Mandel Karlsson, also known as 91:an Karlsson or 91:an, is a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used b ...

comic book character and the main

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...

in the comic strip series '' 91:an'' (Eng: ''

№ The numero sign or numero symbol, №, (also represented as Nº, No, No. or no.), is a typographic abbreviation of the word ''number''(''s'') indicating ordinal numeration, especially in names and titles. For example, using the numero sign, t ...

91''). He was created in 1932 by

Rudolf Petersson Rudolf Petersson (17 June 1896 – 17 April 1970) was a Swedish comic creator and the father of one of the most popular Swedish comics of all time: '' 91:an''. Petersson performed national service at the I 16 regiment in Halmstad, Halland, be ...

. The series is now published in its own bi-weekly comic book, '' 91:an'', and also as a single strip in the popular weekly women's magazine ''

Året Runt ''Året Runt'' ( Swedish: ''All Year Around'') is a weekly women's and family magazine published in Malmö, Sweden. Founded in 1946 it is one of the longest-running magazines in the country. History and profile ''Året Runt'' was started by Åhl ...

''.

Mandel's personality

Mandel Karlsson is based on two people Rudolf Petersson met during his national service in the

Halland Regiment The Halland Regiment ( sv, Hallands regemente), designations I 16 and I 16/Fo 31, was a Swedish Army infantry regiment that traced its origins back to the 16th century. The regiment's soldiers were originally recruited from the provinces of Väste ...

. He based his characters 91:an Karlsson and 87:an Axelsson on a man named

Småland Småland () is a historical province () in southern Sweden. Småland borders Blekinge, Scania, Halland, Västergötland, Östergötland and the island Öland in the Baltic Sea. The name Småland literally means ''Small Lands''. The Latinized ...

ian. Mandel Karlsson is a

sympathetic character A sympathetic character is a fictional character in a story whom the writer expects the reader to identify with and care about, if not admire. Protagonists, almost by definition, fit into the category of a sympathetic character; so, however, do man ...

. During the first three decades, Mandel was fond of fighting, but became a less aggressive, gentler character during the highly successful period of

Nils Egerbrandt Nils Egerbrandt (born 11 May 1926 in Stockholm, died 4 February 2005) was a Swedish comic creator who created a few children's comics in the 1950s, such as ''Olli'', about an adventurous eskimo boy. Later, he took over the popular Swedish com ...

's work, starting in the 1960s. Mandel Karlsson is a young man, aged perhaps 20 or 21, who is a

military conscript Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day ...

in the

Swedish Army The Swedish Army ( sv, svenska armén) is the land force of the Swedish Armed Forces. History Svea Life Guards dates back to the year 1521, when the men of Dalarna chose 16 young able men as body guards for the insurgent nobleman Gusta ...

. He is attached to the fictional Klackamo Regiment. His number is "91", thus he is widely known in Sweden as "91:an Karlsson", although in the comic strip itself he is almost always referred to as Mandel (Eng: '' Almond'', an extremely unusual

first name First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

), or simply 91:an. Mandel is the son of Mandolina and Johan Karlsson. From a working-class rural background, he often uses colloquial dialect expressions and vocabulary and possesses a connection to animals. He is a well-known

accordionist Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a ree ...

. Previously, he was also a heavy smoker. He is very keen on his girlfriend Elvira Olsson. Although they have regular fall-outs, and he has been known to express a lively interest in other young ladies who meet his acquaintance, although less so than other fellow conscripts at the Klackamo Regiment. Elvira often has to take the initiative in romantic matters. His

sidekick A sidekick is a slang expression for a close companion or colleague (not necessarily in fiction) who is, or is generally regarded as, subordinate to the one they accompany. Some well-known fictional sidekicks are Don Quixote's Sancho Panza, ...

, Lars Fjodor Axelsson, is a brasher, naughtier character, and has frequently tried to compete with Mandel for the attentions of Elvira. Mandel is well liked by the senior officers at the regiment and is quickly forgiven his frequent transgressions of the rules. He often does chores for Överste Gyllenskalp at home, for example walking his

Great Dane The Great Dane is a large sized dog breed originating from Germany. The Great Dane descends from hunting dogs from the Middle Ages used to hunt wild boar and deer, and as guardians of German nobility. It is one of the largest breeds in the world ...

, Caesar.

Media adaptations

The comics were adapted into a theatrical play and a series of films.

References

Maurice Horn Maurice Horn (born 1931) is a French-American comics historian, author, and editor, considered to be one of the first serious academics to study comics. He is the editor of ''The World Encyclopedia of Comics'', ''The World Encyclopedia of Carto ...

(1983).
The World encyclopedia of comics, Volume 4
'. Chelsea House Publishers. . pp. 519–521. {{DEFAULTSORT:Karlsson, Mandel Swedish comics Swedish comics characters 1932 comics debuts Fictional Swedish Army personnel Fictional Swedish people Humor comics Military comics Comics characters introduced in 1932 Male characters in comics Swedish comics adapted into films Comics adapted into plays Comics set in Sweden no:91:an Karlsson sv:91:an Karlsson

Mandel's personality

Media adaptations

See also

References