Jules Calis (1985) is a Dutch comic artist and illustrator specialized in political engaged comics, and representing someone’s experiences. He studied history and Fine Arts and graduated at the Willem de Kooning Academie, Rotterdam, in 2012. During his study he focused on journalistic comics as a medium and now works as a freelance illustrator, cartoonist and graphic journalist. Calis has illustrated stories for Dutch newspapers De Volkskrant, NRC.Next, De Correspondent and BN DeStem.
In 'From Brabant to Afghanistan ... and back' six Dutch veterans and servicemen from my hometown Dongen, a village in the south of the Netherlands, tell in my studio about their experiences during their deployment and how it was to come back home.
"It is spoken. You have literally quoted the interview and made pictures with. That makes it very confrontational." - Eric Corton about 'From Brabant to Afghanistan... and back" De Nieuwsbv (Dutch radio)
I find it fascinating how people act in violent situations. You go on a mission and the experiences stay with you your whole life. How do these experiences influence you as a person? How does it feel to come home and how do you deal with your experiences?
The book presents the reader what Dutch veterans and servicemen have experienced in Afghanistan. A glimpse into the everyday life of the soldier on a mission, the choices you have to make and their personal take on it.
Why comics?
Stories are there to be told and that drives me to capture them, to distribute and to place it. A monument, only on paper. In the comic book, I hope to bring the experiences close to the reader.
The comic will be published by the end of June 2015, by Publisher Pix4Profs / Jan Stads. A small regional publisher who publishes primarily cultural and socially oriented books.
The money will be spent on the last developments which include, book design, text-editing, and printing.
It would be great to achieve the first publication with your help.
Follow this link to the crowdfunding,if you want to participate in this project.
Do you have any questions, help with donating (since the payment method is described in Dutch), ideas or comments? E-mail us at afghanistanstrip@gmail.com or post a comment here.
More information and images about the project can be found at http://afghanistanstrip.blogspot.nl/
