''Douwe Dabbert'' is a Dutch

fantasy comics Fantasy comics have been around as long as Comic book, comics. The classification "fantasy comics" broadly encompasses illustrated books set in an other-worldly universe or involving elements or actors outside our reality. Fantasy has been a mai ...

series by artist

Piet Wijn Pieter Cornelis Wijn (17 May 1929 – 6 October 2010) was a prolific Dutch comics creator. Wijn was born in Hilversum. His creations include the cartoon versions of Marten Toonder's Tom Puss and Kappie, Gloria van Goes, Douwe Dabbert, and ...

and scenarist . It was published in the Netherlands between 1975 and 2001, and in the United States beginning in 2021.

Concept

Douwe Dabbert is a

fantasy comic Fantasy comics have been around as long as comics. The classification "fantasy comics" broadly encompasses illustrated books set in an other-worldly universe or involving elements or actors outside our reality. Fantasy has been a mainstay of fic ...

set in an undetermined past, though in two stories "De Weg naar west" ("The Way to West") and "De zee naar zuid" ("The Sea to South") he meets representatives of the West-Indische Compagnie, which would put those of his adventures before 1792. But then in "De tanden van Casius Gaius"("The teeth of Casius Gaius") we see the royal Dutch coat of arms which would make that one and the following adventures take place after 1815 as that was the year the kingdom of Netherlands was created. Despite the historical context the comic makes use of many fantastic elements such as

witchcraft Witchcraft is the use of Magic (supernatural), magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meanin ...

, fictitious kingdoms and

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics to ...

animals.

List of characters

* Douwe Dabbert: The series' protagonist. He is a small bearded man who has the appearance of a

gnome A gnome () is a mythological creature and diminutive spirit in Renaissance magic and alchemy, introduced by Paracelsus in the 16th century and widely adopted by authors, including those of modern fantasy literature. They are typically depict ...

. He might be one himself, seeing that at the start of one story, "Het Bedrog van Balthasar", he is seen saying goodbye to

Paulus the woodgnome ''Paulus the woodgnome'' () was a Dutch newspaper comic strip, which ran between 1946 and 1984. Its popularity inspired a series of children's novels, a radio series and a television puppet series. It was created by Jan van Oort (pseudonym Jean ...

, a character from another comics series, who almost has the same size as him. Furthermore, Douwe has a magical

knapsack A backpack, also called knapsack, schoolbag, rucksack, pack, booksack, bookbag, haversack, packsack, or backsack, is in its simplest frameless form, a fabric sack carried on one's back and secured with two straps that go over the shoulders; b ...

from which only he can conjure items that are helpful in any situation. When others try to use it to their own advantage the bag only produces water, sand or nothing at all. Dabbert is depicted as a roaming traveller. We never learn anything about his family, except that he inherited his knapsack from his grandfather. His name is

alliterative Alliteration is the repetition of syllable-initial consonant sounds between nearby words, or of syllable-initial vowels if the syllables in question do not start with a consonant. It is often used as a List of narrative techniques#Style, litera ...

because the publishers of

Donald Duck Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company. Donald is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor suit, sailor shirt and cap with ...

felt this was in line with their other titles. The name "Dabbert" was thought up when thinking of the wardrobe of

Sinterklaas Sinterklaas () or Sint-Nicolaas () is a legendary figure based on Saint Nicholas, patron saint of children. Other Dutch names for the figure include ''De Sint'' ("The Saint"), ''De Goede Sint'' ("The Good Saint") and ''De Goedheiligman'' (derive ...

, which is called a "tabberd" in Dutch. * Pief: Pief is a sorcerer's apprentice. He thinks he is quite a master in

magic Magic or magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces ** ''Magick'' (with ''-ck'') can specifically refer to ceremonial magic * Magic (illusion), also known as sta ...

, but still makes a lot of mistakes. Douwe acts like a father figure to him. Pief and his family appear in ''Het flodderwerk van Pief'', as well as in many subsequent books. The book ''De zwarte kimono'' is about Pief's adventures in the East. * Domoli: Pief's nephew. He is an obese little sorcerer's apprentice who is only interested in food. * Kijfje: Pief's niece and Domoli's sister. She is a slender and somewhat crabby girl. * Ludo Lafhart: A crook who wants to become rich. He is one of Douwe's most recurring

antagonist An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the main enemy or rival of the protagonist and is often depicted as a villain.

. * Wredulia: An evil

witch Witchcraft is the use of magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meaning. According to ''Enc ...

who appears in the stories "De Poort naar oost" ("The Gate to East") and "De Schacht naar noord" ("The Shaft to North"). * Prinses Pauline: A spoiled princess who appears in the first story. She was originally meant as the protagonist, but after thirteen pages Dabbert makes his entry in the series and she is never seen again until the final album. * Dodo: A

dodo The dodo (''Raphus cucullatus'') is an extinction, extinct flightless bird that was endemism, endemic to the island of Mauritius, which is east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. The dodo's closest relative was the also-extinct and flightles ...

whom Douwe met at the

North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distingu ...

, searching for a dodo egg. Finally, they find a dodo egg on a

desert island An uninhabited island, desert island, or deserted island, is an island, islet or atoll which lacks permanent human population. Uninhabited islands are often depicted in films or stories about shipwrecked people, and are also used as stereotypes ...

, so the dodo can

reproduce Reproduction (or procreation or breeding) is the biological process by which new individual organisms – "offspring" – are produced from their "parent" or parents. There are two forms of reproduction: asexual and sexual. In asexual reprod ...

himself. He appears in "De Schacht naar het Noorden" en "De Weg naar het Westen". * Berendsz en Knielsen: Two sailors who try to steal Douwe's knapsack. They appear in "De zee naar zuid" ("The Sea to South").

Publication history

Between 1975 and 2001 the series was published without interruption. They were pre-published in small episodes in the Dutch magazine ''

''. All longer stories have been published in 23 comic book albums afterwards. Some shorter stories exist too, but haven't been published in the regular series yet.

drew all the stories personally, except for the final one, which was partially done by

Dick Matena Dick Matena (born 24 April 1943) is a Dutch comics writer and cartoonist. He has also published under the pseudonyms A. den Dooier, John Kelly and Dick Richards. He has made several kinds of comics, from humor comics to erotic comics, but is bes ...

, due to Wijn's health problems at the time, which would lead to his death in 2010. The first English-language edition of Douwe Dabbert was published in 2021 by Creston Books. "Douwe Dabbert" is changed to "Dusty Dabbert" in the American version. Currently, "The Secret Animal Kingdom" is the only title available in English.

Albums

# "De verwende prinses" (1977) ("The spoiled princess") # "Het verborgen dierenrijk" (1977) ("The secret animal kingdom") # "De valse heelmeester" (1978) ("The deceitful healer") # "De poort naar oost" (1978) ("The gate to the east") # "Het monster van het Mistmeer" (1979) ("The monster of the Fog Lake") # "De schacht naar noord" (1979) ("The shaft to the north") # "De weg naar west" (1980) ("The road to the west") # "De zee naar zuid" (1981) ("The sea to the south") # "Florijn de flierefluiter" (1982) (Florijn the loafer") # "De tanden van Casius Gaius" (1983) ("The teeth of Casius Gaius") # "Het flodderwerk van Pief" (1984) ("The messy work of Pief") # "De laatste plager" (1985) ("The last teaser"), includes a Christmas story # "De heksen van eergisteren" (1986) ("The witches of the day before yesterday") # "Op het spoor van kwade zaken" (1988) ("On the trail of evil things"), short stories # "Het bedrog van Balthasar" (1990) ("The deceit of Balthasar") # "De dame in de lijst" (1991) ("The lady in the frame") # "Bombasto met het boze oog" (1992) ("Bombasto and the

evil eye The evil eye is a supernatural belief in a curse brought about by a malevolent glaring, glare, usually inspired by envy. Amulets to Apotropaic, protect against it have been found dating to around 5,000 years ago. It is found in many cultures i ...

"), short stories # "De kast met duizend deuren" (1993) ("The closet with a thousand doors"), with a short

story within a story A story within a story, also referred to as an embedded narrative, is a literary device in which a character within a story becomes the narrator of a second story (within the first one). Multiple layers of stories within stories are sometime ...

# "Het schip van ijs" (1994) ("The ship made of ice") # "De zwarte kimono" (1995) ("The black

Kimono The is a traditional Japanese garment and the national dress of Japan. The kimono is a wrapped-front garment with square sleeves and a rectangular body, and is worn Garment collars in hanfu#Youren (right lapel), left side wrapped over ri ...

") # "Het gemaskerde opperhoofd" (1996) ("The masked chieftain") # "Terug naar het verborgen dierenrijk" (1997) ("Back to the secret animal kingdom") # "De wonderlijke raamvertelling" (2001) ("The amazing

frame story A frame story (also known as a frame tale, frame narrative, sandwich narrative, or intercalation) is a literary technique that serves as a companion piece to a story within a story, where an introductory or main narrative sets the stage either fo ...

"), two adventures in one story.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official siteDouwe Dabbert
page at TV Tropes site
Dusty Dabbert
the English-language version
Douwe Dabbert
All about Douwe Dabbert, and translated albums from Piet Wijn, Thom Roep Dutch comics characters Dutch comic strips Gnomes in popular culture Fictional dwarves Comics characters who use magic Male characters in comics Fictional hoboes Fantasy comics Adventure comics Comics about gnomes Comics about animals Comics about talking animals Comics set in the 17th century 1975 comics debuts Comics characters introduced in 1975 2001 comics endings Fictional Dutch people Comics set in the Netherlands __FORCETOC__