Myrkky #5/1990
Myrkky #5/1990 belongs to the series' second year of publication — a formative period when Egmont's Finnish-language adaptation of the Norwegian Pyton magazine was establishing its own cast of recurring characters and carving out a unique niche in Finnish comics culture. The magazine, which ran from 1989 to 2009, became a defining generational touchstone for Finnish readers of the era, pioneering a brand of crude satirical humor that no other Finnish publication would touch. Characters appearing in this issue — including Palle Runqvist, Opaskoira Adolf, and Rhesus Miinus — are among the recurring ensemble that gave the series its cultural staying power, remembered affectionately by readers decades later. The 1990 issues in particular represent the period when the Norwegian source material from Pyton was at its peak commercial health, meaning Finnish readers were getting some of the strongest material the broader Pyton universe produced.
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Myrkky was a Finnish comics anthology published by Semic Kustannus (later Egmont Kustannus) beginning in 1989, adapted directly from the Norwegian magazine Pyton, which had launched in 1986 under Gevion/Bladkompaniet. The Finnish edition was brought to market by Semic's publishing director Marjaana Tulosmaa, and Antti Marttinen served as editor-in-chief for the entire run of the series. The magazine translated and reprinted strips created by Pyton's Norwegian staff — key contributors whose pen names and characters crossed directly into the Finnish edition — while also publishing work by Finnish cartoonists. Issue #5/1990 falls in the second year of publication, during which six issues were released along with Christmas card inserts, marking a still-modest but growing publishing schedule before the series expanded to twelve issues annually in later years.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Myrkky was published by Semic Kustannus / Egmont Kustannus in Finland from 1989 to 2009, directly adapted from the Norwegian anthology magazine Pyton (1986–1996).
- Antti Marttinen served as editor-in-chief of Myrkky for its entire publication run; the series was brought to Finland by Semic publishing director Marjaana Tulosmaa.
- In 1990, Myrkky published six issues (the series had not yet expanded to monthly frequency), with Christmas card inserts as supplementary material.
- Palle Runqvist and Opaskoira Adolf (the guide dog Adolf) are confirmed recurring characters in the Myrkky series, appearing across multiple issues throughout the run.
- Rhesus Miinus is the Finnish name for the Pyton character whose strips were scripted by Norwegian writer Rolf Håndstad under the pen name 'Rhesus Minus'; the character appears in Pyton from its earliest issues (1986–1987 onward) and was a fixture of the Myrkky anthology.
- Tommy Tussi is the Finnish rendering of 'Tommy Tusj'/'Tommy Tusch', the fictional cartoonist character who appeared alongside Rhesus Minus in Pyton strips drawn by Tommy Sydsæter.
- Lars Vegas is a recurring character catalogued in the broader Pyton/Myrkky character universe, confirmed in GCD indexes of Swedish and Norwegian Pyton editions.
- The Myrkky series published work by both Norwegian/Scandinavian creators from the Pyton stable and Finnish cartoonists, making it a hybrid anthology; no issue-specific creator credits for #5/1990 were recoverable from available online databases.