Aapo Rapi

Concluding with Scandinavian Comics Appreciation Month, I bring you Aapo Rapi, native Finlander and member of the art studio KutiKuti in Helsinki. Rapi’s work could almost be described as the “epitome” of comics, with fat, cartoony characters, bright colors, and direct, universally appealing stories, you can almost read them without translation and receive the same amount of enjoyment.

Being one of my favorite underrated cartoonists, you can imagine my pleasure at seeing him have a page in Kramers Ergot 7. On that same note, you can imagine my displeasure when no one really seemed to notice. Sadly, I don’t think I’ve ever heard his name uttered stateside beyond the KE7 table of contents, which is an incredible shame considering the vast amount of gorgeous work he’s already completed.


His varietous nature of storytelling bears mentioning; from his book, “Meti”, which features autobiographical work about his relationship with his grandmother, to his most recent book, “Naaburger”, which is all jokes about eating meat pies, one can never be quite sure what he’s going to cook up next.



Tirelessly drawn and often hand-colored, his style reminds me of psychedelic children’s films like “The Point”, vivid and character-driven. However, there’s definitely a dark undertone to a lot of his work, the stories are oftentimes laden with the introsepective desperation of adults, or the uncontrollable terror of being a powerlessly small child in the company of frighteningly mad grown-ups. Shit can get really real, beautiful and heart-breaking.


Works not mentioned:
“Kuningas Toffee”
“Pullapoika”
“Kelomökkien mies”