Drentse Zeeuw makes a comic about Bartje: ‘I felt a bond’

Ahmad Resh from Scherpenisse in Zeeland is going to make a comic about Bartje. The fictional farmer from the books by Anne de Vries is etched in the collective memory, of course because of the statement: I don’t pray for brown beans.

“I was born in Drenthe, in Meppel,” says Resh Broadcasting Zeeland. “I grew up there. I had a very happy childhood in Drenthe. I read the book earlier and then I thought: the least I can do in return for the province is to make a comic about the icon of Drenthe.”

Resh says that he is a huge fan of old Dutch stories. “I also used to read Pietje Bel, just like Dik Trom and all those kinds of books. But Bartje was just a little closer to me. I felt a bond with Bartje.”

For Resh, Bartje is a symbol for Drenthe, and therefore also for him. But Bartje also transcends the province of Drenthe, he says. “I even have statues here at home that I just bought in Terneuzen.”

The screenwriter therefore decided to contact the publisher of Anne de Vries, the writer of Bartje, and asked if he could make a comic about Bartje. And that was allowed. A comic series is now being made and published in newspapers in the North. A complete comic book is also being made, which will in any case be available in Zeeland stores.

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