Ville Matias Ranta (born 29 November 1978) 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 ...

comic artist and cartoonist from

Oulu Oulu ( , ; sv, Uleåborg ) is a city, municipality and a seaside resort of about 210,000 inhabitants in the region of North Ostrobothnia, Finland. It is the most populous city in northern Finland and the fifth most populous in the country after: ...

. He received the Finnish comics society's ''Puupäähattu'' award in 2009. In his work, Ranta focus on controversial and provocative topics among other things. His comic ''Mohammed, Fear and Freedom of Speech'' (published in 2006 in the magazine ''Kaltio'' in reaction to the

Muhammad cartoons controversy The ''Jyllands-Posten'' Muhammad cartoons controversy (or Muhammad cartoons crisis, da, Muhammedkrisen) began after the Danish newspaper ''Jyllands-Posten'' published 12 editorial cartoons on 30 September 2005, most of which depicted Muhamma ...

) led to the sacking of the editor Jussi Vilkuna. In 2017, he was made Knight of the National Order of Merit of France. He is the first Finnish comic artist to be admitted into the order.

Selected works

*''Matka Limpopoon'' (1992) *''Viime vuonna Kemissä'' (Asema 2002) *''Sade: Sarjakuvaromaani''. Oulu: Asema, 2008. . *''Engelsmannit tulevat!'' (Asema 2004) *''Isi on nyt vähän väsynyt'' (Asema 2005) *''Célebritiz''. (

Dargaud Société Dargaud, doing business as Les Éditions Dargaud, is a publisher of Franco-Belgian comics series, headquartered in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. It was founded in 1936 by Georges Dargaud (), publishing its first comics in 1943. ...

, 2006) *''Julkimot''.

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

: WSOY, 2006. . *''Kajaani''.

: Asema, 2008. *''Eräänlaisia rukouksia''. Helsinki: Huuda Huuda, 2009. . *''Paratiisisarja''. Helsinki: WSOY, 2010.

References

External links

* * Living people Finnish comics artists Finnish cartoonists Finnish graphic novelists People from Oulu 1978 births Knights of the Ordre national du Mérite {{cartoonist-stub