A book to buy sight unseen, by a great graphic novelist
9e kunst
In ‘The Chosen One’, the biblical story of Jacob runs in parallel with that of a contemporary story of a man who sacrifices others for his career. It presents a critical look at what success can mean, with no shortage of the dark humour that Spruyt has made so much his own. An exceptionally valuable extension to his oeuvre.
Unusual graphic approach. Perfect example of a promising debut
9e kunst
Johanna finds herself in the luxurious Hotel Paradiso, the hereafter in the form of a resort, complete with goodie bag, segway tour and information points. But it soon turns out that even after death, life isn’t that simple. The visually interesting style of ‘Hotel Paradiso’ marks Fin Ilsbroekx out as an up-and-coming talent.
Flanders’ sharpest and most linguistically skilled comic-strip humourist
Enola
Bart Schoofs (who signs his work ‘brt’) takes aim at our society both extensively and with great precision. Although he mainly pokes fun, with obvious pleasure, at anti-wokers, conscious and unconscious racists or climate-change deniers, nobody is safe from Schoofs, not even himself.
A selection from a series of vertical comic strips created between 2017 and 2022, the beautifully RISO-printed ‘Thighbootman’ dives deep into Wide Vercnocke’s universe. That universe is almost boundless, aside from the format of the strips. His work is unapologetically fantastical and subversive, as is his humour.
This heart rending book is one of the most moving graphic novels of 2024. A visual masterpiece
Stripweb
After a year of trying to get pregnant, the verdict is harsh for Ben and Mina: they won’t succeed by natural means. They start out on a long and demanding course of ICSI treatment. Meanwhile Ben, an illustrator, grapples with his feelings by drawing a world of clay, where the creation of a child fails too. In pencil and in orange and blue ecoline, Leroy creates a loving and moving portrait of two people who despite everything keep rediscovering each other.
Araya moves from Belgium to Thailand to go live with her mother. In simple black-and-white drawings, the semi-autobiographical ‘Araya’ paints a complex portrait of a young woman struggling with her bi-cultural identity, her sexuality, the relationship with her mother and her self-image.
Minimalist with strong dialogue. Simply extremely powerful
De Stripkever
Two strangers at a bar become embroiled in a philosophical discussion about belief, disbelief, science, truth and God, while the bartender acts as a peacekeeper. Ben Gijsemans’ minimalist linework gives us little more than talking heads and the bar with the three characters. ‘The Barflies’ is a remarkable book about conviction, faith and self-image, and ultimately also about persuasion.
Janssen and Moradi show the beauty of fragile people
Knack Focus
On the edge of Ghent lies a square kilometre hemmed in by a railway line and a major highway. In writing that is both poetic and philosophical, Moradi describes the lives of the residents of her district. With pen, pencil and felt-tip Janssen records colourful impressions of views, homes, people, lives. On assignment in their own neighbourhood, they show the beauty that resides in its ugliness.
In this first part of a forthcoming trilogy, Luc Cromheecke draws part of the life story of the famous impressionist painter Claude Monet as it has never been seen before. Without words but with plenty of humour, Cromheecke gives a unique interpretation to events.
In this tragicomic tale, Inne Haine and Mathias Van den Berge interweave the lives of a handful of villagers who, like so many, yearn for a different life. How far are they prepared to go to achieve their dream? A wonderful combination of evocative, colourful illustrations and a carefully crafted script.
In 1950s Hollywood, Newland Archer and May Welland are the glamour couple du jour. But Newland soon discovers that he’s not entirely immune to the charms of one of May's male friends. With ‘Bungalow 5’, Maarten Vande Wiele breathes new life into ‘The Age of Innocence’ by Edith Wharton.
In ‘Passages’ Martha Verschaffel interweaves four mysterious stories. Are there any connections between them? Is there a single main narrative? Or is that just the interpretation you favour as a reader?
Wondrous. Madness in the beauty or beauty in the madness, who’s to say?
Cutting Edge
1899. Belgian Joseph Lippens travels to the Congo, where his father disappeared off the face of the earth several months earlier. In this scintillating debut, Thibau Vande Voorde shows us what he is capable of. With virtuoso control of his colour pencils, he conjures up the scorching heat and the beautiful abundance of Congo, as well as the contorted facial expressions of a man who becomes a victim of his own ambition.
A moving stroll through early parenthood and all the powerful emotions that go with it
De Morgen
Having a child marks the greatest possible change to a life and ‘Never Alone Again’ aims to illuminate not just the wonder it brings but the darker side too. Ephameron describes the multiplicity of emotions upon a child's arrival not in a straightforward story but as fragmented impressions in watercolour. This creates an extraordinarily intimate atmosphere and provides an intense reading experience.
Shameless locker-room banter, portrayed with impressive visual style
Cutting Edge
Simon Kennedy and Chuck Atkins are well-known TV presenters. In the course of an 18-hole round of golf, we get to know them as sexist, racist jocks who are utterly repellent in every way. Bram Algoed’s minimalist illustrations pare this portrait of toxic masculinity down to the essence. ‘Assholes’ is outrageous, repulsive, disturbing and downright hilarious.
Right from the very first anecdote Janssen wins you over, lock, stock and barrel.
Stripspeciaalzaak
‘Posthumous’ is an imaginative ode to the life and music of Franz Schubert. We encounter the young composer on his deathbed, where colourful, feverish dreams take over. We dive into some of Schubert’s most famous songs, in which he himself plays the leading part. Every song has its own background colour and is based on both facts and fantasy. A magisterial collaboration.
After her house in Paris has burned down, killing her lover, Madame Catherine moves to her country home, where she begins to be consumed by nightmares. A presence watches her, follows her, and touches her in the night. Catherine gradually loses her mind. In this idiosyncratic version of ‘The Horla’ by Guy de Maupassant, Maarten Vande Wiele ably allows suggestion to do its work.
A fascinating wordless adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s well-known short story ‘A Descent Into the Maelström’. Hudréaux has gone for a free interpretation in ninety-nine etchings that swaps the sense of oppression in the original for a broader, more atmospheric depiction. An intriguing and beautiful graphic novel.
Dino is thirteen when he and his father have to start life afresh. While Dino struggles with terrible hormonal acne and would love to be Luke Perry of Beverly Hills 90210, his father is slowly falling to pieces. Dieter VDO’s signature cartoonesque figures in eccentric colours produce a deeply human story, one that is both tragicomic and recognisable.
Olbrechts is quietly working on what may well turn out to be one of the strongest Dutch language graphic oeuvres.
9e Kunst
Hawk struggles to live up to his name. Unlike the strong, uncompromising bird, he is timid, insecure and the target of his colleagues’ ridicule. Following an incident, he is suspended from work and goes to recuperate at his aunt, who lives in a quiet village surrounded by nature. He is determined to change.
Like an empathetic etcher Casaer goes in search of the canine side of human nature
Stripgids
In 'Your Inner Dog' a man wearing a dog mask tells a series of different characters what kind of dog is inside them, and what that means, carefully analysing their flaws and innermost secrets. Casaer knows how to identify any sensitive issues, move the reader and even make them laugh out loud at times. A real gem that delves deep into the human psyche.
Aldo has been twenty-eight for three hundred years. Despite that lengthy period of time, he still does not have very good social skills. His whole family has been dead a long while and nobody believes he is immortal.But then he spots someone on television and recognises him from an encounter two hundred years ago.
Glitter, glamour, love, jealousy, intrigue, tears and above all lots of pink: this is Maarten Vande Wiele at his best. His elegant, black brush strokes give playful expression to a world he clearly adores: that of 'Dynasty' and other vintage soap series.
Maarten De Saeger confirms his status as a top talent.
Cutting Edge
In order to run away from her worries, Ines moves to her late grandfather’s farm in the Ardennes. One day a tramp appears on her doorstep who introduces himself as John. Ines offers him a bed for the night, but it soon becomes clear that the wandering eccentric is not in any great hurry to leave.
Fantomia’ provides hours of viewing pleasure, with lots of silliness, creativity and visual spectacle. Reviewers have compared Dieter VDO to the likes of ATAK, Basil Wolverton and medieval painter Jeroen Bosch.
This comic book’s recognisability has a comforting effect that radiates a warm feeling of gratitude.
Knack
Ilah portrays relationships between men and women in a way that says more than an exhaustive analysis. Her short comics are both candid and subtle, true-to-life and dramatically adapted, apparently nonchalant and virtuoso, modest and self-assured.
When widower Anton breathes his last breath and goes looking for his wife Betty in the ‘thereafter’, nothing is quite as he expected. Jan Truyens’ debut is nothing less than an art project: an enormously rich book, with nods in the direction of the ‘Divina Commedia’.
A book in which everything is just right. The best comic book of 2016
De Groene Amsterdammer
Wide Vercnocke subtly builds up a story in which, through shaman’s sessions, the tragedy of the equipment manager at an athletics club is connected to the iconic narwhal and its spear-like tusk. A surprising and highly original story about physicality and rejecting absolute rationality.
His most personal and at the same time most universal book
De Standaard
'Abadaringi’ is a sketchbook and an intriguing documentary about the genocide in Rwanda. Janssen draws the landscapes and settings he encounters, and creates portraits of the people he speaks to. He also tells his own story, in handwritten notes. A phenomenal piece of journalism.
An ultramodern Romeo and Juliet that takes place in two different time dimensions. Dutch artist Hanco Kolk and Fleming Kim Duchateau each tackle one dimension. There is just enough friction between the two styles of drawing to maintain the tension.
With a few very assured brushstrokes and a unique use of colour which adopts a different palette for each story, Gisquière succeeds in creating a sense of alienation while at the same time writing atmospheric, poetic stories.
Arnon, a guy who flitted from one romantic conquest to another before his death at a young age, looks back at his brief life. One by one, Maarten De Saeger tells the story of various people who played a role in his life. Gradually it all comes together to form a mosaic that does not present Arnon in the best light.
Without grand gestures but all the more impressive for that
Cutting Edge
At the age of 56, Ephameron’s father was struck by primary progressive aphasia, which meant that he lost his speech and language and gradually succumbed to dementia. ‘Us Two Together’ is his daughter’s autobiographical account of the last ten years of his life.
Unique in the stream of books published to mark the centenary of World War One
Cobra.be
On 19 August 1914, in a matter of hours, the university city of Leuven transformed from the Belgian military headquarters into a city occupied by German soldiers. Soon after that, Leuven was reduced to ashes. Gerolf Van de Perre and Johanna Spaey portray these dramatic early days of World War I in powerful, poetic images and words.
A surprisingly good debut from another promising Belgian
De Groene Amsterdammer
Filip tells his four children about Great Granny, who was born almost a century before in the Dutch island colony of Java. Author Michaël Olbrechts blends a piece of family history with the wider social context and does so in a very mature and understated way, with little moments of humour and nostalgia.
In a loose, fluid and sketch-like style, Joris Vermassen draws a story based around important themes: saying goodbye, things coming to an end, disappointment and grief. And yet ‘Mad with Joy’, like the statue of the same name, is an ode to life.
A deceptively light story about absent parents and a lonely child
Knack
In this highly acclaimed debut, Shamisa Debroey displays a graphic maturity that is unexpected for such a young author. This poetic and nuanced portrait of a difficult parent–child relationship is a strong and exceptionally self-assured first step.
The most daring comic-book debut in Flanders in recent years
Knack
Wide Vercnocke’s poetic ode to laziness allows him to go to town with his narrative and graphic skills, making ‘My Muse Lies on the Settee’ both narcissistic and ironic, lazy and virtuoso, literary and visual. This multifaceted book is a most impressive debut.
The polder village of Doel, situated in the shadow of a nuclear reactor near the port of Antwerp, has been a pawn in the power games of successive politicians since the 1960s. Jeroen Janssen became fascinated by those who stayed behind and by their stories. ‘Doel’ is an impressive account of a personal journey of discovery in a village whose fate has long been uncertain.
A coherent and bittersweet meditation on family foibles
Comicsalternative.com
Karel, Valère and Roger are three brothers who each need to come to terms with their own demons. Reading about their troubled lives, we get a sense of just how cruel and thankless as well as enchanting and hilarious the world can be: extremes we have no choice but to accept.
A delightful piece to read and look at, with international allure
De Morgen
Verbeke and Verplancke offer a parody of the sovereign power of the artist in modern society. At a more abstract level, this story, taking place in the limited confines of a ski lift, is about an unsympathetic society that demands the artist to justify him- or herself. The result is a parable you will not easily forget.
Murphy is an anti-hero: an astronaut who continually has bad luck. In his miserable space adventures, Charlotte Dumortier is able to experiment fully with colour, framing and page division. The young artist pulls out all the stops. She lets fly with lay-out, rhythm and colouring.
This is not simply a comic book for adults – it is literature.
De Standaard
For thirty years, Adan Diss has been waiting for San Borondón, a mythical island that appears on the horizon every once in a while. He used to have his whole life ahead of him. He could have been a butcher or a doctor, but he chose to become nothing. He believes patience is all he needs to find happiness. Waiting for an Island is about you and me, about our rays of hope and our daydreams, which in the worst case can become real demons.
Adventures that are very recognizable for anybody who has gone through babyhood
Forbidden Planet International
This comic book series is a contemporary, humorous stop-comic about a young couple and their girl twins. The neurotic father, quick-witted mother and two pig-headed children live in a pink bunker and drive a pink tank. But apart from their eccentric residence and means of transport, they lead a perfectly ‘normal’ life. At least they try.
Fantastic. Evens' linework is wonderful... but his coloring is even better.
Time.com
‘Night Animals’ contains two dreamlike, wordless stories that transform everyday experiences into fantastic journeys to strange new worlds. Brecht Evens surprises with stories and images in which he continually seems to extend the limits of his capabilities.
As you read the stories you sometimes have the feeling that you are looking in a mirror.
Rifraf
A graphic novel that reacts to the here and now and is set in our modern multicultural society with all its pros and cons. 'Over to You' is also inextricably linked with Antwerp, the city where the Comic book artist and the scriptwriter have lived all their lives.
