I was playing around with a self-portrait like this.

Orcs are probably my favourite fantasy creatures. Since I’m not a gamer as such, but more of an academic scholar, I see things in them that many hardcore gamers or fans of particular fantasy authors do not see. For example, myself…

Tolkien’s Orcs were the minions of Evil, and it’s easy to fall in the opposite trap and “redeem” them as misunderstood noble savages. I would like to avoid that, but who knows? You can read some of my really old Orc comics online.

Orcs fascinate me for pretty much the same reasons as all stereotypical images of “the Other” or “the Enemy”. We are all somebody’s Other. As a child of emigrants and multiple immigrant myself, I have grown up with a sense of doubt towards those images every time they are presented as fact as well as fiction. Here is an inspirational cartoon from the 1910’s, depicting the two major linguistic groups of Finland from the point of view of the smaller one. As you can see, the threatening majority (the Finnish-speaker) is dressed like a peasant and looks more “Eastern” (cheekbones, slanted eyes, brushy hair – note also the full lips and broad nose, visual cues for “un-European”), pretty Orcish in spite of his blond hair (the ears!), while the small and desperately waving Finland-Swede has parted his hair neatly and wears a civilized western jacket.

My search of a so-called life has brought me to the capital of Finland, where I’m enjoying the prodigal snowdrifts and the generous library services. In the future, the Goldenbird gang must experience 1920’s Finland – so much crazy stuff going on here.

After a strenuous day, I wanted to document my adventures in a comic, but the tablet still makes me frustrated so here’s just one pic… a self-portrait somewhere in Sörnäinen.

The “roaring” Twenties didn’t start very cheerfully in France (where our heroes live, when they’re not vacationing on disputed territory at the Adriatic Sea). Everything was scarce after the devastating war, and prices were on the rise. For Lou and Mayann, this is not a problem – the US dollar is strong, and the bulk of their Paris audience consists of North and South American tourists, war profiteers and “goulash barons”.

But for Falco… Even before the war, a decent cassock would cost 65 Fr., and his meager scholarship has certainly not been updated to catch up with the rising costs of living. No wonder he needs a part-time job or two. (Those kid gloves and that silk cincture… not exactly standard equipment for a simple deacon!)

Observe, too, how expensive the ladies’ shoes are in comparison. The worth of their undergarments must remain a mystery, but I would guess that Mayann wears the skimpiest and most expensive ones…

Inspired by this front page of Le Petit Journal, July 4th, 1920.

Name the characters whose eyes you see above! It’s nice how humans (and dogs!) belong to a small gene pool but still manage to show beautiful variation in their phenotype. Dog eyes, by the way, differ from human eyes in interesting ways – the tapetum lucidum, which reflects light, gives a dog’s eye colour an iridescent effect which can be seen up close. I was always fascinated by the irises of our Akita Mitsu, which were dark brown but softly scintillating in rainbow colours. I’ve tried to imitate that effect to give Mochi’s eye an ominous glow.

Colouring is fun, but so time-consuming… I guess I just need more practice.

Inspired by “Dulcy, the Beautiful”, a comic strip in the British movie magazine Picture Show 1924. It’s not very funny but rather cute anyway, and supposedly written by silent star Constance Talmadge… Both Connie and her sister Norma were a bit dog-crazy.