Franka

"Franka" is a popular Dutch comic book series and strip cartoon, drawn and written since the mid 1970s by the graphic artist Henk Kuijpers. The principal character is a strong female Dutch sleuth who solves mysteries in exotic locales.

Franka has been published in a variety of languages, including German, French, and Spanish.

Principal character

Franka (Francesca Victoria), the lead character that the series is named after, is a young, attractive and adventurous female private investigator. ["Note that some references incorrectly describe her as an archaeologist, though she has no professional training, nor is interest in archeology a major element. She does however start the series working for a criminology museum (Album #1, 'Misdaadmuseum'), and later on has her own PI agency, supporting the private investigator assessment."] She lives in a slightly fictionalised Holland, and since 1993's "Flight From Atlantis" Franka is 'officially' a resident of Amsterdam (before, she lived in the fictional 'Groterdam'). The cases she solves often take place in the worlds of art, antiquities, fashion and film, and also often feature exotic locales full of smugglers, pirates and other shady businessmen.

Dominant women are a recurring theme of the series, similar to other Franco-Belgian comics series such as "Yoko Tsuno". A single woman for long time, Franka acquired a male partner and love interest in the later volumes, the reformed art thief Rix. More than often than not she is also accompanied by her dog Bars.

Interestingly, Franka was "not" the main character in the first adventure of the series (which makes up the first part of Volume #1, "Het Misdaadmuseum"). Instead Jarko (who is an increasingly minor character in all later volumes) played the central role, and Franka is only a secretary in the Museum of Crime. However, by the second (main) story of the first volume, Franka has become a central character, though not yet as exclusively so as in the later volumes.

Drawing style

"Franka" is an example of the ligne claire style frequently associated with European comics, and Kuijpers' drawing style is noted for its high artistic standards, particularly clarity of line and accurate detail of elements like cars and buildings.cite web |url=http://lambiek.net/artists/k/kuijpers_h.htm|publisher=Lambiek Comiclopedia |title=Henk Kuijpers |accessdate=2006-11-16 |format= |work= ] The panels often contain additional little interesting or humorous details not relevant to the main storyline.

The style of drawing has developed significantly from the early comics, in which for example the characters had large eyes and squat proportions, to the more realistic figure drawing of the middle volumes to the slightly more stylized, 'fashion-designer' look of the latest issues. Also changed were the visual depiction of females - the Franka of the later volumes is a much more sexual creature than in the early volumes, were she only had friends, but never partners. While the early volumes rarely show nakedness, all volumes play with erotic poses and later volumes show Franka and other characters naked. Sexual acts, however, are no more than hinted at.

Publications

Publication history

"Franka" originally appeared in the weekly comic book "Pep" which, in 1975, merged with "Sjors" into "Eppo". "Franka" became one of the magazine's fixtures staying there for the next eleven years, with 1984 being her one sabattical. In 1988 "Eppo" became "Sjors & Sjimmie" but it took another year before "Franka" made her comeback. In 1992 she returned to annual appearances starting at the beginning of the year. After "Sjors & Sjimmie" (or "Sjosji" as it was known since 1994) ceased publication in 1999 "Franka" went on to become the subject of her own magazine which can only be purchased online.

From the 1990s onwards "Franka" was also serialised in "Veronica Magazine", the magazine of Veronica TV, which with weekly sales of over 1,000,000 was among the most widely circulated Dutch periodicals.

"Franka" has also been published in German, Spanish and the Scandinavian languages, as well as in French ("Spirou)".

Incidents from previous volumes are often referred to in the subsequent ones, although they can be read independently.

Cite web|last=BDoubliées|title=Franka publications dans "Spirou"|url=http://bdoubliees.com/journalspirou/series2/flanka.htm|language=French]

Albums in the official series

The following are the Dutch language editions. From volume 1 to volume 8 the publisher was Oberon, from volume 9 to 15, Big Balloon, and from volume 16 Franka BV.

* "Het Misdaadmuseum" ("Museum of Crime") (1978)

* "Het Meesterwerk" ("Masterpiece") (1978)

* "De Terugkeer van de Noorderzon" ("Return of the Northern Sun") (1978)

* "De Wraak van het Vrachtschip" ("The Revenge of the Freighter") (1979)"De Terugkeer van de Noorderzon" and "De Wraak van het Vrachtschip" together form one episode.

* "Circus Santekraam" (1981)includes the episode "Day of the Animals".

* "Het Monster van de Moerplaat" ("The Swamp Monster") (1982)also includes the episodes "Pyromaniac" and "Saboteur".

* "De Tanden van de Draak" ("The Dragon's Teeth") (1984)

* "De Ondergang van de Donderdraak" ("The Dragon's Fall") (1986)

"De Tanden van de Draak" and "De Ondergang van de Donderdraak" together form one episode.

* "Moordende Concurrentie" ("Murderous Competition") (1990)

* "Gangsterfilm" ("Gangster Film") (1992)

* "De Vlucht van de Atlantis" ("Flight from Atlantis") (1993)

* "De Blauwe Venus" ("The Blue Venus") (1994)

* "De Dertiende Letter" ("The Thirteenth Letter") (1995)

* "Het Portuguese Goudschip" ("The Portuguese Gold Ship") (1996)

* "De Ogen van de Roerganger" ("The Eyes of the Oarsman") (1997)

"Het Portuguese Goudschip" and "De Ogen van de Roerganger" together form one episode.

* "Succes Verzekerd" ("Success Guaranteed") (1999)

* "Eigen risico" ("At Your Own Risk") (2001)"Succes Verzekerd" and "Eigen Risico" together form one episode.

* "Kidnap" (2004)

* "Het zwaard van Iskander" ("The Sword of Iskander") (2006)

* "De Witte Godin" ("The Gordian Knot") (in preparation)"Het zwaard van Iskander" and "De Gordiaanse Godin" together form one episode "De reis van de Ishtar" ("The Journey of Ishtar")

Albums not in the main series

*"The Cadillac Club" (1988)

*"Harley Collection" (1998)

*"Kerstkaarten", "Overschakelen" and "Aquarellen"(2000)
** These three volumes ("Christmas Cards", "Dust Jackets" and "Watercolours") appeared in the "kill them pirates" edition produced by Franka BV as a reaction to pirated publications of Franka items after a quantity of Kuijpers' drawings had been stolen.

*"Felle Flitsen" (2002), specially produced for strip cartoon week by the publishing house Silvester of 's-Hertogenbosch.

*"Het geheim van de archiefkast" ("The Secret of the Muniment Chest") (1989)

*"Het halssnoer" ("The Noose") (date of publication unknown) - early version of "Moordende Concurrentie".

*"Technicolor Widescreen" (date of publication unknown)

Trivia

*The almost two year gap between the two "Dragon"-episodes was interrupted early 1985 by fake adverts telling Franka had been busy removing every forged Chinese antiquity in existence.

*At the time an April Fool's joke emerged suggesting that Steven Spielberg would turn "Dragon's Teeth" into a Hollywood blockbuster movie.

*"Murderous Competition" took seven years to complete before it was serialised late 1989. As it featured fashion-designer Laura Lava from "The Saboteur" (1979/1981) this story was reprinted as an introduction to the younger readers.

References

External links

* [http://www.franka.nl Franka official site] at Uitgeverij Franka BV nl icon
* [http://www.zilverendolfijn.nl/zz/ss/1/NL/FRANKA/c/zd.html Detailed list of Franka publications] nl icon
* [http://www.epsilongrafix.de Epsilon Verlag, German publishers] de icon