B. Virtanen: History and Key Facts

B. Virtanen is a Finnish comic strip written by Ilkka Heilä. In 2009, the comic was published in almost 50 newspapers.

The strip is about the family and work life of a typical Finnish man named B. Virtanen. His full first name is never revealed and few, if any, Finnish first names start with the letter B, which does not occur in Finnish except in loanwords. He is married and has a steady job but both cause him constant trouble as he is hen-pecked by his wife at home and oppressed by his superiors at work. The main setting is the office in which B. Virtanen works. His employer is named Oy Firma Ab, literally "Company Ltd."; its exact line of business is thus never revealed but the company has some sort of production since a factory has been mentioned.

Heilä explained the B in an interview: Heilä made the character for a newspaper comic strip contest in 1989, and almost the first thing in his mind was the name. In that time, people used to talk about "A-class" and "B-class" citizens. B. certainly isn't second class, but his life isn't really "A-class" either. The idea of the series is simple, everyone walks over him. Heilä made about 20 strips of that idea, and got the shared second prize of the competition.

The abbreviation of Virtanen's forename to an initial is not unusual in itself. It has been revealed in the comic that Virtanen does so because the name itself is so humiliating. In one strip his name is revealed to his co-workers (but censored to the reader) and the crowd bursts out laughing. Virtanen is among the most common surnames in Finland.

Source and attribution

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