'De Vliegende Klimaatactivist' (2025).
Betje Ton is a Dutch illustrator and comic artist, known for her socially conscious work with a humorous undertone. Her comic stories have appeared in Tina magazine, and in autobiographical comic books like '5500 Miles of Comics' (2023) and 'De Vliegende Klimaatactivist' (2025).
Early life
Betje Ton was born in 1980 as Elisabeth Middendorp in Zuidhorn, a town in the northern Dutch province of Groningen. Her married name is Liesbeth Ton-Middendorp, but professionally, she is generally known as Betje Ton or, simply, Betje (pronounced "Betcha"). Her family background is not particularly artistic, although her grandfather had a museum/foundry with dioramas about history.
Books illustrated by Betje Ton.
Cartoonist/illustrator
Between 1998 and 2002, Betje received her Bachelor in Visual Communication from the Minerva Academy in Groningen. After graduation, she began working as a freelance illustrator, and became especially known for her humorous Betje.com greeting card collections, which were made available by Greetz. Her cheerful and colorful cards featured people and animals with funny, unique, ugly or beautiful features, balancing between sleek and cartoony. In addition, Betje's cartoons found online exposure as they were published on and shared by Disney's Babble, Huffington Post, Scary Mommy, 9Gag, George Takei and many other platforms.
As an illustrator for children's books and calendars, her clients have included Clavis Books, Kluitman, Ark Media, municipalities and other organizations. In 2003, she was a founding member of Nieuwe Garde Rotterdam, an event series that connects young creatives from all kinds of different disciplines. This initiative also resulted in the 60 Minute Magazine project (2004-2006), a magazine created collectively by designers, writers and photographers in just a couple of hours.
Diary comic.
Autobiographical comics
Married to game designer Peter Ton since 2004, the couple first lived in Gouda and then spent five years with their three children in Los Angeles, California. While her husband had his dayjob with Riot Games, Betje continued to do illustration work, and also discovered the world of autobiographical comics. At the local library, she was inspired by the work of Vanessa Davis, Ellen Forney, David Small, Erika Moen, Jeffrey Brown, Roz Chast, Lucy Knisley and Craig Thompson, while she also enjoyed the work of European comic creators like Barbara Stok, Margreet de Heer and Pénélope Bagieu. While in the USA, she began to chronicle her family life as expats, focusing on the humor in everyday situations.
Diary comic.
Back in the Netherlands in 2020, Ton settled in Hilversum and continued posting her diary comics on her Substack account. After a successful crowdfunding campaign, her first collection of diary comics from the period 2017-2022 was released in book format, '5500 Miles of Comics' (2023). Over time, Ton began to explore other subjects, like climate change and sustainability. This formed the basis for her next book, 'De Vliegende Klimaatactivist' (Nijgh & Van Ditmar, 2025), which follows her while she tries to find her way in climate activism. This book was meant to inspire and encourage people who want to do something about climate change but don't know where to start.
'Rei & Lieve' (Tina #27, 2023).
Tina
Between 2022 and 2024, Betje Ton was also a regular writer and artist for the girls' magazine Tina. In 2022, she participated in a program initiated by the editors to attract new comic talent. This resulted in the publication of 'Rei & Lieve' (2022-2023), a humorous but topical comic about the consequences of teenage tantrums. Subsequently, Betje was requested as a scriptwriter for short comic stories, which could be used as try-outs for young/new artists to draw. Among them were Nova de Hoo, Melanie Kranenburg, Evi Nijs, Emma Ringelberg and Betje herself. While keeping her signature light-hearted tone, Betje Ton's stories tackled subject matter like friendship, gender identity and the environment.
Other activities
In addition to making comics, Betje Ton is also active as a live cartoonist, notably for the Climate Centre of the Red Cross.
Betje Ton in 2025.