Ville Ranta

Ville Ranta

Ville Ranta (* 1978 in Oulu ) is a Finnish comic artist , political cartoonist , founder of a small publisher and author of internationally published graphic novels . He became known through numerous album releases, pointed choice of topics and awards. He is considered a "cornerstone of the Finnish comic scene".

Life and work

Ranta studied Finnish language and literature at the University of Helsinki . After graduating, he decided to work as a draftsman and from 2002 onwards he published his own comic albums and graphic novels in quick succession.

His comic book Mohammed, Fear and Freedom of Speech , which he published in the cultural magazine Kaltio in 2006 in response to the Mohammed caricature controversy, caused the dismissal of the editor Jussi Vilkuna and policy corrections. The comic book maker Ranta feared that his career as an illustrator would be over. The opposite happened, from then on he received new orders as a political cartoonist from numerous newspapers and magazines.

Ranta does not believe in any god, but believes it is essential to be better aware that religion is part of the culture and history of Europe. His Mohamed satire was also not about religion, but rather the hasty obedience of authorities and the media to the censorship demands of Islamist circles.

Together with a few colleagues, he founded the Asema publishing house. His album Célébritiz , created with text and scenario by Lewis Trondheim and illustrations by him, was voted Best Album in 2006 by France Télévision. In 2009 he received the Finnish Comic Society's Puupäähattu Prize .

For the album L'exilé de Kalevala , he was inspired by the life story of the Jewish-Finnish poet Elias Lönnrot (1802–1886).

In his comic book Paradies , published in a German version by Elina Kritzokat in 2012 , Ranta brings four variations on the myth of the fall of man and the expulsion from paradise . This work, originally commissioned by the Finnish Lutheran Church, allowed him to deal intensively with "questions about laws, prohibitions and freedoms".

In March 2012, Ranta was invited by his German publisher, funded by the Finland Institute in Germany and the Finnish Literature Exchange Institute FILI, with its own projector reading at the Leipzig Book Fair . After all, with the licensed edition of Paradies that came out at the same time, his work became available in German for the first time.

Ville Ranta lives and works in Oulu, the sixth largest city in Finland and the northernmost major city in the European Union.

stylistics

Ranta's style in text and drawing is "always humorous and deconstructivist, " says Ranta about himself. He often uses a sketchy line and watercolors that appear to be dabbed on. In his work, he loves using parody and satire to target controversial and provocative topics. His stories usually have a lot of speed, but he can also take a step back from time to time. The snowy landscapes in L'exilé de Kalevala, for example, are calm and drawn in black and white.

"Humor is suitable for serious thinking, because humor prevents you from losing your grounding."

- Ville Ranta

Works

• Viime vuonna Kemissä (Asema 2002)
• Sade: Sarjakuvaromaani . Oulu: Asema, 2008. ISBN 978-952-99923-6-2
• Engelsmannit tulevat! (Asema 2004)
• Isi on nyt vähän väsynyt (Asema 2005)
• Célebritiz . Dargaud , Paris 2006
• Julkimot . WSOY, Helsinki 2006. ISBN 951-0-32201-6
• Kajaani . Asema, Oulu 2008. ISBN 978-952-99923-3-1
• Eräänlaisia ​​rukouksia . Huuda Huuda, Helsinki 2009. ISBN 978-952-5724-08-0
• Paratiisisarja . WSOY , Helsinki 2010. ISBN 978-951-0-35801-6
  • Paradise . Translated from Finnish by Elina Kritzokat. Reprodukt-Verlag , Berlin 2012
• L'exile de Kalevala , Ed. çà et là, Paris 2011

Web links

• Web presence Ranta (Finnish)
• Short biography and reviews of works by Ville Ranta at perlentaucher.de
• Angoulême 2011 - Interview de Ville Ranta - L'exilé du Kalevala , YouTube (French)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://www.villeranta.com/yhteys
2. ↑ ^{a b} Angoulême 2011 - Interview de Ville Ranta - L'exilé du Kalevala , YouTube Text (English)
3. ↑ Comic commenting the Mohammed caricature controversy restored  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , slow news day. net of December 30, 2012, accessed June 19, 2012  
4. ↑ ^{a b c d e} The Pleasure of the Fall of Man - Ville Ranta's Fall of Man Variations , review in the NZZ on May 11, 2012, accessed on June 9, 2012
5. ^ Prix ​​Jeunesse France Télévisions - BD pour les 11-14 ans
6. ↑ Ville Ranta. Pearl divers , accessed November 29, 2013 . 
7. ↑ Leipzig Liest - Program ”Comic” , 2012 (PDF)
8. ↑ Buchmarkt Comic-Deutschland, der Importmeister , report by Lars von Törne in Der Tagesspiegel of March 21, 2012, accessed on June 19, 2012