Piranha Club 1999-2012

Since I saw a scan of a Norwegian Ernie/Piranha Club comic here, I figured I would up what US rips we got of it.
The strip is fairly popular in scandinavia, but in the US, there is only a few books out, and King Features Syndicate have the "We'll sell you 1 year backlog, if you want more, tough luck" approach to the series, so it is hard to find. This collection is the most we have ever been able to dig up, but I fear that the early strips in english might be lost, unless the syndicates change their business model :thumbsdown:


Piranha Club is the title of a comic strip written and illustrated by Bud Grace. It was originally called Ernie, but the title was changed to the current one in 1998. The club is meant as a parody on Lions Club International, and the strip made its debut in February 1988.

The strip is drawn in detail and appears in color. While the strip is usually stand alone, on many occasions it is serialized with the story running for a week or more on some occasions. The daily strip usually runs to four panels. The Sunday strip is in a three-by-three panel format with the strip logo appearing in the top left panel.

Here is a few select strips, featuring some of the regular cast:


The Piranha Club, a group shot of one of their most sacred rituals:


Sid Fernwilter, Ernie's uncle and member of the Piranha Club, is a hustler who will do just about anything to make a quick buck when he's not trying to scam a few dollars from his nephew or mooch a free meal from Effie. Here are a few examples of his scams:





Ernie, the original main character of the series, before the focus moved on to the Piranha Club.


Arnold Arnoldski, the local loser. Arnold often ends up as pack mule for Sid's schemes, and his more notable jobs include bungie-jumping tester, car alarm, goat herder, torpedo man and wrestler under the name The Masked Slapper.


Doris Husselmeyer, Ernie's girlfriend, showing off her skills as an elder sister:


Ethel "Effie" Munyon, Ernie's landlady, dating Sid. Horrible cook:


Dr. Enos Pork, the most incompetent doctor north of Tierra del Fuego and Sid's best friend. A member of the Piranha Club.


Frau Pork, Enos' wife, and her mother, Mother Packer:


Spencer, Doris' little brother:


Mr. Husselmeyer, Doris' overprotective father:


Reverend Bob, local priest, member of the Piranha Club:


Elvis Zimmerman, used car salesman, and member of the Piranha Club:


The Wurlitzer Brothers, Banyonne's most cunning criminals:


Bob the Zombie....don't ask:


Beardo the Bearded Lady, and her husband Quacko, guest starring Osama Bin Laden:


The drunk, and his frog, regular features in bar settings:


And last, but not least, Bud Grace, the creator of the strip, who frequently show up. Here as his alter ego, Cheeseman: