Similar comics existed (and exist) growing up in the U.S., but they are less prominent in comic book stores, and more prominent in traditional book stores or the Sunday paper. E.g., Calvin and Hobbes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvin_and_Hobbes).
We got those in addition to those. E.g. Calvin and Hobbes had a monthly magazine in Norway until a decade after Watterson stopped drawing (publishing reruns after they'd run dry of original material) alongside guest series. On top of that comes the collected editions.
Some US newspaper strip artists end up earning more from Scandinavia (aggregate potential market of about 25 million) than the US because of this.
