B. Virtanen is a Finnish

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 comic strip

Comic strip

A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....

 written by Ilkka Heilä

Ilkka Heilä

Ilkka Heilä is a Finnish cartoonist who lives in Kaarina. He draws B. Virtanen -comic strip. Comics by Heilä appeared as early as in the beginning of 70s in the comic magazine Sarjis. However, working in a post office replaced professional self-fulfillment of artistic tendencies the nearly 20...

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The strip is about the family and work life of a typical Finnish man named B. Virtanen. (His full first name has never been explained, and few, if any, Finnish names start with the letter.) 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.

What the B stands for is told in interview of Heilä like this: 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.

As for the "B" as a name, in Finland it is usual to write people's names shortened this way in some situations; the first letter of the first name, and the full family name after it.

Major characters include:
B. Virtanen: The main character. A middle-aged man who works in some kind of office

Office

An office is generally a room or other area in which people work, but may also denote a position within an organization with specific duties attached to it ; the latter is in fact an earlier usage, office as place originally referring to the location of one's duty. When used as an adjective, the...

. Extremely overworked, and hen-pecked by his wife.
Armi: B. Virtanen's wife. She runs things around their home. She often tries to cook food but she is a terrible cook.
Marko: B. Virtanen's son. A grade school -aged boy who rebels against his parents, does badly at school and sometimes gets into trouble.
Pasi: B. Virtanen's cat

Cat

The cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felids and felines, is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests...

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Reino Murikka: A project manager, B. Virtanen's immediate superior. Murikka is fat, bald and middle-aged. He is very harsh towards B. Virtanen and often makes him work overtime. He has big difficulties to make double-sided photocopies or to work with computers. Murikka still lives with his mother Selma Murikka and has very little experience in dating or relationships.
Selma Murikka: The former's nurturing mother who has a highly overprotective attitude towards her son. She relates critically to her son's would-be relationship with Miss Jantunen.
Miss Jantunen: The company's secretary

Secretary

A secretary, or administrative assistant, is a person whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, communication & organizational skills. These functions may be entirely carried out to assist one other employee or may be for the benefit...

. Reino Murikka has a crush on her.
Lennart Nilkén: A middle manager. Very fashionable and always follows the latest trends. Likes to hear himself praised.
Director Hynälä: The company's CEO. A stereotypical director who only cares about his company's profits.
Topi: The youngest employee in the company, and the only one who can be said to be in a lower position than B. Virtanen. However, this is only because of his shorter time in the company, and he is looking forward to promotion.