European Graphic Novels+

Aimée de Jongh(1988) is a dutch animator, graphic novellist and illustrator. Her gag-strip 'snippers', a semi-autobiographical slice of life comic, was shown in the free dutch tabloid Metro from 2011 to 2018. She eventually quit Snippers(1) to focus on more graphic novels.

By then, her first Graphic Novel, 'De terugkeer van de Wespendief' (2014) was already a fact. The story follows a man and the people around him as he deals with trauma, as well as the choice to keep or sell his fathers book store. It has some dark moments, portrayed brutally honest without being excessively violent. But for me the novel really shines in the intimacy shared between characters. Their anger, care or vulnerability is palpable, and de Jongh doesn't rely on text to communicate complex emotions like some authors do.

I was going to write a bunch about her works from there on, actually I was halfway there, but it turns out Bas Schuddeboom did a better job than I ever could for Lambiek.nl (in english)

I do want to close with her current exposition in de Kunsthal (Rotterdam). It shows a lot of her process for her latest rendition of 'Lord of the flies' by William Golding. For this Graphic Novel she switched to india ink and pen/brush to support her technique and style. Besides that, most of her recent works get some nice coverage, as well as an upcoming project she is working on. The show is definitely worth a visit, especially since de Kunsthal also has a couple of other nice expo's going at the moment. De Jongh's expo is called Storylines, and is open untill the end of January. If you intend to go, especially if from outside the NL, feel free to send me a PM if you need some trip-tips or want to have a coffe and geek out about strips :)

Zum schluss, some links Lord of the flies book tour Her site An adorable little duckling Wiki (I linked the english page, but I highly recommend the dutch or french ones if you speak the language, as they are waaay more elaborate)