A Discovery in ComicsMargreet de Heer
With her background in theological studies, the Dutch artist is a deft communicator of abstract concepts and big-picture thinking. De Heer has written and drawn three graphic novels on big subjects, two of which are available in North America from NBM Publishing: the recent Science: A Discovery in Comics and last year's Philosophy: A Discovery in Comics. My article about De Heer's philosophy book ran in Sequential Tart on September 30, 2013). At around the same time, I interviewed De Heer by email as she embarked on her first book tour of North America.
Margreet de Heer The tour has been a blast so far. We (my husband Yiri and I) first stopped at SPX in Washington, then attended the Brooklyn Book Festival, and I'm writing these answers on the train back from Boston, where we had a signing at The Million Year Picnic. I had little expectations since, after all, I'm only an unknown graphic artist from Europe, but the response to the books has been overwhelming! People are drawn to the subjects and really like the square hardcover format they've been printed in. The most typical question we get is how long it took us to make the books. Well, we've been at it since 2009, when a Dutch publisher asked us to do a graphic novel about philosophy, and we finished only a few months ago -- that's three books in all (philosophy, science and religion -- the latter is not out in the U.S. yet), including the translation into English, which I did myself with the help of a wonderful proofreader from Berkeley. ST: Growing up, did you have a lot of exposure to sequential art, either in comics or animated form? MdH: Oh yes! My first imaginary boyfriend was actually Tintin. I made my mom set an extra plate for him at the table. I wasn't reading the comics then, but I remember the Tintin animations on TV. When I started to read, there were French comics like Asterix and Lucky Luke, which are hilarious -- and the Donald Duck stories by Carl Barks, which have been published in albums in the Netherlands since the early 70s. We also had a subscription to the Donald Duck Weekly magazine. And there were Dutch comics of course -- Jan, Jans en de Kinderen, and later the irreverent Familie Doorzon. When I was about 12 years old, the Donald Duck Weekly published a Dutch graphic series about the history of the Netherlands, Van Nul Tot Nu. This was the first time I read "educational" comics and they were a big influence on the books I make. They are a prime example of how graphics make a subject like history so much more comprehensible, and what's more, so much fun to read and learn about. ST: What kind of cultural role does comics or cartooning have in the Netherlands? In North America, it was seen as ephemeral kids stuff until the last decade or so, while comics seemed to have wider appeal in France and Japan. MdH: Yes, I'm afraid, even though we are close to Belgium and France, where comics are in high esteem, they have been mostly regarded as "kid's stuff" in Holland. But like in America, that's changing rapidly now, with a lot of really good graphic novels coming out and the press and public picking up on them. ST: What inspired you to make and publish your own comics? MdH: Well, ultimately, because I feel happiest when I'm drawing. I went to a bit of an elitist high school in the Netherlands, where they taught Greek and Latin but hardly any art classes. So the possibility of pursuing a career in art was never really considered. Besides, there was no comics school like there is now. Eventually I chose a study in theology, like most of my family. It was only at the end of these studies that I realised in full force how much happier I am drawing, and so I set out in the comics field rather late, at age 27. ST: I'm in awe of your ability to translate abstract ideas into comics. How do you typically approach a concept that your intended audience might find difficult to grasp?
Plus, I guess, I have a mind that's always looking for visual metaphors. I'm always thinking of relatable images when confronting complex issues. For instance, when I make comics about politics, which I sometimes do, I like to draw the world as a big sandbox in which children are playing. There's usually one bossy kid who wants to tell all the others how they should play. Well, that's politics in a nutshell, I believe. ST: Your layouts are also fascinating. How did you hit upon the timeline ribbon idea? MdH: Where did I pick that up…? Hmm, maybe Scott McCloud gave me the idea, in his wonderful Understanding Comics. He definitely promotes the idea of breaking away from classic panelling and making use of the "infinite canvas." It's also because I've always loved looking at timelines myself. Timelines, statistics, timetables, maps, subway systems -- I love these stylized representations of reality. ST: Science: a Discovery in Comics has a number of full-page panels in which blurbs can be read in different sequences. (I thought that was very interesting in a book about a subject that many people believe progresses linearly!) What ideas lent themselves to that kind of layout? MdH: That worked especially well, I think, on the page where I present science as a big puzzle. The readers literally have to figure it out for themselves. ST: In your books about philosophy and science, you include discussions of why you made certain choices in creating the books, most prominently, the time periods, the cultures, and individual works that you chose to highlight. What's the importance of including these discussions? MdH: I think these discussions lift the book out of the realm of "just" a schoolbook, and make it possible for the reader to relate to the process of making such a book. It also brings an awareness that the presentation of subjects is not a set sequence, there are choices to be made in what to highlight, in what way. The whole of recorded human history has been such of process of authors deciding what's important to relate to posterity, and with what kind of "editorial slant." History has never been objective, but I think it has been presented like that for too long. I want readers to have an understanding of that. Plus, there's so much information in the book, it's good to break that up with a more light-hearted, personal approach. I love drawing myself and my husband fighting over these issues. ST: Why did you get into the societal forces that affect developments, for example, Leonardo da Vinci comparing the freedom of inquiry during the Renaissance versus the demands of power interests today and the marginalization of women in science. MdH: I think it's very important people know that the practice of science is a dynamic field, that it interacts with culture, that its workings have not been the same over the centuries. Right now, there are more people working in the field of science than there ever were, and that means great diversification and great progress -- but also different dynamics in the field than in the time when it was just a handful of privileged men concerning themselves with scientific issues. I don't think the development of science progressed in a linear way at all -- maybe more in a spiral, with ideas being "fashionable" or not, and then forgotten, and then picked up later and built upon. This spiral interacts with what is technologically possible, culturally interesting, and financially profitable.
MdH: I think scientific developments, in essence, are easy to explain to people, especially with today's 3d graphics. The math can be way out there, but the essential ideas can be conveyed, even if they involve stuff like eleven dimensions. We have a lot to thank science fiction for, great shows like Star Trek for instance. These writers knew their science, and their fictional ideas are build from feasible scientific ideas, a lot of which have actually become reality. Science today is very exciting, because the field is in such a rapid development, way faster than ever in history. Just think: just hundred years ago the first planes were tested, now we have commercial space travel! The telephone was new then, now we're all connected wirelessly through the Internet. News and ideas travel faster than ever. Technology provides increasingly better equipment. It's impossible to say where we'll be in another hundred years, but my guess is the world then will differ even more from today, than today differs from 1913. ST: Will there be an English translation of your book about religion? MdH: I sure hope so! I hate to brag, but it's a very good book. It has the potential to educate people about belief systems in general and the five world religions specifically (Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism). I think it might contribute to better understanding and increased tolerance. It also depicts my own journey through different phases of belief and spirituality. Religion, in whatever form, is a process on an individual level, not a fixed state of unshakeable beliefs. At least, that's what I believe. ST: Do you have another "Discovery" books planned? MdH: Oh yeah -- I'm toying with several titles. I'm thinking about a book on the brain, but also about one on love and one on death. And ultimately, one on world domination, which will be my political statement and a journey into the minds of people who have ruled the world.
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