'NV Overwerk' (MARK Magazine, June 2019). Translation: "Animals at the office improve the working climate." ('Bark! Bark! Bark!'...'). "Next time, a goldfish?"
AAaRGh... is a Belgian gag cartoonist, comedian, children's book writer and TV gag writer. Besides current events-based cartoons, he has created the office gag strip 'NV Overwerk' (2008- ) for newspapers and specialized magazines, and the children's pantomime comic 'Rumi' (2013-2014) for De Zondag. Under his real name, Mario De Koninck, he has published the humorous autobiographical webcomic 'De Familie De Koninck' (2014-2021), in which he visualizes real-life anecdotes about his young daughters and their unintentionally funny behavior and comments. AAaRGh is additionally notable for self-publishing his cartoon collections and producing limited merchandising around them. He also developed a stand-up comedy act around his cartoons.
Early life and career
Mario De Koninck was born in 1977 in Aalst, East Flanders, although his parents hailed from Mijlbeek. Originally, he studied Communication Science at the University of Brussels and was briefly active as a journalist. His habit of drawing funny cartoons based on current events eventually led to a career change. Instead of reporting with words, he comments through drawings. Since the 2000s, the freelance cartoonist has been based in Sint-Amandsberg, Ghent.
Translation: "I expect it's a lot of fun news again."
Cartooning career
De Koninck is best known as a gag cartoonist, using the yell "AAaRGh..." as his pseudonym. He lifted this onomatopoeia from Willy Vandersteen's chivalry comic 'De Rode Ridder', where characters often moan it during death scenes. He picked out this particular pseudonym since it is a theatrical expression of one's frustrations, sounding so over the top that it becomes funny. When mocking life's misery in his cartoons, he takes the same approach. De Koninck also likes the fact that the three A's in front of his pseudonym put his name in front of all other alphabetically grouped cartoonists.
AAaRGH... started drawing cartoons in 1999, but for two years couldn't find a publisher. In 2001, his career was launched in the pages of the TV weekly Teveblad. Since then his cartoons have appeared in the daily paper Metro and the weeklies Deze Week, Paper, Story, De Streekkrant Aalst, De Streekkrant Gent, Win and De Zondag. His monthly cartoons for De Randkrant, a Dutch-language paper distributed in Brussels, mostly revolve around Belgian bi-lingual issues. His cartoons also liven up the pages of the lifestyle publication Myx Magazine. In The Netherlands, AAaRGH...'s cartoons ran in Mudhoen, Sp!ts (starting in 2008), Bizz Nederland and Bierblad, a monthly niche magazine for beer lovers. He became a house cartoonist for the free public transport newspaper Sp!ts by winning a cartooning contest organized by the paper. AAaRGh... has additionally made illustrations for the small press comic magazines Incognito and Plots and the publishing companies Averbode (Blikopener, De Breintrein, iD, Reflector) and Van In (Boemeranguitgaven).
For the newspaper Het Nieuwsblad, AAaRGH... has drawn puzzles in cartoon format, which appeared three times a week. They typically offer a literal visualization of a certain word, proverb or expression. In 2017, a selection of 150 of them were collected in the book 'Cartoonraadsels'. A general collection of his annual cartoons, 'Het Jaar van AAaRGh...' (2013) was brought out by the Dutch publishing company Silvester. Many of his other books have been distributed through his own printing company, AAaRGh Productions. He also brings out his own merchandising products, including coffee mugs, tea pots, door mats, stickers, sugar cubes and flower pots.
Cartoon of 29 August 2022. Translation: (Right wing people): "I don't mind foreigners, but..." (Woke): "I don't mind comedy, but..."
Several of AAaRGh...'s cartoons are based on current events, though he also makes more timeless gags. Although he draws dozens of cartoons each day, he only publishes the ones picked out by his wife, Marleen. Interviewed by Erik De Troyer for hln.be (12 September 2019), he said: "She really is my filter, I really need her. That's why I stay married to her."
In March 2020, the world was hit by a corona pandemic, which made all public life come to a standstill. Like most people, AAaRGh... was forced to stay inside during the quarantine lockdown. He started drawing three corona-related cartoons a day to keep people's spirits up. By 27 April, he already had enough episodes together to provide a chronological overview of the corona crisis, which he made available in June 2020 as the self-published book 'AAaRGh... Corona'. A follow-up, 'De Tweede Golf van Kritiek, Frustraties en Hoop' (2021), followed soon afterwards. Subsequently, he published 'CulinAAaRGh... Op Restaurantbezoek' (2021), with restaurant-themed cartoons, since this was one activity many people had to miss during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Controversy
Throughout his career, AAaRGh... only encountered controversy a few times. Once he made a parody of Dick Bruna's children's book character 'Nijntje' ('Miffy'). Copyright holders strongly discouraged him from doing this ever again. Another time, the sports TV channel Sporza posted a cartoon by him on their website. The drawing mocked football club F.C. Beerschot, portraying their bear mascot with a noose around its neck. The cartoon infuriated some supporters to such a degree that angry reactions and threats flooded the site. Eventually the offensive joke was taken offline.
'NV Overwerk'. Translation: "Sigh. 4 out of 5 mails are trash." - "Spam?" - "No, from the boss."
NV Overwerk
During the late 2000s, AAaRGh... created the character-based gag comic 'NV Overwerk', which has appeared in newspapers and specialized magazines. The four-panel feature revolves around a bespectacled office employee and his smaller colleague, who talk about current events and typical office topics. They hate their boss and often talk behind her back. A running gag is that their boss always remains off screen. The employees usually do anything but work and panic whenever they are caught red-handed.
By 2008, 'NV Overwerk' began publication in the free public transport tabloid Metro, and then continued in JobAt and MARK Magazine, the weekend supplements of newspapers Het Nieuwsblad and De Standaard. It has also appeared in the Dutch tabloid Sp!ts, the computer magazine DataNews and the business network periodical VOKA Magazine. Starting in 2017, 'NV Overwerk' has appeared on a weekly basis in the free Sunday newspaper De Zondag. A collection of gags was compiled in the book 'Dienst Onbelangrijke Zaken. Zwaar Werk!' (2005).
'Rumi'.
Rumi
Another comic by AAaRGh... was the pantomime strip 'Rumi' (2013-2014), printed in De Zondag, a free Sunday newspaper distributed at bakeries. Rumi is an extraterrestrial alien exploring Earth. Since he doesn't understand life on this planet, this leads to funny misunderstandings and accidents. AAaRGH... came up with the idea for Rumi after his first daughter was born. He felt most pre-existing children's characters, like Dick Bruna's 'Miffy' and Ray Goossens' 'Musti', lived in far too "bland, safe and consequence-free environments." Rumi wanders through a more dangerous world, and sometimes falls from trees, slips or loses an eye.
Starting on 7 July 2013, 'Rumi' ran in the pages of De Zondag with visual humor comic strips and games, and continued to appear during holiday seasons. Since its disappearance in De Zondag, AAaRGh... has kept his strip alive through a Facebook page and a special 'Rumi' website. A book with 'Rumi' gags and 100 stickers, 'Rumi: Vrolijk Stickerboek', has been made available through the artist's personal website.
'De Familie De Koninck'. A real-life anecdote, featuring the artist's toddler daughter Lena, who was sad, because she wanted "a drawing without a drawing" (meaning just a white sheet of paper).
De Familie De Koninck
For his other comic, the cartoonist could find inspiration closer to home. When one night in 2014 De Koninck's two daughters were being annoying and disobedient, he felt exhausted and irked after finally putting them into bed. To vent his frustrations, he drew a short comic about last hours' events and posted it on Facebook. Thinking nothing of it, De Koninck was surprised to find out that many people enjoyed it, especially parents. They considered the same situations that irritated him very recognizable and funny. This motivated him to make more episodes, under the title 'De Familie De Koninck'. On 2 December 2014, De Koninck launched a special Facebook page dedicated to the strip, on which he has irregularly published new episodes.
As the title implies, the series is based on real-life anecdotes regarding De Koninck's family, consisting of Mario himself, his wife Marleen and daughters Jolien and Lena. A few episodes were based on anecdotes of other people's children. Each episode adapts children's unintentionally funny remarks, questions or answers in comic strip form. They make naïve misinterpretations, mispronounce words or display utter lack of logic. Apart from these adorably laughable moments, De Koninck also portrays them in less flattering situations. Like any infant, his kids can be jealous, angry, greedy or crave for unwarranted attention. Sometimes they act suspiciously "innocent" while actually having done something naughty. 'De Familie De Koninck' is a witty strip, recognizable to anybody who ever observed children or honest enough to remember his or her own early years. The greatest compliment paid to De Koninck was that some parents told him that their children, who otherwise didn't like reading, were enthralled by 'De Familie De Koninck'.
'De Familie De Koninck'. Another real-life anecdote featuring the artist's other daughter, Jolien. One morning she slipped on the stairs and afterwards overheard a morning radio report about road accidents, wondering: "Would they mention my accident too?"
Over the years, several book collections have been published: 'Ik Ben Niet Boos' (2015), 'Oef!! Ze Liggen in Bed!' (2016), 'Bweikes' (2016), 'De Nieuwe Zetel...Zit Goed!' (2017) and 'De Kast Past!' (2021). Even though the anecdotes from other people's offspring have provided additional inspiration for new episodes, the series came to an end in 2021, by the time the cartoonist's children had grown older. Cartoonists who have made similar graphic adaptations of real-life funny moments regarding their or other people's children have been Matt Groening, Stuart Hample and Charles M. Schulz.
Children's books
In 2018, De Koninck wrote and self-published his first children's book, 'De Prinses Die Alles Had', a modern-day fairy tale about a spoiled princess. One day his young daughters felt bored, so he entertained them with a story he invented on the spot. They were invited to think up wacky ideas and plot twists of their own. While De Koninck could illustrate the book himself, he wanted an artist with a different, more fantasy-like style. Through his work for the European Cartoon Center in Kruishoutem, he had met Nikola "IOA" Hendrickx and asked him for the job. On 28 October 2018, 'De Prinses Die Alles Had' won an award for "Best Children's Book", as chosen by viewers of the book program 'Lang Zullen We Lezen', broadcast on the Flemish public TV channel VRT. A sequel followed two years later, again illustrated by Hendrickx, 'De Prinses Die Alles Had... Zelfs Genoeg Van Haar Ridder' (2020). De Koninck and Hendrickx also released the children's book 'Maarten en de Magie van de Mantel' (2018), based on the legend of St. Martin.
In 2023, AAaRGh... self-published 'Soep', a children's book written and illustrated by himself. The story revolves around a girl, Lena, who falls into her plate of chicken soup. She changes into a sprout and finds herself in a strange kingdom, where the local monarch wants to ban soup for mysterious reasons.
Poster for De Koninck's solo theater show 'Mario, Morgen Gadegij Naar De Dokter' (2025).
Theater, radio and television
Since 1999, De Koninck has also been active in improvisational comedy. He was a member of groups like The Lunatics, Wabliefteru?! and the Impro All Stars. In 2001, he and some of his colleagues co-founded De Nonsens Alliantie, which performs improvisational shows at companies, schools and associations. In the mid-2010s, he developed a solo act where he combined stand-up comedy with cartooning. Originally, De Koninck wanted to make his drawings live, but since it's such a time-consuming activity, he has instead been preparing his cartoons at home to use them during the show. To boost his notability, De Koninck performed his "cartoon comedy" act in an episode of the talent contest 'Belgium's Got Talent', broadcast on 12 September 2019 on commercial TV channel VTM.
In 2025, Mario De Koninck began touring the theaters with 'Mario, Morgen Gadegij Naar De Dokter' ("Mario, Tomorrow You're Going To See The Doctor"), a humorous monologue in which he reflects on being "a cartoonist with autism, or an autist with cartoonism" (a diagnosis he didn't receive until he was 31). To accompany the show, he also released a book version of the show.
In addition, De Koninck was also a gag writer for the humorous radio panel show 'De Raadkamer' on Radio 2 and the comedy TV panel shows 'De Rechtvaardige Rechters' (2001-2006) and 'De Kazakkendraaiers' (2011). He additionally scripted the commentary for the cooking show 'Komen Eten', broadcast on the commercial channel VT4 (later respectively retitled as Play4 and VIER).
AAaRGh... cartoon from 1 July 2022, quoting from The Beatles song 'Help!'.
Graphic contributions
In 2010, AAaRGh... paid tribute to Pom in the collective comic book 'Op het Spoor van Pom' ('t Mannekesblad, 2010), of which the profits went to the Kinderkankerfonds to support children with cancer. He also drew a graphic homage to Marc Sleen in 'Huldeboek Marc Sleen' (Bonte, 2022). AAaRGh... has made cartoons to liven up various school math books for the publishing companies Malmberg and Pelckmans. He drew advertisements for the bank BNP Parisbas, the Confédération Syndicale Européenne, lawyer's office Tuerlinckx and home nursing. He also promoted the labor unions ABVV and ACV and made cartoons for the youth division of the Flemish socialist party in Aalst.
Recognition
In 2018, AAaRGH... was named the annual house cartoonist of the European Cartoon Center in Kruishoutem. Between 24 June and 23 September 2018, his work was exhibited there as well. AAaRGh... has been named an influence on Rino Feys.
'De Familie De Koninck'.