Land of the Free-est

Guest comic strip by Awut:

Based off the "Which country has the most freedom" articles in the news recently. (us Americans were very upset that we weren't ranked #1 :'D )

http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/nz-leads-worldwide-in-human-freedom-5314956
http://www.fraserinstitute.org/uploadedFiles/fraser-ca/Content/research-news/research/publications/ch3-an-index-of-freedom-in-the-world.pdf (pdf)

527 comments

Artwork and joke by Awut http://awutcomic.com/

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Black Pete

In the Netherlands Saint Nicholas is a separate person from Santa, and like Santa has his elves, Saint Nicholas has his Zwarte Piet (Black Pete).

Dutch people will usually claim he is just covered in sod from the chimneys, but his clean clothes makes it pretty obvious Black Pete is inspired by a caricature of black people, but it should be noted that Black Pete is not supposed to be an African. It's more like a sort of magical being that has it's looks inspired by the caricature.

377 comments

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Still a long way

Not a month goes by without someone confusing Sweden/Switzerland or Denmark/Netherlands. With Sweden/Switzerland it's because of the names of the countries, but with Denmark/Netherlands it's because people from Denmark are called Danish and people from Netherlands are called Dutch.

It's usually Americans who make those mistakes, but the first time I encountered it in real life was actually in England when I got in the wrong line to get into the country. I was supposed to stand in the Europe line but ended up in the Rest of The World line, and one of the women there could apparently tell something was wrong and asked me, "Are you Dutch?" I said no and handed her my passport which said Denmark and she responded with, "That's what I said: Dutch. Why are you lying about where you're from?"

1235 comments

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Ungodly Surprise

You can all blame the Faroe Islander Boyishy for this one. All I can say is, you have to watch your mouth when you talk with me.

Originally Sweden and Åland were involved too, but I decided to break the idea into two comics.

Anyway, the Faroe Islands is the most religious part of the Nordics and the one with fewest gay rights (Gay sex is allowed, but not gay marriages and adoptions, and registered partnerships are not recognized)

Not all straight Faroe Islanders are of course religious and/or against homosexuality, and it’s nowhere near as bad as some of the middle eastern countries, so don’t get the wrong picture. Unfortunately some politicians with very religious views are in charge (One wouldn’t go to a dinner with Iceland’s lesbian prime minister who had brought her wife with her).

But no one is that homophobic without being in the closet... ;)

1057 comments

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Australian Princess

While drawing this a program about the royal wedding between the Danish crown prince Frederik and the Australian Mary started on TV.

Mary have become a very beloved princess in Denmark. Unlike the French guy our queen Margrethe married, Mary was very quick to learn Danish and she just overall seems like a really nice lady.

It may seem like a weird mix to have Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Netherlands together, that’s because those four royal families usually hang out together.

Denmark crying at the end is also a reference to the wedding, where prince Frederik started crying like baby. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iL9ZlVwgnUU (And her father was wearing an awesome kilt!)

1333 comments

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Dracula

Dracula. The vampire comes from Transylvania in Romania, Van Helsing comes from the Netherlands, and the story takes place in England.

They’re quoting the movie from 1992

720 comments

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More Difficult Love

Their love is a difficult one.

If Germany and Sister Japan ever got married, you can be damn sure Netherlands and Denmark would screw up the honeymoon vacation.

I promise to post a less stupid comic tomorrow.

750 comments

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Drunken Party

Atlantis and all his magic friends have confused many drunks throughout history.

Drunks from left to right: Scotland, Ireland, Finland, Australia, Belgium, Russia, Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and Greece in the last picture.

767 comments

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Tea-Party Crasher

Just invite Denmark next time, okay?

Apparently Japanese people have very high blood pressure, because that’s the only way to explain why people in anime and manga get explosive nosebleeds when they’re turned on.

I’ve had this one lying around for a long time because I kept drawing other comics that I would rather post.

1058 comments

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Who to give Flowers

America doesn’t like being confused.

Inspired by two things.
1) Canada getting flowers every year from the Netherlands as a thank you for helping them during WWII.
2) A conversation between two guys that I overheard.

794 comments

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