Jan, Jans en de kinderen #2
Album #2 is one of the two founding volumes of the Joop Wiggers Produkties book series — the publishing venture that transformed Jan Kruis's weekly Libelle page strips into a standalone Dutch comics franchise. Together with album #1 (both released in 1972), it established the collected-album format for the entire run of more than 70 volumes, a model that would define how Dutch family strips were published and merchandised for decades. The book series also provided the first wide-circulation format in which the full Tromp family ensemble — Jan, Jans, Karlijn, Catootje, Jeroentje, De rode kater, and Lotje — was presented to audiences beyond Libelle's subscriber base, cementing these characters as fixtures of Dutch popular culture. As one of the earliest albums in what became one of the best-selling Dutch comic series of all time, it holds a foundational place in the history of the Netherlands' indigenous comics industry.
Sell my copy
Have this issue — or a whole collection? Get a fair offer from us, skip the marketplace fees and the hassle.
We Buy Collections ▸History
Jan Kruis launched the strip on 12 December 1970 at the request of Libelle editor-in-chief Peter Middeldorp; because Kruis also did illustration work for the rival women's magazine Margriet at the time, he signed the earliest episodes under his middle name 'Andries' to avoid a conflict of interest. When Libelle's parent publisher De Spaarnestad/VNU declined to produce book collections — judging there was no market — Kruis turned to his friend Joop Wiggers, a Dutch graphic designer and entrepreneur. Over an informal conversation, Kruis handed Wiggers the publishing rights; Wiggers mortgaged his home to fund a first print run of 30,000 copies, and the 1972 debut album sold out immediately, making a second volume inevitable. Wiggers and his wife Beppie subsequently served as Kruis's commercial agents for nearly thirty years, expanding the franchise into merchandise and, in the mid-1980s, a TROS television adaptation.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Album #2 was published in 1972 by Joop Wiggers Produkties B.V., making it one of the two inaugural volumes of the long-running Dutch album series.
- Written and drawn entirely by Jan Kruis (Johannes Andries Kruis, 1933–2017), who produced the strip solo in the early years, with his wife Els later assisting with coloring.
- The strip debuted in Libelle on 12 December 1970; the albums collect strips that first appeared as weekly one-page gag installments in that magazine.
- Kruis signed the earliest Libelle strips under the pseudonym 'Andries' (his middle name) to avoid a contractual conflict with rival magazine Margriet, for which he also worked as an illustrator.
- Characters appearing in this album — Jan Tromp, Jans Tromp, Karlijn Tromp, Catootje Tromp, Jeroentje, De rode kater, and Lotje — were all drawn from Kruis's own household: his daughters Andrea and Leontine were the models for Catootje and Karlijn, and the family owned a real dachshund and a large red tomcat.
- The strip tackled contemporary Dutch social issues in a gentle, dialogue-driven style — including evolving gender roles, multiculturalism, and changing family norms — making the albums a running chronicle of Dutch middle-class life from 1970 onward.
- Publisher Joop Wiggers also served as producer of the 1985–1986 TROS animated television adaptation (20 episodes, directed by Wouter Stips), and initiated an extensive merchandising line that made De rode kater a nationally recognized mascot.
- Jan Kruis received the Stripschapprijs in 1983 and the Marten Toonderprijs in 2009 for his contributions to Dutch comics; in 1996 he was appointed a Knight in the Order of the Dutch Lion.
Cast · 7 characters
Full credits
Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
▸ Reveal full plot — may contain spoilers
De Tromps krijgen Marietje van de tekenaar.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).