Kapitein Flamberg c. 1902

Henry Hennault created this comic strip titled ‘Kapitein Flamberg’; we don’t know when exactly, but it now lives at the Rijksmuseum. The first thing that grabs you is the riot of little figures engaged in various shenanigans – they're drawn with such energy and humour! I can imagine Hennault working away at this, maybe inking each frame with a scratchy pen, figuring out the narrative piece by piece. What's so interesting about this work is how it unfolds as a sequence. Each little drawing has to be composed in itself but also contribute to the story's momentum. There’s such delight in his line, a real sense of movement and theatricality. I love the way he uses colour – these light washes create depth and also help to differentiate the characters. The overall impression reminds me a little of other comic artists, like George Herriman with Krazy Kat, or even more recently, Chris Ware. What connects them is the idea of storytelling through simple, direct drawing. It is a conversation that continues today, with artists inspiring and borrowing from one another across time.