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A biographical fantasy

Posthumous

Jeroen Janssen & Pieter van Oudheusden

‘Posthumous’ is an imaginative ode to the life and music of Franz Schubert. In impressive black-and white woodcuts, we encounter the young composer on his deathbed in his brother’s house. Here, colourful, feverish dreams take over and we dive into some of Schubert’s most famous songs, in which he himself plays the leading part. We meet many ghosts from his past: the great master Beethoven, whom he worshipped like no other, the women he was secretly and hopelessly in love with, his friends and even Austria’s secret police. Every song has its own background colour and is based on both facts and fantasy. Beethoven, alongside whom Schubert was eventually buried, frequently returns to wreck his shaky self-confidence with consummate skill.

A comic strip like a warm quilt
9e Kunst

Manifesting tangible affection for Schubert and his work, Pieter van Oudheusden wrote a visual song cycle in which he flits nimbly and ironically through the composer’s life and work. Jeroen Janssen has pushed himself to the limit using a variety of techniques and background colours. A magisterial last collaboration between the acclaimed scriptwriter who died in 2013 and an artist whose work occupies a unique position in Flemish comic strips.

'Posthumous' will captivate both people who know everything about Schubert and those who know nothing about him. ****
Knack
Right from the very first anecdote Janssen wins you over, lock, stock and barrel.
Stripspeciaalzaak