Petri Hiltunen (born 13 October 1967) is a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

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

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

and horror 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 participation/membership fee, and is funded pr ...

. 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 vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mischief or deat ...

folklore of 1562

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during the reign of Ivan the Terrible, and a graphic novel version of '' Macbeth''. 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 (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

magazine ''

Tähtivaeltaja ''Tähtivaeltaja'' (literally ''stellar wanderer'') 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 ...

'', the Finnish '' Conan'' magazine and twice in the war comics magazine ''Korkeajännitys'': a

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story and one story set in the

Finnish War The Finnish War ( sv, Finska kriget, russian: Финляндская война, fi, Suomen sota) was fought between the Kingdom of Sweden and the Russian Empire from 21 February 1808 to 17 September 1809 as part of the Napoleonic Wars. As a re ...

. 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 Väinämöinen () is a 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, m ...

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

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

'' 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 food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern Unit ...

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), attack ...

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 ...

.) 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 Finnish illustrators {{Finland-bio-stub