Piranha Club
| Piranha Club | |
|---|---|
| File:Piranhaclub.gif Title panel for Piranha Club Sunday strips. | |
| Author(s) | Bud Grace |
| Current status/schedule | Running |
| Launch date | February 1, 1988 (as Ernie) |
| Syndicate(s) | King Features Syndicate |
| Genre(s) | Humor |
Piranha Club is the title of a comic strip written and illustrated by Bud Grace. It was originally called Ernie, but the title was changed to the current one in 1998. The strip made its debut in February 1988, and Grace received the National Cartoonist Society Newspaper Comic Strip Award for 1993 for his work on the strip.
The strip is highly popular in the Scandinavian countries Norway and Sweden, where it is published in a monthly magazine under the original title, Ernie. It is also one of the most popular comic strips regularly published in newspapers in Estonia (if not the most popular).[citation needed]
Characters
- Ernie Floyd used to be the strip's main character until stories shifted more onto Sid and the Piranha Club members. Originally, Ernie was portrayed as something of a loser, but he gradually evolved into a more "normal" person. He has held various jobs, but usually works as an assistant manager at the Mr. Squid fast-food restaurant. He owns a 1957 DeSoto, has a fetish for toasters, and dates Doris Husselmeyer.
- Sid Fernwilter is Ernie's uncle and member of the Piranha Club. Sid is a hustler who will do just about anything to make a quick buck. When he's not trying to scam a few dollars from his nephew or mooch a free meal from Effie, he sells Florida swampland real-estate. Sid was originally intended to be Ernie's friend, but when the strip's editors pointed out to Bud Grace that no one would voluntarily be friends with someone like Sid, he became Ernie's uncle. It should, however, be pointed out that Sid isn't completely black and white in his crook behaviour. He does have limits and never actually harms anyone, even if he succeeds in scamming them out of their savings. He also believes that actual robbery is below him.
- Doris Husselmeyer is Ernie's girlfriend. In the early years of the strip, Doris was unattractive with greasy hair and coke-bottle glasses, and stories were often about Ernie trying to break up with Doris without hurting her feelings. Doris eventually became a lot more attractive. She was at one time courted by Arnold, much to Ernie's anger, but Arnold seems to have given up this project. Doris also owns a vicious cat named Bobo who usually attacks Ernie whenever given the opportunity.
- Ethel "Effie" Munyon is Ernie's elderly and absent-minded landlady. A former Miss Bayonne, she has been married twelve times and is currently dating Sid, although Sid mostly hangs around with her to get a free meal. Effie is also a terrible cook and usually serves Sid dishes like boiled octopus or deep-fried roadkill. Then again, according to Sid, "the only thing better than a good meal is a free meal."
- Arnold Arnoldski is a 19-year-old kid who often hangs out with Sid and frequently becomes involved in his schemes. As Ernie evolved into a more normal person, many of his loser characteristics were given to Arnold. Arnold often ends up as pack mule for Sid's schemes, and his more notable jobs include Bungy-Jumping tester, car alarm, goat herder, torpedo man and wrestler under the name "The Masked Slapper."
- Dr. Enos Pork, MD, is the most incompetent doctor north of Tierra del Fuego and is Sid's best friend. He is a heavy smoker and, like Sid, a member of the Piranha Club. He is married, and his wife is usually referred to only as Frau Pork. He also clashed frequently with his mother-in-law, who is known only as Mother Packer. Mother Packer usually ends up beating Pork into a pulp.
- Spencer Husselmeyer is Doris's 10-year-old brother. He is a mischievous brat who makes Bart Simpson seem like a Boy Scout in comparison. He has a special affection of putting grease on doorknobs, toilet seats, and mostly everything he can apply it to.
- Elvis Simmerman is a used-car salesman and member of the Piranha Club.
- Reverend Bob is a televangelist and is also a prominent member of the Piranha Club.
- "Slick" Willie O'Haberman is an ambulance-chasing lawyer, who is also a member of the Piranha Club.
- Quacko, the human duck
- the bearded lady, married to Quacko
- Zerblatt, a space alien
- The Piranha Club is a society of freeloaders, hustlers and other shady characters who will do anything to make a quick buck. It also houses an actual piranha named Earl who serves as the club's mascot and trash compactor.
- Bud Grace is a former nuclear physicist turned cartoonist, who frequently makes appearances in his own comic strip.
Languages
English: Ernie (Later The Piranha Club) Danish: Erling (Piranha Klubben)
Books
- Ernie: Out Of Control, ISBN 0836221230
External links
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