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Helsingin 40. sarjakuvafestivaalit: lukuisia kotimaisen kentän tähtiä ja kansainvälisiä kutsuvieraita Kaapelitehtaalla 20.–21.9.2025

The 40th Helsinki Comics Festival will take place in September! This free event, with programme tailored for adults and children alike, will be held on September 20–21, 2025, at the Merikaapelihalli hall of the Cable Factory. This year’s themes are darkness and Greek comics. Festival artist Tuoni Myllylä has created the gloomy visual identity of the event. The full list of invited guests will be announced later in spring.

Steve Stivaktis, one of the Greek guests, connects Greek folktales with queer themes. His work “Gérard: Ή, το σπαθί στην πλάτη του,” translated as “Gérard or the sword on his back,” will be published at the time of the festival by Zum Teufel. Ilias Kyriazis is well known in Greece for his iconic “Manifesto” series, and his latest comic book is titled “What We Wished For.” Invited guest Alexia Othonaiou‘s comics and illustrations have appeared in Greek newspapers and magazines. Her work “Η γυναίκα με τα τραπουλόχαρτα,” translated as “The Woman with Playing Cards” (published in Finnish by Zum Teufel), will also be published at the festival.

The festival’s theme of darkness will be addressed in several discussion panels. In the first panel, featuring horror themes, Alexandros Kyparissis, who is half Greek, along with Haltijakäpälä and Henriikka “Rikkisu” Palva will discuss their work. The second panel will feature discussions by Terhi Ekebom, Joonas Järvi, and Jiipu Uusitalo. Ekebom is a Helsinki-based illustrator and comic artist who also creates murals and public art. Järvi is a comic artist and graphic designer inspired by old prints, surrealism, and vintage manga. Uusitalo’s latest comic album, “Pimeän rihmasto,” (loosely translated as “Strings of darkness”) addresses the mind, existence in the world, and psychological manipulation through horror.

Newly released works will also be presented by Juliana Hyrri and artist brothers Janne and Pekka Parviainen. Hyrri’s graphic novel “Lellikki,” (“The Favourite”) published by WSOY in September 2025, delves into power relations and morality with tones of hope and playfulness. “Susitaival,” by Janne and Pekka Parviainen, is a comic narrative about fulfilling a long-term hiking dream. Also among our invited guests are the recent Puupää-hat winner Ulla Donner, as well as the Franco-Algerian illustrator and comic artist Melek Zertal, who resides in Paris and California.

Ilpo Koskela will give a lecture on creating realistic historical graphic novels, and a panel discussion on historical comics will feature Timo Mäkelä, Matti Nieminen, and Daniel Stolle. Mäkelä’s “Eugen and Sigrid” is a comic book about an extraordinary sibling pair born in the 1870s and their actions at a turning point in Finnish history. Nieminen and Stolle’s “Aikovat vallata Suomen?” (“They Plan on Taking over Finland”) focuses on the events of the Winter War. Robert Aman will also give a lecture for the festival audience on his latest book “Serier för vuxna: Epix och den svenska serierevolutionen” and the wild history of the Epix publishing company.

Representatives of the Canadian publisher Hecate Press, the Swedish collective Longest Night, and the Finnish Kutikuti will discuss northern comic collectives in a panel.

The full programme will be published closer to the event at sarjakuvafestivaalit.fi. Welcome to a dark September at the Cable Factory for all things comics!