Tina #29/2007
Tina #29/2007 falls within the debut year of 'Roos Vink (Brugpieper)', the gag-strip creation of Dutch artist Jan Vriends that would grow into one of the most enduring and beloved features in the long history of Sanoma's girls' weekly Tina — a magazine that itself holds the distinction of being one of the longest-running comics periodicals in the Netherlands, having launched in 1967. The strip's central cast — perpetual ninth-grader Roos and her indispensable best friend Alana — introduced a warm, self-deprecating school-life comedy rooted in emotional recognition rather than melodrama, a tonal shift that Lambiek's comics history identifies as part of a broader move toward relatable humor strips in Tina. Over the following decade and a half, 'Roos Vink' would earn collected-album status, win the Stripschapprijs for best youth album (2021), and propel its creator to the title of Stripmaker des Vaderlands (Comic Artist Laureate of the Netherlands) for the period 2024–2026.
Sell my copy
Have this issue — or a whole collection? Get a fair offer from us, skip the marketplace fees and the hassle.
We Buy Collections ▸History
Jan Vriends, a Dutch comic artist, illustrator, and musician from Helmond, began producing the weekly 'Roos' strip for Tina in 2007, as confirmed by his own published CV and multiple Dutch comics reference sources. Vriends had previously made his mark in alternative comics circles with 'Janjaap' (1997–) and 'Cowboy John' (2002–2009) in Zone 5300, and with the strip 'Lisa en Lola' for the girls' magazine Fancy (1995–2006), making his move to Tina a natural progression within the Dutch girls'-magazine ecosystem published by Sanoma Uitgevers. The strip's gag-a-week format was deliberately flexible — panel layouts were subordinated to the joke, and some pages functioned as mazes or puzzles — a structural playfulness that distinguished Vriends from earlier Tina contributors. Lambiek's comics history notes that 'Roos' arrived in the wake of Gerard Leever's 'Suus & Sas' (2001), which had helped shift Tina away from melodramatic serials toward personal, humor-driven strips with autobiographical roots.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of Roos Vink and her best friend Alana: the strip 'Roos Vink (Brugpieper)' by Jan Vriends began its weekly run in Tina in 2007, with this issue falling within that debut year.
- Created entirely by Jan Vriends (writer and artist), a Dutch comics creator from Helmond previously known for alternative-press strips in Zone 5300 and girls'-magazine work in Fancy.
- Roos Vink is portrayed as the smallest and youngest first-year high school student at the fictional Enigma College; Alana is her closest friend and a consistent supporting presence throughout the strip's run.
- The strip is a gag-a-week format with no fixed panel layout — some pages contain multiple independent strips, others are full-page puzzles or mazes.
- Publisher: Sanoma Uitgevers, Hoofddorp, Netherlands; Tina is a weekly girls' magazine targeting readers aged roughly 7–13, founded in 1967 and one of the longest-running comics periodicals in the Netherlands.
- After ten years of weekly publication, the first collected album ('Ukkepuk!') was released by Kluitman in 2017; a new ongoing album series began with publisher Syndikaat from 2020.
- The fifth album in the Syndikaat series, 'Snotneus!', won the Stripschapprijs for best Dutch youth album of 2021.
- Jan Vriends was appointed Stripmaker des Vaderlands (Comic Artist Laureate of the Netherlands) for the period 2024–2026, with his long-running 'Roos Vink' strip cited as a primary credential.