Line #22 ComicStrip/NittioettanKarlsson


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/91bob.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:The titular protagonist as drawn by Krister Petersson on the cover of ''Bild & Bubbla'', 1992]]
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4	''91:an Karlsson'' (Karlsson, nr. 91) is a Swedish comic strip by Rudolf Petersson that has been running [[LongRunner since 1932]]. The titular protagonist is a farmer boy called Mandel Karlsson, who reluctantly gets conscripted into the army and stationed in the relatively peaceful town Klackamo. The comic typically puts a silly twist on the military's tasks during peacetime such as mock battles, shifting between short gags and longer stories with slightly more continuity depending on the writer.
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6	The comic was originally published as recurring strips in other magazines, but starting in 1956 new stories featuring the characters would also get published in a new magazine named simply ''91:an''. This magazine would later get a spinoff version called ''87:an'', featuring reprints of stories from the original comic in which side character 87 Axelsson plays a bigger role.
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8	Apart from the original comics, 7 live-action films featuring the characters were made during the 50's and 70's. The comic also received a Norwegian ForeignRemake called ''91:an Stomperud''.
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10	----
11	!!These comics provide examples of:
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13	* AfraidOfNeedles: Discussed in a strip by Nils Egerbrandt; during a mock battle, 91 is ordered to pick up a weapon and fight, but he is reluctant to do so. In the end, he decides to pick a syringe filled with a yellow liquid as his weapon, reasoning that "This way, both friend ''and'' foe will be scared of me!"
14	* TheAlcoholic: Major Morgonkröök often keeps a bottle on him, and frequently gets into arguments with the army doctor Krank due to his drinking habit. In one of Rudolf Petersson's strips, it is revealed that he also hoards his emptied bottles to the point where 91 managed to find about 100 liters' worth of empty bottles in various sizes while cleaning his office once.
15	* AnimalLover: Mandel cares a lot about animals (in part due to growing up on a farm), which occasionally gets him in trouble. One strip shows him swerving his van out of the way to avoid crashing with a squirrel, which directly leads to him driving into a nearby lake and his superiors swearing they will never let him drive again. On the positive side of things though it often leads to him being trusted with any kind of animal related issue as well as maintaining good relationships with Överste Gyllenskalp's great Dane Cesar.
16	* ArmedFarces: Of the Peacetime variety; the Klackamo regiment generally stays out of harm's way aside from mock battles or the occasional fight against local criminals.
17	* BlackBeadEyes: Rudolf Petersson used these for all characters, only drawing their sclera if the character was sufficiently surprised. Since then some parts of the cast (including 91 and Elvira) will always be depicted with simplistic eyes even when others have more detailed ones.
18	* BornUnlucky: A lot of Gyllenskalp's problems often seem to come from chronic bad fortune and cosmic coincidences that only serve to make his life sour.
19	* BrilliantButLazy: 87 is genuinely clever and resourceful when the situation calls for it and would be a model soldier if not for his greed and laziness often wasting it.
20	* TheCasanova: Sgt. Revär has been shown courting a number of women throughout the series. His advances are often (if not always) reciprocated, but he still hasn't been in any long-lasting relationships.
21	* CasanovaWannabe: 87 often flirts with Elvira (even though she's taken) and other local women, but usually unsuccessfully; although he did get together with Elvira's cousin Jenny, she soon left the strip again.
22	* ClockTower: The strip "87:an i huvudroll" shows 87 visiting the local tower and getting to see the view from a hatch in the clock. He then decides to prank his fellow soldiers by making a dummy consisting of a fake head on a stick and putting it through the hatch, decapitating the dummy when the clock strikes 12.
23	* CommanderContrarian: Well ''General'' Contrarian as the case may be be but General Jävelberg is someone Gyllenskalp really hates having to deal with due to the laters constant propensity of finding faults in everything he does regardless of justification or circumstance without ever coming with anything constructive. Gyllenskalp outright refers to him as a sadist at one point.
24	* {{Crossover}}: Fairly commonly has these with fellow Swedish LongRunners ''Kronblom'' and ''Åsa-Nisse'', especially for anniversary specials.
25	* DelusionsOfEloquence: The Tofta gang's leader Berra often tries to declare himself a genius using the term "genialisk" only to pronounce it as "geni'''t'''alisk" ("genital").
26	* DisguisedInDrag: One story by Jan Roswall features the Tofta gang attempting to impersonate a quartet of ballet dancers so they can kidnap the king, hiding gun props beneath their wigs.
27	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The comic originally used a layout with images drawn by Rudolf Petersson placed above the narration, which was written in rhyming prose and credited to one of two aliases, "Kadudd" and "Kåbeson". Petersson then started writing the script and using conventional speech bubbles in the early 40's.
28	* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: The cranky old mechanic of the regiment is never referred to by name with everyone simply referring to his as Gamle Mäster.
29	* FunetikAksent: 91's dialogue is typically written with a Småland accent to emphasize his country boy origins.
30	* GetRichQuickScheme: One of 87's most common type of plot is any way for him to make a quick buck, often at someone else's expense. These almost always blow up in his face one way or the other.
31	* GoshDarnItToHeck: The characters typically use the mildest form available of Swedish swear words, with the exception of "fan" which gets replaced with the UnusualEuphemism "Fagerlund". The trope occasionally gets subverted for the sake of a gag, such as someone using the phrase "Jävlar!" ("God damn it!") while in a church and offending the nearby priest.
32	* GrumpyOldMan: Gamle Mäster is the regiments elderly mechanic and is infamously difficult to deal with, routinely going off on one his absurd "WhenIWasYourAge" stories of the military.
33	* HairTriggerTemper: Furir Rickard Revär is infamous on the regiment for his explosive temper and the list of stuff that can set him of into a blind fury is disturbingly long.
34	* InconsistentColoring: Hair colours are subject to this; Sgt. Revär is typically depicted as blonde, but has also been shown with white or even warm brown hair, sometimes in the same strip.
35	* IronicName:
36	** The regiment's relatively competent doctor has the last name Krank, meaning "ill" in German.
37	** Sgt. Mild, who typically is based outside Klackamo but has acted as Revär's substitute, is more of a DrillSergeantNasty than Revär himself.
38	* IwoJimaPose: The cover of a 2006 issue parodied this trope by having the main characters engage this pose while raising a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maypole maypole]].
39	* {{Jerkass}}: 87 often can be quite an ass to just about anyone, 91 in particular, for no practical reason other than that he could do it or for some twisted amusement.
40	* LaboriousLaziness: For how much he tries to bail on work, 87 often tends to put quite a lot of effort into his various schemes to find the easy way out.
41	* LighterAndSofter: Nils Egerbrandt's run of the comic is noted to have had "nicer" comedy than Petersson's, downplaying the characters' negative traits and making 91 less of a ButtMonkey.
42	* LogicBomb: In the short strip "Svar på Tal" ("Comeback"), 91 manages to give Revär a mindbender in regards to how he and 87 frequently finds themselves in the cage and never learn anything, of course they never learn anything if they spend all their time in the cage. Revär was left walking around thoroughly confused for quite a while after that.
43	* MeaningfulName:
44	** Gyllenskalp's name means "golden scalp", a reference to his baldness.
45	** Revär is named after the Swedish word for lampasse, ie. stripes on military uniforms' trousers.
46	** Morgonkröök is a slang for hangover, fitting with his alcoholism.
47	* MrViceGuy: 87:an Lars Fjodor Axelsson has about every vice under the sun and frequently ends up in trouble cause of it.
48	* NiceGuy: Major Hampus Morgonkröök is known as one of the nicer commanders on the regiment, being fairly easy to be around and to get along with. That said, he is also known for not being merciful when slighted.
49	* NippleAndDimed: While the comic usually hide character genitals whenever there's nudity, it is not afraid to show women topless.
50	* OneSteveLimit: Averted with the two Generals who both have the last name Bäävenhielm, although one of them was retired and has not made any new appearances since.
51	* OutdatedOutfit: The characters still wear military uniforms based on those from the 1940's (or in the protagonist's case from the 1930's) which have since been replaced with other models, clashing with the characters using contemporary technology and vehicles in later stories. The header of one strip hangs a lampshade on this with 91 and 87 seeing a modernly dressed solider and wonder if a Swedish soldier is [[HypocriticalHumor allowed to dress however they want these days]].
52	* ParentalAbandonment: 87 doesn't know who his father is for certain. He suspects Major Morgonkröök due to their similar facial features and his mum keeping a photo of the Major at her house, but it has never been confirmed whether Morgonkröök is aware of or cares about this possible relation.
53	* PoorCommunicationKills:
54	** One story features 87 overhearing his superiors discussing that they need help with cleaning up "the limousines". He immediately starts imagining himself using one of said limousines to impress people in town and eagerly signs up to do it, ordering the most extravagant uniform he can find for the task... [[spoiler:Only to discover that they actually were talking about ''limousine cattle''.]]
55	** Another short story ends up with a case of GossipEvolution where one of the commanders wanted to warm up the sauna leading to a chain of exchanges that eventually become "burn up the sauna". Once he realizes the error he then states that all orders are to be written, only for it to then turn into "no more orders".
56	** One story is nothing but a long string of misunderstandings come about as a result of Gyllenskalp being forced to babysit his grandson, this the same day a shrink had been sent to the regiment to assess his leadership capabilities.
57	* ProgressivelyPrettier: Elvira was drawn as overweight in early strips, but in the later 30's Rudolf Petersson made her slimmer and cuter with no official reason given.
58	* RealLifeWritesThePlot: Revär's rank has changed several times over the strips lifetime as a result of changes to the real life ranking system. Originally a Korpral, he was then changed to Överfurir and then simply Furir as the ranks where changed or removed.
59	* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Aside from his pedantic streak, General Bäävenhielm tends to be considered strict but fair, usually giving any soldiers accused of misconduct a fair trial.
60	* TheReliableOne: In spite of all his faults, it is Revär the men usually run to whenever there is serious trouble brewing thanks to his understanding of proper military doctrine and wilderness survival.
61	* SceneryCensor:
62	** Any nudity below the waist tends to be drawn from an angle where the genitals wouldn't be seen, either due to the scenery or the characters holding up things that would cover them from that particular angle.
63	** Subverted in the strip aptly named "Nakenchock" ("Nudity Schock"), in which 87 signs up for a model gig without realizing that it would be a nude shoot; while the panel depicting the actual shooting uses a gun to cover him up, the resulting photo is shown uncensored later on.
64	* TheScrooge: Kapten Julius Bernhard Berån is extremely money conscious and will constantly weight in whenever his money is on the line.
65	* SergeantRock: Sgt. Revär is usually depicted this way; while he is strict with his soldiers and they don't appreciate him putting them through vigorous training in peacetime, both parties are ultimately willing to stand up for the other if the situation calls for it.
66	* ShaggyDogStory: 91's attempts to avoid getting drafted in the first few strips. He starts harming himself, deliberately gets hypothermia, and pulls out all of his teeth only to still be considered "in good health" enough for military service.
67	* ShoutOut: ''ComicStrip/ThePhantom'' is a popular comic in this universe; various characters have been seen dressing up as him or Guran at masquerades, and Gyllenskalp also own a big collection of magazines dedicated to the comic.
68	* TheSmartGuy: 110:an Jyckenberg is one of the most intelligent conscripts in the regiment, often making use of his smarts to get out of troublesome situations or to make a point.
69	* SmugSnake: Överste Klaage, a commander from a rival regiment maintains quite the rivalry with Gyllenskalp and is someone not above foul play or a liberal reading of the rules. Despite this his often underhanded tactics and plans rarely work out despite his often smug attitude about how different the efficiency of their regiments are being run.
70	* StickyFingers: 87's mother, Bottina, routinely steals from the regiment so that she can either sell it for a profit or use herself. Major Morgonkröök is a frequent target of her petty thievery with her often nabbing his cigars. While he knows she does it, she is very slippery and difficult to catch in the act.
71	* StrongFamilyResemblance: Soldier 87 and his mother have a very similar facial structure. They sometimes exploit this by swapping places so they can skip work or access places they shouldn't be.
72	* UndercoverAsLovers: The 1993 story "I kärlek och krig" features 91 and Sgt. Revär staging a wedding (with 91 as the bride) in order to distract the opposing side during a mock battle.
73	* VerbalTic: Gyllenskalp is prone of ending his sentences with "På min ära" (On my honor).
74	* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: It has never been specified exactly where Klackamo is located except that it is somewhere in southern Sweden within somewhat reasonable distance of the capital.
75	* WholesomeCrossdresser: 91 is willing to disguise himself in anything from a bridal gown to Easter Witch attire for tactical reasons, and has been depicted wearing the traditionally female Lucia gown on a 1983 magazine cover. The other characters typically don't object to this, aside from one soldier who called him "a really ugly bride" and immediately got scolded by Revär for it.
76	* WithFriendsLikeThese: 91's best friend at the regiment is none other than 87, and with the [[{{Jerkass}} kind of person he is]], it seems like a miracle that they still hang out together.
77	* YouAreNumberSix: Every soldier has a canonical number, and certain soldiers have a habit of referring to each other by these numbers (which is most noticeable with 91 and 87) even if they do know each others' names.

Context ComicStrip / NittioettanKarlsson