Cześć! That's Polish for Hello (if you can't pronounce it, just sneeze). And Polenbal is Dutch for Polandball. This account will post a classic Polandball comic five times a week, to make you laugh about national stereotypes and absurd humor. I can't promise I'll post one every working day - I'm not a Mountain German!
Polandball is a democratic and international form of art. You only need a simple tool like Microsoft Paint to create a comic. You don't even need to be able to draw well. The simple shape of countryballs, without a mouth or any limbs, forces artists to focus on jokes and stories, while the shape of the balls' eyes is the only way to express emotions.
History lesson
Despite the name, Polandball was actually invented by a Brit called Falco on Krautchan, a German imageboard. Falco wanted to make fun of a Pole called Wojak who used to post rambling rants in broken English. You'll probably know Wojak (pronounced Voyak) better as 'Feels Guy', because his portrait also became a famous meme.
Krautchan disappeared last month, but to this day, we still follow conventions that started there as simple mistakes, like drawing the Polish flag with red on top or drawing Kazachstan as a rectangle.
From Krautchan, these memecircles spread to 4chan and Reddit. The subreddit /r/polandball has grown to more than 400,000 subscribers. The fascist mods keep quality at a certain level by banning overused jokes and allowing only approved users to post, with the exception of the monthly contests. Effortists manage to create beautiful works of art without using advanced tools, and some of their works are thoughtful tragedies instead of silly jokes.
Introducing myself
The person hiding in this machine, like Germany controlling the EU, is called . Hi, my name is Edwin den Boer, I'm a 47 year old Swamp German. Speaking of ugly things, I once carried the bisexual flag in a gay pride march. When I'm not on a bicycle or behind a computer, I lift things up and put them back down again. I'm a writer and I used to work as a freelance translator until I got involved in magic internet money. I created a Reddit account because of /r/polandball and I sometimes draw Polandball comics, for example about French Cuisine.
I like Poland and as an EU taxpayer, I happily invested in Eastern Poland, but I don't understand Polish, which was awkward when I had a difference of opinion with one of the locals about a traffic light.
As I said above, you don't need to be able to draw well.
Stealing art
Stealing art from other countries is a proud European tradition. Polandball comics are anonymous memes, meant to be shared. I won't be as shameless about it as the various websites and Facebook pages that copy from Reddit. I'll mention the artist and link to the original thread when I can find it, and to make myself useful, I'll include a transcription of the text in the comic, plus a list of topics, so it will be easier to find it. Transcriptions may include some short descriptions, but if you're blind, I'm afraid you won't understand what's so funny.
The financial goal of is to recruit voting power for
's future media empire. But if I start to make serious money, I'll give some of the rewards to a charity that supports artists. And I'd love to have contests here, with Steem or SBD as the prize.
No hate pls
Some of these jokes are more extreme than what gets published in the mainstream media. And it's a small step from national stereotypes to racism. But it's all meant to be in good fun. Everybody gets a turn to be insulted. It's not even satire. If you feel offended by a comic, I'll prescribe Dr. Österreich's Butthurt Ointment.
On the other hand, if you support hateful prejudices seriously in the comments, you'll be asked to behave or downvoted.
Poland's plunger
Today's comic is one I quoted on Quora in response to the question: Does the success of Polandball's web comics improve the international prestige of Poland, given it lends its name?
Poland: have seeings plunger of mine? i am with losings
Germany: nein, we are only the volleyball
France hides plunger behind its back
Poland: if yuo make to see of it, please be informings to me
Germany: ja ok
France: ok
Poland walks away crying
Germany: jan paweł lend me your strong!
France: honhonhon!
Artist: koleye.
Topics: Polska, Deutschland, plumber, Pope John Paul II, Roman Catholic, laugh, bully, lie, imitate, ball, ventriloquism.
Polandball comics about Poland.