Арне Анка: Швециялық сатиралық комикстер

Swedish comic strip

Arne Anka is a Swedish comic strip drawn by Charlie Christensen from 1983 to 1995 and 2006 and forward. The title character is inspired by Donald Duck (who is called Kalle Anka in Swedish). The likeness with Donald Duck is only feather deep, however; the comics often take place at a bar, Zeke's, where Arne gets drunk while he cynically thinks about and discusses life. This usually happens in the company of his friend, Krille Krokodil ("Krille Crocodile"). In other situations, Arne is found walking, with friends or alone, and occasionally he is found in a completely different setting (albeit with the same group of friends), like ancient Rome or 18th century Paris. Always, however, he comments on life and (especially Swedish) society with sharp wit. Some distinct features about Arne Anka is deep love for Swedish poetry and literature, his miserable financial situation, his excessive consumption of alcohol, and his enthusiasm towards women even though he has very little luck with any such connections. Charlie Christensen uses his friends as inspiration for the characters and stories in Arne Anka. One of his friends has said that you sometimes notice that Charlie Christensen gets a particular look and then a few weeks later you read what you just said in an Arne Anka strip. In 1997, a few pages were translated to English in connection with an exhibition of Nordic comics in France, and the publication of an English language anthology. In this translation, the character was given the name "Arnie the Duck".

In 1995, Arne Anka was produced as a play at Stockholm City Theatre (Stockholms Stadsteater). The play was written by Christensen himself, and it was called "Arne Anka en afton på Zekes" ("Arne Anka an evening at Zeke's"), starring Robert Gustafsson as Arne.

In December 2006, after more than ten years of absence, Arne made his comeback in Christensen's Arne Anka, Part V: Återuppståndelsen (The resurrection). When we meet him now, he is divorced with two kids, pays child support and, if possible, has even worse finances than in the past. But since the 2003 invasion of Iraq the comic has clearly turned into a political satire in a more international and universal way, discussing morals, ethics and existential questions, all under the disguise of a normal visit to a bar. In this fashion he has discussed themes as Neo nazism, "Dagbok från Svitjod (Diary from Svitjod)" from 2014, the attack on Charlie Hebdo and following attacks "Mentala selfies (Mental selfies) 2016", and lately he has published an album based on Donald Trumps 4 years at power, "Alla dessa krig talar om oss själva", 2022. In 2023 he published "All These Wars Talk About Ourselves", an english translation of that same album. For more information visit his homepage at: arneanka. org

For Joachim Trier's 2021 Norwegian film The Worst Person in the World, Charlie Christensen was hired to do the comic "Gaupe" (roughly "Lynxie") in an Arne Anka inspired style. Her er tegneserien Gaupe fra Verdens verste menneske, Walter Wehus, Empirix. no, Dec. 31, 2021. (Norwegian)