Humoralbum #7/2001
Humoralbum #7/2001 is the first dedicated album-format collection of Torbjørn Lien's 'Kollektivet' strip, gathering early installments of what would become one of Norway's most enduring modern humor comics. The issue marks the first time characters Gry, Kisse, Mounir, Ronny, and Tobben — the multicultural, irreverent ensemble at the heart of the series — were presented together in a standalone album context, cementing the strip's identity just a year after its debut. By spotlighting a homegrown Norwegian slice-of-life strip in a format typically reserved for translated international material, the issue represents a meaningful step in Bladkompaniet's support of domestic comic talent during a transitional period for the publisher.
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Torbjørn Lien launched 'Kollektivet' in early 2000 as a guest strip in the Norwegian Far Side Gallery magazine ('Larsons gale verden'), published by Bladkompaniet. The strips collected in Humoralbum #7/2001 were drawn directly from those earliest 'Larsons gale verden' appearances, making this album a near-immediate retrospective of the strip's first year. The issue was published in September 2001, under the newly combined Bladkompaniet/Schibsted imprint — Schibsted having acquired Bladkompaniet in 1999 — at the launch of the Humoralbum series itself, which the GCD dates to 2001.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published September 2001 by Bladkompaniet/Schibsted as issue #7 of their newly launched Humoralbum anthology series.
- The issue is subtitled 'Kollektivet' and collects seven strips featuring Torbjørn Lien's ensemble cast in one of the earliest dedicated album presentations of that strip.
- Characters appearing include Tobben, Mounir, Ronny, Gry, and Kisse — the core cast of 'Kollektivet' (internationally known as 'Chez Cuckoo').
- The source material was drawn from Lien's guest-strip appearances in 'Larsons gale verden' (the Norwegian edition of Gary Larson's Far Side Gallery magazine), where 'Kollektivet' debuted in 2000.
- Creator Torbjørn Lien writes, pencils, inks, and letters the strip entirely solo — a single-creator production throughout.
- Strips from this album were subsequently reprinted in 'Kollektivet bilag LGV' #1204 (November 2004), 'Kollektivet bok' #1 — 'Masse pils og litt pizza' (September 2006), and multiple issues of the monthly 'Kollektivet' series from 2008 onward, confirming their status as foundational early installments.
- Bladkompaniet, the publisher, was established in 1915 and was acquired by the Norwegian media conglomerate Schibsted in 1999, making this issue an early product of that merged publishing identity.
- 'Kollektivet' later spun off into its own monthly comic book and multiple book collections; Lien also began publishing the strip in English as 'Chez Cuckoo' starting in 2018, with international syndication through Bulls Press.