'Net Als In De Film' (Tina #16, 2024).
Nova de Hoo is a Dutch comic creator, illustrator and storyboard artist, based in Zwolle. Since 2022, she has been creating comic stories for the children's magazines Meiden ('Shaya's Dagboek', 2022-2024), Penny ('Bibi en Bikkel', 2022- ) and Tina ('Joy', 2025- ). Her more personal comics reflect her interest in politics, history and feminism.
Early life and education
Nova de Hoo was born in 2001 in a town in the province of Brabant. In her final high school year, she was one of ten selected students from the Nijmegen region to have her work included in an Art Battle held in the cultural center De Lindenberg. Between 2019 and 2023, she studied Comic Design at the ArtEZ University of the Arts in Zwolle, receiving her Bachelor's degree in Graphic Design and Applied Arts. Besides training technical skills, the school also helped her with expressing herself, and using experimental and illustrative artwork to tell self-reflexive, metaphorical comic stories. Among her main graphic influences are Craig Thompson, Jillian Tamaki, Alison Bechdel and Barbara Stok, and she has also expressed her admiration for Simon Hanselmann and Robert Crumb.
'Middag, Aand, Oggend' (2023).
Social engagement
For her personal comic projects, Nova de Hoo tries to pick subjects that matter, usually connected to social issues, politics and feminism. Her 2023 graduation project, the 32-page self-published comic story 'Middag, Aand, Oggend', dealt with sex workers in South Africa. Through the Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT), she had Zoom calls with several experienced experts, resulting in the story of Akhona, a South African sex worker who is apprehended by a police officer after a night out. However, the arrest turns into a kidnapping, leaving Akhona at the mercy of feelings of fear and powerlessness.
In 2025, De Hoo made a selection of her more personal comic stories and self-published them in the comic book 'Liking Girls & Being A Bit Of A Loser: The Bundle!'.
'Bibi en Bikkel', from Penny magazine.
Children's comics
In addition to her topical comics, Nova de Hoo has also approached several children's magazines for girls with her projects. For Meiden Magazine, she created the back-page comic feature 'Shaya's Dagboek' (2022-2024), mixing a comic narrative with an illustrated diary format. With her dynamic and expressive artwork, Nova is also present in Penny magazine with 'Bibi en Bikkel' (2022- ), about a girl and her horse. In late 2023, she also began drawing one-shot comic stories for the girls' magazine Tina, both from her own scripts or by others (such as Betje Ton). In February 2025, her own comic feature 'Joy' debuted in Tina's pages.
'Shaya's Dagboek' (Meiden Magazine #11, 2022).
Festivals
Nova de Hoo has been a regular participant in the "Nieuwe Garde" comic fairs for young talent in Zwolle, organized by the online comics platform De 9e Kunst. During the 2024 Stripdagen comics festival in Haarlem, her 2023 graduation comic was part of the collective exposition 'Vier x Vrij', which also featured socially engaged comic artwork by B.Carrot, Micky Dirkzwager and Sarah Pannekoek.
During the 2024 edition of the Utrechtse MUS comic festival, Nova de Hoo was awarded the Gouden MUS for best newcomer in Dutch comics. She received a trophy designed by the winner of 2023, Bob op ‘t Land.
'How I Stopped Hating My Body'.