Finnish comic artists

Tuuli Humina

Translation:

Tuuli Humina creates comics that are suitable for absolutely everyone. Her frog-themed comic stories and the Curious Toe series can be enjoyed by the whole family — or at least by those with a good sense of humor.

Reetta Kallio

Reetta Kallio is a comic artist, illustrator, and visual artist based in Tampere. She self-publishes comics and zines, and her work focuses on fictional and action-driven stories.

Kallio is an active artist alley participant, and in addition to comics she has worked as an art director at an indie game studio as well as a tattoo artist. She is also part of a working group of comic artists currently developing the Tasku Comics Space in Tampere.

S.Haltijakäpälä

S. Haltijakäpälä is an East Helsinki–based comic artist, image-maker, and Master’s graduate in East Asian Studies. Their main work is the long-form comic On the Paths of Avar’yö, which blends speculative fiction and horror. The first volume was published in 2023, and the next installment is currently in progress.

Alongside their long-form comic, Haltijakäpälä enjoys creating small accordion-book comics and other works that play with the form of the book, as well as painting standalone pieces.

Sunna Kitti

Sunna Kitti is a comic artist and illustrator originally from Inari and now based in Rovaniemi, Lapland, with over 10 years of experience working as a freelancer. She illustrated several children’s books before moving into action comics.

Kitti’s first full-length comic album, Jiehtanasa Iđit, is a fast-paced manga-style fantasy adventure inspired by the mythical poetry of Anders Fjellner. The book was published in Norway in 2020.

In 2026, her new comic album Unruly Planet, Part 1 will be released, in which Kitti satirically blends sci-fi and action.

Ilpo Koskela

Comic artist, illustrator, and graphic designer Ilpo Koskela has published 10 comic works and three instructional books on creating comics. He has also produced three children’s books, one of which he wrote himself. Koskela divides his working time between comics, commercial graphic design, and illustration projects.

He has a long career in producing commercial comics for communication and marketing purposes. Koskela’s comics have been translated into five languages, and his commercial and informational comics into eleven, including some more exotic languages such as Albanian and Tamazight in Algeria.

Alexandros Kuparrissis

Alexandros Kyparissis is a 34-year-old comic artist who is half Finnish and half Greek. Throughout his life, both in Finland and Greece, his enduring passion has always been visual art and storytelling.

Kivi Larmola

Kivi Larmola, born in Helsinki in 1966, is a Finnish comic creator, artist, and writer of over 25 books. He has been awarded the Puupää Hat in 1991, the shared Kielihelmi award for the language of comics in 2001, and the QBE Award in 2010 for professional excellence in his work, as well as recognition for his film work at international film festivals.

Pinja Meretoja

Pinja Meretoja is a comic artist, illustrator, and writer based in Helsinki, who also co-hosts the Ruutujako podcast about comics with Jenni Varila. Her debut comic, Tissilogia (2025), is an informative yet entertaining exploration of the meanings, myths, burdens, and liberation associated with breasts. The work examines the social position of women and breasts in society, as well as various boundaries of appropriateness.

Tuoni Myllylä

Tuoni Myllylä is an artist from Turku with over 15 years of experience in the comics industry. He got into the field mainly out of a love for the medium and a desire to tell stories he himself would want to read. Black-and-white comics have always been his preferred way of storytelling, although he has adapted to modern conveniences and now works primarily digitally rather than with ink and paper.

While he has created a wide range of comics and illustration work, his true passion lies in various genre comics—a type of work that is still surprisingly rare in Finland.

Mikael J. Mäkinen

Mikael J. Mäkinen is a writer, artist, podcaster, publisher, and much more. He is best known for his autobiographical Päiväkirjani series, in which he battles ADHD, depression, and ninjas. The comic is full of explosive action and sharp humor.

He has also made a name for himself in war comics, illustrating albums such as Panssarikenraali and Sotakamreeri Reino Lehväslaiho. Mäkinen is a driving force behind the Sarjismiehet podcast and serves as the head of both Musta Ritari Publishing and Sotakirjasto.

Jouko Nuora

Jouko Nuora is a veteran of Finnish adult comics who continues to actively create and publish new work! With his autobiographical comic Kultainen Nuoruus, Nuora won the 100 V competition for Finnish comics. His books have also been published in countries such as Japan and Latvia.

Jupe Parkkonen

Jupe Parkkonen is a graphic designer, illustrator, and comic artist. He self-published the fantasy-western comic Witches of the Western Wilds and is currently working on its sequel.

Jussi Piironen

Jussi Piironen is a comic creator primarily working for the American market. His recent projects include contributing artwork to the Horror Not Hate anthology, which became a huge hit on Kickstarter, and the album Kauhuviidakon Valtias, a modern take on Tarzan.

Kari Puikkonen

Kari Puikkonen was born in 1959 in the municipality of Orivesi. A highly creative and versatile talent, he began his artistic career at the age of 13 with a passionate focus on drawing comics. He has worked in painting, graphic arts, sculpture, and installations, and has also worked as a graphic designer. He is best known as a painter of vibrant and masterfully fluid watercolors. In recent years, Kari Puikkonen has returned to his childhood love of comics.

Hannele Richert

Hannele Richert draws, teaches, and translates comics. She has published three books and numerous small-press works. Richert works with scratchboard and ink drawings, as well as sculptural installations and short animations. Her stories often feature an inexplicable, ghostly quality and circular storytelling, frequently combined with comic or tragicomic elements.

Raine Rysä

Raine Rysä, also known as Riähkä, is a Karelian comic artist and zine maker who has lent his pen to many projects as both an illustrator and a writer. His schedule is mainly filled with drawing the Knight Punk webcomic and the Lawmakercomic novel. His all-ages animal comic Bunny Bear (Kanikontio) will make its debut at Arctic Lights Comic Con.

Niina Salmelin

Niina Salmelin (b. 1993) is a comic artist based in Tampere. Her comics have been published in both Finnish and international comic anthologies. Salmelin publishes the horror webcomic Numb online. Her children’s comic series, Monster Diaries (Hirviöpäiväkirjat), is published by Otava.

Tiia Salmelin

Iia Salmelin (b. 1991) is a comic artist from Turku whose style blends influences from both Western and Japanese comics. Her best-known work is the fantasy series Kuolleet puutarhat (The Dead Gardens), which was originally published online from 2010 to 2019. The first three albums—Unten kaupunki (City of Dreams, Pokuto, 2021), Painajaisen varjo (Shadow of the Nightmare, Pokuto, 2022), and Pedon uni (The Beast’s Dream, Pokuto, 2024)—have all been shortlisted in the top ten by the jury for the Sarjakuva-Finlandia award.

Sari Sariola

Sari Sariola is a comic artist and illustrator from Turku. She originally worked as a colorist on other projects, but eventually comics completely won her over. Sariola’s current main project is her comic I Know I’m a Problem, which explores body neutrality and life in a world where you can easily become just the punchline of a joke. The comic is set to be published in 2026.

Sariola has also published the album I Know I’m Overweight and, in collaboration with Tuoni Myllylä, Suomaat. In addition, she creates an endless stream of webcomics, watches far too many horror movies, listens to an immense amount of music, and loves crafting strange things, mainly out of cardboard and hot glue.

Suvi Sipronen

Suvi Sipronen: Interpreter by day, comic creator always. Her first comic album, Routa, was published in 2023 and made it into the top ten of the Sarjakuva-Finlandia award. In 2025, she released the mini-comic Do You Even Get Paid for That?, which collected strips about her day job from over the years. She is currently working on the sequel to Routa, titled Ruska.

Jaana Suorsa

Jaana Suorsa, originally from Oulu and now based in Akaa, is a cultural producer, writer, and illustrator. She has published numerous comics, prose, non-fiction, and rhyme books. Her most recent work is Mie, Taivaanjaara. The Story of Reidar Särestöniemi (2025).

Jaakko Talvitie

Jaakko Talvitie (Jack the Rattle) is a versatile creator, specializing in action, crime, and horror comics. Website: www.jacktherattle.com

Arvi Tammi

Arvi Tammi is an animator and illustrator from Tampere. He studied game design at the North Karelia Vocational College in Outokumpu and learned comic and animation creation at Liminka Art School. In his work, he combines storytelling, visual design, and motion, creating illustrations and visual concepts for children’s books, games, comics, animations, and various promotional materials.

Tuukka Teponoja

Tuukka Teponoja is a comic creator and teacher celebrating 20 years as an artist. His comics are known for their imaginative style and genre experiments, as well as absurd humor. Teponoja’s publication catalog includes numerous comic novellas and the album Kaunis Mieli Kääntää Katseensa Sisäänpäin, written by Otto Sinisalo. His latest full-length comic, Mimi – Toddler Adrift, is a fast-paced children’s comic. Teponoja also works as a visual artist and runs two small publishing houses, Neilikka Kustannus and HäHÄ Punk‽.

Petteri Tikkanen

Petteri Tikkanen is one of the masters of contemporary Finnish comics. He remains an active illustrator, with two new fictional albums forthcoming. Tikkanen’s alter ego is the superhero-wrestler character Black Peider, who appears as the protagonist in his autobiographical comics and was recently featured in a short film.

Markus Tuppurainen

Markus Tuppurainen is a game designer by day and comic creator by night. His work combines dark humor, a cold northern atmosphere, and bold action. He is especially known for his action and superhero comics (Sergeant Napalm) as well as historical war comics (Lauri Törni, Simo Häyhä, Viljam Pylkäs).

Jyrki Vainio

Jyrki Vainio’s drawings are published in ten magazines across Finland. He creates cartoons for publications such as Ilta-Sanomat, Turun Sanomat, Keskisuomalainen, and Karjalainen, and collaborates with his wife Aurora Raiskinen on the comic Keskenkasvuisia for Helsingin Sanomat. In previous years, Vainio drew the long-running Tornitouhua series for the army magazine Ruotuväki and the Närhivartio series for Partio magazine. In 2024, his first book, Civil Disobedience(Kansalaistottelemattomuutta), was published.

Jenni Varila

Jenni Varila is a comic artist based in Helsinki, who also co-hosts the Ruutujako podcast about comics with Pinja Meretoja. She has published two lively and heartwarming dog-life comic novels. Crazy Dog Lady (2024) follows a couple fulfilling their dream of getting a puppy, and its sequel, Crazy Dog Mom (2025), explores the upheaval of pregnancy and the arrival of a baby into the dog-filled household. Varila’s own Russian Greyhounds also feature in the adventures.

Kaarina Waris

Kaarina Waris is a comic artist and animator based in Helsinki. She draws comics such as Housukalat, Lintuperspektiivi, and Sirkus Hymykuoppa. She is also a member of the contemporary comics association Kutikuti ry.

Siiri Viljakka

Siiri Viljakka is a comic artist, visual artist, and illustrator from Turku. She is known for her bold drawing style and stories featuring LGBTQ+ themes. Viljakka’s most notable works include the fantasy comic novels Kaurisjahti (2024) and Kohti sumua (2022). In 2025, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York commissioned her to create a comic for their Drawn to MoMA online article series in honor of Pride Month.

Vesa Vitikainen

Vesa Vitikainen, known from the Sarjismiehet podcast, writes adventure comics and serves as editor-in-chief of the sci-fi comic magazine Kevyt Metalli. He has also written several war comics based on true events, including the biographies of Lauri Törni, Simo Häyhä, and Reino Lehväslaiho. In addition, he is the creator of Finland’s most formidable American-style superhero, Sergeant Napalm.