Douwe Dabbert - 'Een Nieuw Begin' (Eppo #12, 2025).
Mat Wijn is a Dutch sound artist for radio shows, and the son of the beloved Dutch comic creator Piet Wijn. As the family spokesperson, he has been involved in several projects related to his father's legacy. As a comic creator, he drew a four-page tribute story to his father's signature co-creation 'Douwe Dabbert', published in Eppo in 2025.
Early life
Mat Wijn was born in 1963 in The Hague, as the second child of comic creator Piet Wijn (1929-2010) and his wife Ineke "Ina" Makkinje. Despite growing up among comics, he was strongly discouraged by his father to pursue the same career path. Mat's only venture into comics for many years was a contribution to a 1981 issue of the alternative comic magazine De Vrije Balloen, although in his spare time, he always continued to draw. It wasn't until April 2017 when a new comic strip and cartoon by Mat Wijn saw print in Jeroen de Leijer's Wobby magazine.
'Losloopgebied' (Wobby, April 2017).
Radio career
Instead of visual arts, Wijn found a career with VPRO Radio, where he became famous for his unique and absurd tales, crafted from sound effects, montages and other soundscapes. Between 1991 and 2004, he had his own weekly ten-minute section 'De Wijde Blik' in radio shows like 'Het Nabije Westen' and 'De Avonden', and was a team member of the notorious satirical and completely improvised radio show 'Radio Bergeijk' (2001-2007, 2019-2020). Joining the cast of Pieter Bouwman, George van Houts and a host of other actors/comedians, Wijn played Tedje van Lieshout, the technician of this fictional local radio station. In addition, he was responsible for the show's editing and for its funny and chaotic sound design, including corny jingles, creaking chairs, groans and moans, animal noises, falling church bells and devastating explosions. For the broadcasting organization VPRO, the show was also turned into a celebrity comic strip by Jeroen de Leijer.
Labeled an "artist in sound and vision", Mat Wijn has also made his own animations, documentaries and musical clips. In later years, Wijn has also lended his editing and sound talents to podcast series, for instance 'Via Via' by Lotte van Gaalen (2025).
Mat and Piet Wijn in 2005.
Piet Wijn legacy
By the time his parents became too old, and especially since the death of Piet Wijn in 2010, Mat Wijn acted as the family spokesperson and archivist with regard to his father's artistic legacy. In this capacity, he has been involved in book collections, a biography booklet by Jan-Willem de Vries and several other projects related to the life and work of Piet Wijn. Between 2023 and 2025, Eppo magazine ran a series of special four-page homage comic stories by a host of Dutch comic creators, who all gave their own interpretation of Piet Wijn's signature co-creation, the dwarf with the magical knapsack 'Douwe Dabbert'. Together with the comic's original writer Thom Roep and Eppo publisher Rob van Bavel, Mat Wijn compiled an initial list of contributors and judged the submissions. On top of that, he also picked up his drawing pen, and wrote and drew his own contribution, 'Een Nieuw Begin', published in Eppo #12 of 2025. On 14 June 2025, the book compilation of the twelve stories, 'Nieuwe Avonturen', was presented at the Second Eppo Comic Day in Oosterhout, where Mat Wijn was one of the guests of honor.
Mat Wijn and Thom Roep signing the 'Douwe Dabbert' homage book at the Second Eppo Comic Day in Theater De Bussel in Oosterhout, 14 June 2025. Signing behind them are Wilma van den Bosch and Robert van der Kroft. Photo: Bas Schuddeboom.