Pondus

Pondus is a comic strip created by the Norwegian cartoonist Frode Øverli. Since its start in 1994, it has become one of the most successful comic strips in Scandinavia. It has been translated to several languages, including Danish, English, German, Finnish, French, Icelandic, Latin, Sami, Swedish and Esperanto.

Contents

Publication history

Øverli initially developed a strip titled A-laget (A-team) in 1995, prior to leaving the magazine Pyton. This early version focused on three characters who were fanatical football-supporters. By the time the strip in its earliest form was first published in a small local newspaper Vest-Nytt of Sotra on October 28, 1995, it had taken the name Pondus.[1] In 1996 it began a four-year run as a supporting strip in the Norwegian magazine devoted to Bud Grace's Ernie, leading to its breakthrough on April 2, 1997, when it was taken on as a daily strip in national distribution newspaper Dagbladet.[1]

On July 4, 2000, it began publication in its own Pondus magazine, as the first Norwegian strip to ever carry its own monthly publication.[2] This was followed on June 6, 2001 with the launch of a Swedish sister magazine.[3] The strip runs daily in more than 80 Norwegian newspapers, and is syndicated to several international publications, most notably Swedish Dagens Nyheter, Danish Berlingske Tidende, and Icelandic Frettabladid.

As of 2007's first issue, Pondus magazine left publisher Schibsted to continue its run with publisher Egmont. In a simultaneous event, the character Pondus quit his job as a bus driver, and bought a pub.[4]

Frode Øverli has twice received the Sproing Award for Pondus, in 1998 and 2003, and the Adamson Award in 2006.[5][6]

Characters

Pondus' family

Jokke's family

Other characters

Publications

Pondus magazine

The Pondus magazine has been a monthly publication since 2000. The line-up of past and current guest strips are:

Pondus albums

There have so far been 9 digest albums, all but the seventh given football-related titles. English translations appended:

Sources

Footnotes
  1. ^ a b Harper, Morten. "Pondus-en fordomsfull folkehelt". Samtiden (3–2005): 107–117. http://www.samtiden.no/05_3/art0.php. pdf (Norwegian)
  2. ^ Steinkjer, Mode (June 27, 2000). "Tegneseriens lokale Beckham" (in Norwegian). Dagsavisen. http://www.dagsavisen.no/kultur/article991242.ece. 
  3. ^ Grønneberg, Anders (June 6, 2001). "Pondus tar av" (in Norwegian). Dagbladet. http://www.dagbladet.no/kultur/2001/06/06/261960.html. 
  4. ^ Hellesund, Kristian (January 14, 2007). "Tilsynelatende nytt" (in Norwegian). Serienett.no. http://www.serienett.no/article/386/tilsynelatende-nytt. 
  5. ^ Norsk Tegneserieforum. "Prisvinnere norsk kategori" (in Norwegian). Tegneserier.no. http://www.tegneserier.no/ntf/sproing.asp?kID=542&side=2402&sprk=1&skat=1375&bhcp=1. 
  6. ^ Sørensen, Britt (September 23, 2006). "Prestisjepris til Øverli" (in Norwegian). Bergens Tidene. http://www.bt.no/kultur/article300532.ece. 

See also

External links