Pondus

For other uses, see Pondus (disambiguation).

File:Pondus.gif

The first issue of the Norwegian Pondus magazine, July 2000.

Pondus is a comic strip created by the Norwegian cartoonist Frode Øverli. Since its start in 1995 (then under the name A-laget), it has become one of the most successful comic strips in Scandinavia. It has been translated to many languages, including Latin, Sami, Swedish, Danish, Finnish, Icelandic, French and English.

The strip runs daily in many big Norwegian newspapers, most notably Dagbladet, and it also has its own magazine, since 2000. Pondus has his own magazine in Sweden and are published daily in several swedish newspapers, in addition to newspapers in Denmark, Iceland and Finland.

The story's main focus is the two childhood-friends Pondus and Jokke. Jokke was at first intended to be only a side-character, but is now just as much the focus of the comic as Pondus, and one can also make that claim that Jokke is the character that has evolved the most since the start of the comic.

Characters

Pondus' family

• Pondus (real name Patrick); a living football encyclopedia in his mid thirties (in one Sunday strip he is said to be 35), and an avid fan of AC/DC (he claims his favorite song is Shoot to thrill) and Liverpool F.C. He is married to Beate, and father to their two children, Påsan and Sneipen. He plays football at the senior level and works as a bus driver when he's not at the pub with his best friend Jokke. When it comes to British football, he is a walking encyclopedia, knowing everything about every player.

• Beate (eng. Linda); Pondus' wife. Works as a nurse at the local hospital. Some of the characters she works with at the hospital are actually characters from a previous comic that Øverli did, namely Riskhospitalet (The Risk Hospital, a pun on Rikshospitalet, or National Hospital) She often finds that living with her husband can be a strange experience, especially since she doesn't share his love for football.

• Påsan (eng. Junior); has, since the start of the series, gone from being a typical child in elementary school, to a puberty-stricken teenager. He has inherited his father's love for football and rock music. He plays football for a local club that is often seen playing in Norway Cup with varying degrees of success, and has lately started playing guitar with a group of friends in a band called Fotsopp (eng. Athlete's foot), after the Norwegian band Röyksopp.
• Sneipen (eng. Rugrat); a toddler who has yet to learn how to speak. She is often seen praying to God before going to bed, however, usually asking God to make Liverpool FC play better, as that would make her father happy. Sneipen has started kindergarten, and has recently gotten a makeover, making her look a bit older and with a new haircut. For the moment, she has several monsters beneath her bed and in the closet, whom she isn't scared of at all; they play Ludo with her and she gets them to read her goodnight-stories. They are actually more scared of her than she is of them.
• Bjarne; Pondus's family dog, which is a bastard between collie, labrador, schäfer, spaniel, greyhound, and a couple others of which are unknown, but most likely dog species. Certainly rabid and probably radioactive, given what he's eaten over the years. He's got 26 teeth more than normal and is quite slow in his reaction(eksept if he is geting an injection or he's claws are to be cut). Possibilities are that there were a strange light on the sky the night the family got him.

Jokke's family

• Jokke (real name Joacim Jacobsen, eng. Raymond); used to flirt with – and date – the ugliest women in the known world, and frequently got beaten up by them. Same age as Pondus, but has up 'till recently never done a day's work and has lived at home with his mother (Else) and his stepfather, Günther (he moved out however when Günther chased Else around while Günther was wearing a pope costume). However, recently his life has taken a major turn for the better, as he opened an antiques shop with his father and has gotten a girlfriend, Camilla. Jokke and Camilla had a baby together in 2006. It's suggested in a recent comic strip that the child is going to be named Gordon (see below). Jokke is a supporter of Leeds United F.C. and KISS, something which has led to a lot of quarrels between Jokke and Pondus.
• Else; Jokke's mother and married to Günther. Together they share some unusual sexual interests, including German porn videos, bondage and costumes. While Günther fantasizes about Dolly Parton, Else prefers Derrick. Else also runs a massage parlor out of her own home, where she is often mistaken for a prostitute. She has begun taking driving lessons, with a vastly poor result. She is ignoring all roadsigns, trafficlights, etc etc, but can still se a banner for a bikini sale.
• Günther; Jokke's bald, German midget stepfather. Though most of his time is spent at home with his wife, Günther also has a secret identity - Güntherman. As Güntherman, Günther sets out to fight crime. His attempts at stopping crime are usually unsuccessful. He is often seen in the bathroom sink.
• Jokke's father; used to be a bank robber, while Jokke was young, and has thus not seen his son much. This changed when Jokke decided to contact his father, and together they opened up an antiques shop, consisting of items Jokke's father had acquired during his many years of crime. This was the first event in a long line of events that turned Jokke's life for the better.
• Camilla; Jokke's girlfriend, and the mother of their child. A normal and healthy girl that works as a teacher, as opposed to the girls Jokke used to date. Camilla is a Manchester United supporter. Jokke and Camilla met during a football match in which Pondus' and Jokke's team faced off against Camilla's team.
• Jokke's unnamed baby son. The name is still not certain, but is expected to come up soon. Jokke proposed "Jokke den andre" (eng. Jokke the second) as name, but it was meant as a joke. He and Camilla has also expected the name Gordon, because of Gordon Strachan, who played for both Manchester United and Leeds.

Other characters

• Turid-Laila (eng. Tammy-Sue); a beautiful blonde who works as a bartender at the local pub, which Pondus and Jokke frequent. Jokke was for a while room-mates with Turid-Laila, until he got together with Camilla and moved in with her. Turid-Laila has recently acquired a girlfriend named Mai-Linn, whom she met on Ibiza during summer. She has said that this relationship is probably "the real thing".
• Kjakan (real name Kjell Kristian, eng. Scooter); Påsan's best friend. Has a problem with acne outbreaks and obesity. Kjakan is the drummer in Påsan's band Fotsopp (Norwegian for Athlete's foot).
• Harold and Selma; long-time friends of Beate, and depicted as a dull old couple. Selma decides most of what goes on in their house, and Harold is lucky if he's allowed to go outside now and then. Harold has an obsession with aquarium fish, and is also shown as a whisky-drinker. Selma does not approve of her husband's drinking, though, and it is also implied that Harold can't hold his own. One time, he is shown mixing an exclusive old whisky with cola, prompting Pondus to steal the bottle from him. Another time, Harold - on a rare night out with Pondus and Jokke (he comments that the last time he set foot in a bar, Ronald Reagan was president in the US) - has one sip of whisky and becomes completely wasted.
• Hugo and Ivar; two colleagues from Pondus' workplace. Both are bachelors in their (presumably) thirties, with a strange obsession with collecting bottle-caps and comparing their meals. They follow their daily routines to an almost savant level, but "freaks" out sometimes and breaks them. In recent strips, the duo have replaced Jokke as the most pathetic flirters around.
• Ponny-Petra; Perhaps the most notorious and long-lasting of Jokke's ugly ex-girlfriends. She has a strong fascination with country music and culture, hence her name. She used to completely terrorize Jokke's life, but was put in a coma, due to eating one of Jokke's homemade dishes.
• Dr. Zimmerknaben; Jokke's shrink. Zimmerknaben has had to resort to pills to avoid losing his sanity after listening to Jokke's horrible dating experiences. In one stripe, it was taken to a level where the roles of Zimmerknaben and Jokke was switched.

Publications

Pondus magazine

The Pondus magazine has been in print monthly since 2000. Before this, Pondus ran in the Norwegian publication mainly devoted to the American comic strip Ernie, by Bud Grace, until popularity justified that Pondus could carry his own magazine. The current line-up of guest strips in Pondus reads:

• Rutetid, also by Øverli, in the one-panel format.
• Rocky by Martin Kellerman
• The Duplex by Glenn McCoy
• The Flying McCoys by Glenn and Gary McCoy
• M by Mads Eriksen
• Prim by Bodil Revhaug
• MonoMania by Thomas S. Hansen
• Eon by Lars Lauvik

Pondus albums

There have so far been 6 digest albums, all given football-related titles:

• 2001: 1. omgang (First Half)
• 2002: 2. omgang (Second Half)
• 2003: Hat trick. In reference to football's hat-trick, a 3 goal accomplishment)
• 2004: Flat firer (Flat Four). A reference to the "back four" in soccer, which is normally involves four defenders. The flat refers to the defence forming a straight line, to execute an offside trap. However, in Norwegian it can also mean "Flat number four", and on the cover Pondus is shown playing football and having just "flattened" the player number four of the opposing team, presumably with a nasty foul.
• 2005: Fem rette (Five Correct). A reference to the Norwegian football pools where betting is locked on 12 football matches, and prizes awarded for 10, 11, or 12 successful predictions. Five correct would be a poor round of betting, and the front of the cover shows Pondus angrily crumpling up a betting ticket and tossing it behind the couch)
• 2006: 0 - 6. In reference to a very nasty result for the home team in a soccer match. However, in Norvegian it can also mean no sex, or "Zero sex", as Jokke, which is the goalkeeper on his old-boys football team, catches the ball in the air as an opponent player is coming to make a nasty tackle in the height of Jokke's penis. In the background you see Jokke's girlfriend looking frightened.

External links

• Daily strips in English
• Daily strips in Norwegian
• Pondus.net - Unoffical fansite (in Norwegian)