Finnish art - Poika Vesanto - Misc.

Poika Vesanto (1908-1950) has quickly become one of my favorite cartoonists. He is the one artist in Finnish cartoon history who really makes me wonder "what if". His line is SO good, his feel for his characters and his page layouts so lively - and so advanced for his time - that I truly believe he could've been an international success had he been able to circulate his work outside Finland. (And been teamed with a good writer; alas, his gag writing doesn't always match his skills as a storyteller and a pen man). He only worked in comics for a few years in the early to mid 1930s before moving mostly to illustration. But his versatility as a craftsman is evident already in his brief cartooning career: he worked on several series, most of them short-lived and none lasting more than a few dozen episodes, but nevertheless he seems to have made the conscious effort to create a distinctive, separate visual identity for each of them.

Vesanto has been largely forgotten for decades, but in the last few years a new generation of comics fans has shown a renewed interest in digging up and discovering his works again. As there have been no books, archives, organized collections or systematic studies dedicated to Vesanto's work until now (and, unfortunately, he has no direct descendants) much is yet to be discovered. That remains a challenge - but a thrilling one, because each new discovery seems to offer a new artistic delight and makes us marvel even more at this wonderful forgotten talent.