Oog & Blik

Oog & Blik was a Dutch publishing brand founded in Amsterdam in 1985 by comic artist Joost Swarte and publisher Hansje Joustra. Its catalogue focused primarily on books for adults and occupied a distinctive position between literary publishing, comics, illustration, and independent art publishing. Rather than concentrating on mass-market entertainment, the imprint became associated with creator-led and visually sophisticated work, including original and translated graphic novels, underground comix, autobiographical comics, picture books, and silkscreen-related publications by Swarte. The imprint’s identity was closely linked to artistic independence and to the presentation of comics as a serious literary and visual medium. Its publishing programme brought together work by established and emerging artists, as well as international material in translation. This gave Oog & Blik a role in broadening the Dutch comics field beyond conventional genre publishing and in making adult-oriented graphic narratives more visible within the country’s book culture. Around 2010, De Bezige Bij acquired Oog & Blik. The acquisition placed the independent comics publisher within a larger Dutch publishing group, but the relationship did not preserve the original operation indefinitely. Hansje Joustra was dismissed in 2014 and subsequently founded Scratch Books. According to the available reference account, almost all of Oog & Blik’s comic artists later moved to Joustra’s new company. This substantially weakened the imprint’s original creative network and publishing identity. De Bezige Bij stopped publishing comics under the Oog & Blik name in 2015, and the brand’s further activities were put on hold. Its historical significance therefore rests less on current commercial operations than on the catalogue and publishing model it established during its active period. Oog & Blik has also been discussed as a case study in the creation and maintenance of artistic independence: it demonstrates both the possibilities of a focused, editorially distinctive comics imprint and the organizational difficulties that can arise when such an imprint is absorbed into a larger publishing structure.

Oog & Blik was established in Amsterdam in 1985 by Joost Swarte and Hansje Joustra. From the beginning, it was organized around a focused publishing concept: books that treated comics and visual storytelling as an adult, literary, and artistic medium. Its programme extended beyond conventional comic albums and included original and translated graphic novels, underground comix, autobiographical comics, picture books, and silkscreens associated with Joost Swarte. The publisher’s catalogue reflected the founders’ interest in creator-led work and in forms of comics that could sit alongside literature and visual art. By publishing both Dutch and translated material, Oog & Blik helped create space in the Netherlands for a broader range of graphic narratives, including personal, experimental, and underground work. The imprint’s identity was consequently tied to editorial selectivity and artistic independence rather than to high-volume commercial publishing. Around 2010, De Bezige Bij acquired Oog & Blik. The transaction changed the organizational setting in which the imprint operated, placing it within a larger Dutch publishing house. In 2014, Hansje Joustra was fired. He later founded Scratch Books, a new publishing company. The available account of the imprint’s history states that almost all of the comic artists associated with Oog & Blik subsequently left for Joustra’s company. This transfer of people and authors seriously reduced the continuity of the original Oog & Blik publishing operation. In 2015, De Bezige Bij quit publishing comics under the Oog & Blik name, and subsequent activities using the imprint were put on hold. The brand is therefore best understood as a historically important Dutch comics publisher whose active publishing period ended after a sequence of ownership, leadership, and creative-network changes. Its history has been used as a case study concerning the creation and preservation of artistic independence, particularly the tension between a small, founder-led cultural publisher and integration into a larger publishing group.

• 2015

  Comic publishing is discontinued

  [1]Oog & Bliken.wikipedia.org

  De Bezige Bij stops publishing comics under the Oog & Blik name and places further activities on hold.

• 2014

  Hansje Joustra leaves the company

  [1]Oog & Bliken.wikipedia.org

  Joustra is dismissed and later establishes Scratch Books, while much of the Oog & Blik comics community follows him.

• 2010

  Acquisition by De Bezige Bij

  [1]Oog & Bliken.wikipedia.org

  De Bezige Bij acquires Oog & Blik and incorporates the independent imprint into a larger publishing organization.

• 1985

  Oog & Blik is founded

  [1]Oog & Bliken.wikipedia.org

  Joost Swarte and Hansje Joustra establish the Amsterdam-based Dutch comics publisher.

Independent-minded, adult-oriented comics and illustrated-book publishing with an emphasis on artistic authorship, experimental forms, and visually distinctive work.

• Graphic novels

  Original graphic novels

  Oog & Blik published creator-led graphic novels intended largely for adult readers. These works formed part of the imprint’s effort to position comics as a serious literary and visual-art form rather than only as mass-market entertainment.

• Translated comics

  Translated graphic novels and comics

  The catalogue included translated graphic novels and other comics, giving Dutch readers access to international work within the imprint’s adult-oriented and artistically selective programme.

• Alternative comics

  Underground and autobiographical comics

  Oog & Blik published underground comix and autobiographical comics, genres associated with personal expression, non-mainstream formats, and experimentation with the boundaries of comics publishing.

• Illustrated books

  Picture books

  Picture books were another part of the imprint’s illustrated publishing activity, complementing its graphic-novel and comics catalogue with visually led books that were not necessarily conventional comics.

• Art editions

  Joost Swarte silkscreens

  The publisher also issued silkscreens by co-founder Joost Swarte, reflecting Oog & Blik’s connection to illustration, printmaking, and the broader visual-art sphere.

• 2015

  End comics publishing under the imprintStrategy

  Background

  Following Joustra’s departure and the movement of most Oog & Blik comic artists to Scratch Books, the imprint’s original creative network had substantially changed.

  Action taken

  De Bezige Bij stopped publishing comics as Oog & Blik and put further activities on hold.

  Aftermath

  The active publishing phase of Oog & Blik effectively ended, leaving the imprint primarily as a historical name associated with Dutch independent comics publishing.

  Source

• 2010

  Join the De Bezige Bij publishing groupM&A

  Background

  Oog & Blik had operated as a focused, independent-minded comics publisher since 1985. Around 2010, De Bezige Bij acquired the imprint.

  Action taken

  Ownership of Oog & Blik transferred to De Bezige Bij.

  Aftermath

  The acquisition was followed by the departure of co-founder Hansje Joustra in 2014 and the eventual end of comic publishing under the Oog & Blik name in 2015.

  Source

1. 1Oog & Bliken.wikipedia.org