?otd, Dec. 10, 2008: And east of the sun and west of the moon

TODAY’S QUESTION:

Easier than yesterday’s, I suspect: What country lies north of Archenland and south of Ettinsmoor?

YESTERDAY’S ANSWER:

The first best adapted screenplay Oscar nomination for a work based on a comic book was 2001’s Ghost World. American Splendor and A History of Violence have been nominated since then. (Fake trivia: Ghost World was the last pop cultural moment when Thora Birch was hotter than Scarlett Johansson. Possible refutation.)

But those are all johnny-come-latelies — the first best adapted screenplay Oscar nom based on any comics work was way back in 1931, when Skippy, based on a comic strip by Percy Crosby, was nominated.

There are still barriers to break, though: None of these films has actually won.