea what kind of comic publishers were still existing in Finland and what kind of stuff they were publishing. So naturally that was the topic for the day, spilling out the harsh realities of the finnish comics industry. Great fun. "The chances of Egmont publishing your work are about 0%", that kind of stuff.

In this blog entry I'd like to for once and for all give an answer to all aspiring finnish comic artists on where to get your works published and what chances you have.

Let's make a list of all bigger finnish publishers and what they are about

WSOY

Part of one of the biggest media multinationals in Europe (Sanoma). Somehow seems to translate mostly french comics: Larcenet, Blain, Delisle, Dupuy&Berberian, Trondheim. Surprised me with publishing Kati Närhi's book. They publish sporadically finnish names but I guess if you are not already an inhouse illustrator like Kati or a wellknown finnish artist like Ville Ranta you won't end up on their roster.
Chances of an young artists being published by wsoy: 0%

Egmont

The biggest comic publisher in finland, gets their publications in the newstands throughtout finland. Apart from Asterix, Lucky Luke and other commercial crap they have a big line of manga and DC/Marvel stuff. But I'll be darned if they publish Finnish artist. They haven't in recent years. But Egmont does some surprisingly good books now and then: Death Note, Rocky, Pellonreuna.
Chances of a young artists being published by Egmont: 0%

Arktinen Banaani

A very successfull company that has found the golden formula for selling comics: newspaper strips! Fingerpori, Viivi ja Wagner, Jere all are published by Arktinen Banaani. They also publish a couple of comic graphic novels each year and are willing to throw a bunch of money once per year to a bit more experimental comics. (last years example: Kiki, montparnassin kuningatar) However, I don't really see them publish a full length comic book by a young artist. Doesn't mean you shouldn't send your stuff. Arktinen Banaani publishes comic magazines in which they feature new artists.
Chances of a young artists being published by Arktinen Banaani: 2%

Tammi

One of the big boys in the finnish bookworld. Published comics in the nineties and noughties because i suppose they felt they had to. Then they noticed how manga was selling like hotcakes and bought two small but flourishing mangapublishers (Sangatsu and Punainen Jättiläinen) and let them continue the work independently. Because of the crazy popularity of manga and the fact that about 70% of all young people "studying" comics are into manga, the market for homegrown, finnish manga is pretty big and if you are really talented you might get a shot at it.
Chances of a young artists being published by Tammi: 3%

Like

No longer an independent bookpubisher (bought by Otava in 2006) and really, i don't get what they are going for with their line of comics. Which is maybe a good thing, that not everything always has to be such easily branded. Big respect for publishing Tommi Musturi's Toivo series. They also are willing to publish totally unknown names from abroad(provided however the comic has some leftist agenda. Case in point: this ) or from finland: check this one out for september. So all in all, pitkämies digs it.
Chances of a young artists being published by Like: 5%

Sammakko

Turku based publishing house that has one huge hit in comics: Kiroileva Siili. So they nowadays publish anything by Milla Paloniemi and are looking for the next hit. Hence they published Baarien Nainen (which i liked, btw) So my advice would be to do the same as the above mentioned examples: start your own comic blog, become hugely popular (as in about 1000 readers a day) and then approach them. Other then that: don't bother
Chances of a young artist starting own comic blog and becoming hugely popular with it: 6%

Jalava

I guess we can be short about Jalava since they don't publish finnish comic artists. they are on automatic pilot kind of with their hugo pratt and sokal books. Which is a shame because they were such a great publisher in the 80s and 90s.

Suuri Kurpitsa

Moving on to the truely indepedent "support your scene" publishers, here's Suuri Kurpitsa, a one man army from Tampere that's been going on for like almost 30 years. As Pauli himself explains on his site: "I am willing to take in new artists if they please me and are commercially viable to sell a few hundred copies" Most known artists from Suuri Kurpitsa are Tiitu, Ville Pirinen and Jaokim Pirinen.
Chances of a young artists being published by Suuri Kurpitsa: 2%

Asema

Asema is run by Villa Ranta and Mika Lietzen mainly to publish their own books. But they are open to others as well. As a matter of fact, in 2009 the then unknown Aino Sutinen send in her work to Ville who immediately said:" I'll publish you. You are the first person to have ever send in good enough material to warrant a good book." It's also the first time I have ever heard of such a thing happening, to be honest. Still, good news. And as Asema is celebrating it's tenth anniversary in september this year, they are publishing a series of smallpress comics. So who knows, go for Asema!
Chances of a young artists being published by Asema: 2%

Zum Teufel

Petteri Ojas imprint, publishes finnish artists only. Now that he has struck a deal with Arktinen Banaani, the books published by Zum Teufel are really well distributed. And in the beginning of this year Petteri published three books by totally unknown finnish artists. Well, unknown to the big audience. Most of these artists had been doing small press for years. If you ask me, a young artist will have the best shot at being published at Zum Teufel. Now that Petteri is starting a nationwide distributed comic magazine especially devoted to Finnish comics (Zum Teufel Zeitung), chances of getting published are even bigger!
Chances of a young artists being published by Zum Teufel: 7%

Daada

I guess the cat will be out of the bag soon, so i might as well make it public that Marko Turunens small art house Daada is going to start publishing books again. Starting from september. It will be smallscale in the beginning but nonetheless. Great news for all of us. Marko is starting by publishing the works of 4 of his students. So my advice to a young artist would be to apply to Lahti art school and listen to Marko carefully
Chances of a young comic artist getting into Lahti artschool: about 70%

Kreegah Bundolo

I am only including Kreegah Bundolo in here because Hans will publish Matti Hagelberg's new book in september and that deserves mentioning. Also, with Hans you never know: maybe he will publish you, most likely not though.

Kuti

This quarterly tabloid already has 16 issues under it's belt. Bet you didn't see that coming, did you! The content of Kuti varies dramatically and they are on the lookout for finnish talent all the time. You don't have to have skills in technical drawing or anything: be yourself, be original and draw up a story as some sort of stream of consciousness.
Chances of a young artists being published by Kuti: 7%

Huuda Huuda
I explained our situation already. Truthfully, we only publish works of people we know and whom we have seen developing. We are willing to try out stuff with our pamphlet series though. But my advice would be to do first your own thing in smallpress / self publishing and we will have a chat in my store a few years later. Ok?

Phew. That's it, i suppose. Yes i know, there are other publishers still out there but i decided they were too small press to be included here or they have stopped publishing comics or maybe simply because i overlooked them. Feel free to comment on all things i left out! Finnish or english. And here is some similar reading

Pitkämies opens second shop!

2010-04-22T22:11:00.000-07:00

Maybe some of you have already heard that the Comics Centre is moving out of it's premises, and if not: Kalle is explaining a bit more about this in the local newspaper (in finnish). The main reason is a looming renovation but it remains still unclear when this will happen or when the move will be made.

In the meantime however, Pitkämies is expanding it's business! That's right, I am opening a second shop in Helsinki. Pitkämies will be taking over the shop in Myymälä2

Myymälä2 is an art gallery in Uudenmaankatu, figuratively and literally the only underground gallery in the whole Helsinki Design District In a sense, the perfect partner for Pitkämies.

I am currently renovating the shop there, so it will have the same look. The name for the shop will, naturally, be Pitkämies2 . The new shop will focus a bit more on artistic comics but will feature also a healthy selection of great graphic novels and a wellcatered harvest of finnish comics. Music and clothing will ofcourse also be available. Events and concerts will be held there as well (for example Ben Butler and Mousepad on 8th of May), so in a sense this is more then just a cosy little extension to Pitkämies but will live a life on it's own as well.

The opening party will be held on 14th of May, but the store will be already operational 5th of May. More news will follow later.

p.s. My Facebookpage is still the best way to keep up to date with all that's happening at Pitkämies

p.p.s. what would Pitkämies2 be without the "pantteri" wallpaper designed by Ritva Kronlund?

Tuxdog

2010-03-13T03:52:00.000-08:00

I was folding shirts yesterday after i had closed the store and when i was putting the Tuxdog shirts back, i was thinking to myself, "What was i thinking in ordering this shirt?" I decided to try on the small sized shirt and it was a perfect fit for me. But yeah, I'm a skinny guy. And i must say, it looked pretty cool so my thoughts immediately shifted from "what the hell was i thinking" to "how come nobody is buying this shirt?"

But yeah, in case you were wondering, what is the Tux dog? Although the official tuxdog site (www.tuxdog.org) is offline you can get some more information thanks to the crucial web archive site . First of all, what appeals to me the most about the tuxdog is the fact that it is an open source image. "It was created by one of Paper Rad (Ben Jones I suppose, not that it matters) as a ten-year-old. It's now been declared as open-source, meaning that the character and its likeness is free for anyone to use, thus encouraging the development of a bright and wonderful Tux Dog-filled world. If one of Paper Rad hadn't created this character, then someone else would have done; it can be seen as a deeply profound expression of the cultural subconcious, jacked straight into the page from the main vein." So now, everday can take this form and make stencils, buttons, shirts and what not

here's tux dog by Sammy Harkham:

And one by Kevin Huizinga

I assume these doodles were made when the Kramer's Ergot crew was touring to promote that fifth issue in which Tux dog was featured in the Paper Rad contribution

In any case, as said Tux Dog was a cartoon thought up by one of Paper Rad's members when he was 10 years old. Though mildly unbelievable, his father, was an avid fan of Max Beckmann and his love of Beckmann's self portrait mixed with the child's own artistic influences at the time, Bill the Cat and Garfield led to the form, Tux Dog.

As the young artist's lame attempts at self promotion began to take form a host of Tux Dog chalk board drawings at school, and white board/dry erase drawings began to sprout up.

And that's about it, other than a failed tux dog iron-on made in 7th grade art class, Tux's reign as the best character ever was cut very short. Some say the introduction of the Simpsons overshadowed Tux's importance(to the artist, not to society), however, later in life, with the Simpsons in syndication Tux began to make a come back(in the artist's mind).

Tux Dog's comeback is outstanding. Not only can you find him on Paper Rad's website, his presence is spilling over to other Paper Rad projects and stuff. The logical conclusion after Tux's long history was obviously to make him open source.

The following is an essay written by the sister of the Tux Dog inventor.

"Tux Dog was instantaneously a household classic. Thinking back, my first memories of Tux Dog were as a worn stuffed animal propped up on the unmade bed of a 6th grader.

Although I realize that he never existed as such.

What I am in actuality remembering is Opus the penguin, who really was a stuffed animal in that household.

Stuffed Opus and Tux are like transparent screens of memory stuck together - inseparable - like plates left too long in the sink/mind.

Tux was conceived in a notebook in Massachusetts, but he was born with the psychic power of a stuffed animal. What that means is that Tux is a three-dimensional hero in two dimensions!"

Tuxdog is ofcourse also on facebook! Join the group, I just did and you know what, I think I'll wear that shirt tomorrow.

Top 100 best selling comics at Pitkämies in 2009

2010-01-05T08:28:00.000-08:00

	1. Jarla, Pertti: Fingerpori 2
	2.Ranta, Ville: Eräänlaisia Rukouksia
	3. Moore, Alan: The Watchmen
	4. Jarla, Pertti: Fingerpori
	5. Pirinen, Ville: Yhesti yhes paikas
	6. Moore, Alan: League of extraordinary gentlemen III: Century 1
	7. Nilsen, Anders: Sisyfos
	8. Nissinen, Jyrki: Borgtron 09
	9. Rapi, Aapo: Naaburger
	10. Jupu: Baarien Nainen
	11 Glömp: Glömp X
	12. Ware, Chris: Jimmy Corrigan, the smartest kid on earth
	13. Florent Ruppert/ Jérôme Mulot: Uhkapeliä
	14. Ahokoivu, Mari: Löydä minut tästä kaupungista
	15. Brown, Jeffrey: Haparointia
	16. Musturi, Tommi: Samuelin matkassa
	17. Vähämäki, Amanda: Äitienpäivä
	18. Nissinen, Jyrki: Borgtron 10
	19. Roju: Huonoa seksia
	20. Hanks, Fletcher: You shall die by your own evil creation
	21. Schrauwen, Olivier: Poika Kulta
	22. Ware, Chris: Acme Novelty Library 19
	23. Aikakausilehti: Aikakauslehti 02
	24. Brinkley, Nell: Brinkley Girls
	25. Brown, Jeffrey: Cat getting out of a bag and other observations
	26. Derf: Punkrock and trailerparks
	27. Kwon, Yong-Deuk: Yölinja
	28. Lint, Jeff: The Caterer
	29. Tiitu: Jää
	30. Florent Ruppert/ Jérôme Mulot: Apinatarha
	31. Jarla, Pertti: Pikku Fingerpori
	32. Mordan, Rutu: Exit wounds
	33. Carré. Lilli: Nine ways to disappear
	34. Crumb. Robert: Book of Genesis
	35. Pedrosa: Three shadows
	36. Barry, Lynda: What it is
	37. Bechdel, Allison: Fun Home
	38. Sutinen, Aino: Taksi Kurdistaniin
	39. Bagge, Peter: Buddy does Seattle
	40. Burns, Charles: Black Hole
	41. Delisle, Guy: Shenzhen
	42. Latva-Nikkola, Jarno: Tunteiden Maisteri
	43. Martin, Jacques: Alix 13: Karthagon aave
	44. Ranta, Ville: Kajaani
	45. Tan, Shaun: The Arrival
	46. Turunen, Marko: Ufoja Lahdessa 2
	47. Turunen, Marko: Ufoja Lahdessa 3
	48. Carré. Lilli: Korpi-Peten kootut
	49. Flerick, Mark: Arto saa turpaansa
	50. Nissinen, Jyrki: Borgtron 11
	51. Nissinen, Jyrki: Kaikki vierailuni Italialaisessa kodissa
	52. Pirinen, Joakim: Kalmasen herrasväen aviopulmat
	53. Powell, Nate: Swallow me whole
	54. Aikakausilehti: Lehti (Aikakauslehti 2/2008)
	55. Bechdel, Allison: Hautuukoti - Tragikoominen Perheeni
	56. Nissinen, Jyrki: Borgtron 06
	57. Sailamaa, Anna: Ollaan nätisti
	58. Sfar, Joann: Pascin
	59. Tiitu: Tuuli ja myrsky
	60. Bagge, Peter: Buddy does Jersey
	61. Brown, Jeffrey: Funny misshapen body
	62. Canales, Diaz: Blacksad 3: punainen sielu
	63. Carré. Lilli: The Lagoon
	64. Clowes, Daniel: Ghostworld
	65. Delisle, Guy: Pjongjang
	66. Ganzfeld: Ganzfeld 7
	67. Hanks, Fletcher: I shall destroy all civilised planets
	68. Laitinen, Karri: Kafkan Tutti
	69. Nissinen, Jyrki: Borgtron 02
	70. Nissinen, Jyrki: Borgtron 07
	71.Nissinen, Jyrki: Yli 10000 koiran koiranättely
	72. Papu, Kaija: Totally Sweet Love Awesomeness
	73. Rapi, Aapo: Kuningas Toffee
	74. Tsuboi, Nene: Nice to meet you
	75. Valve. Emmi: Circus Femme Fatale
	76. Volle, Karstein: Käsi sydämellä: 100 tosiasiaa maailmailta
	77. Bagge, Peter: Apocalypse nerd
	78. Brinkman, Matt: Teratoid Heights
	79. Clem, Mitch: Nothing nice to say
	80. Kallio, Pauli: Maalaispunkin päiväkirja
	81. Mignola, Mike: Hellboy
	82. Nissinen, Jyrki: Borgtron 03
	83. Nissinen, Jyrki: It's cool to smoke
	84. Nissinen, Jyrki: Kiimaiset maantiesuolan imeskelijät
	85. Ralph, Brian: Daybreak volume 3
	86. Rapia, Kati: Miracle Baby
	87. Risku, Milla: Joulukortit - Kuuseen
	88. Seth: George Sprott 1894-1975
	89. Gauld, Tom: Hunter and Painter
	90. Illum, Stine: Friends
	91. Mazzucchelli, David: Asterios Polyp
	92. Mignola, Mike: Hellboy, pimeyden kutsu
	93. Nissinen, Jyrki: Auttaja Hai
	94. Nissinen, Jyrki: Borgtron 04
	95. Nissinen, Jyrki: Borgtron 05
	96. Rapi, Aapo: Meti
	97. Sacco, Joe: Palestiina

A few comments on this one: Fingerpori 2 was by far the best selling book this year. It sold almost three times as much as the runner up, Ville Ranta's Eräänlaisia Rukouksia. One reason for this was the Fingerpori exhibition we had in march just when the book was released. It was probably the most popular exhibition we ever had at the Comics Centre. So yeah. That was nice.

Then there are ofcourse a lot of Huuda Huuda titles in the top 20 also for a ver simple reason: these are the books i always have in the store. With other books it always takes a while between it getting sold out and then me ordering it and receiving it back in the store. On principal though, i always try to keep certain books always in stock. For example Jimmy Corrigan, the smartest kid on earth, is one of my alltime favourite book and it is very easy to reply to customers who ask my opinion about which book i like and then say: Jimmy Corrigan is the best comic book ever made. It makes me feel pretty proud to have sold in 2008 26 copies of Chris Ware's magnus opus.

For the rest, a pretty nice list i would say so. A good mix of finnish and foreign material, all pretty good stuff (ofcourse, otherwise i wouldn't sell it in my store, that goes without saying).

There are a few surprises or perhaps complete unknown comics to some people that end up pretty high. Let's take the Caterer by Jeff Lint at spot 28 (sold 17 copies). This one is a beyond absurd comic reproduction from the seventies, full of excellent one liners and ununderstandable situations. Since Tuukka really likes this one, he practically forced this comic on everybody he knew or on people who came in the store whenever he was filling in behind the counter.

Naturally, Pitkämies has sold plenty of Jyrki Nissinen this year, and will continue to keep selling his top notch exploits as long as we keep on running. He has 14 titles in the top 100. I guess that says pretty much it. Hopefully one day some important comic publisher (cough Alvin Buenaventura cough) will spot Jyrki's genius talent and spread some finnish exhuberant madness around the globe.

All in all, I have no idea how to compare my best selling list with what's officially "in the charts" in normal bookstores or normal comic stores. It's radically different ofcourse. I bet you won't find any Mat Brinkman or Roju's Huonoa Seksia (spot 19, sold 19 copies) , but isn't that why people find their way to Pitkämies? I will try and keep up the selection of the store as it always have been: a carefully curated selection of good quality comics, wether they are mainstream, manga or silkscreened art. And I am hoping you all keep supporting this haven of indie goodness as long as Pitkämies as behind the wheels!

Record Selling at Pitkämies

2009-12-30T01:25:00.000-08:00

In January Pitkämies is having a beyond crazy record sales. We are trying to get rid of ALL records from the store. So it's your chance to pick some cool records for ultracool prices.

We are doing the UFF style discount: every day the discount on ALL records gets higher and higher. However, we have for some items only 1 copy, so it might not always be wise to wait until the last minute.

This means the end of the record selling business of Ifsociety. The label will continue to exist by releasing a couple of select records per year. This also means the end of the co-operation between Pitkämies and Ifsociety. It really pains me that it has gone this way. I personally thought we stocked a pretty neat collection of cool records in the store. We had a really good thing going for a while, a well catered selection of cheapo classics on cd, punk and indie milestones on vinyl and all the latest releases from the finnish quality labels at competitive prices. But the decision to pull the plug on the record pushin business lays in the hands of Tommi and Mikko. And i completely understand them. Lately with music sales dropping everywhere (to give an example, the overall sales in music in Finland has dropped 25% in 2008 compared to the previous year!), it just didn't make anymore sense in pouring money in a loss making business. The profit margin Ifsociety had on selling records at Pitkämies was already quite slim to begin with. In the end why put all this effort in keeping up a record selection if the only people who benefit from it is everybody besides yourself?

I talked to Mikko and Tommi about this and i felt that both of them are just releaved to get rid of the burdon of this extracurrical activity and being finally able to focus again on the things they started Ifsociety in the first place: releasing a few records a year and doing that with all your heart and strength you can muster.

However, this doesn't mean the end of musicrecords at Pitkämies. I stubbornly continue spreading the gospel of fine music. The selection of records will be a lot smaller then what we have but there will still be plenty of reasons to come and check out the the music department at Pitkämies:

1) Pitkämies will have ALL the releases of ALL quality finnish record labels at affordable prices (read: cheaper then äx, stupido or cdon.com). Here's the list of labels so far: Ektro, Helmi, Fonal, Ifsociety, Verdura,...
2)I will get a weekly shipment of hot new vinyls. Beware that i will order only small amounts of each items and that they go fast. It might not be a bad idea to stop by often, say every saturday, and make sure you can get that Dirtbombs lp for dirtcheap. I am not going to restrict myself to a particular niche of records (not that Ifsociety ever did that!), I am just going to order records that i want. Maybe next week i'll want to have the new Field Music on double vinyl but the week after i may go all out and order a great selection of 60s French pop and Yé-Yé from Jacques Dutronc to Serge Gainsbourg
3)As of principle i wholly support all diy and selfpublished releases. Anybody who has released their own record can be assured of a spot in the Pitkämies record shelves. Cd-rs, tapes, 7"s: i dig it all. So you know, the new Dinosauruxia is already here.

I know Pitkämies will never be able to compete with Levykauppa Äx, because that's just a great record store with a huge selection. Instead i want to make the recordselection an exciting addition to the comics i am selling. You will stumble across some weird records maybe but you can be assured that all records will have the personal approval of Pitkämies himself. Also, I am not aware of everything that happens in the music scene, so I am open to all suggestions and I will do my best to provide a good service for my music loving pals (customers). Any music made with heart and soul is welcome at the store!

Lastly, I want to send out a sincere thanks to Tommi and Mikko who have helped me and the store in so many ways i will never be able to express my gratitude fully.

So thanks dudes, it was a fun ride while it lasted!

Best selling comics at Pitkämies september 09

2009-10-01T01:16:00.000-07:00

1. Löydät minut tästä kaupungista (Mari Ahokoivu)
2. Naaburger (Aapo Rapi)
3. You shall die by your own evil creation (Fletcher Hanks)
4. League of Extraordinary Gentlemen III: Century 1 (Alan Moore, Kevin O'Neil)
5. Taksi Kurdistaniin (Aino Sutinen)
6. Shenzhen (Guy Delisle)
7. Brinkley Girls (Nell Brinkley)
8. Baarien Nainen (Jupu)
9. Samuelin Matkassa (Tommi Musturi)
10. Borgtron 10 (Jyrki Nissinen)
11. Bar Miki (Michelangelo Setola)
12. Tuuli ja Myrsky (Tiitu)
13. Huuhkaja: kuin noidat yössä (Yann)
14. Savage Sword of Conan: volume 1 (Steve Buscema and others)
15. Gigantic Robot (Tom Gauld)
16. Circus Femme Fatale (Emmi Valve)
17. Äitienpäivä (Amanda Vähämäki)
18. Maalaispunkin Päiväkirja (Pauli Kallio)
19. Teratoid Heights (Mat Brinkman)
20. Apocalypse Nerd (Peter Bagge)

Comments

Well, since there was the comic festival i took this time a top 20 of best selling comics. The number one spot is a shared one between Mari's new book and Aapo's Naaburger. They sold an equal amount of copies. I let Mari keep the number one spot because of alfabetical order, plus i know she will promote this blog post on her facebook status report. On the other hand, the best selling item by far was the fabulous Pitkämies shopping bag but i left it out of the list since it is not a comic.

I am also happy to see the Brinkley Girls there, that's an absolutely stunning book that everybody is wanting to have. And also very happy to see that my customers keep appreciating cult classics such as Mat Brinkman's Teratoid Heights. (Which reminds me, i saw it for sale on amazon for 162 dollars... mmmm maybe i should up my price a bit...?)

Here's a top 6 of best selling items from the music department: Le Corpse Mince de Francoise is now extra hot since they use the tune for the finnish version of Project Runway (Muodin Huipulle), which is ofcourse a MUST SEE tv program

Music Sales

1. Mutiny#13 (zine)
2. Joose Keskitalo Kolmas Maailmanpalo (cd)
3. Le Corps Mince de Francoise: Ray Ban glasses (lp)
4. Keränen: Green Car Crash (Casette)
5. Band of Horses: Cease to begin (lp)
6. Joose Keskitalo: tule minun luokse, kulta (cd)

Rent Kramer's Ergot 7

2009-09-23T01:51:00.000-07:00

People have probably seen the fabulous Kramer's Ergot 7 anthology in my store. I bet you have even browsed through it. If you don't recall the book in question, here's a reminder for you

So you see, this baby is a monster. It's huge. In fact, it's so big that most people are put off from buying. "I don' t have a bookshelf that's big enough for it" is the most common reply i get when i show the book to people.

But now Pitkämies has come up with the best solution for all you people who want to read and absorb the book. Just rent it from me!

Yes, just borrow Kramer's Ergot from Pitkämies just like it's a library here. I have borrowed an old scheme a friend of mine once came up with, which i think will work perfectly here.

Renting the Kramer's Ergot costs 5 euros per month. The way it works is very simple: you come to the store and say you want to borrow the book. You give me your name and emailaddress plus one hundred euros. Then you can take the book with you to read at home. After one month you come back with the book and i return to you 95 euros. Et voila we are done.

The next person can then borrow the book with a deposit of 95 euros. This way the price of the book gets lower and lower each time somebody borrows it. If you feel like keeping the book to yourself and not return it, no problem! You have already paid for it in a way!

If you live outside Helsinki or cannot make it to the store but want to reserve it, please order it from me here and mention it on the comment section when you can come and pick it up

Top selling comics at Pitkämies June 09

2009-07-04T05:21:00.000-07:00

1. Jeff Lint: The Caterer
2. Ville Pirinen: Yhesti yhes paikas
3. Ville Ranta: Eräänlaisia Rukouksia
4. Marko Turunen: Ufoja Lahdessa 3
5. Alan Moore: League of extraordinary gentlemen III: Century 1
6. Emmi Valve: Femme Fatale
7 Mitch Clem: Nothing Nice to say
8. Derf: Punkrock and trailerparks
9. Florent Ruppert ja Jerome Mulot: Uhkapeliä
10. Lilli Carré: Nine ways to disappear

Kuningas Toffee

2009-06-25T03:17:00.000-07:00

Here's a snoop for you all: Kuningas Toffee will be transformed into a theatre play!

I don't know anything about the specifics but here's what i have heard so far (from a reliable source, namely Aapo Rapi himself): Kellariteatteri will perform the play based on the Kuningas Toffee comic some time in the fall. It is not yet on their website but apparently the screenplay is already finished.

The story will also unfold in the same way as the revamped comic: two characters will unearth the ancient scrolls that tell the tale of the cruel sugartooth King Toffee. When they read the content of the scrolls, it will be shown on stage whilest the two narrative characters will comment the events and acting.

This sounds like a pretty nice excuse to finally go to the theatre for me and i am hoping the same for all of you!

edit: Aapo just finished his Kuningas Toffee shirt, he printed it himself, so that means there is only a limited amount available...

Best selling comics at Pitkämies in May 2009

2009-06-03T07:44:00.000-07:00

1. Aikakauslehti 2
2. Jupu: Baarien Nainen
3. Ville Pirinen: Yhesti yhes paikas
4. Jeff Lint: The caterer
5. Derf: Punkrock and trailerparks
6. Roju: Huonoa seksia
7. Folman/Polonsky: Waltz with Bashir
8. Alan Moore: League of Extraordinary gentlemen III: The century
9. Lynda Barry: What it is
10. Jeffrey Brown: Funny Misshapen body
11. Pertti Jarla: Fingerpori 2
12. Karstein Volle: 100 tosiasiaa maailmailta

note: this goes to show how erratic sales at Pitkämies are: only two titles are two months in a row in the top "ten"list: Ville Pirinen and Karstein Volle....

Best selling comics at Pitkämies in April 2009

2009-06-03T07:25:00.000-07:00

1. Ville Ranta: Eräänlaisia rukouksia
2. Ville Pirinen: Yhesti yhes paikas
3. Alan Moore: The watchmen
4. Ruppert/Mulot: Uhkapeliä
5. Jeffrey Brown: Cat getting out of a bag and other observations
6. Lilli Carré: The lagoon
7. GlömpX
8. Yong-Deuk Kwon: Yölinja
9. Kaija Papu: Totally Sweet Love Awesomeness
10. Karstein Volle: 100 tosiasiaa maailmalta

Sarjakuvakeskus received the Unelmien Helsinki award!

2009-03-06T06:07:00.000-08:00

Awesome news: Sarjakuvakeskus (which consists of Pitkämies, Kuti Kuti and the Finnish Comics Society) received the yearly Unelmien Helsinki award which is organised by Radio Helsinki and Nyt-liite. Here's what they say:

"Tänä vuonna Unelmien Helsinki -palkinnon saa Kalliossa sijaitseva Sarjakuvakeskus, jossa toimivat Suomen Sarjakuvaseura ja levy- ja vaatekauppa Pitkämies. Kolmannen linjan on kulttuurikeskuksessa järjestetään muun muassa sarjakuvanäyttelyitä ja -työpajoja. ”Paikka on saanut Helsinki-vihani laantumaan edes hieman”, totesi palkintoa ehdottanut kaupunkilainen. ”Liike tarjoaa kalliolaisille kauan kaivatun olohuoneen, jossa voi viettää aikaa kuluttamatta rahaa tai miettimättä, uskaltaako sinne otta lapset mukaan. Liikkeeseen ovat kaikki tervetulleita eikä siellä viihtyäkseen tarvitse kuulua sisäpiiriin.”

Together with the Fingerpori exhibition, this will surely bring some new people to Pitkämies!
Also, i am already gloating so i can say at the award: "It would be nice to get you lazy "Punavuorelaisia" to Kallio now and then, it's not such a big distance"

Because i have noticed that basically all people who visit the store live around Kallio. I haven't seen too many Radio Helsinki journalist coming over, to be honest. Maybe it's time to change that attitude!

For the rest, it's all awesome ofcourse

edit: here's a pic of the award. A video later

Pitkämies featured in Voima lehti

2009-03-05T08:47:00.000-08:00

To be more precise: in this article

If there's any questions about the sweater: i bought it at a fleamarket in Estonia about 5 years ago during what was probably the coldest holiday i ever had. -30 degrees for over a week, and then taking a boat through the frozen seas to some Estonian islands. Best vacation ever!

Top hundred best selling at Pitkämies this year

2009-01-21T09:20:00.000-08:00

1. Nissinen, Jyrki: Kaikki vierailuni Italialaisessa kodissa
2. Nissinen, Jyrki: Borgtron 08
3. Sailamaa, Anna: Ollaan nätisti
4. Laitinen, Karri: Kafkan Tutti
5. Hanks, Fletcher: I shall destroy all civilised planets
6. Tiitu: Jää
7. Nissinen, Jyrki: Yli 10 000 Koiran Koiranäyttely
8. Rapi, Aapo: Meti
9. Burns, Charles: Black Hole
10. Miller, Frank: Yön ritari
11. Rapi, Aapo: Kuningas Toffee
12. Schrauwen, Olivier: Poika Kulta
13. Brown, Jeffrey: Haparointia
14. Nissinen, Jyrki: Borgtron 9
15. Vähämäki, Amanda: Äitienpäivä
16. Delisle, Guy: Shenzhen
17. Ranta, Ville: Kajaani
18. Satrapi, Marjane: Embroideries
19. Delisle, Guy: Merkintöjä Burmasta
20. Jodorowsky & Moebius: Incal
21. Nissinen, Jyrki: Nuolee kuin eläin sipsiä
22. Tukiainen, Katja: Rusina
23. Turunen, Marko: Ufoja Lahdessa
24. Ware, Chris: Acme Novelty Library 18
25. Ware, Chris: Jimmy Corrigan, the smartest kid on earth
26. Bergman, Benjamin: Troll on
27. Latva-Nikkola, Jarno: Tunteiden Maisteri
28. Mordan, Rutu: Exit wounds
29. Bagge, Pete: Buddy does Seattle
30. Canales, Diaz: Blacksad 2
31. Carré. Lilli: Korpi-Peten kootut
32. Harkham, Sammy: Crickets 2
33. Magnolia, Mike: Hellboy, pimeyden kutsu
34. Nissinen, Jyrki: Borgtron 03
35. Nissinen, Jyrki: Kiimaiset maantiesuolan imeskelijät
36. Lutes, Jason: Berlin book two, city of smoke
37. Rapia, Kati: Miracle Baby
38. Clowes, Daniel: Ghostworld
39. Florent Ruppert/ Jérôme Mulot: Apinatarha
40. Jason: I killed Adolf Hitler
41. Prince, Liz: Will you still love me if i wet the bed?
42. Thompson, Craig: Blankets
43. Tomine, Adrian: Shortcomings
44. Brinkman, Matt: Teratoid Heights
45. Brown, Jeffrey: Be a man
46. Delisle, Guy: Pyong Yang, a journey through North Korea. Paperback
47. Harkham, Sammy: Crickets 1
48. Jansson, Tove: Moomin, the complete Tove Jansson strip, volume 1
49. King Nosmo: Kulttuurilehti Esteban
50. Moore, Alan: The Watchmen
51. Nilsen, Anders: Dogs and water
52. Bagge, Pete: Hate annual 07
53. Brown, Jeffrey: Every girl is the end of the world to me
54. Canales, Diaz: Blacksad 1
55. Carré. Lilli: Dorado Park
56. Clowes, Daniel: Caricature
57. Gauld, Tom: Three Very Small Comics volume II
58. Gauld, Tom: Three Very Small Comics volume III
59. Koljonen, Hanna: Nirvana
60. Martin, Jacques: Alix: Spartacuksen poika
61. Moore, Alan: From Hell
62. Rope, Jenni: Wednesday
63. Satrapi, Marjane: Persepolis boxed set
64. Thompson, Craig: Carnet de voyage
65. Vähämäki, Amanda: Souvlaki Circus
66. Bagge, Pete: Buddy does Jersey
67. Bagge, Pete: Hate annual 06
68. Barry, Lynda: What it is
69. Brown, Jeffrey: I am going to be small
70. Brown, Jeffrey: Unlikely
71. Clowes, Daniel: David Boring
72. Cotter, Joshua: Skyscrapers of the midwest
73. Gauld, Tom: Robots, Monsters etc
74. Hayashi, Seiichi: Red Colored Elegy
75. Miller, Frank: Sin City
76. Oliba, Tsugumi & Obata, Takeshi: Death Note 01
77. Rapi, Aapo: Kelomökien mies
78. Schrauwen, Olivier: My Boy
79. Turunen, Marko: Lihat puntarissa
80. Yokoyama, Yuichi: New Engineering
81. B., David: Epileptic
82. Bagge, Pete: Hate annual 04
83. Bagge, Pete: Hate annual 1
84. Bechdel, Allison: Fun Home
85. Brown, Chester: I never liked you
86. Brown, Jeffrey: Any easy intimacy (AEIOU)
87. Burns, Charles: Big Baby
88. Clowes, Daniel: Ice Haven
89. Cole, Allison: Never Ending Summer
90. Gauld, Tom: Hunter and Painter
91. Glömp: Glömp 9
92. Hanawa, Kazuichi: Doing Time
93. Jacobs, Edgar: Blake and Mortimer: Mystery of the great pyramid 1
94. Lutes, Jason: Berliini
95. Nilsen, Anders: Monologues for the coming plague
96. Nilsen, Anders: Sisyfos
97. Nissinen, Jyrki: Yli 10000 koiran koiranättely
98. Rall, Ted: To Afghanistan and back
99. Ranta, Ville: Isi on vähän väsynyt
100. Ranta, Ville: Sade
101. Tatsumi, Yoshihiro: Goodbye
102. Tatsumi, Yoshihiro: The Pushman and other stories
103. Tikkanen, Petteri: Kanerva ja yks juttu
104. Tolppanen, Petri & Kaakinen, Jussi: Sarasvatin hiekaa
105. Turunen, Marko: Supernormal
106. V/A: Japan

as a first immediate comment: that's a lot of Jyrki Nissinen!

Kultainen Penaali

2008-12-23T08:13:00.001-08:00

Pitkämies and Sarjakuvakeskus were awarded with the "Kultainen Penaali" (Golden Pencilholder) for "Vuoden Kulttuuriteko" (Cultural Act of the Year) by the University paper. We beat Kiasma and Ruisrock to it. Ha!

" Kolmannelle linjalle Kallioon syntyi keväällä sarjakuvan ystävän keidas. Suomen sarjakuvaseuran, Kutikuti-kollektiivin ja Pitkämies-kaupan perustamassa Sarjakuvakeskuksessa voi levähtää arjen aherruksesta, selailla albumeita ja katsastaa gallerian näyttelyn.
Kirpputorit, työpajat ja keikat tekevät keskuksen toiminnasta niin pienimuotoisen söpöä, että sydän läkähtyy."

You can read the rest of the awards and award winners (in finnish) here

A seven month delay

2008-12-16T08:54:00.000-08:00

i really loved how pristine and empty the store looks in this picture

In case you are wondering, this article was written about two weeks after the store opened but published only last week

Huuda Huuda in the spotlight

2008-11-19T06:22:00.000-08:00

Joensuun Yliopilaslehti does a report on Huuda Huuda.

nice media attention for Pitkämies

2008-10-27T12:20:00.001-07:00

That's the fontpage and a spread inside the free Metropaper friday 22.10. If you want to read the article, here you go. I could have just linked to the article but i just wanted to show that Ruffeo Hearts Lil Snotty denim jacket i am wearing.

Kuti Kuti party at Pitkämies

2008-09-11T08:37:00.001-07:00

The new Kuti tabloid decorated as on a christmas tree!

People start arriving in the store....

The new Kuti is devoured by the attentive reading audience

More people in the store...

And even more, the place is packed and the party is in full swing!

The snack offerings, the usual crisps and nuts. Those two plates with the brown stuff, that's homemade toffee (fudge). Was removed from the fridge in the store two days later. Nobody had touched it.

The band starts playing. That's Benjamin Bergman on the left and Aapo Rapi on your right. The guy in the middle is amazingly squatting and playing guitar at the same time.

The last song of the band. After that i kicked everybody out so that they could pursue the party at Liberte bar and i could go home.

A short history of the Pitkämies store

2008-09-05T08:29:00.000-07:00

A short history

In the summer of 2004 the Pitkämies mailorder was born; the new Eightball had come out and i wanted to buy in it Helsinki, which has three comic stores. None of them carried the comic in question which bummed me out. On the other hand, with the idea of running my own store already in the back of my head, I was thrilled or could not believe nobody else had thought of carrying quality foreign graphic novels and comics in a store. However, since i had no money or experience or knowledge of the finnish market (having moved here only a year earlier), this own store seemed like a very remote idea. It was my wife Hanna, who gave the excellent tip i should start by running a mailorder.

I had 100 € extra laying around that i invested in ordering a small batch of comics (including ofcourse, Eightball #23). I had hoped they would arrive in time for the comic festival, which would be then the official of my store or better yet, mailorder. Ofcourse they didn't. I had a reserved a table for the comics festival in Helsinki so i had no other option but to display my own personal collection, and saying to people that these were the kind of books and comics i would soon be selling through my website. The scheme worked, i handed out handwritten cards with my site's name on it, I collected some email address and by the time the comics arrived at my place, the most incredible thing happened: people actually started ordering them.

With the money i made selling those comics, I ordered more and that's how it slowly but gradually evolved into what it is today. In principal i only order books that i like myself. Sometimes that's a bit difficult to guess but in general you could say i avoid superhero stuff, lame European masters of the nineth art (Bilal,...) or teenage manga. I am however willing to try out new stuff and i regularly just buy straight from the artists if he or she happen to have some mini-comics that seem interesting.

After about three years of selling comics at conventions and through a modest site, the stock of books slowly grew until my tiny storage space in the cellar of my appartment was filled with boxes of comic books and became inaccesible for even a very slim guy like me. In april 2007 i decided i would seriously start looking for a decent spot for a store in Helsinki. To my personal great surprise locating a good and available storefront proved extremely difficult. Furthermore, i initially wanted to incorporate the comic store into a vegan coffee place (an idea which is actually still likely to be executed, albeit not within this decade) so i needed a place that was big enough, had decent aircirculation, the appropriate sanatory facilities and, above all, was affordable. Ha ha ha. Looking back now, i can't believe i was so naieve to think i could actually find a match for those criteria.

Along the way I asked the dudes from Ifsociety to join forces with me. The present location of the Pitkämies store was found and checked out thoroughly in december 2007, when i made the first offer on the place. Which was denied. The landlord mistakenly thought that Ifsociety was called High society and since the area of Kallio in Helsinki is vaguely resemblant to a "bohemian" area with lots of cheap bars, he was extremely suspicious. But, the misunderstanding was resolved and in early march the offer was approved.

At that point I asked the Finnish Comics Society if they were interested in subrenting the second storefront in the space plus the back room. I knew they had plans of moving out of their current offices (but that's a whole different can of worms) so my offer did not fall upon deaf ears. The Finnish Comics Society wanted to open a comics art gallery in the second storefront and use the backroom as an office space. Things started to come together nicely and when it turned out that the whole cellar (130 plus square meter) was available as well i "forced" the Kuti Kuti collective to come and join forces with us. Et voila, a nice synergy was born, a complex that combines a commercial yet culturally friendly store, an official non profit comics organisation and to top it all off, a collective of twelve stubborn comic artists all under one roof.

Pitkämies officially opened on the 17th of May.

Bitterkomix, misanthropist afrikaners

2008-03-13T13:01:00.000-07:00

I wrote this for the the fifth issue of Kuti, since that came out already half a year ago, i thought it was fair I could it also put on my site.

My father used to edit the magazine for the Freethinker parents who sent their children to state school as to avoid religious classes in school. For some bizarre reason he always received press copies of children's books to review in the magazine even though that was barely a black and white photocopied rag with a print run of 50. There was a drawer in my father's workdesk where me and my sister would always be snooping in to find the latest book he had gotten. I still remember this one time where there was not a nice looking book there but a hardcover comic book. After opening and browsing through it, I had, what you might call an epiphany: "this was a comic not meant for children"; a concept that i was completely unaware of. It came as a complete shock and i had no idea what to do with that information. In fact, it kind of scared me. I must have been 13 years old or so. I had grown up reading sappy children's comics in which nobody ever gets hurt and the bad guys inevitably loose the battle and then repent. What i had in front of me did not fit in that universe at all. Where was the slapstick humour? Whatever happened to the abstract clearline childfriendly drawings? I especially remember this shortstory about this fat guy who goes into the supermarkt and starts grossing out in the store, stuffing himself with saucages and pates from the meatcounter, and the slugging down liters of wine. It really grossed me out. The next week i took the book to school (which by the way was Boucq's Pédagogie du trottoir) and proudly showed it to my friends and acted all worldly about it.

My second epiphany concerning comics came when i was helping to start up a comic magazine at the incredibly naieve young age of 19. We were having a first time get together with all the interested parties. Talks inevitably concentrated on what we now really wanted to do. Then somebody stood up and grabbed something from his bag and asked "Why don't we try to do something like THIS?" In his hands he held a comic magazine called Bitterkomix (subtitled "pulp for dimwits"). This magazine was as exotically made as it sounded "an underground comic magazine from South-Africa" After reading it, i was completely floored. These were not stories that tried to please people esthetically nor intellectually. It was weird and above all, mean. Later on in life i found the perfect wording to describe the reading experience. "No other comics publication ever made me feel like i was participating in something subversive and wonderful simply by reading it."(*)

That particular issue of Bitterkomix that my friend was showing contained a superb one pager that somehow captured the repressed state of mind of South-Africa. You see Tintin walking into a bar where he orders a beer from the black bartender. He tries to avoid conversation with the guy by switching languages but it fails three times in a row. The story ends with this "I blushed, panicked and replied that I don't speak Dutch, even though I am Dutch, and that I've been living in Germany ever since I can remember, determined not to tell him about my 17 years as a privileged white South-African. As he left he shouted "I don't care where you come from, man. I love you!" I don't really know why this made such an impact on me but it is somehow engraved in my memory.

Tin Tin, as a matter of fact, is a recurring figure in the Bitterkomix magazine. He is somewhat the embodiment of a wholesome all white South-African boyhood. Superbly drawn in a clear line style Joe Dog (one of the two main artists behind Bitterkomix) would use the Tintin figure to tell stories about incest or the fear of a black uprising (that particular story was also published in the Comix2000 anthology). The combination of the typical Hergé drawing style, childhood memories of a white south-african artist and Tintins openly racist content create a uniqueness to these stories that is as urgent and powerful as it can get.

The other talented artist of Bitterkomix is Conrad Botes. He seems to populate his stories with power obsessed men (with beards usually) who laugh demonically at the sight of their own wrongdoings, Apparently the sad history fo South-African colonisation is filled with characters like that. With his lush brush strokes and black ink abundance he thus radically rewrites Afrikaner history.

Reading in Afrikaans was yet another factor that made Bitterkomix so appealing to me. Since Afrikaans descended from the language of farmers 50km north of my hometown, reading and deciphering Bitterkomix is like listening to your grandmother speak in hardcore dialect. It takes a while to get into the flow of that and sometimes the only way to understand the language was to imagine how my uncle would say it. After that i would usually get it. By studying the text balloons in Bitterkomix i was actually learning a language. I even put Afrikaans on my CV under "language skills" but took it off when one possible employee started asking questions about it.

Afrikaans is very suspicious towards new words and any intrusion of english is very much frowned upon. The stories in Bitterkomix use spoken language and contain a lot of English loan words. In the second issue of the magazine an outraged reader who had picked up the publication at his doctor's waiting room wished that the Bitterkomix editors would have paid more attention in school so that they would have learned something about language purity. He then continues to write that their magazine should belong to the pile of porn withheld by the censorship board. He ends the letter by appealing to the editors integrity and to be more responsible with what they publish so that the youth of today would be spared of this smut. As you can imagine reading these hate letters (on average one per magazine) are an integral part of the fun.

Of course it's not all brilliant and sophisticated. The obsession with sex gets on the nerves quite easily, even though it is on a rare occasion funny (a guy jerks off on his face to use his sperm as shaving cream because "real farmer boys only use cum to shave") Since Bitterkomix wanted to break with suppressed lutheran thinking about sex, the depicted scenes are generally very much over the top and have nothing more to offer then shock value. When recently asked about the future of Bitterkomix and "Is sex an obsession or will the new Bitterkomix show fewer private parts? ", Botes simply answered: "I wouldn't want to disappoint my audience."

Bitterkomix is a magazine that put out it's first issue in 1992, which is 2 years before Apartheid was completely dismantled and when censorship was still very much a factor in the cultural landscape. It is still around, just having published it's 14th issue and clocking out one issue per year since 1998. Most of the art is done by Joe Dog and Conrad Botes but there are other contributors as well. The main language is Afrikaans with the occasional english piece. There are two Best of books in English and one Bitterkomix arts book ("the big bad handbook of bitterkomix"). I suggest you go find their stuff.

(*)Quoted from Tom Spurgeon but i can't retrace the actual source, maybe somebody else has more perseverance can look here.

Best of 2007

2008-02-29T02:17:00.000-08:00

It's that time of the year again: best of 2007

In general I would say that 2007 was a pretty tame year for comics and graphic novels especially. Ever since the market start booming (which I guess, happened with Chris Ware’s Jimmy Corrigan in 2000) there have been each year books coming out that caused a big bang. Books that perpetuated a growth, graphic novels that baffled people or that opened up new audience to the world of comics: books such as Persepolis (2004), Epileptic (2005), Blankets (2003) and Fun Home (2006, awarded book of the year by Time magazine)

I didn’t really see an equivalent of any of these books this year. As a matter of fact in my best of the year list the books are not by a long shot up to par with the aforementioned books as far approach or masterful storytelling goes.

I also didn’t see the likes of for example “Don’t go where I can’t follow” by Anders Nilsen. This low profile book was my personal best of 2006; it really floored me. An emotional superpunch that struck me because of the low key approach of Anders Nilsen who dryly tells the story of his relationship with his girlfriend who was suddenly diagnosed with cancer and as rapidly also died....

That being said and getting all the negativity off from my shoulders, I would like to declare 2007 the year of Brian Chippendale. The unexpected audience had not yet recovered from his humongous Ninja book, which came out late November 2006 so it is basically a 2007 release, when he pulled out again with Maggots, a dense, dark and feverish pocket book. He then counterattacked once more with Galactikrap #2, an easy reading fun mini sci-fi art brut comic. On top of that he drummed on Björk's new album and participated in that drumming performance 07/07/07 in which 77 drummers gathered to play together in Central Park, NY. Boy that must have been something.

But on to the comics then:

1.Princess of Time (John Vermileya)

I chose this comic because it is basically flawless. It works on all levels. And even though the comic itself is nothing out of the ordinary, i can't see anybody not liking this. Princess of Time is a wordless black and white comic tabloid that features three gentlemen smoking pipe, dressed as 19th century professors on a galaball. The drawings are very nice, kind of like early moebius and the whole comic is in a very strict 9 panel per page division to let the whole joke work better. The story starts with those three gentlemen arriving in a car (with three steering wheels) at a strange building somewhere in the jungle. They end up in another universe and have to battle some sort of monster. It's all pretty funny, actually and the end joke is so lame, that you can't help but burst out. Don't worry, i am not spoiling it here.

2.Powr Mastrs (C.F.)

it's like badly drawn moebius, but still better then what moebius has done in say, the last 15 years. Besides, i have a beard and the beard party conversation cracked me up. Oddball fantasy, Dirk Deppey called in the Journalista.

3. Mr Wonderful (Daniel Clowes)

Let's put it like this, anything that Daniel Clowes does and puts distance between us and the Artschool confidential movie is a good thing. Clowes was the best thing that happened to comics in the 90s, why, oh why did he hook up with a mediocre movie director and start making lousy movies? Maybe Chris Ware was right when he said that the invention of movies was the worst thing that ever happened to comics.

4.Glömp # 9 (Various Artists)

A steady collection of finnish and foreign artists. Can't come up with another compilation that displayed such a consistent pace of quality (and yes this includes "The best american comics of 2007", since that one only contained stories that were already published in 2006). The exclusive story by Olivier Schrauwen about a fallus obsessed cannibalistic tribe who eat the penises of their enemies is reason enough to buy the book. Dig this passage:
"I don't understand how they could capture us so easily?
Yeah, how come the penis power didn't work?
There were too many of them. Penis power doesn't make us invincible."

5.I shall destroy all civilised planets! (Fletcher Hanks)

This much talked about book works best reading the last chapter first and then consistently detecting hints of Fletcher Hanks' own life in the book. It will make this archetypical stories even more brutal. I don't really understand people who say these drawings are crude or static: I for one thought the artwork and the use of colours worked beautifully. I also like the fact that Stardust, the main superhero in the book has basically two expressions: "Severe" and "More severe"

6.Garden Sketchbook (Anna-Kaisa Laine and Emma Willis)

This is a collaboration of the finnish comic artist Anna-Kaisa Laine with her room mate Emma Willis and is simply a diary with drawings of the garden of both authors and all the plants they managed to grow for one year. The book looks really nice and reads like an exciting weather report. On top of that, it is just a great collection of tips on how to turn your backyard wasteland into a flourishing vegetable garden and how to battle slugs effectively. Funny stuff in here as well, as Anna-Kaisa is an eco warrior on a mission. For example, an effective tool against cats intruding in the garden turned out to be lion's faeces. But it wasn't approved by Anna-Kaisa. I quote :" A.K. wasn't sure she wanted to support the zoo even if it was by buying lion dung". But hey, who am I to mock, i am a vegan housecook myself...

7.Lucky (Gabrielle Bell)

The Comics Journal severely trashed Gabrielle Bell's previous book and to some extent i agree. It was indeed a bit boring. The new issue of Lucky however, is a hit. Gabrielle pulls if off with a wonderful combination of the diary real life stuff with absurd dry humor fantasy.

8.Pullapelto (Amanda Vähämäki)

Amanda will feature in the upcoming Drawn and Quarterly Showcase book and by all means, please check it out. She is one of finland's finest cartoonist at this point who combines great half dream stories with finnish youth memories and a thin beautiful pencil line. She used to be part of the Canicola collective in Italy but now is apparently in Finland and became a "kutilainen" (a finnish word meaning: being part of Kuti (for what is Kuti, see below)

9.The Kuti Kuti tabloid, especially the anniversary issue (#5)

The Kuti free newspaper sprung forth from the Kuti Kuti art studio which is basically a cheap office space studio rented by comic artists so they could cheaply share a workspace. As regular as clockwork they produce every three month a free full colour comic tabloid that features theirs works and from likeminded spirits (Anders Nilsen, Yvan Alagbe, La Derniere Cri,..) in finnish with english subtitles. It is a CMYK explosion reminiscent of the now legendary Paper Rodeo tabloid.

10. The conversation Seth, Joe Matt and Chester Brown have in the Spent book (in which i discovered that Chester Brown lives in the damp basement of his ex-girlfriend)

11.Isi on vähän väsynyt (Ville Ranta)

This one actually came out in 2005 but since it has a new ending and new pages i can easily slip it in the best of list. This was Villes first attempt of drawing in a very loose sketchy style. I am guessing his new drawing technique was a side effect of a new person coming into his life. With the birth of his baby daughter, his life was turned upside down and when Ville's girlfriend took up studies again, ville became a house hold dad. He tried still to be a comic artist and kept running his publishing company Asema and hence came his inner struggle of what will become of him as an artist since there's no more time for anything. Well, Ville, let me give you a tip: first stop whining, then take care of your daughter and the rest will find it's own place in it's own time. I have a small son myself so I know what i am talking about. Then again, i wouldn't want my child to be diagnosed with diabetes and worry if i will have to spend the rest of my life in hospitals.

12.Aapo's run in Ilta Sanomat with his Kelomökien mies

I have seen plenty of these worn out artists who spend their time drinking and lecturing young people in bars. Or, who spend 6 months preparing their "big exhibition" in some friends dodgy gallery and come with the idea of painting ten 2-meter-long cucumbers. Then 4 months later they have again an exhibition (same place) with again the same cucumbers only with the tops cut off. " I changed my concept a bit" they confide in you. This smallpress comic is about one of these artists: a hard drinking no talent who is angry at the world around him.

13.Honeymoon Island (Terhi Ekebom

Honeymoon Island is Terhi's third longer graphic novel, made with ink and etching technique. The book includes five touching stories about troublesome relationships and brake-ups. Love is a mess!

14.Tunteiden Maisteri (Jarno Latvo-Nikkola)

A doomed relationship makes our main character go ballistic. Or maybe it's just the amount of alcohol he takes in that turns him into a lunatic. Well, he becomes more of a sad lunatic. But there's a happy end! Underground finnish comic. Sweating hearts, alcohol, warmemories and sadistic behaviour, it's all here in Jarno's new book, which was created, as the author put it "usually during major hangovers".

15.Shortcomings

this is the 2007 version of Ghostworld. Crisp storytelling and artwork with plenty of jokes about being an American-Asian. It's fun but not ha ha funny: a story about love that "doesn’t have a shred of sentimentality on its bones".

Looking forward to in 2008:

Big Questions
As i am "in the know", i can tell you this: Anders has already longtime finished the Big Questions book but we will still have to hold our horses until the fall of 2008 to read it finally in one glorious hardcover book.

Rusina: Katja Tukiainen
Katja Tukiainen, an awarded comic artist, just has a picturebook out but i personally can't wait to see her "Rusina" in print. I have read it, and the first 100 pages were definitely the best finnish comic i have read this year.

Book of Hope

2008-02-29T02:15:00.000-08:00

Book of Hope (Tommi Musturi)

Tommi Musturi is a very productive finnish comic artist who is more known for his editorial work of the yearly Glömp anthology then for his own drawing and writing skills. Completely under the radar he has been working on a six book saga, called "Book of Hope". It is quite surprising that this work has gotten so little attention from Finnish or international press. It is however a work that deserves attention and i firmly believe that upon completion of the saga people will hit their foreheads and wonder how come they have missed out on this so far.

This book was the graduation work of Tommi Musturi and was featured in the Masters of Arts 05 exhibition at the University of Art and Design in Helsinki. The first book of Hope was initially a self published comic which Musturi sent to about every comic publisher in the western world, fishing for a releasedate. Three companies took the bait: Like (Finland), Bries (Belgium, publishes the books in English) and La Cinquième Couche (who publishes the book in French).

In short you could say that the Books of Hope are a documentation and study of the sorrows and lost joys of the Finnish everyman. He occupies himself with the pleasures of the outdoor life on the countryside (eating, fixing a bird's nest, sauna, walking in the forest) and mentally with reminiscing about childhood and contemplating about life. The main character is however not romaticised or idealised and resembles in more than one way my own father in law.

First book of Hope (Tommi Musturi)

This comic book could easily be mistaken for a religious pamphlet: the cover, a red little booklet with a golden imprint of sunbeams shining through the clouds, and the name itself (The First Book of Hope) could cause amused confusion. However, one quick look at the back reveals the mushroom image of a nuclear blast, so we can safely carry on reading. Fittingly, the first words of the book are "30 people died in a nuclear explosion", a message on the radio.

The images, however, tell a different story. Nicely drawn scenes from idyllic countryside life flow from one page to the next: a wooden house near a lake, a scarecrow, swallows in the sky, a hidden bottle of vodka under the porch.

The main character in The First Book of Hope is seemingly an ordinary Finnish middle-aged man: a little bit overweight and slightly balding. His name is never mentioned and we do not know where this story takes place.

Now, here's where finnish skills come in handy: Hope is in Finnish Toivo, which is at the same time also a regular (albeit oldfashioned) name for men. This wonderful wordplay makes the reader aware to fact that this comic is actually an allegory. Normally in allegories (yes, i have studied literature and was forced to read mediaeval literature and now it's payback time) characters in these plays are abstract ideas, such as Death, Good Deeds, Knowledge who are then humanized and have philosophical discussions with eachother. It was a wildly popular form of theater in the 14th til 16th century, with Everyman (Elcerlyc) as the hit play.

It would be quite difficult to see our main character Toivo as the Hope of humankind. Actually, it seems more fitting that our main character (basically the only person in this book) embodies the Finnish Everyman. He ponders about the life he has led and lost friendships. Throughout the work a melancholic feeling permeates, as voiced in the monologues of our Everyman: "you hope you become wiser as you try to avoid the bitterness life so often offers. "

Hope is the only character we see. Exactly like in Jimmy Corrigan, the reader can view only the protagonist in full. All other characters are placed explicitly in the background. The wife, who has a few lines in the book as well, doesn't enter the scene at all; she talks to Hope from the side of the house, from a different room ,etc. The only frame where we see her is when they sit both on the porch enjoying the sunset.

A lot of fun in reading this book is picking out all the overgeneralisations that exist about finnish men. Yes, they eat a lot and are overweight. They sure can fix stuff and be handy all the time. It is indeed true that the older generation is still very much fixed in the classical male-female role division (a guy doesn't cook, do laundry, clean (exception to these rules apply to cars and bbq-ing).

However, all these clichés are contradicted with the philosophical tone Hope is expressing. A true finnish guy is silent, drinks hard and shows no feelings. Any inner mental exploration juxtaposes this attitude severely and it is in this shism that the book gets its good grades from. Because, ofcourse, life is hardly about caricatures and more about finding your stance in life.

It would do the book unjustice not to mention the finnish countryside. In fact, if you would count the number of frames with idyllic nature scenes and rural belvederes, they almost outnumber the frames with Hope in it. To most Westerners this would come off very artificially or would have the feel of the cliché of the seventies when all young middleclass couples wanted to get out of the cities and moved to the countryside (although they all ended up in the suburbs ofcourse). However, Finland is one of those places where this countryside life is an actual possibility. Living in Helsinki (or Tampere) it is somehow easy to forget that Finland consists for 70% of forests and lakes. In more then one way, the Book of Hope is an hommage to countrysidelife and appeals to a longing that is shared by almost every finnish person: finding peace again and enjoying what nature has to offer. Preferably, ofcourse, with the help of a sauna and a springclear lake to jump into.

Tracking down a real storyline will be difficult in these books. Nothing really happens, Hope eats, fixes a swing, goes fishing, takes a sauna and talks to himself. There is a difference between the two volumes though: whereas the first episode of the book seems to focus on a grownup man contemplating about his youth, this same man in the second book lives the life of a young boy, a boy whose perfect day consists of watching the sunrise from the roof, saving a bumblebee from freezing, eating meatballs with pancakes. At the same time while he is dreaming about his upcoming birthday (and which present he will get), there are however more darker thoughts haunting him. Thoughts about life in general and "what to do with it" and fretting about death.

Jezus fucking christ!
What is it?
What should we do?
Do? About what?
About this... life
Well, what do you do? You live
uhh... it sounds so easy.

The underlying conversations in the book have a very mild humourous undertone (albeit hardly traceable) and come from the tradition of Aki Kaurismäki's deadpan humour movies, in which people talk like this:

M: What do I owe you?
Electrician: If you ever find me face down in the gutter, turn me around to my back.

Asked what he would do if he would win the Finlandia comics award (for which the Second Book of Hope is shortlisted), Musturi posted his thank you speech on a comics forum: "First of all, i would like the thank the festival and my mother from the bottom of my heart and wish us all world peace." A tear might come down my cheek. After the award i would drive in a taxi together with Ranta, Turkunen and Oja (Three comic artists and alternative publishers) from the Tampere station to Hämeenpuisto and back until the prizemoney runs out. In the evenings there would be brandy, cigars and philosophical discussions with the prizeorganisers. My last memory would a clumsy dance of the chief judge. On sunday i would return to Helsinki and quit making comics."

Het vlaamse stripbeleid

2008-02-29T01:55:00.000-08:00

Het stripbeleid en het verhaal van de eerste vlaamse stripsubsidies, een chronologisch overzicht

November 1999: Na de nationale verkiezingen wordt de ministerpost voor Cultuur overhandigd aan Bert Anciaux. Alhoewel aanvankelijk met getrokken ogen wordt gereageerd op zijn voornemen om grote cultuurparticipatieprojecten op te zetten, is de culturele sector al lang blij dat ze verlost is van leraar Luc Martens.

December 1999: De stripdagen in Turnhout vinden plaats. De Bronzen Adhemar wordt aan Erik Meynen uitgereikt door minister Anciaux. Tijdens zijn speech maakt de minister voor het eerst gewag van een uit te stippelen stripbeleid. Alle oren in de zaal worden plots gespitst. Het was sowieso al een unicum dat een minister van cultuur een stripevenement bijwoont, maar dat de overheid interesse toont voor strips breekt alle potten. Nog nooit was er immers sprake van aandacht of fondsen voor strips en hoegenaamd geen stripbeleid. Dat minister Anciaux daar een lans breekt voor strips is op zijn zachtst gezegd het grote nieuws van de stripdagen.

Maart 2000: In de beleidsnota van het ministerie van Cultuur krijgt het "Beeldverhaal" een aparte vermelding. De intentieverklaring van Anciuax klinkt heel hoopgevend en tegelijkertijd wordt toegegeven dat de overheid nog te weinig energie heeft besteed aan strips. We citeren. "Het is wenselijk dat stripauteurs die nieuwe perspectieven openen in het genre de best denkbare ondersteuning krijgen. Die perspectieven werden door de Vlaamse Overheid onvoldoende gestimuleerd." Uit de beleidsnota kan duidelijk opgemaakt worden dat de minister zijn aandacht wil toespitsen op de ondersteuning van de creatieve, nieuwe strips een een betere promotie van het stripverhaal in binnen- en buitenland,

Mei 2000: Beeld Beeld, een organisatie die zich toelegt op het organiseren van tentoonstellingen met internationaal toonaangevende of innoverende tekenaars (Mattotti, Clowes, Ware) pakt uit met een studie over subsidie en het beeldverhaal in Vlaanderen. Deze thesis neemt de verschillende subsidieregelingen voor tekenaars onder de loepe. De situaties in de Angelsaksische landen, Frankrijk en de rest van Europa worden met elkaar vergeleken. Zoals te voospellen schiet Vlaanderen schromelijk tekort. De strip wordt op geen enkele manier ondersteund: geen werkbeurzen voor striptekenaars, geen subsidies voor stripfestivals, geen ondersteuning voor stripmagazines. Het contrast met Frankrijk dat in de studie als een rolmodel naar voren wordt geschoven, is groot.

Juni 2000: Op woensdag 7 juni wordt op het kabinet van minister Anciaux een vergadering belegd met de zogenaamde protagonisten van het stripverhaal om er richtlijnen te geven voor de ontwikkeling van het stripbeleid. Onder de aanwezigen hebben de tenoren van de gedegen Vlaamse familiestrip duidelijk de bovenhand. Het grote probleem van strips, volgens hen: "Als ge uw strips in de delhaize of GB wilt krijgen, moet ge al een oplage van 10000 of 15000 exemplaren hebben. " Dat, dames en heren, is het kernprobleem. In de loop van het gesprek wordt het onderwerp subsidies aangekaart. Wie heeft er recht op geld? Schuchtere redeneringen als "Het is van belang om voornamelijk cultureel interessante strips te ondersteunen, strips die een intrinsieke kwaliteit dragen" worden gecounterd met "Kwaliteit kunt ge niet objectief beoordelen" Aldus spreekt de Vlaamse stripgilde. Kabinetschef Walter Moens tempert echter de mercantiele argumentaties en pleit voor de zogenaamde artistieke strip.
Tijdens de vergadering viel voornamelijk op dat alle partijen zo hard mogelijk hun best deden om voor hun eigen winkel te spreken en zo zijn kansen op een eventuele subsidiëring gaaf te houden. Pas wanneer iedereen zijn hart heeft kunnen luchten, zijn frustraties uitgeleefd en eindelijk uitgeraasd is, wordt schoorvoetend toegegeven dat jonge stripauteurs ook wat ondersteuning verdienen. Plots regent het voorstellen om dit pijnlijke euvel uit de Vlaamse stripwereld te helpen. De meesten raken echter kant noch wal. Het meest hilarische voorstel is toch wel om de overheid wekelijks een striptijdschrift à la Robbedoes te laten uitgeven waarin jonge talenten een prominente plaats krijgen. Lachen!
De bijeenkomst wordt over het algemeen als zeer positief ervaren. Meer zelfs, sommigen spreken van een "historische moment". Ook Brabant stripmagzine, dat claimt te spreken namens het striplezende publiek, is er van overtuigd dat op dit eigenste moment, hic et nunc, geschiedenis zal maken. Nochtans waren de belangrijkste figuren niet aanwezig. De twee enige Vlaamse professionele stripuitgeverijen, De Standaard en de Stripuitgeverij, blonken uit door hun afwezigheid. Zelfs minister Anciaux kon nauwelijks tijd vrijmaken om de bijeenkomst bij te wonen omdat hij tegelijkertijd verwacht werd op twee andere vergaderingen. In totaal verbleef hij ongeveer tien minuten in de conferentiezaal. Net genoeg tijd, dus, om iedereen cordiaal de hand te schudden en de aanwezigen op het hart te drukken hoe sympathiek hij wel vindt dat ze aanwezig zijn.

September 2000: In een spontane opwelling van protest klaagt Steven Dupré (tekenaar van onder andere Sarah en Robin) in een open brief aan De Morgen de situatie van de Vlaamse stripmakers aan. Die kunnen immers, in tegenstelling tot auteurs, geen aanspraak maken op een werkbeurs van het Vlaams fonds de Letteren (een onafhankelijke overheidsinstantie dat de subsidies voor literatuur verdeeld). Bovendien pleit hij voor de erkenning van strips als autonoom en volwassen medium, los van literatuur en schilderkunst. De brief wordt door nogal was stripauteurs ondertekend. Belangrijke namen ontbreken echter.

Oktober 2000: Deze open brief beschouwt Anciaux als een aanmoediging om verder te werken aan een samenhangend stripbeleid, in overleg met het Vlaams Fonds der Letteren. ("Het ongeduld in de stipwereld is terecht", meldt hij in zijn toespraak ter gelegenheid van de opening van de tentoonstelling "Bob en Johan de Moor" in het Belgisch Centrum van het Beeldverhaal. Verder formuleert minister Anciaux enkele concrete wensen voor het stripbeleid. 1 miljoen BEF maakt hij vrij voor werkbeurzen voor striptekenaars en een tweede miljoen wil Anciaux spenderen aan projecten voor leesbevordering. Juli 2001: Deze beloftes blijken een jaar later loze praatjes. Er is nog steeds geen enkele stripauteur die een werkbeurs heeft toegekend gekregen en voor projecten ter leesbevordering (een term die in vaagheid uitblinkt) wacht hij op voorstellen vanuit de stripwereld. Bovendien gaat het hier enkel om intenties. Er is nog steeds geen enkel concreet wetsvoorstel ingediend of directe regeling getroffen.

November 2001: Eindelijk gebeurt er iets. In samenwerking met het Vlaams fonds der Letteren schrijft de Vlaamse regering anderhalf miljoen BEF uit ter bevordering van strippublicaties en striptijdschriften. Een lachwekkend klein bedrag dus, waaruit nogmaals eens kan opgemaakt worden hoeveel waarde er aan het medium strips wordt gehecht. Om in aanmerking te komen voor dit geld kan eenieder een subsidieaanvraag indien waarin hij/zij het grote project uitlegt. De reglementering is volledig geschoeid op de uitreiking van fondsen aan literatuur (we hebben dan ook te maken met het Vlaams Fonds der Letteren, natuurlijk). In de beoordelingsjury zetelen de gebruikelijke namen. De nadruk ligt op kwaliteit en vernieuwend karakter. Nu, belangrijkste voorwaarden voor striptijdschriften is de betaling van medewerkers, voldoende aandacht voor debutanten, verzorgde en regelmatige uitgaves. Aangezien slechts 500.000 frank voor tijdschrift werd uitgetrokken, betekent dit in concreto dat er slechts 1 tijdschrift van dit geld zal kunnen profiteren. Van de verschillende kandidaten is er eigenlijk maar 1 echte kanshebber, namelijk Ink; niet in het minst door zijn klokvaste verschijning en mooi drukwerk en ook niet in het minst omdat de hoofdredacteur ervan in de beoordelingsjury zetelt. Graag hier dat half miljoen, zei meneer . Alstublieft.

Februari 2002: Er wordt een studiedag georganiseerd over het Vlaamse stripbeleid. De opzet is een kritische evaluatie van het stripbeleid zoals dat tot nu toe in België werd gevoerd (welk stripbeleid?), met aandacht voor buitenlandse modellen en de plaats van de sector in het globale cultuurbeleid van de Vlaamse regering. Zeer specifiek zal de rol van het Vlaams Fonds der Letteren worden besproken en toegelicht. Eindconclusie: met de vrijgemaakte 3 miljoen kan er geen degelijk beleid gevoerd worden. Er moet meer geld komen.

April 2002: De kogel is door de kerk. De allereerste subsidies worden bekendgemaakt. Hallelluja! Wie is er met het geld gaan lopen? Ink krijgt 5.000 euro, de striptentoonstelling van Dupuy en Berberian 3.750 euro, Braaf Varken 2.500 euro en de laatste gelukkige is de tentoonstelling over strips in Zonneland met 1.250 euro

Juli 2002: Minister Anciaux neemt ontslag als minister van cultuur na partijpolitieke turbulenties. Eind goed al goed.

Naschrift, februari 2007

Ik heb dit artikel geschreven onmiddellijk na de verbazende ervaring van de kabinetsvergadering met Anciaux van juni 2000. De bedoeling was om een goed gedocumenteerd artikel te schrijven in het te verschijnen nummer van Beeldstorm. Aangezien het nummer van Beeldstorm steeds werd uitgesteld kon ik de ganse geschiedenis heel goed bijhouden. Elke keer weer eens iets relevant in de krant verscheen werd dit bij dit artikel gevoegd. Natuurlijk waren we kwaad toen en is het nogal "vanuit de buik" geschreven. Want uiteindelijk had nog niemand een cent ontvangen, na al die mooie beloftes. Nu ja, Beeldstorm is dan uiteindelijk terziele gegaan, zoals dat dan heet, maar met de oprichting van Parcifal dacht ik deze tekst nog gepubliceerd te zien (want 80% van het niet verschenen nummer van Beeldstorm is uiteindelijk in Parcifal geraakt...) maar de redactie zag dat precies niet zitten om de subsidiecomissie tegen de schenen te schoppen. Mij leek het juist een uitgelezen kans om dat lekker eens wel te doen. Soit, Parcifal bestaat ook al niet meer dus mijn eigen website is de enige manier om al mijn moeite nog eens beloond te krijgen met lezers...