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and 3 of Bitterkornix). Her work is separate, but is introduced at this point in the analysis
because it is useful for an understanding of all the artists' work to compare them.
Van Zyl is less interested in deconstruction than synthesis. She wants to express her
vision of reality, without overtly examining the methods. So in the end her work is more
conventional, by sticking to narrative forms, than Botes' and Dog's, which have a greater
appearance of conventionality. They use narrative forms in non-narrative ways in selfreflexive
examination.
Die Besoek is a story of inner happenings, serious, with deeper, more pervasive humour
than those by Botes or Dog. The tone is introspective, fragile, innocent, and naive. The
story, as personal as some in the first issue, is striking in its intimacy. Joe Dog's Nag van
die Wit Skrik is as personal, but not as intimate or direct.
The story is less fantastical than the other contributions to the comic. This has something
to do with the cartoony character of the men's drawings and Van Zyl's more realistic
drawings, reinforced by an everyday setting. Her work lacks the decorativeness that is
characteristic of early Bitterkornix.
Verbal interruptions are kept to a minimum, and the dialogue is factual and sober. The
verbal aspect of her work is typified by the brandnames [fig 17] which are realistic; the
story is told in pictures, so the brandnames, like the words, are what they are. This is very
unlike more typical Bitterkomix stories (A Perfect Little Consumer, for example) in which
brandnames are altered and every word refers to several ideas at once. In Botes and
Dog's comics, words are skittish and elusive in the employ of frenetic crossreferencing.
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