'Umberto'.
Tijn Snoodijk is a Dutch artist, best known as an author and illustrator of children's books, as well as a journalist covering comics and animation. However, he did publish a few short comics in magazines such as Striparazzi, Zone 5300, Hello You and Eisner. Recurring characters have been the voluptuous 'Bibi Bazooka' and the melancholic toy hamster 'Umberto'.
Header for Lambiek's De Reporter.
Lambiek
Born in 1970, Martijn Snoodijk began working for the Amsterdam-based comic shop Lambiek in the early 1990s. He was not a salesman, but instead helped owner Kees Kousemaker with his many side projects. One of those included the relaunch of Lambiek's newsletter De Reporter, for which Snoodijk developed a more modern lay-out and header. Between 1994 and 1995, the tongue-in-cheek newsletter was published on advertising spots in comic news magazines like Stripschrift and Zozolala. Together with Martijn Daalder, he compiled 'Lambiek's Almanac 1968-1993', which in November 1993 collected most of the store's history at the occasion of its 25th anniversary. Snoodijk and Kousemaker also wrote a brief comic history for a booklet which came with the 1997 comics stamps ('In Strip Gevat', 1997).
'De Fantastische Tekenaar Fred' (Striparazzi #1, 1999).
Early comics career
During the decade, Snoodijk gradually began writing about comics more frequently, including for newspapers like AD and the comics annuals of publisher Sherpa. His own career as an illustrator and comic artist took off as well. An early creation was 'De Fantastische Tekenaar Fred' (1999), an editorial strip for Big Balloon's Striparazzi, the comic magazine edited by his brother Dirk Snoodijk. When Striparazzi folded, the Snoodijk brothers moved over to Malmberg's English language magazine Hello You!, for which Snoodijk created the culinary adventures of 'Fatkid' (1999-2000). Snoodijk also appeared in the alternative comic magazine Zone 5300 with star reporter 'Tsunami Now'.
Scene from a comic strip by Snoodijk about Kees Kousemaker.
Bibi Bazooka
The cute and voluptuous 'Bibi Bazooka' with her inseparable teddy bear was a recurring character by Tijn Snoodijk, who for the occasion assumed the pen name Naomi J. Strijdonk. Bibi was regularly confronted with political and economic dilemmas when appearing in comics, cartoons and illustrations in Dutch men's magazines like FHM, Maxim and Blvd, and on several websites. Under his own publishing imprint Lapijn, Snoodijk released a charming pantomime cartoon novel with the character, called 'Bibi Bazooka' (2010).
'Umberto'.
Umberto
Another regular character by Snoodijk has been the melancholic toy hamster 'Umberto', who starred in the self-published cartoon book 'Niets Van Belang' (Lapijn, 2009). For the fifth and final issue of Eisner, published in 2010, Snoodijk reused his hamster for a comic adaptation of 'Kangaroo', a disastrous love story from the Dan Rhodes book 'Anthropology and a Hundred Other Stories' (2000). A comic with the Umberto character also appeared in 'Vijf Zinnen, Tien strips' (2011), a collective book of comic essays.
'Waarom moet ik naar bed?'.
Children's picture books
Snoodijk has gained most fame for his children's picture books, made on a regular basis since 2000. He applies a readable and stylized graphic technique, which is reminiscent of 'Miffy' author Dick Bruna, but with an absurd and original touch. His first book, for instance, 'Getver! Alweer Een Boek!' (Zirkoon, 2000), can be considered a useful guide on how to avoid reading. However, it won him the 2002 Zilveren Penseel ("Silver Brush"), one of the most important Dutch awards for illustrators of children's literature. The book was subsequently translated into English ('Yuck! It's Another Book!'), French (Beurk! Encore un Livre!') and Italian ('Uffa! Ancora un Libro!'). Zirkoon also published Snoodijk's next productions, which deal with a little man who has to reconstruct himself each morning ('Goedemorgen, Meneer Stukjes!', with Heleen van Rossum, 2003), a bear trying to discover the joys of visual arts ('Niet Aanraken, S.V.P.', 2003), an unqualified witch ('Hexa Kan Niet Heksen', 2005), a monster alphabet ('M Is Een Monster', 2005) or the definitive answer to the most frequently asked question among toddlers: Why Do I Have To Go To Bed? ('Waarom Moet Ik Naar Bed?', 2006). His book about the two aliens Qwl and Krz, 'Qwl + Krz en de Raadselachtige Planeet' (2007), was completely written in the language from the Brgwlx universe, but luckily enough, the book came with a translation key. In later years, Snoodijk has written and illustrated picture books for publisher De Eenhoorn, such as 'Poesje Mauw: Wat Doe Je Nou?' (with Nanna Adams, 2014) and 'Robot Maakt Vrienden' (2017).
Europa
In 2019, Snoodijk returned to comics with the humorous strip about the mythological Phoenician princess 'Europa', the name giver of the European continent. In Snoodijk's rendition, the cute princess is stuck with an insufferable kid brother and a dull father, who has no eye for his daughter's talents. The series was launched in the tenth issue of Eppo magazine in 2019, and was serialized until August 2020.
Advertising art
As a commercial artist, Tijn Snoodijk has worked for magazines like FHM, VPRO Gids and Elsevier, and for brands like Nutricia and G-rilla. Through Lapijn, he has also designed and illustrated birth announcement cards.
Graphic contributions
In 2020, Snoodijk joined 75 Dutch & Flemish comic artists to make a graphic contribution to 'Striphelden versus Corona' (Oogachtend, Uitgeverij L, 2020), a free collective comic book in support of comic book stores that had to close their doors for two months during the lockdown at the height of the COVID-19 virus pandemic.
Recognition
In 2002, Snoodijk won the Zilveren Penseel ("Silver Brush") for his illustrations in the children's book 'Getver! Alweer Een Boek!' (2000).
'Getver! Alweer Een Boek!'.