Dutch comics
| Dutch comics | |
|---|---|
| Earliest publications | 1858 on |
| Languages | Dutch |
| Related articles | |
|
Franco-Belgian comics European comics |
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Dutch comics are comics made in the Netherlands. In Dutch the most common designation for the whole art form is "strip", while the word "comic" is used for the (usually) soft cover American style comic book format, usually containing translated US superhero material. This use of the English word for that format could cause confusion in English language texts.
Since the Netherlands share the same language with Flanders several Belgian comics and Franco-Belgian comics have also been published there. Yet it should be noted that, while French language publications are habitually translated into Dutch/Flemish due to their more universal appeal, the same does not hold true in the opposite direction as Dutch/Flemish publications are less commonly translated into French, due to the disparate cultures in Flanders/Netherlands and France/French Belgium. Likewise, despite the shared language, but again due to the disparate history and culture, Flemish comic books, while available, are not that popular in the Netherlands and vice-versa, save for some notable exceptions, especially the Willy Vandersteen creations, most particularly Suske en Wiske which is as popular in the Netherlands as it is in native Flanders. Concurrently, the cultural idiosyncrasies contained within Dutch/Flemish comics also means that these comics have seen far less translations into other languages than their French-language counterparts have.
Dutch comics, like many European comics, have their prototypical forerunners in the form of medieval manuscripts, which often used sequential pictures accompanied by text, or sometimes even used speech balloons for captions. The "mannekesprenten" ("little men drawings") are also an early forerunner, usually depicting the lives of Christian saints or fables. In the 19th century several Dutch political cartoonists made use of sequential pictures, caricatures and humoristic situations that can be seen as the predecessors of comics. In 1858 the Swiss comic strip Monsieur Cryptogame by Rodolphe Töpffer was translated in Dutch by J.J.A. Gouverneur as Meester Prikkebeen (Mister Prick-a-leg) and was a huge success in the Netherlands. It was published in the text comics format, with written text published underneath the pictures. This type of comics would remain the dominant form in the Netherlands until deep in the 1960s, because Dutch moral guardians felt that these comics at least motivated children to actually read written sentences instead of merely looking at the pictures. While translations of comic strips remained popular no actual Dutch comics artists emerged until the late 19th century. One of the earliest artists to be considered a comic artist was Jan Linse. He drew several humoristic scenes in sequential form and wrote the text beneath the pictures. Another pioneer was Daniël Hoeksema, who drew a spin-off series inspired by Monsieur Cryptogame called De Neef van Prikkebeen (1909) (Prikkebeen's Cousin) However, most Dutch comics during the 1880s, 1890s, 1900s and 1910s were satirical illustrations and cartoons about Dutch politics and society or moralistic stories for the youth.
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