The Local News comic strip began publication on November 29, 2002 in Finland. The strip is written by Vesa Ilmaranta and illustrated by Timo Kähkönen.

Local News has been an unprecedented success in its home country. Since initially appearing in Maaseudun Tulevaisuus, one of Finland’s most-read news outlets, it has appeared in more than 50 newspapers. The comic also appears abroad, for example in Norway, where it is published by eight newspapers.

In the no-mans land between two largish growth centers lies the smallish town of Wayside. In a two-story clapboard building on the town square, the county’s most important—and only—local newspaper, the Wayside Gazette, maintains its editorial offices.

The editorial staff is made up of Editor-in-Chief Andy Buffett, who has been putting off retirement for decades, Miles Conway, a young reporter fresh from a turbulent stint in the IT industry, and the office secretary, Mrs. Likely.

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