History ComicStrip / Pondus

* CharacterDevelopment: Jokke famously went from a lazy, work-shy CassanovaWannabe who could only hook up with women so hideously ugly that they barely qualified as human, to being HappilyMarried with a child, and owning a music store.

* LazyBum: One of Jocke's most notable aspects in the early days, he'd much rather live off welfare to the point that he'd go out of his way to get fired everytime he got placed at a new job. Downplayed eventually.

* ProfessionalSlacker: In the early days of the comic, Jokke was so chronically work-shy that even ComicStrip/AndyCapp would've thought he ought to be ashamed of himself. One of the strip's [[RunningJoke running jokes]] was that Jokke would repeatedly be required by the welfare administration to accept some of the temp jobs given to him, or he'd lose his welfare money. Jokke would then proceed to get fired as soon as possible, usually by showing up for work in an outrageous costume, or, failing that, by insulting the customers. It went so far that when the welfare administration began calling his bluff, he came prepared; when he was assigned to a job where the work foreman was wise to his tricks, [[CrazyPrepared Jokke had already spent his last welfare money hiring a private investigator to dig up some dirt on the foreman]], forcing him to let him go.
* RealMenWearPink: ''Completely'' averted, at least from Pondus' own POV. He has a set of strict rules for proper male behaviour, and if you break any of them, you don't deserve to be called a real man. Do you like music with synths? You're gay. Do you wear necklaces of any kind? You're gay. You don't like football? You're gay. Do you - ARRGH!! - '''[[BerserkButton wear your sweater around your neck!!??]]''' It doesn't matter what your sexual orientation is, because you're a freakin' '''eunuch''' anyway!!

* InVinoVeritas: Happens a lot to Jokke.

* EaglelandOsmosis: In a MailmanVsDog strip sequence, the neighbourhood mailman is seen wearing a full uniform with a hat, something which is not customary in the Norwegian postal service. Nor is it common for the mail carrier to go from house to house, like this one does; in Norwegian suburban neighbourhoods, the mailboxes of every local household are usually situated on the same spot.

The comic is centered around family man Patrick a.k.a. Pondus and his best friend, former layabout Joachim "Jokke" Jacobsen. They both obsess about [[UsefulNotes/TheFACup the English football league]], classic rock (especially the [[Music/{{ACDC}} hard]] [[Music/{{KISS}} kind]]) and beer. In the early years, the strip usually centered around Pondus' and Jokke's bar discussions as well as Jokke's adventures in womanizing (which, half the time, [[AmusingInjuries got him smashed to a pulp]] by [[NightmareFuel grotesquely]] [[{{gonk}} ugly women]], and the other half, [[TheCasanova got him in bed with them]]). But ever since Jokke got into a steady job and a steady relationship, the strip is becoming more and more [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters ensemble-oriented]].

* DeadpanSnarker: Pondus

** Pondus is homophobic. He doesn't hate gay people, he's ''utterly terrified'' of them.

* ProfessionalSlacker: In the early days of the comic, Jokke was so chronically work-shy that even ComicStrip/AndyCapp would've thought he ought to be ashamed of himself. One of the strip's [[RunningJoke running jokes]] was that Jokke would repeatedly be required by the welfare administration to accept some of the temp jobs given to him, or he'd lose his welfare money. Jokke would then proceed to get fired as soon as possible, usually by showing up for work in an outrageous costume, or, failing that, by insulting the costumers. It went so far that when the welfare administration began calling his bluff, he came prepared; when he was assigned to a job where the work foreman was wise to his tricks, [[CrazyPrepared Jokke had already spent his last welfare money hiring a private investigator to dig up some dirt on the foreman]], forcing him to let him go.

* ProfessionalSlacker: In the early days of the comic, Jokke was so chronically work-shy that even ComicStrip/AndyCapp would've thought he ought to be ashamed of himself. One of the strip's [[RunningJoke running jokes]] was that Jokke would repeatedly be required by social services to accept some of the temp jobs given to him, or he'd lose the dole money. Jokke would then proceed to get fired as soon as possible, usually by showing up for work in an outrageous costume, or, failing that, by insulting the costumers. It went so far that when social services began calling his bluff, he came prepared; when he was assigned to a job where the work foreman was wise to his tricks, [[CrazyPrepared Jokke had already spent his last dole money hiring a private investigator to dig up some dirt on the foreman]], forcing him to let him go.

* NamesTheSame: PlayedForLaughs when Pondus gave Jocke a subtle DamnedByFaintPraise moment because of his lousy guitar skills (and horrible singing). Pondus claimed he was the spitting image of ''Paul Stanley'' (the lead singer of Music/{{KISS}}). Øverli intervened himself to explain that Pondus actually had referred to "Paul Stanley, the pig farmer from Idaho" - apparently a devil in the pig raising business, but with zero musical skills.

The comic is centered around family man Patrick a.k.a. Pondus and his best friend, former layabout Joachim "Jokke" Jacobsen. They both obsess about [[UsefulNotes/TheFACup the English football league]], classic rock (especially the [[Music/{{ACDC}} hard]] [[Music/{{KISS}} kind]]) and beer. In the early years, the strip usually centered around Pondus' and Jokke's bar discussions as well as Jokke's adventures in womanizing (which, half the time, [[AmusingInjuries got him smashed to a pulp]] by [[NightmareFuel grotesquely]] [[{{gonk}} ugly women]], and the other half, [[TheCasanova got him in bed with them]]). But ever since Jokke got into a steady job and [[spoiler: (for a while)]] a steady relationship, the strip is becoming more and more [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters ensemble-oriented]].

* BiTheWay: Turid-Laila a.k.a.Tammy-Sue. Which the usually homophobic Pondus thinks is more than okay.
** She discusses it with both Pondus and Jocke on separate occasions; neither has any trouble imagining people being attracted to women, but find it baffling that ''anyone'' can be attracted to men.

--> '''Jocke''': *calmly snapping matches in half* Ah don't worry, he only screamed until he passed out.
--> '''Pondus''': SHUT UP!! It should be against the rules to play football with legs that skinny!!

--> '''Pondus''': Great job buddy, that one must've stung.
--> '''Jocke''': ''SHUT UP!''

* MissFanservice: Turid Laila (a.k.a. Tammy Sue) is by far one of the most attractive characters in the comic and usually wears revealing tank tops. Jocke was an AbhorrentAdmirer for her for a very long time.

* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: After Jokke [[spoiler: got together with Camilla and]] quit picking up ugly women in bars, the comic faced a problem in that the sequences with ugly women were highly popular among the comic's fans. The solution? The supporting characters Ivar and (to a lesser extent) Hugo, who had previously only been noted for their bottle cap collection hobby, were suddenly shown taking great interest in women of Jokke's standards, using the same horrible pick-up lines with the same luck.
** [[CasanovaWannabe With even less luck]], actually.

* ThoseTwoGuys: Hugo and Ivar, Pondus' busdriving colleagues. Especially after they fill Jokke's shoes as CasanovaWannabe.
* [[FelonyMisdemeanor What Do You Mean, It's Not]] CampGay?: As a little league coach, Pondus won't let the boys stretch after exercise - It's "very feminine".

* MissFanservice: Turid Laila (a.k.a. Tammy Sue) is by far one of the most attractive characters in the comic and usually wears revealing tank tops. Jocke was an AbhorentAdmirer for her for a very long time.

* StylisticSuck: In the later comics, Overli sometimes [[ShowWithinAShow showcases comics]] done by comic book artist Roger, all of them invariably crappy. At first they were just short, crudely drawn strips (including an obvious ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'' ripoff), but later Overli made whole, multi-page stories about "Tanga-Tore", a [[FanDisservice thong-wearing male vigilante]]. All of them feature [[IncrediblyLamePun lame wordplay for jokes]], [[GenericDoomsdayVillain painfully generic]] [[MadScientist mad scientists]] with [[DoomsdayDevice destroy-the-world machines]] for villains, bizarre plot developments and are usually resolved with a DeusExMachina (including [[TheCameo a surprise appearance]] by Series/{{MacGyver}}).

* CategorismAsAPhobia: The titular character Pondus excels at this. He doesn't seem to have much real bigotry or even prejudice, it's just that he has this crippling fear of homosexuals and homosexual sex acts. He has nightmares about making out with guys, he starts shivering with fear at the sight of real life gays, and so on. He is aware of it, and actually makes an effort to deal with it when a gay couple moves in next door with him.

** At one point, his friend Jocke felt like messing a bit with him. So Jocke asked him if he had ever masturbated, and of course Pondus said yes. Jocke then proceded to inform Pondus that Pondus had actually had sex with a man: himself. In the next panel, Pondus is screaming psychotically while washing his right hand, and Jocke is laughing at him.

* MissFanservice: Turid Laila (a.k.a. Tammy Sue) is by far one of the most attractive characters in the comic and usually wears revealing tank tops.

* WeAllLiveInAmerica: In a MailmanVsDog strip sequence, the neighbourhood mailman is seen wearing a full uniform with a hat, something which is not customary in the Norwegian postal service. Nor is it common for the mail carrier to go from house to house, like this one does; in Norwegian suburban neighbourhoods, the mailboxes of every local household are usually situated on the same spot.

The comic is centered around family man Patrick a.k.a. Pondus and his best friend, former layabout Joachim "Jokke" Jacobsen. They both obsess about [[TheFACup the English football league]], classic rock (especially the [[Music/{{ACDC}} hard]] [[Music/{{KISS}} kind]]) and beer. In the early years, the strip usually centered around Pondus' and Jokke's bar discussions as well as Jokke's adventures in womanizing (which, half the time, [[AmusingInjuries got him smashed to a pulp]] by [[NightmareFuel grotesquely]] [[{{gonk}} ugly women]], and the other half, [[TheCasanova got him in bed with them]]). But ever since Jokke got into a steady job and [[spoiler: (for a while)]] a steady relationship, the strip is becoming more and more [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters ensemble-oriented]].

* BritishFootyTeams: Pondus is a Liverpool fan. Jokke holds with Leeds. Camilla ([[FelonyMisdemeanor shock and horror!]]) favours Manchester United. Their bickering gets PlayedForLaughs.

** [[DirtyHarry "Make my night!"]]

The comic is centered around family man Patrick a.k.a. Pondus and his best friend, former layabout Joachim "Jokke" Jacobsen. They both obsess about [[TheFACup the English football league]], classic rock (especially the [[Music/{{ACDC}} hard]] [[{{KISS}} kind]]) and beer. In the early years, the strip usually centered around Pondus' and Jokke's bar discussions as well as Jokke's adventures in womanizing (which, half the time, [[AmusingInjuries got him smashed to a pulp]] by [[NightmareFuel grotesquely]] [[{{gonk}} ugly women]], and the other half, [[TheCasanova got him in bed with them]]). But ever since Jokke got into a steady job and [[spoiler: (for a while)]] a steady relationship, the strip is becoming more and more [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters ensemble-oriented]].

* NamesTheSame: PlayedForLaughs when Pondus gave Jocke a subtle DamnedByFaintPraise moment because of his lousy guitar skills (and horrible singing). Pondus claimed he was the spitting image of ''Paul Stanley'' (the lead singer of Music/{{Kiss}}). Øverli intervened himself to explain that Pondus actually had referred to "Paul Stanley, the pig farmer from Idaho" - apparently a devil in the pig raising business, but with zero musical skills.

** He also makes it pretty darn clear that he doesn't like {{U2}}. [[WesternAnimation/SouthPark Not to the point where Bono is revealed to literally be the world's greatest turd]], but still.

* NamesTheSame: PlayedForLaughs when Pondus gave Jocke a subtle DamnedWithFaintPraise moment because of his lousy guitar skills (and horrible singing). Pondus claimed he was the spitting image of ''Paul Stanley'' (the lead singer of Music/{{Kiss}}). Øverli intervened himself to explain that Pondus actually had referred to "Paul Stanley, the pig farmer from Idaho" - apparently a devil in the pig raising business, but with zero musical skills.

* InformedDeformity: Hugo is sometimes described as being particularly ugly, but he really doesn't look much different from the other males in the comic (except that he's a little fatter).

* InformedDeformity: Hugo is sometimes described as being particularly ugly, but he really doesn't look much different from the other males in the comic (excpet that he's a little fatter).