Viivi & Wagner: Difference between revisions

Viivi & Wagner
Viivi & Wagner
Author(s)	Jussi "Juba" Tuomola
Current status/schedule	Running
Launch date	October 1997
Genre(s)	Satire, Gag-a-day

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Latest revision as of 18:39, 17 November 2024

Viivi & Wagner is a somewhat absurdist Finnish newspaper gag-a-day comic strip drawn since 1997 by Jussi "Juba" Tuomola.^[1]

By June 2022, nearly 25 years after its debut, over 7,300 Viivi & Wagner daily strips had been published, and these were republished as 25 compilation albums.^[1] The concept has also been adapted for the stage, as well as for audio books.^[1]

Viivi & Wagner has been exported to eg. Sweden, Estonia, Japan and China.^[2]

Concept

The titular main characters are Viivi, a Finnish woman in her twenties, and Wagner, a mature male pig. Wagner is fully anthropomorphic and sentient, yet still considers himself a pig instead of a human. Though often mistaken for married, the two are cohabitating in an Odd Couple-ish relationship and genuinely fond of each other when not bickering.

The comic originally appeared in Kultapossu, a promotional children's magazine by a Finnish bank. In the original version of the comic, Viivi was a small girl and Wagner was her animate piggy bank. When the Kultapossu magazine was discontinued, Tuomola adapted the characters to fit a newspaper comic strip style, also changing the characters to adults in the process.

Viivi & Wagner is extremely popular in Finland, above all because of its quirky humour. Most of the strips concern either arguments between Viivi and Wagner ("You ate the wrapper, too?!" "I always eat the wrapper."), or Wagner getting into totally absurd situations, either in everyday life or in a fantasy world ("I'm stuck in the moment before the Big Bang"). Some strips break the fourth wall ("Hey, your outline is loose.") or the classic comic strip format by not having a definite punchline at the end.

Some readers, who have been unaware of the strip's history in a bank's promotional magazine for children, have taken Wagner's porcine appearance as a statement of feminism, specifically implying that "men are pigs". Some have even thought Tuomola was a woman. It has been noticed that many medical inside jokes appear in the strips – many of them originate from an old friend of Juba, whose profession happens to be a doctor.

Albums

As of 2013^[update], there have been twelve Viivi & Wagner albums:

Sikspäkki ja salmiakkia ("A six-pack and salmiakki), 1998
Translated to Swedish as Sexpack och salmiak in 2005
Apua, sängyssäni on sika! ("Help, there's a pig in my bed!"), 1999
Translated to Swedish as Hjälp, jag har en gris i sängen! in 2005
Ei banaaninkuoria paperikoriin! ("No banana peels in the paper bin!"), 2000
Oi, mikä karju! ("Oh, what a hog!"), 2001
Kuumaa hiekkaa ("Hot sand"), 2002
Viriili vesipeto ("The virile water beast"), 2003
Sohvaperunoiden kuningas ("The king of the couch potatoes"), 2004
Ranskalainen liukumäki ("The French slide"), 2005
Kaasua sohvalla ("Gas on the couch"), 2006
Sian morsian? ("Bride of a pig?"), 2007
Terassilla tarkenee ("The terrace is warm enough", 2008)
Kuinka kasvissyöjä kesytetään ("Taming of the vegetarian", 2009)
Sika pussaa! ("Pig kissing", 2010)
Vieläkin yhdessä ("Still together", 2011)
Vau, kuuma kinkku! ("Wow, hot ham", 2012)
Sian puolella sänkyä! ("On the pig's side of the bed", 2013)

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "Naisen ja sian lempi on kestänyt jo neljännesvuosisadan – Viivi ja Wagner täyttää 25 vuotta!" (in Finnish). STT. 6 June 2022. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
^ "Miljoona-sika!". Iltalehti (in Finnish). 22 October 2011. Retrieved 27 November 2022.

External links

[stt-1] "Naisen ja sian lempi on kestänyt jo neljännesvuosisadan – Viivi ja Wagner täyttää 25 vuotta!" (in Finnish). STT. 6 June 2022. Retrieved 27 November 2022.

[il-2] "Miljoona-sika!". Iltalehti (in Finnish). 22 October 2011. Retrieved 27 November 2022.

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[2]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{Short description|Finnish comic strip}}
-'''''Viivi & Wagner''''' is a [[Finland|Finnish]] [[comic strip]] drawn by [[Jussi Tuomola|Jussi "Juba" Tuomola]].
+{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
+{{Infobox comic strip
+|title=Viivi & Wagner
+|image=
+|caption=
+|creator=[[Jussi Tuomola|Jussi "Juba" Tuomola]]
+|status=Running
+|syndicate=
+|genre= [[Satire]], [[Gag-a-day]]
+|first=October 1997
+|last=
+}}
+[[File:Wagner olut.jpg|thumb|right|''Viivi & Wagner'' has, unusually for Finnish comics, spawned spin-off products in the form of alcoholic beverages: "Wagner" lager beer and "Viivi" light perry [[cider]].]]
+'''''Viivi & Wagner''''' is a somewhat absurdist [[Finland|Finnish]] newspaper [[gag-a-day]] [[comic strip]] drawn since 1997 by [[Jussi Tuomola|Jussi "Juba" Tuomola]].<ref name="stt" />
-The main characters in ''Viivi & Wagner'' are Viivi, a Finnish woman in her early twenties, and Wagner, a mature male [[pig]]. Wagner is fully antropomorphic and sentient, yet still considers himself a pig instead of a [[human]]. Viivi and Wagner are married to each other.
+By June 2022, nearly 25 years after its debut, over 7,300 ''Viivi & Wagner'' daily strips had been published, and these were republished as 25 compilation albums.<ref name="stt">{{cite news |title=Naisen ja sian lempi on kestänyt jo neljännesvuosisadan – Viivi ja Wagner täyttää 25 vuotta! |url=https://www.sttinfo.fi/tiedote/naisen-ja-sian-lempi-on-kestanyt-jo-neljannesvuosisadan-viivi-ja-wagner-tayttaa-25-vuotta?publisherId=64311881&releaseId=69943422 |access-date=27 November 2022 |agency=STT |date=6 June 2022 |language=fi}}</ref> The concept has also been adapted for the stage, as well as for audio books.<ref name="stt" />
-The comic originally appeared in ''Kultapossu'', a promotional children's magazine by a Finnish [[bank]]. In the original version of the comic, Viivi was a small girl and Wagner was her animate [[piggy bank]]. When the ''Kultapossu'' magazine was discontinued, Tuomola changed the comic from a promotional comic to a normal one, also changing the characters to adults in the process.
+''Viivi & Wagner'' has been exported to eg. Sweden, Estonia, Japan and China.<ref name="il">{{cite news |title=Miljoona-sika! |url=https://www.iltalehti.fi/viihde/a/2011102214608290 |access-date=27 November 2022 |work=Iltalehti |date=22 October 2011 |language=fi}}</ref>
-''Viivi & Wagner'' is extremely popular in Finland, because of its quirky humour. Most of the strips concern either arguments between Viivi and Wagner, or Wagner getting into totally absurd situations, either in everyday life or in a fantasy world. Some of the strips break the classic comic strip format by not having a definite [[punchline]] at the end.
+==Concept==
-Some readers, who have been unaware of the strip's history in a bank's promotional magazine for children, have taken Wagner's porcine appearance as a statement of [[feminism]], specifically implying that "men are pigs". Some have even thought Tuomola was a woman, because he drew Viivi's husband as a pig.
+{{unreferenced section|date=November 2022}}
+The titular main characters are Viivi, a Finnish woman in her twenties, and Wagner, a mature male [[pig]]. Wagner is fully anthropomorphic and sentient, yet still considers himself a pig instead of a human. Though often mistaken for married, the two are [[cohabitation|cohabitating]] in an ''[[The Odd Couple (play)|Odd Couple]]''-ish relationship and genuinely fond of each other when not bickering.
-While Viivi does not appear in every strip, Wagner does.
+The comic originally appeared in ''Kultapossu'', a promotional children's magazine by a Finnish bank. In the original version of the comic, Viivi was a small girl and Wagner was her animate [[piggy bank]]. When the ''Kultapossu'' magazine was discontinued, Tuomola adapted the characters to fit a newspaper comic strip style, also changing the characters to adults in the process.
+''Viivi & Wagner'' is extremely popular in Finland, above all because of its quirky humour. Most of the strips concern either arguments between Viivi and Wagner (''"You ate the wrapper, too?!" "I always eat the wrapper."''), or Wagner getting into totally absurd situations, either in everyday life or in a fantasy world (''"I'm stuck in the moment before the [[Big Bang]]"''). Some strips break the [[fourth wall]] (''"Hey, your outline is loose."'') or the classic comic strip format by not having a definite [[Punch line|punchline]] at the end.
+Some readers, who have been unaware of the strip's history in a bank's promotional magazine for children, have taken Wagner's porcine appearance as a statement of feminism, specifically implying that "men are pigs". Some have even thought Tuomola was a woman. It has been noticed that many medical inside jokes appear in the strips – many of them originate from an old friend of Juba, whose profession happens to be a doctor.
 ==Albums==
-[[As of 2005]], there have been eight ''Viivi & Wagner'' albums:
+{{As of|2013}}, there have been twelve ''Viivi & Wagner'' albums:
-# ''Sikspäkki ja salmiakkia'' ("A [[six pack]] and [[salmiakki]]), [[1998]]<br>Translated to [[Swedish language|Swedish]] as ''Sexpack och salmiak'' in [[2005]]
+# ''Sikspäkki ja salmiakkia'' ("A [[six-pack rings|six-pack]] and [[salmiakki]]), 1998<br />Translated to [[Swedish language|Swedish]] as ''Sexpack och salmiak'' in 2005
-# ''Apua, sängyssäni on sika!'' ("Help, there's a pig in my bed!"), [[1999]]
+# ''Apua, sängyssäni on sika!'' ("Help, there's a pig in my bed!"), 1999<br />Translated to Swedish as ''Hjälp, jag har en gris i sängen!'' in 2005
-# ''Ei banaaninkuoria paperikoriin!'' ("No [[banana]] peels in the paper bin!"), [[2000]]
+# ''Ei banaaninkuoria paperikoriin!'' ("No banana peels in the paper bin!"), 2000
-# ''Oi, mikä karju!'' ("Oh, what a hog!"), [[2001]]
+# ''Oi, mikä karju!'' ("Oh, what a hog!"), 2001
-# ''Kuumaa hiekkaa'' ("Hot sand"), [[2002]]
+# ''Kuumaa hiekkaa'' ("Hot sand"), 2002
-# ''Viriili vesipeto'' ("The virile water beast"), [[2003]]
+# ''Viriili vesipeto'' ("The virile water beast"), 2003
-# ''Sohvaperunoiden kuningas'' ("The king of the [[couch potato]]es"), [[2004]]
+# ''Sohvaperunoiden kuningas'' ("The king of the [[couch potato]]es"), 2004
-# ''Ranskalainen liukumäki'' ("The French slide"), [[2005]]
+# ''Ranskalainen liukumäki'' ("The French slide"), 2005
+# ''Kaasua sohvalla'' ("Gas on the couch"), 2006
+# ''Sian morsian?'' ("Bride of a pig?"), 2007
+# ''Terassilla tarkenee'' ("The terrace is warm enough", 2008)
+# ''Kuinka kasvissyöjä kesytetään'' ("Taming of the vegetarian", 2009)
+# ''Sika pussaa!'' ("Pig kissing", 2010)
+# ''Vieläkin yhdessä'' ("Still together", 2011)
+# ''Vau, kuuma kinkku!'' ("Wow, hot ham", 2012)
+# ''Sian puolella sänkyä!'' ("On the pig's side of the bed", 2013)
+==References==
+{{reflist}}
 ==External links==
-* [http://www.viivijawagner.net Viivi & Wagner home page]
+*[http://www.viivijawagner.net Viivi & Wagner home page]
-* [http://www.bullspress.com/bullsEnglish/go.wiz?doc=101243&sid=6624921606111851528022220193050611185152 Viivi and Wagner samples in English]
+*[http://www.helsinginsanomat.fi/viivijawagner/ Viivi & Wagner Archive] at [[Helsingin Sanomat]]
+*[http://www.gocomics.com/viivi-and-wagner Viivi & Wagner on gocomics.com]
-[[Category:Comic strips]]
-[[Category:Comics characters]]
+{{DEFAULTSORT:Viivi and Wagner}}
-[[Category:Finland]]
+[[Category:Finnish comic strips]]
+[[Category:1997 comics debuts]]
+[[Category:Gag-a-day comics]]
+[[Category:Romance comics]]
+[[Category:Satirical comics]]
+[[Category:Fictional Finnish people]]
+[[Category:Comics characters introduced in 1997]]
+[[Category:Comics about anthropomorphic pigs]]
+[[Category:Comics about married people]]
+[[Category:Comics magazines published in Finland]]