Z was another tricky one, so I panic-picked Zero. But through this cute side character I could exploit a chance to bring up this self-evident little notion about inner emptiness to all publics out there. Maybe if Jack stopped throwing all his bones to his dog he would feel less hollow inside! Then again in that case the movie would have never happened… Hmm.

The Nightmare Before Christmas directed by Henry Selick and Tim Burton

Hey, that’s all folks!
My list of heroes ends here, since I couldn’t figure out ANY heroes for the lovely scandinavian weirdos of Å, Ä and Ö. Thanks for following and please, leave a comment or like 😀 I definitely like you. And my heroes <3

The life to be continued soon.

Yes, that’s really his name. The joke is a direct quote from the book The Last Elf (Viimeinen haltia), I’ve just translated it into Yoda. I recommend the book for everyone, it’s the most beautiful fantasy book there is, with an interesting mediaeval Mediterranean setting and scenes that make even the most stone hearted people weep, let alone an emotional geek like me. I remember one time I read the book alone on a pier, crying my eyes off and producing so much noise it probably scared the seagulls off. Ah what a book :’D

And Yoda’s presence on this list can’t be questioned. He’s my favourite guru. And so cute!

The Last Elf by Silvana de Mari
Star Wars by George Lucas and company

No-one expected it would turn into a general photobombing circus. Caliban was quite satisfied with himself for being able to sneak into the picture without anyone noticing. But then Night Crawler BAMFed straight into the picture and caused a general confusion. Unaware of Kurt’s plans, Kitty had already performed her little prank on Colossus. Stepford Cuckoos totally saw it coming. At that time no-one really knew who or what had hurled Charles in the air, but that was about to be revealed to them soon…

Because I’m not that comfortable with pictures where everyone just poses and looks awesome. I collected here an odd band of mutants I hold dear, regardless if they happen to belong to the actual X-Men or not. I also checked very little reference for their costumes so they are wearing something I thought was ”close enough”. Sorry, puritans.

X-Men created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby

Yeah, what can I say? Wolverine is cool. Thank you, dad, for teaching that to me!

I spent one summer reading my dad’s X-Men magazines as a teen. The line about glaciers and eating pieces of hands is an actual quote from one comic that hit me hard then, though I don’t remember it’s name. Logan and Jean Grey were trapped in a malfunctional spaceship that was headed towards the sun and he had to kill her – again! Then she resurrected and saved them both or something. Great stuff.

Käytänpä nyt hyödyksi tilaisuuden pieneen ympäristöpoliittiseen raivoon: Uhanalaisen ahman kannanhoidollinen metsästys lisääntymisaikaan oli alhainen temppu! Häpeä, Riistakeskus!!

Wolverine created by Len Wein, John Romita, Sr. and Herb Trimpe

ps. Hei Peikko, muista tuoda kaljaa!

Move those cold feet! Victor Van Dort, this ”groovy young man”, is a hero who sparked my love for stop-motion animations. And for Johnny Depp, but hey, I was a sensitive teenager and everyone makes mistakes ;P Anyway, in junior high I adopted a drawing style I called ”Victor syndrome”, which meant lots of long legs and huge eyes. It probably still hovers somewhere in the back corner of my brain, as I feel many of my characters have a sort of stretched look even today…

Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride by (surprise!) Tim Burton

Brigadier Thyme (Prikaatinkenraali Timjami) has the honor of representing all the hares of the Redwall universe on this list. I was introduced to the Redwall world at the age of eight or nine so we’re talking about a book series that has probably shaped my personality even more than, say, Harry Potter for example.

Thyme may not be the perfect example of an average Redwall hare because he’s rather serious, but regardless I wanted him on the list because of one special thing. Nostalgy warning! It was my best friend back then who introduced me to the Redwall world but because we both had little sisters who wanted to play with us and who didn’t have a clue about Redwall, we didn’t have many chances to play Redwall stuff together. But just once there was one afternoon when there were just my friend and I and we played Long Patrol and I played Thyme. And I have a funny feeling we were then at the age where immersive playing (what adults maybe call larp but what for kids is just play) wasn’t obviously the coolest thing to do anymore. Anyhow, it’s a good memory.

Redwall series by Brian Jacques