Torben Osted

Torben Osted blev født 18.6.1945 i Torkilstrup. Efter universitetsstudier og diverse beskæftigelser begyndte han at arbejde free lance som håndtekster, tegner og rentegner for forskellige forlag og reklamebureauer.
Da Henning Gantriis i en sygdomsperiode i 1980 ikke kunne levere sin provinsbysatire, humorstrip'en Livets gang i Lidenlund til dagbladet Politiken, blev Osted hans afløser med den spidsfindige strip Fodring Forbudt. Denne sofistikerede humorserie om de lettere psykopatiske dyr i en zoologisk have - tegnet i en enkel, hyggelig og udtryksfuld streg - måtte dog stoppe, da Lidenlund vendte tilbage.
Først i 1986 fik Osted mulighed for at levere nye gags og strip til serien i forlaget Interpresses hæfte Fodring forbudt, hvor den indtil 1987 fortsatte i selskab med andre spidsfindige dyrestrips.
Samme år afløste han tegneren Kim Annweiler på dennes humorstrip Quark, der blev bragt som hverdagsstrip og søndagsside i dagbladet B.T.
Figuren Quark var skabt af Peter Madsen og blev introduceret i tegnefilmen baseret på hans tegneserie Valhalla. I Annweiler og Osteds stripversioner blev Quark i gags baseret på sit upolerede væsen Valhallas anakronistiske svar på The Katzenjammer Kids.
Da Ekstrabladet udskrev en tegneseriekonkurrence i 1987 blev vinderen Claus Madsen med den spidsfindige strip Junior. 2. præmien gik til humorstrip'en Henne om hjørnet, som fortalte pudsige pointer fra et hyggeligt dansk værtshusmiljø. Hovedtegneren var Torben Osted med assistance fra Henning Christensen og Karsten Hansen. Både Junior og Henne om hjørnet fik kort efter plads på dagbladets tegneseriesider. Kun Osteds viste sig at være levedygtig i det lange løb. Den fortsatte i avisen i 3 år.
Med udgangen af 1994 stoppede Osted arbejdet på Quark, som på det tidspunkt også var udkommet i en lang række albums med genoptryk af avisstriberne.
I stedet lancerede pressebureauet P.I.B. hans strip Skæve vinkler, som dagbladet B.T. dog foretrak at kalde Den skøre familie, fordi de daglige, humoristiske pointer tog udgangspunkt i livet i og omkring en (ikke) helt almindelig familie. Serien er også lanceret i albumformat af forlaget Carlsen.
Igennem 1980'erne bidrog Torben Osted til det danske humormagasin Mad. Desuden leverede han et mindre indslag i Bogfabrikkens antologi Danske fristelser.
Også som illustrator har han gjort sig bemærket hos forlaget Alrune.
Fra 1988 var hans daglige arbejdsplads igennem flere år tegnestuefællesskabet Gimle i København.

Torben Osted was born in 1945. After university studies and different jobs he began to work freelance as a hand-lettering artist, illustrator and layout artist for different publishers and advertising agencies. In 1980 the Danish artist Henning Gantriis, due to illness, was unable to produce his provincial town satire, the comic strip Life in Lidenlund (Livets gang i Lidenlund), for the newspaper Politiken. Osted’s clever strip Feeding Forbidden (Fodring Forbudt) took its place. This sophisticated comic strip about the mildly psychopathic animals in a zoo, drawn in a simple, charming and expressive style, had to stop when Lidenlund returned.
Not until 1986 did Osted have the chance to create new gags and strips for the series in Interpresse publishers’ comic book Fodring Forbudt, where until 1987 it continued in company with other clever animal strips.
The same year he replaced the artist Kim Annweiler on his comic strip Quark, which was a daily strip and Sunday page in the newspaper B.T. The character Quark was created by Peter Madsen and was introduced in the animated film based on his comic Valhalla. In Annweiler and Osted’s strip versions, the Quark gags were based on his unpolished manners, Valhalla’s anachronistic answer to The Katzenjammer Kids.
When in 1987 the daily newspaper Ekstrabladet held a comics competition, the winner was Claus Madsen with the clever strip Junior. Second place went to the comic strip Down by the Corner (Henne om hjørnet), which related droll punchlines from a cosy Danish pub setting. The main artists were Torben Osted and Karsten Hansen with assistance from Henning Christensen. Shortly after the competition, both Junior and Henne om hjørnet found a place on the newspaper’s comics page. Only Osted’s strip proved to be viable in the long run, and it continued in the newspaper for three years.
At the end of 1994, Osted stopped working on Quark, which by that time had been published in several albums with reprints of newspaper strips. The press agency PIB Copenhagen launched his strip Crooked Angles (Skæve vinkler) instead. The newspaper B.T. preferred to call the strip The Crazy Family (Den skøre familie), because the everyday gags were based on the life of a (not) quite ordinary family.
Throughout the 1980’s Torben Osted contributed to the Danish humour magazine Mad. He also contributed to Bogfabrikken’s anthology Danish Delights (Danske fristelser). Since 1988 his daily workplace has been the studio cooperative Gimle in Copenhagen.