Apologies to Thorbjørn Egner.

Hmm. I suspect the reference in todays strip might be way too obscure for the general public, but damnit, I’m pretty pleased with it so I’m posting it anyway. For anyone outside of Scandinavia, the two jolly fellows in the first three panels are Karius and Baktus (a play on the words Caries and Bacteria), from the children’s book released in 1949 written and illustrated by Thorbjørn Egner. These two main characters are “tooth trolls” living inside a boys mouth, often feasting on fine bread with syrup, and at their happiest when the boy doesn’t bother to brush his teeth. According to Wikipedia, an English translation was released in 1986, with no indication about its popularity, but at least here in Norway the book is extremely well known, and imprinted in pretty much everyones minds from an early age here as the pedagogical device for dental care.

I’m guessing the above explanation will prove to be helpful to most readers, but I would love to be proven wrong! Please let me know if you recognize the reference, especially if you live far away from Scandinavia. And what do I know, maybe even the strip is vaguely amusing even if you have no idea who these guys are?

Oh, and the real book doesn’t end quite as voilent as my alternate version…

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