Dystopolis is the last city on earth. Abdulla is a young and ambitious police intern who dreams of the impossible: vanquishing the Cannibal. Can he make the difference? Miel Vandepitte creates a dystopic world full of outlandish creatures and breathtaking cityscapes. ‘Dystopolis’ could be called pulp, but if so then it’s pulp of the graphically fantastic kind.
‘Sunday’ follows a man from morning till midnight. For 472 pages, we follow every single one of his banal, uninteresting, sometimes embarrassing and frequently irritating thoughts. From this seemingly dull and unlikely premise, Olivier Schrauwen manages to distil a brilliant graphic novel.
A delightfully designed period thriller that can both speak to a broad public and a connoisseur of graphic novels
Knack
François is a driver for a dry-cleaning business. When he suddenly comes upon a gruesome scene and spots a chance to grab a bagful of money, it proves his downfall. In panoramic spreads that highlight faded glory, Joris Mertens creates a universe all his own. Its noir atmosphere is offset by the tragicomic aspect that Mertens has given his antihero. A beautifully crafted graphic novel.
In a dystopia that lies halfway between a western and science fiction, a team of adventurers goes in search of a mythical hoard of gold in the ghost town of Centralia. With this debut, Miel Vandepitte proves that we can expect a great deal from him in the future.
An engaging, intimate and expressive portrait of two women, with exciting and vivid drawings
9e kunst
This extraordinary graphic novel tells the story of two women at a crossroads in their lives. Rita, a middle-aged woman who has just got divorced, challenges herself by becoming a nude model in drawing classes given by Esther. Vulnerability and courage, looking and being looked at, daring to be naked and closeness are all central themes.
A feast for the eyes. Mannaert is one of the stars of the contemporary graphic novel
Enola
Yasmina's father is struggling to make ends meet, but luckily Yasmina knows the right people and places so she can serve him a delicious meal every day. But one day an addictive type of potato appears on the market with rather strange consequences for those who eat them. When her father falls victim to this mystery as well Yasmina decides that enough is enough.
A brilliant, wry and funny debunking of the pirate genre
Knack Focus
Guy is a pirate. And a boozehound, a liar, a lazybones, a thief and a murderer. We follow his exploits as he staggers through life. This first collaboration between Olivier Schrauwen and French duo Ruppert & Mulot results in visual fireworks.
‘The City of Belgium’ is set in the same nocturnal universe as Brecht Evens’ big breakthrough ‘The Wrong Place’, but the aftertaste is so much nastier. In a riot of colour and impressions, Evens shows himself to be both a master of his uniquely fantastic style and at capturing the mental darkness that masquerades as light-hearted.
An overwhelming debut and a mind-expanding book *****
De Standaard
A psychedelic road trip full of chases, fights, religious hallucinations and freaked-out characters and dialogues. The drawings, in pencil and with a basic colour palette, are brimming with movement and energy. Lukas Verstraete really pulls out all the stops with graphic fireworks.
Sublime, sketch-like artwork by Mannaert, with sharp dialogue
Metro
The American Weegee’s street photographs made him world famous. Wauter Mannaert and Max de Radiguès turn the photographer into a man of flesh and blood and make you identify with him, so his rather tragic fate hits all the harder.
A masterpiece of atmosphere and empathy, a must-have book of the year
Focus Vif
‘Mikel’ tells a true story, based on the experiences of the author, Mark Bellido, who spent four years protecting Basque politicians against ETA. With her brilliant use of colour, Judith Vanistendael depicts the light of a wild and rainy Basque Country.
Gijsemans can shout if he wants to, but he's more than happy to whisper.
The Herland Scotland
Gijsemans’ drawings, washed out but somehow lush, too, are tender and telling, from the doleful curve of Hubert’s back to the workaday treads of the stairs in his apartment building. In this gentle account, Hubert is neither noble aesthete nor creepy loner, simply a man who likes pottering around looking at art.
A poetic comics debut, a parable about being different from other people, about being introverted rather than extroverted, about the past and how we always carry it with us.
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.
The quirky little sisters Kinky and Cosy manage to wreak havoc with all their naivety and innocence. Three small panels – that’s all Nix needs for a daily dose of nonsensical and politically incorrect humour.
Every page reveals an eccentric and original cartooning mind at work.
The Comics Journal
Olivier Schrauwen’s grandfather Arsène leaves for the Belgian colony of Congo in 1947, where he and his cousin Roger have planned a hugely ambitious project: a utopia of modernism, right in the middle of the jungle. Sometimes funny, slightly surreal and often beautiful.
A dark fairy tale filled with troubling implications and haunting illustrations
Publishers Weekly
‘Panther’ is an unsettling graphic novel about a little girl and her imaginary feline companion. Iconoclastic in his cartooning and page layouts, subtle in his plotting, and deft in his capturing of the human experience, Brecht Evens has crafted a tangled, dark masterwork.
‘Sugar’ is a comic story about life as seen through the eyes of a cat. In masterfully drawn black-and-white pictures, Serge Baeken juggles with the narrative structure and page layout in this quirky and appealing graphic novel.
The design is soft and clear, the jokes are cynical and as hard as nails ****
De Standaard
Sometimes the culprit, sometimes the victim, Dickie always finds himself in awkward and embarrassing situations. The contrast that develops between the stylised drawings and the often coarse jokes creates a balance that is rarely found elsewhere.
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.
Vandenbroucke’s distinctive work blends the highbrow with the low, drawing equally from Gordon Matta-Clark’s site-specific artwork and the Three Stooges’ slapstick timing. With a knowing wink at the reader, Vandenbroucke continuously uncovers something to laugh about in the stuffiness and pretentiousness of the art world.
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.
David is diagnosed with cancer of the larynx, a terminal form of cancer that means he will soon be unable to speak. Judith Vanistendael zooms in on David and the three women who surround him: his wife and his two daughters. A touching and subtle book that compassionately depicts the fruitless struggle to find the meaning of life.
A fantasmagoria without balloons in which a man sets out on a surreal quest in search of his animality
Le Soir
In this wordless tale, the young human boy Mowgli lives alone in the jungle. He soon feels lonely and goes in search of a soulmate. Mowgli’s quest is full of slapstick humour with bloody violence and elephant droppings, but also contains reflections on philosophical questions like individuality and complementarity.
Adriaenssens brings the insanity of World War I to life: the battlefields pocked with craters, the villages and towns shot to smithereens, the harrowing conditions in the trenches and the absurd orders of authorities, who had not the faintest idea what they were doing. The powerful story is told with muted shades and concise text.
‘The Making Of’ is a work of art, an absolute gem from start to finish. Evens captures emotions, both large and small, along with funny little human traits and tics. His story feels very familiar, with all of its absurdity. There’s not one single page that will leave you indifferent.
One of the most original books of the year, by a long way
parutions.com
With each of these seven short stories, Olivier Schrauwen changes his style: he uses different colour palettes, makes stories without words, composes pages as miniatures instead of the usual grid layout. A unique exercise in style by an extraordinary talent.
Vande Wiele has illustrated a knowingly ridiculous yet loving portrayal of a world he clearly adores, bringing an elegant black line to the page as he pays tribute to the most superficial of the brilliantly superficial.
A powerful look into the complexities of the human heart and prejudice *****
Comic Heroes Magazine
An enjoyable, flowing and exceptionally readable graphic novel about the author’s relationship with a Togolese political refugee. The story consists of two parts, in which we see the same relationship from two different perspectives. The visual narrative is vivid and follows a rhythm that matches the story perfectly.
Linthout’s choice to leave his pencil-work bare, is a masterstroke
Blog Critics
Willy Linthout has created a powerful, groundbreaking graphic novel that grabs the reader by the throat. From the very first page, he draws us into the difficult processes that await Charles as he lurches between loneliness, grief, incomprehension and love, often losing sight of the difference between reality and fiction.
Upon its publication, ‘The Wrong Place’ set off artistic fireworks in the Flemish graphic novel scene. This comic strip is bursting with artistic ambition: Brecht Evens has introduced a new and daring style with his expressive drawings and powerful choices of colour.
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.
A poetic trip and an aesthetic shock that makes your jaw drop
Knack
As the title suggests, this book has a very meditative, dreamlike quality. At the beginning of the book, the story seems to consist of short, individual anecdotes. As you read on, it becomes clear that, in spite of the unexpected twists and turns, everything forms a coherent whole in which the ideas flow together seamlessly.
