"Osamu Tezuka - God of Manga" Exhibition

There's currently a Osamu Tezuka exhibition at the Tampere Art Museum. I went to see it with a friend of mine who's much more knowledgeable of Tezuka's work and more of a fan. I just recognized the name as the creator of Astro Boy but didn't really know more about it. I'm really glad I went, the exhibition was very interesting!

It turns out, Tezuka was a crazy prolific and accomplished creator, and his life's work is really humbling to think about and witness. Like he really got things done! At 18 he'd already published a comic that sold 400,000 copies, been through a war and a few years later finished his studies to become a doctor. All this time and through his life he continued to churn out comics and at the time of his death in 1989 at 60 years old his works comprised of over 700 titles and 170 000 pages. His last words were: "I'm begging you, let me work!", spoken to a nurse who had tried to take away his drawing equipment. (Wikipedia)

The exhibition has around 200 of those original comic pages drawn by him. I recommend this exhibition to everyone, but especially people who DRAW. It's so different to see the pages by yourself, seeing the lines and the strokes, the pale shadow of a sketch underneath, the correction fluid covering the mistakes. I've linked pictures underneath but of course it's just not the same.

The exhibition is open until 5.1.2020. The admission for students is 5 euros and there's information for everything in English, too.

There were also many pages from the comic Kimba the White Lion, which is widely known as "the work that Lion King ripped off". It's obvious though that the influences travelled both ways!

Oh yeah, there's also some Silver Fang originals downstairs!

Downstairs also has some more general manga stuff, which we didn't go through all that thoroughly. The best part was some crappy felt pens and a pre-printed outline for your own manga portrait. Here's my friend Esko displaying his amazing drawing skillz.

Some Thoughts on Comic Zines

Spread from J.Oldén's zine Memes (2019)

From Wikipedia: 

A zine (/ziːn/ ZEEN; short for magazine or fanzine) is a small-circulation self-published work of original or appropriated texts and images, usually reproduced via photocopier. Zines are the product of either a single person or of a very small group, and are popularly photocopied into physical prints for circulation.

 

Last weekend, 7. - 8.9., I attended Helsinki Zine Fest that was held as a part of Helsinki Comics Festival at Suvilahti. I had a table with a few friends, and we all had some zines for sale. I met a bunch of lovely people, old aqcuintances and new, and had a lot of fun. I also acquired a bunch of new comics. I also witnessed a magical moment when a friend got approached to be published because her zine was seen by the right person - definitely a highlight.

I love comic zines. Even the shitty ones – sometimes, especially the shitty ones. I love zines as a form of publishing and I love comics. There’s just something amazing about one person making something completely on their own – to make a comic, you really only need a pencil and a piece of paper. You don’t even have to know how to draw or write very well, you just have to have something you want to say. 

Some people, if they can afford it, print their zines at an actual printing house. The cheaper way is to make photocopies by yourself at the local library - or better yet, at school, if you happen to attend one. Nowadays though because so many people have access to all sorts of graphic design software and color printers it's really easy to make something professional looking by yourself, and the black-and-white photocopied DIY leaflet is more and more of an aesthetic choice than a necessity. 

Anyway, even if you get your printing done for next to nothing, pretty much no one is going to pay their bills just by selling zines. It’s a labour of love.

 

Page from Esko Heikkilä's zine Missä sinä olet - sivuja luonnoslehtiöistä 2014 & 2015

Not that “actual, published” comic artists in Finland are usually swimming in money, either, mind you. Many people get published and still make and sell their own little zines. It's a lovely culture, and zines can be a good way for "trying out" new material, or making more unpolished content.

Part of the culture of making and buying zines is also exchanging them. Every festival I go with my backpack full of my zines, and I leave with a bunch of different ones - there's often not a lot of money involved. Almost everyone who makes zines likes to read them, too. Common themes are LGBT, anti-capitalist and mental health issues, and personal diary comics. Sketch book zines are also a staple, as are zines that are basically just a collection of illustrations (like Inktober collections).

I see a bright future for the comic zine culture in Finland. It’s true that in these days of "konmari" and all the talk of uncluttering your life, fewer and fewer people want to buy physical media of any sort. I still think that as with music and vinyls, the people who care will keep it alive. As Internet and social media platforms keep getting scarier and scarier, it’s good to hold on to some alternative forms of circulating content.

Page from my zine Sarjispäivis - päiväkirjasarjiksia ja sketsejä maaliskuu - syyskuu 2019