'Nena's Vlog'.
Dorith Graef is a Dutch comic artist, writer and editor based in Leiden. Since 2012, she has worked for the Dutch children's magazines Donald Duck and Tina of publishing house Sanoma (which were bought by DPG in 2020), and is also active as an illustrator for children's magazines and books related to horses. After several years of scriptwriting, she co-created the monthly comic 'Nena's Vlog' (2019- ) for girls magazine Tina with scriptwriter Bas Schuddeboom.
Early life and career
Born in Eindhoven in 1988, Dorith Graef shares her talent for drawing with her father. While still a teenager, she made her first comics for manga-related fanzines. Together with a couple of friends, she formed the doujinshi manga circle Neutral, which took its inspiration from the all-female Japanese manga group Clamp. Active between 2005 and 2009, the group released several small-press comic books, and also had a story printed in the eleventh issue of the Dutch manga magazine Aniway, published in 2008.
Comic page by "Dori" for the Neutral anthology 'In de Schaduw' (2009).
After an education in Japanese Language and Culture, Dorith studied Arts, Journalism & New Media at the University of Leiden. In 2009, she translated an installment in Ryu Fujisaki's manga series 'Hoshin Engi' for the publisher Glénat. Dorith has a creative mind with a strong urge for wordplay, irony and self-mockery, which she has not only showcased on her own social media channels, but also on the group effort 'Oppervlakkige Wijven' (2011-2016).
Donald Duck & Tina
In June 2012, Graef began working for the Sanoma children's magazines Tina and Donald Duck as a student intern, and has since then continued to work for both titles as a freelancer and then staff member. Originally hired as a web editor, Graef was one of the few interns with an actual knack for comics. For Tina, she has written scripts for the celebrity comic series based on Dutch singers Nick & Simon (2013, artwork by Rafa Ruiz), as well as Tina's title comic (2014-2015, artwork by Carmen Pérez). Since 2014, she has written Disney comics with the characters 'Scamp', 'April, May and June' and the young 'Duckies'. Graef has additionally written gags for 'Professor Breinstein' in the popular science monthly Zo Zit Dat (artwork by Studio Comicup).
From: 'De Clown, De Draak of de Westernpony...'
Horse illustrator
A true "horse girl", Graef published the short-lived illustrated feature about riding school pony called 'Blunder Bennie' (2015) in Penny magazine. In May 2015, she became an online blogger and illustrator for horse-related magazine Bit. She quickly transitioned to the paper version of Bit with illustrations and her own column. For publisher Kluitman, she subsequently illustrated Gertrud Jetten's horse-related children's books 'Help, Ik Ben Een Pony!' (2018) and 'Help, Waar Is Mijn Pony?!' (2019). In the following year, she illustrated 'De Clown, De Draak Of De Westernpony...' (Happy Horse Riding, 2020) by Saskia Kokkeel.
Disney art department
Since 2018, Graef is a staff member of the art department of the Dutch Disney magazines, and responsible for the planning and routing of the coloring process. To improve her own skills, she inked a Disney comics story penciled by Sander Gulien, and provided coloring to several editoral productions herself.
'Marrie & Merrie' (Tina #25, 2023).
Nena's Vlog
Graef has also remained active for girls' magazine Tina. Since late 2018 she works with comic editor Bas Schuddeboom on the near-monthly gag strip 'Nena's Vlog', about a goofy wannabe vlogger girl. The feature made its debut in Tina's vloggers-related issue #5 of 2019. Initially a spoof on influencer culture, main character Nena gradually developed into a shy and clumsy girl, who can express herself by creating videos, without caring too much for likes or views. Her main inspiration is her grandfather, a retired documentary maker, while her nemesis is the bitchy and vain Katrijn-Kimberly, also known as Katy-Kim, the "influencer from class 3B". Companions and at times victims of Nena's enthusiastic film exploits are her naïve best friend Merel, her parents and her playful dog Aram.
Marrie & Merrie
In 2023, Graef and scriptwriter Margreet de Heer additionally launched the fully watercolor-painted comic feature 'Marrie & Merrie', about a horse-obsessed girl and an unwilling horse.
Dorith Graef signing at the Tina Festival on 14 September 2024 (Photo: Seb van der Kaaden).