Side programme

CHARLES BURNS: Black Hole

Reading Group | Thu September 11th from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM
Helsinki Central Library Oodi: 3rd floor, Saarikoski rug
Language: finnish
Facilitator: Onni Mustonen

As days grow shorter and autumn approaches, Helsinki Comics Festival gathers a reading group to discuss Charles Burns’ classic comic book Black Hole. In line with the festival’s autumn theme, we will delve deep into the heart of darkness and explore the themes and topics of the comic.

Set in the mid-1970s, Black Hole tells the story of suburban youth among whom a strange and terrifying mutation-causing disease begins to spread. Utilising horror comic techniques, the work expands into a hallucinatory depiction of adolescence, bodily issues, and sexuality.

The comic contains some sexual and violent imagery.

The reading group is led by comic critic Onni Mustonen.

H-P Ontto-Panula: Työstäkieltäytymistoimisto (The Work Refusal Office)

Workshop | Fri September 12th, from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Helsinki Central Library Oodi: Kuutio-space
Language: finnish

“Työstäkieltäytymistoimisto” (The Work Refusal Office) is an participatory performance art piece in which visitors enter an imaginary world: the employment office, which, instead of helping people find work, tries to assist clients in disengaging from work. The humorous performance challenges participants to reflect on how they would spend their time if everyday survival did not require working. During the performance, visitors’ thoughts about work and future work are collected for a comic book project. Each participant will receive a copy of H-P Ontto-Panula and Paju Ruotsalainen’s new comic book, Työstäkieltäytymisen filosofia, as a takeaway.

NEW PUBLICATION: Naarassarjat

Discussion Event | Sun September 14th, from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM
Helsinki Central Library Oodi: 3rd floor, Saarikoski rug
Language: finnish

Naarassarjat was a comic magazine that published women’s comics, released during 1992–1993. What was the comics scene like at that time, and what significance did the magazine hold for its creators’ artistic production? The participants reflect thinking, then and now. The panel will be moderated by comics scholar Leena Romu, with participants including curator, comics expert Roju, artist and writer Tiina Pystynen, and comics artist and educator Annukka Leppänen.

Live drawing

Live drawing | Sun September 14th
Helsinki Central Library Oodi: Maijansali
Artists: Aino Sutinen, Evangelos Androutsopoulos, Jiipu Uusitalo, Jyrki Nissinen

Get to know the artists

Aino Sutinen is a comics artists specialising in documentary subjects, a live illustrator, and editor-in-chief of Sarjainfo magazine. She has drawn, among other things, science communication, travel comics, and history themed comics. Ajattelen Ukrainaa koko ajan (“I think about Ukraine all the time,” Suuri Kurpitsa, 2024) describes the war in Ukraine through combining current events with the creator’s own thoughts and conversations with experts and friends, as well as Ukrainian cultural events, songs, and Eurovision.

Evangelos Androutsopoulos is a comics artist whose comics have been published by Kus!, Kuti, Stripburger, and many others. Androutsopoulos has also created many self-published comics and zines, drawn comics for anthologies, and participated in exhibitions. Evangelos Androutsopoulos is also this year Zine Fest artist guest, read more here.

Jiipu Uusitalo is a comics artist, originally from Pori, who now lives in Tampere. In their comics, social issues collide with wild psychedelia. Uusitalo’s most recent published comic album is Pimeän rihmasto (Zum Teufel, 2024), which explores the mind, existence in the world, and psychological manipulation through horror elements. Jiipu Uusitalo is also artist guest for this year festival, read more here.

Jyrki Nissinen (born 1982) is a comics artist based in Helsinki. He has published six full-length comics albums. He has always been interested in drawing and clear-line storytelling, which led him to the world of comics. Nissinen also works in music and visual arts.

Melek Zertal: Next, Please

Exhibition Melek Zertal: Next, Please | September 8th–21st
Helsinki Central Library Oodi: projection on wall, ground floor restaurant

“Next, Please” is an advanced excerpt of the last part of the Together trilogy by Melek Zertal, published by Colorama since 2018. The offset printed collection of all parts including more than 100 pages will launch in 2026. The version presented for Helsinki Comics Festival is an adapted version for screening, as the original one is a newspaper. 

The Together trilogy consists of Fragile (2018), Together (2020), and Broken Hearts (2026) from which “Next, Please” is an excerpt. In this series, themes of contemplative yearning, romantic projection, and long distance relationship are explored.

Melek Zertal is a French–Algerian illustrator and comic artist, based between Paris and California. She likes to create contemplative, slow reading narratives, all put together by a thorough work of image curation and by washed out pastel colors. She tries to find a way to convey atmospheres that words cannot express, fleeting moments, and unrequited loves. An unforeseen warming sunshine in the midst of winter, last words of a loved one, four hands forging a cherry pie simultaneously. Stories have no beginning, no end; we’re just thrown in the middle of a story that sounds vaguely familiar. She has done illustrations for The New York Times, Gucci, and The New Yorker, and has books out on Colorama in Germany, Perfectly Acceptable Press in the US, Fidèle Editions in France, and Lystring in Sweden.

Read more of this year festival artist Melek Zertal.