Farewell to the Serial. About Comic Strips and Graphic Novels

The artistic diversity of comic strips in the Low Countries is greater than ever. Yet it is becoming increasingly difficult to earn a living wage. There is still a market for illustrators. But for the makers of comic strips, the possibilities are few and far between. Newspapers and magazines have become limited as a platform, and album production is feeling the squeeze as well. Governments in both Flanders and the Netherlands support comic strip authors as well as publishers of graphic novels through their respective literature funds. A more-than-welcome helping hand, but in order for the medium to remain viable, its makers must creatively confront the genre’s challenges, problems and possibilities.