Who Would Have Thought That?

Fokke & Sukke received a Valentine Card. Translation:
Fokke (left): "You have the biggest prick I've ever come across"
Sukke (right): No, "are"!

Meet Fokke & Sukke, arguably the Netherlands' most popular cartoon figures. Fokke & Sukke, a duck and a canary with little willies, began their rise to stardom in 1994 when the renowned Amsterdam student magazine Propria Cures grudgingly admitted that the creators Reid, Geleijnse and Van Tol's Easter submission had what it takes to make readers giggle (for undisclosed reasons, their earlier Christmas cartoons had been deemed 'inappropriate').
Now with over a decade of political incorrectness under their t-shirts, Fokke & Sukke have become a vital feature of the Dutch media landscape. Uncannily in step with the Zeitgeist and the latest societal and political trends, they have flaunted their own variety of misfit idiocy from a variety of platforms, enjoying a widening and surprisingly highbrow fanbase. Fokke & Sukke are both endearing and repulsive, combining the witty and intelligent with the silly and crude. In 2003, Fokke & Sukke were awarded the Stripschapprijs, the Netherlands' premier cartoon award. The creators state that Fokke & Sukke in no way reflect the opinions and tastes of writer & illustrator Jean-Marc van Tol and writers John Reid and Bastiaan Geleijnse. Somewhat disturbingly, they're actually quite regular guys with families, careers and mortgages.

Quite regular guys

In addition to a daily slot in the Netherlands' broadsheet NRC Handelsblad, Fokke & Sukke feature in numerous Dutch university magazines and trade publications. Collections of their antics have seen many reprints and they also appear on a popular range of greeting cards. Recenty a collection of antics has been translated in English. The first translations originally were made for an exposition in the Art Directors Club in New York, May 2002. It was there the idea for an English edition was born, since interpreters Alex and Jacqueline Burrough, both raised bilingually in the Netherlands, got on well with translating the cartoons. Because other matters interfered, the plan was shelved, and it took another three years before it finally was published, for the time being only in the Netherlands. On the Fokke & Sukke-website, fans are encouraged to examine which cartoons actually are funnier in the English version than the Dutch one. I'm afraid nothing can stop the dawning age of Fokke & Sukke's world domination. Beware! The Chinese and Hindi versions are only a matter of time.