Piranha Club is the title of a comic strip written and illustrated by Bud Grace. It was originally called Ernie, but the title was changed to the current one in 1998. The strip made its debut in February 1988, and Grace received the National Cartoonist Society Newspaper Comic Strip Award for 1993 for his work on the strip.

The strip is highly popular in the Scandinavian countries Norway and Sweden, where it is published in a bimonthly (previously monthly) comic book under the original title, Ernie. It is also one of the most popular comic strips regularly published in newspapers in Estonia (if not the most popular).^{[citation needed]}

Characters

• The Piranha Club is a society of freeloaders, hustlers and other shady characters who will do anything to make a quick buck. It also houses an actual piranha named Earl who serves as the club's mascot and trash compactor.
• Ernie Floyd used to be the strip's main character until stories shifted more onto Sid and the Piranha Club members. Originally, Ernie was portrayed as something of a loser, but he gradually evolved into a more "normal" person. He has held various jobs, but usually works as an assistant manager at the Mr. Squid fast-food restaurant. He owns a 1957 DeSoto, has a fetish for toasters, and dates Doris Husselmeyer.
• Sid Fernwilter is Ernie's uncle and member of the Piranha Club. Sid is a hustler who will do just about anything to make a quick buck. When he's not trying to scam a few dollars from his nephew or mooch a free meal, but when the strip's editors pointed out to Bud Grace that no one would voluntarily be friends with someone like Sid, he became Ernie's uncle. It should, however, be pointed out that Sid isn't completely black and white in his crook behaviour. He does have limits and never actually harms anyone, even if he succeeds in scamming them out of their savings. He also believes that actual robbery is below him.
• Doris Husselmeyer is Ernie's girlfriend. In the early years of the strip, Doris was unattractive with greasy hair and coke-bottle glasses, and stories were often about Ernie trying to break up with Doris without hurting her feelings. Doris eventually became a lot more attractive. She was at one time courted by Arnold, much to Ernie's anger, but Arnold seems to have given up this project. Doris owns a vicious cat named Bobo who usually attacks Ernie at every opportunity.
• Ethel "Effie" Munyon is Ernie's elderly and absent-minded landlady. A former Miss Bayonne, she has been married twelve times and is currently dating Sid, although Sid mostly hangs around with her to get a free meal. Effie is also a terrible cook and usually serves Sid dishes like boiled octopus or deep-fried roadkill. Then again, according to Sid, "the only thing better than a good meal is a free meal." She constantly calls Ernie Harold and often mistakes other men for her ex-husbands.
• Arnold Arnoldski is a homely, over-weight and bad-complected 19-year-old who often hangs out with Sid and frequently becomes involved in his schemes. As Ernie evolved into a more normal person, many of his loser characteristics were transferred to Arnold. Arnold often ends up as pack mule for Sid's schemes, and his more notable jobs include bungy-jumping tester, car alarm, goat herder, torpedo man and wrestler under the name "The Masked Slapper."
• Dr. Enos Pork, MD, is the most incompetent doctor north of Tierra del Fuego and is Sid's best friend. He is a heavy smoker and, like Sid, a member of the Piranha Club. He is married, and his wife (real name: Barbara Packer Pork) is usually referred to only as Frau Pork. He also clashes frequently with his mother-in-law, who is known only as Mother Packer. Both Frau Pork and Mother Packer often end up beating Dr. Pork into a pulp.
• Spencer Husselmeyer is Doris's 10-year-old brother. He is a mischievous brat who makes Bart Simpson seem a Boy Scout in comparison. He has a special affection of putting grease on doorknobs, toilet seats, or anything else he can apply it to and especially loves to practice on his sister's boyfriend, Ernie.
• Elvis Zimmerman is a used-car salesman and member of the Piranha Club.
• Reverend Bob is a televangelist and is also a prominent member of the Piranha Club.
• "Slick" Willie O'Haberman is an ambulance-chasing attorney, who is also a member of the Piranha Club.
• Quacko, the human duck
• The Bearded Lady, married to Quacko
• Zerblatt, a space alien from the planet Grelzak, married to a gorgeous earthling woman and having about one hundred frog-human hybrid children with her.
• Bill the Parrot, a Colombian parrot who lives in Ernie's apartement from time to time. Also often dresses up in a squid costume.
• Bud Grace is a former nuclear physicist turned cartoonist, who frequently makes appearances in his own comic strip.

Style

The strip is drawn in detail and appears in colour. The characters are shown around their city block, in their apartments, at church and in their club. Day to day items like cars, and other items which are drawn presented in as close to reality as possible.

While the strip is usually stand alone, on many occasions it is serialised with the story running for a week or more on some occasions.

The daily strip usually runs to four panels. The Sunday strip is in a three by three panel format with the strip logo appearing in the top left hand side panel.

Languages

• English: Ernie (later The Piranha Club)
• Danish: Erling (Piranha Klubben)
• Estonian: Ernie (Piraaja Klubi)
• Swedish: Ernie (Pirayaklubben)
• Finnish: Hannes (the name was never changed to the equivalent of The Piranha Club)
• Norwegian: Ernie (Pirajaklubben)
• Latvian: Ernijs (Piraju klubs)

Books

• Ernie: Out Of Control, ISBN 0-8362-2123-0