Scandinavia and the World

[rowyn]

okojosan recommended "Scandinavia and the World" some time ago, and I read through a bunch of them then forgot about it. Today I remembered and have gone through most of the rest of them. It's a comic using personifications of countries and micronations as the characters -- mostly Scandinavia (the author is Danish), but various other nations make frequent appearances.

It's written in English, but most of the jokes are dependent on Scandinavian history or stereotypes, so the author often puts blurbs at the bottom to explain the background for it. And you're thinking: "If you have to explain the joke, it's not going to be funny any more." BUT IT IS. One of my favorites: http://satwcomic.com/coat-of-arms

The art is also adorable: a very simple, clean style that's nonetheless very engaging. The occasional semi-realistic portraits of the cast are also lovely -- the artist has a lot of talent.

Comments

[jordangreywolf.livejournal.com]

Hee! I love Finland's "special" lion. ("Omnomnom!") =)

[rowyn]

I like Sweden's "how can I make them EVEN MORE pompous?" too. Hee! The cartoons really do match the emblems. :)

[alltoseek.livejournal.com]

Hetalia anyone?

[rowyn]

SatW does mention Hetalia several times, but I haven't gotten around to looking at it yet. :)

[alltoseek.livejournal.com]

The idea of Hetalia appeals, but I've heard a lot of PC-type complaints (misogyny, pro-Nazis (?!)) so I haven't gone there.

[rowyn]

Well, I can't speak for Hetalia, but SatW doesn't have those issues. The portrayal of women is often goofy and not flattering, but probably less so than the portrayal of men. :) They're endearingly flawed.

[terrycloth.livejournal.com]

I checked it out when you mentioned it to me earlier, and couldn't really get into it.

Clearly, this means that it's objectively bad and anyone who likes it is wrong.