Tintin

The Adventures of Tintin (Les Aventures de Tintin) is a series of comic albums created by Belgian cartoonist Georges Remi (1907–1983), who wrote under the pen name Hergé. The series was one of the most popular European comics of the 20th century, and it remains popular today. By the time of the centenary of Hergé's birth in 2007, Tintin had been published in more than 70 languages with sales of more than 200 million copies.

The series first appeared in French on 10 January 1929 in Le Petit Vingtième, a youth supplement to the Belgian newspaper Le Vingtième Siècle. The success of the series saw the serialised strips published in Belgium's leading newspaper Le Soir and spun into a successfulTintin magazine. In 1950, Hergé created Studios Hergé, which produced the canonical series of twenty-four Tintin albums. The Adventures of Tintin have been adapted for radio, television, theatre, and film.

The series is set during a largely realistic 20th century. Its hero is Tintin, a young Belgian reporter. He is aided by his faithful fox terrier dog Snowy (Milou in the original French edition). Later, popular additions to the cast included the brash and cynical Captain Haddock, the highly intelligent but hearing-impaired Professor Calculus, and other supporting characters such as the incompetent detectives Thomson and Thompson (French: Dupont et Dupond) and the opera diva Bianca Castafiore.

The series has been admired for its clean, expressive drawings in Hergé's signature ligne claire ("clear line") style. Its well-researched plots straddle a variety of genres: swashbuckling adventures with elements of fantasy, mysteries, political thrillers, and science fiction. The stories feature slapstick humour, offset by dashes of sophisticated satire and political or cultural commentary.

Felix sent me this nice card from Germany.

Masters of the Universe

Zoey from China sent me this card which shows He-Man and his twin sister She-Ra. To their right areSkeletor and his hench men, in other words the bad guys. To their left are their friends or the good guys.

He-Man is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Masters of the Universe franchise. In most variations, he is the alter ego of Prince Adam. He-Man and his friends defend the realm of Eternia and the secrets of Castle Grayskull from the evil forces of Skeletor.

She-Ra is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Filmation cartoon She-Ra: Princess of Power, debuting in 1985. Also, a series of toys under her name were produced by Mattel. She is the alter ego of Princess Adora and the twin sister of Prince Adam/He-Man. She-Ra was intended to appeal to young girls in the same way that He-Man appealed to young boys. Filmation writer Larry DiTillio created the backstory for the property.
She-Ra was introduced in the animated movie The Secret of the Sword as Force Captain Adora, a member of the Evil Horde that rules the planet Etheria. She discovers that she is the long lost twin sister of Prince Adam of Eternia, having been kidnapped as a baby by the Horde's leader Hordak. She is granted the Sword of Protection, which parallels He-Man's Sword of Power, gaining the power to transform into She-Ra, her secret identity.

Moominworld at Naantali

Naantali is a city in south-western Finland, known as one of the most important tourist centres of the country. The municipality has a population of 18,782 (31 January 2011), and is located in the region of Finland Proper, 14 kilometres (8.7 miles) west of Turku. One of the oldest towns in Finland, Naantali was founded around the mediaeval Brigittine convent Vallis gratiae, the church of which still dominates its skyline. The name Naantali is the Fennecised version of the Swedish name of the town, Nådendal. The Swedish name was given as a direct translation from the Latin Vallis Gratiae which literally means "The Valley of Grace".

Moomin World (Muumimaailma in Finnish, Muminvärlden in Swedish) is the Moomin Theme Park especially for children, based on the Moomin books by Tove Jansson. Moomin World is on the island of Kailo beside the old town of Naantali, near the city of Turku in Western Finland. The blueberry-coloured Moomin House is the main attraction. Tourists are allowed to freely visit all five stories. Hemulen's yellow house is located next to the Moomin House. It is also possible to see Moominmama's Kitchen, Fire Station, Snufkin's Camp, Moominpappa's boat, etc. in Moomin World. Visitors may meet Moomin characters there or the Witch in her cottage. Moomin World isn't a traditional amusement park. There are many activities and fantasy paths for children there, e.g., Toffle's Path with Witch's Labyrinth, The Hattifatteners' Cave and The Groke's House. There are also performances in Moomin Theatre Emma. Moomin World is open daily from mid-June to mid-August. The nearby Väski Adventure Island is also a special sight for children.

The stamp and the postmark are also very illustrative of the Moominworl Theme. This Card was sent to me by my dear friend Brita from Naantali, which she visited recently.

Åland –Superheroes with Aland roots

Did you know that the creator behind many of the familiar cartoon superheroes of the 1940s and 1950s came from Saltvik, Åland? Three of his superheroes now appear in an Åland stamp booklet. Paul Gustafson was born in 1916 in Saltvik. Like many other Ålanders of this époque, he emigrated to the USA with his family when he was five. Having studied at Quentin High School and Manhattan’s Cooper Union, Paul spent some years apprenticing under cartoonist Frank Owen, whose wife, Vera, was also born in Åland. At the end of the 1930s, Paul made a name for himself as an independent cartoonist creating many characters, mainly superheroes, for Marvel Comics. Most of Paul’s comics were created between 1938 and 1946, some of them being: The Angel, The Arrow, Black Panter, A-man, Quicksilver, Magno, The Human Bomb, Blackhawk, Jester, Rusty Ryan and Midnight. He later focused on the comic strip Will Bragg. As a cartoonist, he sometimes signed his work Paul Earrol. From 1942 to 1945, Paul took an intermission from drawing to do his World War II military service. At the end of the 1950s, he left his career as a cartoonist to become a land surveyor for New York State. However, he did continue to do comic drawings for the local newspaper in Warwick, New York, where he lived with his family. Paul Gustafson is known to have created a number of different types of super-heroes.

For the stamp booklet, Åland Post has chosen to present The Arrow, The Fantom of the Fair and Alias the Spider. And My Dear Friend Ella sent me these maxi cards with the Super Heroes.