Petri Hiltunen (born 13 October 1967) is a Finnish

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the litera ...

and

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicate ...

. Hiltunen has produced work in a variety of genres, but is most notable for his

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

and

horror Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction **Psychological horror, a subgenre of horror fiction **Christmas horror, a subgenre of horror fiction **Analog horror, a subgenre of horror fiction * ...

work. He has won the prestigious Puupäähattu award in 2002, which is regarded as the highest honour for Finnish comic artists. He is also a well-known figure in Finnish

science fiction fandom Science fiction fandom or SF fandom is a community or fandom of people interested in science fiction in contact with one another based upon that interest. SF fandom has a life of its own, but not much in the way of formal organization (although ...

and a regular panelist and guest of honour at conventions, such as

Finncon Finncon is the largest science fiction convention in Finland and, with up to 15,000 participants, one of the largest SF conventions in Europe. Finncon is unique among SF conventions because it has no ticket/membership fee, and is funded primaril ...

. His own comic albums include the horror/fantasy tale ''Laulu yön lapsista'' ("Song of the children of the night"), exploring the

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...

folklore of 1562

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

during the reign of

Ivan the Terrible Ivan IV Vasilyevich (; – ), commonly known as Ivan the Terrible,; ; monastic name: Jonah. was Grand Prince of Moscow, Grand Prince of Moscow and all Russia from 1533 to 1547, and the first Tsar of all Russia, Tsar and Grand Prince of all R ...

, and a graphic novel version of ''

Macbeth ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...

''. The fantasy world of Jaconia, created for his ''Praedor'' comics, has been adapted into a role-playing game of the same name. His work has also been featured in the

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

magazine ''

Tähtivaeltaja ''Tähtivaeltaja'' () is a Finnish language, Finnish quarterly science fiction magazine published in Finland. History and profile ''Tähtivaeltaja'' was started in 1982. The magazine is published by Helsingin science fiction -seura. Toni Jerrman ...

'', the Finnish ''

Conan Conan may refer to: People * Saint Conan (died 684), bishop of the Isle of Man * Conan of Cornwall (c. 930 – c. 950), bishop of Cornwall * Conan I of Rennes (died 992), duke of Brythonic Brittany * Conan II, Duke of Brittany (died 1066), duke ...

'' magazine and twice in the war comics magazine ''Korkeajännitys'': a

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

story and one story set in the

Finnish War The Finnish War (; ; ) was fought between the Gustavian era, Kingdom of Sweden and the Russian Empire from 21 February 1808 to 17 September 1809 as part of the Napoleonic Wars. As a result of the war, the eastern third of Sweden was established a ...

. His drawing style is quite detailed, particularly with his characters, and features heavy lines. Hiltunen is best known in the Finnish popular consciousness from his much lighter, humorous newspaper comic strip ''Väinämöisen paluu'' ("The Return of

Väinämöinen () is a deity, demigod, hero and the central character in Finnish folklore and the main character in the national epic ''Kalevala'' by Elias Lönnrot. Väinämöinen was described as an old and wise man, and he possessed a potent, magical sing ...

"), published in many major newspapers and as comic books. In it, the Eternal Sage of ''

Kalevala The ''Kalevala'' () is a 19th-century compilation of epic poetry, compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Karelian and Finnish oral folklore and mythology, telling a story about the Creation of the Earth, describing the controversies and retaliatory ...

'' ends his self-imposed exile to find that he might have been gone for too long. He must try to adjust to modern Finland (e.g. finding out that these newfangled "

potato The potato () is a starchy tuberous vegetable native to the Americas that is consumed as a staple food in many parts of the world. Potatoes are underground stem tubers of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'', a perennial in the nightshade famil ...

es" are now considered a traditional food) as modern Finland must try to adjust to him (e.g. a group of

neo-nazis Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and racial supremacy (often white supremacy), to att ...

coming to greet him and introducing themselves as indigenous Finns; they are nonplussed when he starts apologizing and it turns out he thought they were

Sami Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise ne ...

.) As the

culture shock Culture shock is an experience a person may have when one moves to a cultural environment which is different from one's own; it is also the personal disorientation a person may feel when experiencing an unfamiliar way of life due to immigration ...

gradually faded, the strip became a more character-based comedy but eventually faded in turn.

References

1967 births Living people Finnish comic strip cartoonists 20th-century Finnish illustrators 21st-century Finnish illustrators Finnish magazine illustrators Finnish comics artists Finnish fantasy artists Science fiction artists Horror artists {{Finland-bio-stub