Pondus


Pondus is a comic strip created by the Norwegian cartoonist Frode Øverli. Since its start in 1995, 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.
In 2000 it inspired its own magazine.

Publication history

Øverli initially developed a strip titled A-laget 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. 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.
On July 4, 2000, it began publication in its own Pondus magazine, as the first Norwegian strip to ever carry its own monthly publication. This was followed on June 6, 2001 with the launch of a Swedish sister magazine. 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.
Frode Øverli has twice received the Sproing Award for Pondus, in 1998 and 2003, and the Adamson Award in 2006.

Characters

Pondus' family

Pondus magazine

The Pondus magazine has been a monthly publication since 2000. The line-up of past and current guest strips are:
There have so far been 9 digest albums, all but the seventh given football-related titles. English translations appended: