The Enigma of Franka

Apotheke an der Ecke

Maybe you want to exchange books?
Check out my collection of translations of Franka books?
 If you want me to go on with this English version please sign my guestbook!

Introduction

The work of Henk Kuijpers can be characterised best by the word precision. Much attention is paid to the precision of the drawings, the personages and the scenarios. This meticulousness also encourages the devotees to read thoroughly. In many drawings much more can be discovered than at a cursory reading. And also the well thought-out scenarios with several parallel and intertwined storylines and themes invite to read more thoroughly. But then sometimes someting catches the eye...

Anomalies

In many articles it is expressed that Henk Kuijpers cares for apparently small details in both drawing and script. Only when such accuracy is obeyed, it strikes when somes seems to be wrong. So with the risk of being fussy, I want to expose some anomalies concerning the scripts, that struck me when reading for example het Meesterwerk (The Masterpiece), de Noorderzon (The Northern Sun), de Tanden/Donderdraak (Teeth of the Thunderdragon) and Moordende Concurrentie (Cutthroat Competition).

Funny enough, in many cases it concerns a so-called baton (the stick that is used in a relay race) that is passed from the "past-time-part" of the story to the present. In The Masterpiece it is the stamp from Mauritius, in The Northern Sun it is the freighter itself and in The Teeth of the Thunderdragon it is the jawbone of the saurian. In the next chapters I will explain this further.

For the convenience I will use English titles, although the books never have been translated into English. Apart from the Dutch versions, there are translations in Danish, Swedish, German and French.

In the articles references are used in the form of e.g. 4.1.1. which means plate/page 4 (as originally numbered by Henk Kuijpers) strip 1, picture/drawing 1.

2. The Masterpiece or Het Meesterwerk
3/4. The Return of the Noorderzon/The Revenge of the Freighter or Terugkeer van de Noorderzon/Wraak van het Vrachtschip )
5. Pet's Day or Dierendag
7/8. De Tanden van de Draak/De Ondergang van de Donderdraak (dutch only)
9. Moordende Concurrentie (dutch only)
10. Gangsterfilm (in preparation)
11. De Vlucht van de Atlantis (ducth only; 01-10-2000: De Atlantis en de Spruce Goose van Howard Hughes)
12. De Blauwe Venus (dutch only)
13. De 13e letter (in preparation)

Aberrations

And sometimes something goes wrong in a drawing.We can not be sure whether this was by accident or on purpose, but anyhow, in this A-series you can find a number of aberrations, abnormalities and other flaws. We hope you enjoy it!

A1. Silk screen print Happy End (or )
A2. Cover of Les Dents du Dragon 1 (or )
A3. Silkscreen print Citroën (or )
A4. The mysterious cardoor in the Masterpiece (or )
A5. Rejuvination or Magic Trick? (or )
A6. Left or Right? (or )
A7. Changing Windows (or )
A8. Apotheke an der Ecke (new since November 1, 2000; or )

Better looking

In this B-series we are not showing what's wrong with things. On the contrary. Here we try to put the focus on things that do not jump in the eye. Unfortunately non of these pages are translated into English, yet. In the mean time try to figure out what it says in Dutch. I bet you can make something out of it!

B1. Geursporen (aanvullingen per 22-08-2000)
B2. Bars Belevenissen (nieuw per 22-08-2000)
B3. Diverse verwijzingen (in voorbereiding)
B4. Uitheemse tekens (in voorbereiding)
B5. Van Groterdam naar Amsterdam (in voorbereiding)

Switch this page to

© Martin Hooymans / Henk Kuijpers
Back to Our homepage
If you want me to go on with new translations of my Dutch pages please sign the guestbook
You can also read the guestbook or mail to Martin Hooymans