Kunniavieraat
Juho Juntunen
Juho Juntunen is a legendary Finnish comic artist and rock journalist. Born in Oulu in 1953, Juntunen became enthusiastic about drawing comics at an early age. His inspirations were American comics of the 1950s, especially Superman, from whom he says he learned his sense of morality. His own comic interpretations, however, took a cruder, more brazen and openly sexual direction.
One of his first works was a comic included with Juice Leskinen & Coitus Int’s album Per Vers runoilija (Love 1974), later republished in the anthology Natsisurffaajien täytyy kuolla. Soon the worlds of comics and rock pulled Juntunen fully into their orbit. He drew, among other things, for Jymy, a magazine edited by Pekka Gronow that mainly published American and Dutch underground comics. In 1976, Juntunen became editor-in-chief of Huuli, Jymy’s successor, which also published Finnish comics.
Juntunen’s comic strip Poikamme musisoivat, drawn for the music magazine Soundi, became extremely popular; today, he draws only caricatures for Soundi. “Caricatures are the poetry of comic art, full of hidden messages,” the artist has said. Juntunen’s images are wildly coarse in nature: they feature, among others, Tauno the collector of anuses, the MC Tuska motorcycle gang reminiscent of simpletons, as well as God and Satan. Despite their provocative nature, Juntunen is rarely malicious; rather, he exposes common misconceptions and beliefs in a ridiculous light.
In addition to his writing, Juntunen has created numerous album covers and other illustrations. He received the Puupää Award in 2008.
Riina Tanskanen – visual artist, thinker, and champion of girlhood
Riina Tanskanen (born 1998 in Imatra) is a Finnish visual artist, nonfiction author, and social commentator best known for her Tympeät tytöt (“Grumpy Girls”) comics. She is also the founder and editor-in-chief of the online publication Vita Nuova. Tanskanen holds a bachelor’s degree in literature from the University of Tampere and rose to wider public attention in 2020 through the Instagram account she created, where she combines candy colored aesthetics with feminist and socially critical mini essays.
Tanskanen’s works explore themes such as gender, class, racism, body image, and societal power structures. Her style is characterized by bold, unapologetic girl characters, rich visual detail, and text that is both unruly and gentle. She conducts extensive background research for her pieces and draws inspiration from feminist theory as well as popular culture.
Tympeät tytöt – Aikuistumisriittejä (2021) and Tympeät tytöt – Luokkakipuja (2025) have established her as one of the most prominent artists of her generation. Her works have been adapted into exhibitions and theatre productions, and she has received several recognitions, including the Finnish State Award for Public Information (2022) and the Tulenkantaja Prize (2025).