The internet !!!

But hey, enough wallowing in comicbook's glorious past. Enough of the decline.

Here's a thought. Over the years I got convinced that comicbookwriters and artists themselves have a huge responsability towards a succesful future for comicbook industry too. For it's up to them (that is errrr . . .us) to produce the magical and irresistable content that YOU, my dear blogreader, just want to read.

If it is the case that nowadays your classic comicbook publishers, distributers and shopkeepers, seem to be des-pe-ra-te-ly unsure, constantly hesitating, allways wanting to play it safe, artists and writers are obliged to look for new channels and opportunities to communicate with their audiences.

And wasn't there something called the internet?

My plan . . .

To be perfectly honest . . . and in fact . . . I have no plan. No that's not true, I have a plan. But the plan is kinda embryonal at the moment. Yes. I am going to need your help there.

First a bit of a sad story. For the past twentyfiveyears or so, me and my collegues have had to witness, what can only be called  the "permanent decline the comic industry" in Holland. Once a huge industy, over the years, newspapers started to cancel their funnies, specialized comic-magazines disapeared, booksales dropped dramatically. After fourty years of comic frenzy ( from WWII to somewhere in the eighties e v e r y b o d y got into comics) Holland somehow fell out of love with "strips".
And for what I can judge from here, hugely important comicproducing countries like Belgium and Franc have seen major, major changes too. And not all of them for the better. I pretty sure, it's the same story all over the world.

Yesssssssss, back then, my timing couldn't have been worse. Hans van Oudenaarden debuted  into the Dutch comic-industy, only to see things crumble more into nothingness every ear. I desperately wanted to be in comics right at the time when Dutch comics had started to become  . . . . a dying market.

First, let me introduce myself.

Okaaaaaaay. But first things first. Before anything else, Let me introduce myself more properly. My name is Hans van Oudenaarden. I live in Holland, Europe, and for the last twenty years or so, I have been a comicbook artist.

All over the globe, where ever you are, "being in comics" means slightly different things, I suppose. Over here, in Europe, comics are mainly produced for publication in specialized comic-magazines and  for "comicbooks". Roughly 8.5 to 11.5 inches booklets. 48 pages. Full color. Sturdy cover. No advertisements. We call 'm "Albums" over here.

In my career so far, I have done a few of these albums. Here are few from my "Bob Evers" series. A series I have done in cooperation with writer Frank Jonker. It's because of such an "album", I have started this blog . . .

HELP ME (to create my) RHONDA (comicbook)

HELLO WORLD!!!! A very, very warm welcome to everybody out there in cyberspace who somehow managed to stumble onto this HMRcomic-weblog! Welcome to this . . . er . . . Help-me-Rhonda-help-me-to create-my comicbook-blog. This is my very first posting here.

 

But please, let me first introduce myself. My name is Hans van Oudenaarden. I am a professional comicbook artist. I live in Holland.

. . . and I've got a plan.