Jan Kruis

Who is Jan Kruis?

Jan Kruis is a Dutch comics artist.

He began creating comics as a child. Later he worked for the Dutch comics pioneer Marten Toonder.

Kruis started his own comics career drawing "Prins Freddie" for the magazine "De Havenloods", but became famous thanks to his series of one-pagers, called "Jan, Jans en de Kinderen". It first appeared in the woman's magazine "Libelle" on December 12, 1970. In German-speaking Switzerland, it appeared in the magazine "Spick" which targeted children and teenagers; and in Germany "Favorit" published it for some time under the name "Ulli, Ulla und die Kinder".

Kruis received the Order of the Netherlands Lion in 1996. Two years later he retired. Daughter Andrea Kruis has followed her father's footsteps.

In 2013 his career was celebrated in a one-off glossy-zine; this includes previously unpublished gags of a comic about an infant punk raised by a gay couple; hence the nickname "Jan, Jan en de Kinderen".